CFP Selection Committee Leaves Door Open for Alabama to Make Playoff

Crimson Tide Still at No. 5 despite season-ending injury to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa

Even though the University of Alabama football team suffered a serious blow with starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa out for the season due to a hip injury, the College Football Playoff committee is still considering the Crimson Tide for a semifinals. 

Tuesday night, the committee kept Alabama at No. 5 in its rankings. 

"The committee spent a lot of time talking about Alabama and Oregon," College Football Playoff Selection Committee chair Rob Mullens said. "Members talked about how dominant Alabama has been all season. They also said Oregon is explosive and they were impressed by Oregon's quarterback, but Oregon's only loss came to No. 15 Auburn at a neutral site, while Alabama's only loss was to No. 1 LSU."

Alabama has two games remaining, but only one real opportunity to impress the committee at No. 15 Auburn on Nov. 30. 

There was no change at the top with LSU, Ohio State and Clemson still out front, and Georgia leading the group of one-loss teams. 

1 LSU 10-0 

2 Ohio State 10-0 

3 Clemson 11-0 

4 Georgia 9-1 

5 Alabama 9-1 

6 Oregon 9-1 

7 Utah 9-1 

8 Penn State 9-1 

9 Oklahoma 9-1

10 Minnesota 9-1

11 Florida 9-2 

12 Wisconsin 8-2 

13 Michigan 8-2

14 Baylor 9-1 

15 Auburn 7-3 

16 Notre Dame 8-2 

17 Iowa 7-3 

18 Memphis 9-1 

19 Cincinnati 9-1 

20 Boise State 9-1 

21 Oklahoma State 7-3 

21 SMU 9-1 

23 USC 7-4

24 Appalachian State 9-1 

25 SMU 9-1

When specifically asked about Tagovailoa's injury at Mississippi State, Mullens said: 

"Well, obviously we spent considerable time talking about it. Glad he's on his way to recovering. But Alabama had a convincing win at the end of the day. Understanding that he went out at the end of the second quarter, but it still was a convincing win, so it didn't impact the rankings this week."

When asked if there was any talk about about how Alabama will be evaluated moving forward knowing that Tua Tagovailoa is not going to be there, Mullens said: "No, we do not project, we do not look forward. Our charge is to rank the teams based on their body of work through week 12, and that's what we did. Obviously we'll watch the games moving forward and evaluate them after that."

A possible key moving forward may be which teams are ranked and the back end of the top 25. Texas A&M has moved back into the top 25 in the Associated Press poll. However, USC, which has a win against No. 7 Utah, is listed by CFP committee despite bing 7-4.  

"Obviously when you look at Alabama, outstanding play," Mullens said. "Their only loss is to the No. 1 team in the country, and in every other game they've had convincing wins. Oregon is a team that's won nine in a row, good road wins against ranked Southern Cal, at Washington, quality quarterback play, undefeated in the conference, only loss on a neutral field to Auburn. And then Utah, really strong defense, only loss is to No. 23 USC, and that's what separated them from Oregon, and when they lost to USC, Zack Moss, their elite running back, missed most of that game."

A full look at the November 1️⃣9️⃣ #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Rankings.

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— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 20, 2019

Alabama fans need to root for chaos, but against three teams especially: Georgia, Penn State and Oregon. 

The Bulldogs still have to face Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, and have clinched a spot in the SEC Championship game against likely opponent LSU. If Georgia wins out it'll almost certainly eliminate Alabama because it can't leapfrog LSU without a second loss by the Tigers. 

 If Penn State wins out, which would include a victory over Ohio State in an elimination game Saturday, and wins the Big Ten title, not only could it move ahead of Alabama in the rankings but the Buckeyes would have a decent chance to stay above the Crimson as well. 

Oregon could face Utah in the Pac 12 Championship Game.

Here's who the contenders have left to play: 

• Oregon (9-1): at Arizona State, Oregon State.

• Oklahoma (9-1): TCU, at No. 21 Oklahoma State

• Utah (9-1):  at Arizona, Colorado

• Penn State (9-1): at No. 2 Ohio State, Rutgers

• Minnesota (9-1): at Northwestern, No. 12 Wisconsin

• Baylor (9-1): Texas, at Kansas

As for the three frontrunners:

• LSU (9-0): Arkansas, vs. Texas A&M

• Ohio State (9-0): No. 8 Penn State, at No. 13 Michigan

• Clemson (10-0): at South Carolina