Don't Expect the Same Alabama Team When it Next Plays: All Things CW

Reaction from the latest College Football Playoff rankings and what they mean for the Crimson Tide.

The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh will appear in five parts this week, one each day. This is ...

Take 3

The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night may have not surprised anyone, but that doesn't mean that there won't be extensive discussion and debate for the the rest of the week. 

No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan are playing for top seeding this weekend in their respective championship games. After No. 3 TCU, the difference between every team from No. 4 and 7, including the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 6 appears to be razor thin. 

Nothing is set in stone yet. 

Of course, that’s not exactly what selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan said when he was on the broadcast announcing the rankings.

Corrigan appeared to tell ESPN that the hierarchy of Ohio State, Alabama and Tennessee was set, meaning that there was no way for the No. 6 Crimson Tide to surpass the No. 5 Buckeyes, the key to Alabama having a reasonable chance of securing a spot in the semifinals.  

He then told reporters during the subsequent press conference that that wasn't true, and apologized for the confusion. 

"That's not necessarily the case," Corrigan said. 

"I think that's a segment of what we're going to see this weekend is all the games, and we're going to see how it all plays out and be able to make our decisions next week and get back on a phone call with y'all explaining them."

Keep in mind that some of what Corrigan said was to leave a little wiggle room, or give himself an out should things be absolutely crazy during championship weekend.

There was this about Ohio State's 22-point loss at home to Michigan last Saturday: 

"The recency bias is something we do talk about on a regular basis to make sure as we're going through this that we're looking at everything and looking at the full body of work. It was talked about in the committee room that going into really early in the fourth quarter the game was still close. That being said, you can't completely dismiss the way the fourth quarter ended with Michigan kind of taking over the game there late. There's a lot of respect for Ohio State in the room and the wins they've had this year, so again, taking the full body of work, it was certainly something we looked at, but it wasn't, it's a blowout, let's move on."

There's also what he said about weighing the Buckeyes against two-loss Alabama and Tennessee: 

"We try to evaluate every team on an individual basis as we go through this, and as we looked at it, Ohio State and their two good wins over Penn State and over Notre Dame overshadowed Alabama and Tennessee from the standpoint of two close losses for Alabama, a couple good wins over Texas and Mississippi State, and then with regards to Tennessee, I think that loss against South Carolina really weighed with the committee."

So the committee felt that the 63-38 blowout loss for Tennessee at South Carolina was a lot more damaging to the Volunteers, than the Buckeyes losing by 22 at home? And that Ohio State's wins at Penn State and against an overrated Notre Dame team in the opener are more impressive than Alabama's schedule? 

The first one makes sense. The latter, not so much. 

"There isn't a whole lot easy about any of this that we're doing," said the North Carolina State athletic director. "We're going over this again and again and making sure that we're spending time and getting everyone's opinion of the 13 people on the committee and making sure that we're all together making the right decisions."

Regardless, the committee having Ohio State over Alabama means that the Crimson Tide's playoff chances are over barring something extreme, and fans can start thinking about whether they might want to spend New Year's in New Orleans or South Florida. 

The players have to be thinking about it as well, especially those who are expected to enter the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Although it would be great to see Bryce Young or Will Anderson Jr. play a final game, it's not worth the risk, especially since both could be top-five selections. 

Should they opt out, we could see Jalen Milroe start, with Chris Braswell at Jack linebacker. 

Would running back Jahmyr Gibbs play? He's probably in line to be the second running back drafted behind Bijan Robinson of Texas. If not, we could see Jase McClellan get the nod.

Have we seen guard Emil Ekiyor Jr.'s final game? How about center Darrian Dalcourt or defensive linemen DJ Dale and Bryon Young? 

Would Henry To'oTo'o play in a bowl game? Brian Branch and Jordan Battle are considered two of the best safeties in this year's draft. Would they really want the wear and tear of another game, especially if its played on turf? 

DeVonta Smith and Kristian Story had better get ready. So should a number of other players as Alabama could look like a completely different team even through any bowl game would still be considered part of of the 2022 season. 

See Also:

Take 1: Impact of Epic Weekend For Alabama Could be Felt for Years

Take 2: Alabama's CFP Chances Boil Down to One Thing

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