Nick Saban’s playoff jockeying began just moments after his No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, with the coach saying the Tide deserve a shot based on « what they’ve been able to accomplish. »
AUBURN, Ala. — Nick Saban believes Alabama should still be in consideration to reach the College Football Playoff.
Saban’s playoff jockeying began just moments after his No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide were handed their first loss of the season, a 12-point defeat on the road at the hands of rival and No. 6-ranked Auburn. By losing, Alabama finished second in the SEC West and won’t compete for the conference championship against Georgia next Saturday.
Editor’s Picks Auburn shakes up playoff race by taking down No. 1 Bama
With the pressure on, top-ranked Alabama was the team that blinked and Auburn will play for the SEC title and a likely College Football Playoff berth.
« I think this team deserves an opportunity to get in the playoff by what they’ve been able to accomplish and what they’ve been able to do, » Saban said after the game. « Certainly not maybe in this game, but I think the team we played tonight is a very good football team, probably one of the best teams in the country.
« They won 11 games, and not many teams are able to do that. I really don’t know what all the scenarios might be where we’d have an opportunity to do it, but I’d certainly like to see this team get an opportunity to do it. »
Coming into the weekend, Alabama was one of two unbeaten Power 5 programs, along with Wisconsin, and it was No. 2 in ESPN’s Strength of Record metric and No. 1 in Game Control. But against Auburn, the wheels came off. Alabama fumbled three times, including a botched field goal, and allowed more than 400 total yards of offense in a 26-14 defeat.
For Alabama to have a shot at reaching the playoff, a few dominoes would need to fall — Wisconsin losing to Ohio State in the Big Ten title game and Oklahoma losing to TCU in the Big 12 title game, to name a couple possibilities.
When asked whether he shared Saban’s opinion about making the playoff, senior center Bradley Bozeman said it’s « up to the committee. »
« That’s not for me to say, » he said. « Us guys, we play our butts off. Whatever chance we get, we’ll take full advantage of it. »
