Heather Dinich: SEC champion Alabama would be CFP committee's 'ultimate nightmare scenario'

Alabama‘s hunt for the College Football Playoff was saved on a miraculous 4th & 31 touchdown pass from Jalen Milroe to Isaiah Bond during Saturday’s Iron Bowl thriller.

Now, they head into the SEC Championship with a chance to sneak into the final field of four if they can dethrone Georgia. ESPN’s Heather Dinich explained that it might not be that easy for the Crimson Tide.

“Yeah, if Alabama beats Georgia and wins the SEC, it just means more headaches for the selection committee,” Dinich said on SportsCenter Sunday morning. “That would be the ultimate nightmare scenario. Assuming undefeated Michigan wins, they’re in, Undefeated Florida State wins, they’re in. They can make it trickier with an undefeated Washington, they’re in. So, who gets this last spot?

“The selection committee would line up one-loss Texas if they win. One-loss Georgia and one-loss SEC Champion Alabama for that fourth spot. That would be extremely difficult, but I have to remind everyone of the tiebreaker scenarios: a conference championship matters, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and results against common opponents. None of those things are weighted in the committee meeting room, so what might mean something to you might not mean as much to me.”

There are more scenarios than just one-loss Georgia, Alabama and Texas attempting to crack the field. With Florida State losing its Heisman caliber quarterback in Jordan Travis for the season, many see the ‘Noles as the odd team out in most scenarios — so if Louisville can end up winning the ACC Championship, it might make the selection committee’s final decision a whole lot easier in the long run.

At the same time, Texas is the lone team to beat Alabama and is poised to take on Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship game. What could the committee decide regarding a one-loss Big 12 champion Texas and a one-loss SEC champion Alabama?

Like Dinich said, head-to-heads might not matter in the long run as Alabama would be in the midst of an 11-game win streak and coming off a victory over the two-time defending national champs. Momentum would swing the Crimson Tide’s way if that was the position committee members took.

There are multiple scenarios to consider, but we won’t have a better understanding of what’s to come until conference championship week is through. If one thing is for sure, no team can afford a loss at this point in the season — especially Alabama heading into Saturday’s monumental SEC Championship showdown.