Gary Danielson breaks down debate between Alabama and TCU for College Football Playoff spot

It will not be a popular subject of discussion by many, but it will be discussed: Will Alabama get the No. 4 spot in the College Football Playoff come Sunday? With Georgia holding serve against LSU and Michigan a heavy favorite against Purdue this evening, losses by TCU and USC have opened the door — and CBS analyst Gary Danielson offered his two cents on the matter during the later phases of the SEC Championship Game.

Basically, Danielson said that by resume — i.e., which team is more deserving — TCU should get in despite the loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game. But if the selection committee is simply considering what teams are the four best, Alabama could get in.

“Is the rules best? Or is it resume? Because it’s two different teams, if it’s different angles,” Danielson said. “If it’s resume, I think TCU, with the courageous season they had, is going to get in. If it’s best, they must just look at Alabama and say ‘They’re one of the four best teams.'”

For what it’s worth, Danielson said that Ohio State was in and the No. 3 team, meaning in his playoff the Buckeyes and Michigan would rematch.

Danielson’s partner in the booth, Brad Nessler, put it succinctly.

“We shall find out,” Nessler said.

Nick Saban pointed to SEC strength for Alabama’s resume

Saban pleaded his case for the Crimson Tide belonging in the playoff while taking questions from the FOX halftime crew during the Big Ten Championship game, and eventually pointed to the SEC’s dominance as a conference as proof that Alabama has the most impressive resume of the teams on the bubble.

“I don’t know exactly what you mean by the ‘eye-test,’” said Saban about whether or not the committee should trust their eyes on if Alabama was a playoff team this year. “But I think that the committee should look at how is a team playing right now relative to what the circumstances were. The entire body of work … what the competition you had to play against throughout the season [was like]. I don’t think people realize how difficult it is in the SEC. We played five road games this year, all top-25 teams. Three of those five teams were top-10 teams.

“So that’s a grueling schedule to have to play. And I know we lost two of those games on the last play of the game on the road and in tough circumstances, but I think all those things should matter. And we shouldn’t be just looking at metrics of one-loss, two-loss — and think ‘who are the best teams?’”

Following his petition to the committee, former coach Urban Meyer asked how Saban felt having to wait and see what a committee of people would decide about their season’s finishing point — something that Meyer experienced himself multiple times.

“Well, I know our guys are all hopeful that they get the opportunity to play. I know they’re gonna play against a good team … whether we get in or we don’t get in. I’m sure they’re looking forward to that because they’re great competitors. They’ve been a really good group all year and they’ve shown tremendous resiliency to overcome a lot of adversity to finish the year with three really good wins. So I think they’re handling it really well, and I really like this group and I’d love to see them get an opportunity.”