Rece Davis predicts Alabama as No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff, facing FSU in first round

Rece Davis still has Alabama being in the College Football Playoff once again in 2024. With that, he has them meeting up with a program in his projected field that became a form of rivalry for them by the end of last season.

Davis had ‘Bama as the No. 9 seed in the College Football Playoff during an episode of the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ on Wednesday. That would lead to a matchup on the road with his No. 8 seed in Florida State – the team the Tide beat out in last season’s playoff race.

“At number nine and going to Tallahassee for an on-campus playoff game? Because, well, of course it has to be this way. I’ve got Alabama – Kalen DeBoer in the first year going to see Florida State,” said Davis. “I mean there might be a little juice around that game.”

Much was made of the final playoff rankings last season between Alabama and Florida State. With their win over Georgia in the SEC Championship, the Crimson Tide earned the final spot at No. 4 with an undefeated, ACC Champion in the Seminoles being left out.

To get more to Alabama specifically, this won’t be as simple as it once seemed for them during the tenure of their last head coach. They’ll have questions to answer in order to do so, especially on the outside of both units with there being thoughts about their defensive backs as well as their receiving corps.

“As for Alabama making the playoff, there will be some bumps in the road when you make this type of transition – when you lose players of the caliber of Caleb Downs to the portal, when you lose a couple of guys that got drafted, especially in the secondary,” Davis said. “Nick Saban had said in SEC Media Days coverage that the secondary was the biggest question. They’re having to rely on some transfers there – Domani Jackson coming from USC, Keon Sabb from Michigan just to name a couple. Also, they have a star-studded class of freshmen DBs.

“Receivers are also unproven,” Davis added.

However, what Alabama has overall offensively, certainly within a new system as well, should be enough to balance that out.

“They’ve got the offensive line, they’ve got two emerging stars at running back in Justice Haynes and Jam Miller,” Davis said. “They’ve got Jalen Milroe, who, if we know anything about a Kalen DeBoer offense? They put the quarterback in the very best position to succeed.”

After that evaluation, Davis looked into Alabama’s schedule and what they’ll need to make it in. For him, it’ll take 10-2 or better against a tough, yet not impossible in his eyes, schedule to be an at-large for him out of the SEC.

“They get Georgia at home, they have to go to LSU, they go to Oklahoma, they have to go to Wisconsin, and they have to go to Tennessee. Difficult, not overwhelming,” assessed Davis. “With a 12-team field, they probably have enough room to lose two, which they probably will. Maybe – they lose three and they probably won’t make it unless they lose all three the way they lost the games a couple of years ago when they didn’t make it.”

The Crimson Tide will expect to be just as much of a playoff contender as they always were in the four-team field. That starts with a debut berth in the expanded one, which, for Davis, would start away at FSU.

“I’ve got them as the nine seed going in,” Davis said.