After suffering a 26-14 loss to Auburn on Saturday, Alabama's chances at entering the College Football Playoff took a major hit. Although they lost, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum still believes they can make the Playoff and even detailed how they can do so Monday morning on the Dan Patrick Show.
"The first thing they need is Ohio State to win and they just have to hope it's not overly impressive," Finebaum said. "It would then come down to Alabama and Ohio State. Now, if TCU upsets Oklahoma, it becomes an easier path. If it's a flat-out Ohio State-Alabama competition, then Alabama's overall resume doesn't quite add up but they have one loss to Auburn where Ohio State looked terrible at home against Oklahoma and looked even worse on the road losing by 31 to Iowa. I think that's what they have to hope for."
It seems as though Alabama's best shot at entering the Playoff is if TCU can somehow upset Oklahoma on Saturday in the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma has opened up as seven-point favorites in that game so an upset may not be all that far off from happening but it was only a few weeks ago when Oklahoma posted a 38-20 win over TCU.
If Ohio State goes on to defeat Wisconsin, things would get really interesting for the selection committee. It would be hard to imagine a scenario in which the committee selects Alabama over an Ohio State team that just defeated Wisconsin for the Big 10 Championship, but this season has proven that anything can happen.
