Don't let Miami-Notre Dame debate distract you from Alabama, the elephant in room for final CFP rankings

Don't let Miami-Notre Dame debate distract you from Alabama, the elephant in room for final CFP rankings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Nick Saban is almost two full seasons removed from coaching college football – and yet his shadow hangs over the College Football Playoff.

The CFP committee validated that assessment Tuesday by placing No. 9 Alabama ahead of No. 10 Notre Dame in the penultimate set of rankings.

Forget about the Irish's debate with No. 12 Miami. If the committee was going to put the Hurricanes ahead of the Irish, then they would have done it Tuesday. If that changes Sunday, then it would be strictly because of media-driven peer pressure outside of the room.

No campaigning – not even from Marco Rubio – is going to change that. Rubio could take a lesson from Saban. Nobody campaigned during the CFP selection season better than Saban. That is partially why we are where we are now – and 100% why the Crimson Tide are yet again the most-interesting team heading into conference championship weekend.

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Why did Alabama jump Notre Dame in CFP rankings?

It's not a good reason. Sure, Alabama beat Auburn 27-20 in the Iron Bowl on Nov. 29, but the Crimson Tide were out-gained by the 5-7 Tigers 411-280 and scraped into the SEC championship game for the first time under second-year coach Kalen DeBoer. Was that really enough to flip spots with the Irish – which routed 4-8 Stanford on late-night TV?

"Alabama went on the road in a rivalry game and looked really good, especially in the first half went up 17-0," CFP committee chairman Hunter Yurachek told ESPN's Rece Davis on ESPN's "College Football Playoff Top 25 Ranking Show. "Ran the ball well. Auburn came back at them. They had a great, gutsy call on fourth-and-2 late in the third quarter to get a touchdown then got the turnover late in that game. That was enough to change the minds of a couple committee members to push Alabama up ahead of Notre Dame in this week's rankings."

Now, do you want the silent agenda? It creates five more days of debate between Notre Dame and Miami fans for a question we know the answer to. The Irish are in the College Football Playoff unless No. 11 BYU beats No. 4 Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game and that conference gets two playoff bids. That is a classic distraction.

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Can you see the elephant in the room, the team that will create the most debate before the final rankings are released?

It's the one with "Script A" on the Crimson sweater.

Miami should spend those last five days campaigning against Alabama. Hell, even take a shot at No. 8 Oklahoma, another SEC at-large team. The Hurricanes' path to the playoff entails the Cougars losing to the Red Raiders and the Crimson Tide losing handily to No. 3 Georgia in the SEC championship game.

Even then, it might not be enough. Why? Like we said, nobody runs a CFP campaign quite like Alabama.

- In 2017, minutes after two-loss No. 8 Ohio State beat No. 4 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, Saban was on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt to make sure the Crimson Tide – which missed the SEC championship game after losing to Auburn in the Iron Bowl – got into the CFP. That Crimson Tide team beat SEC champion Georgia for a CFP championship.

- Saban tried again in 2022 to get a two-loss Alabama team in ahead of one-loss Ohio State, but it didn't work. It was close. Why? Alabama gets the benefit of the doubt.

- The 2023 team was the second-highest one-loss team, but they bumped out undefeated Florida State for the final spot in the CFP. That was the greatest December surprise of all.

In eight of the 11 final CFP rankings, the Crimson Tide were the highest-ranked team relative to the number of losses they had. In 2016 and 2020, they were the highest-ranked unbeaten team. In 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2021, they were the highest-ranked one-loss team. In 2022, they were the highest-ranked two-loss team. In 2024, they were the highest-ranked three-loss team. The Crimson Tide could not quite take out two-loss SMU last year, but it was talked about all the way through the telecast when No. 6 Penn State beat the Mustangs – ranked No. 11 – in a 38-10 blowout in the first round.

So are you going to be surprised when Alabama is the team everybody is talking about on Sunday whether they win or lose the SEC championship game?

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Alabama playoff scenarios after SEC championship game

By putting Alabama ahead of Notre Dame, the committee insulated itself from having to take the Crimson Tide out of the College Football Playoff regardless of the result of the SEC championship. At least that's the appearance unless the Crimson Tide get blown out by the Bulldogs.

"It's hard for me to say specifically what the committee would be looking for from Alabama," Yurachek said on the CFP teleconference. "They're in a really solid position this week at No. 9, got an opportunity in their conference championship to give us another data point."

It really is not that difficult to see where this is going.

If Alabama loses, the committee likely would simply flip spots with Notre Dame and make the Crimson Tide the last at-large team in the field. This seems like an inevitable move. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey will likely say something defending Alabama's birthright to make the CFP based on making an SEC championship appearance while skillfully leaving out the Week 1 loss at Florida State – a team that finished 5-7 this season. We'll buy it, too. Miami beat the Seminoles 28-22 on Oct. 4, 2025 – another head-to-head result that will get glossed over in the final meeting. That's going to create outrage.

If Alabama wins, then get ready for more rage bait. The Crimson Tide could bump all the way up to a first-round bye and we would not be surprised one bit. Do you really think No. 5 Oregon – a third Big Ten team – would get a first-round ahead of the SEC champion without fallout from a conference that will have five representatives in the College Football Playoff field? If you do, then you have not been paying attention to Alabama for the last 12 years. The two-loss Crimson Tide would use the conference championship to their benefit at that point.

With a loss, Alabama will be the CFP's highest-ranked three-loss team. With a win, Alabama will be the CFP's highest ranked two-loss team. Where have we seen that before?

Saban isn't even the coach anymore. DeBoer is getting the benefits from that, and why wouldn't you take that? It's a long shadow that has influenced the committee for a dozen years. It's going to happen again. In fact, it did happen Tuesday night, otherwise the Crimson Tide would not be ranked ahead of the Irish.

This might not be Saban's Alabama anymore.

But the committee clearly still sees it that way.