Vanderbilt's Win Over Alabama Proved More Detrimental Than It Seemed
In a normal year, a five-point loss in early October on the road may not mean much in the grand scheme of things. In the wildly chaotic 2024 season, however, the Vanderbilt Commodores handing the Alabama Crimson Tide one such loss proved more detrimental than it originally seemed.
The Crimson Tide entered that game as the number-one ranked program in the country. The Commodores were 2-2 on the year, coming off of a bye week after dropping their previous two games, one to the seventh-ranked Missouri Tigers and one to the Georgia State Panthers.
Bama was coming off of a hard-fought contest against the Georgia Bulldogs, who would go on to win the Southeastern Conference Championship and earn the second seed in the College Football Playoffs. Four quarters later, Alabama suffered their first of three losses this year, a harrowing total for the program as we have come to find out.
On December 8, the College Football Playoff committee announced their final seeding for the tournament. Only two teams who had a chance at making the dance did not know their fate, the Crimson Tide and the SMU Mustangs. Even with a far weaker schedule, the committee placed the Mustangs in the tournament over Bama.
While the Mustangs did have the better record and played in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship against the Clemson Tigers, ESPN ranked their strength of schedule 60th in the nation. Alabama's strength of schedule ranked 16th.
Even if you want to look at strength of record, the Crimson Tide ranked 11th, while SMU ranked 15th. The committee made it clear that for at least this year, wins and losses are all that matters.
Bama finished the year with a 9-3 record under Kalen DeBoer, their first-year head coach, while the Mustangs finished with an 11-2 record in their first year in the ACC. The one extra loss played a pivotal role in deciding this year's College Football Playoff bracket.
The Crimson Tide's two other losses came at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners and the Tennessee Volunteers. While the Sooners finished the year with only a 6-6 record, the same as Vandy, with their program's history, it was not as farfetched an outcome. For the Volunteers, you can never count a rival out, especially when they are also playoff contenders.
For Vanderbilt, it a was much more surprising outcome. It was the first time in school history that they beat a number one ranked program, and broke a 0-60 record against top-five schools. It was also the first time they had beaten Bama since 1984.
While we may never know for sure, Alabama's first loss of the year, by only five points, on the road in early October could be the reason they are playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines, and not playing the Penn State Nittany Lions in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
