Paul Finebaum predicts Alabama will miss 2024 College Football Playoff: 'It feels over for the Crimson Tide'

The Alabama Crimson Tide fell to the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday. With that, the Crimson Tide suffered their second loss of the season, putting their College Football Playoff hopes in jeopardy.

For ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, Alabama’s CFP hopes are more than in jeopardy, they’re all but over. As he explained during an episode of SportsCenter, he’s all-in on the idea Alabama isn’t going to make it to the Playoff now.

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“I’m in on that and after what we saw yesterday in Knoxville, it’s hard to believe that Alabama can run the table,” Paul Finebaum said. “They’re one of the most undisciplined Alabama teams I have ever seen. It is just unfathomable to think they can put all this back together again. They have road games at LSU, which is an almost impossible place to win. So, even though it’s not impossible, and I’m sure Kalen DeBoer will find a way to make his players believe it’s not over, it feels over for the Crimson Tide.”

It was a close game against Tennessee, but sloppy overall. Alabama finished the game with 15 penalties for 115 yards. They were also just three of 14 on third down attempts. Add in two turnovers, and points were hard to come by for the Crimson Tide.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide have now lost two out of three games this season. It’s the first time Alabama has lost two out of three regular season games since 2022, when the Crimson Tide lost road games to Tennessee and LSU. That season, the Crimson Tide missed the College Football Playoff and instead would win the Sugar Bowl.

That was under the old four-team Playoff format. The new, 12-team format, is going to allow for more teams with multiple losses to still make it to the postseason. So, with plenty of time left, Alabama still likely has a route to make it. That’s especially true with a win over Georgia on their resume this year.

However, Finebaum simply doesn’t think that’s likely at this point. In particular, he doesn’t believe it because of the upcoming schedule. The Crimson Tide still have games against two teams ranked in the AP Top 25, Missouri and LSU. That LSU game is on the road and appears to be a major test. On top of that, Oklahoma and Auburn round out SEC play.

For the time being, head coach Kalen DeBoer is going to go back to the drawing board and look to get back to winning in Tuscaloosa.