Heather Dinich: Alabama needs 'lots of help and a prayer' to reach 2024 College Football Playoff

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

Much like the perpetually-upbeat Lloyd Christmas, played by Jim Carrey in the 1994 movie “Dumb & Dumber,” Alabama fans are holding out hope their No. 13-ranked Crimson Tide (8-3) still have a path to crack into the 12-team College Football Playoff field following Tuesday night’s latest rankings reveal.

For his part, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum simply doesn’t see it happening after unranked Oklahoma shocked Alabama with a 24-3 loss last Saturday in Norman.

“Today there’s not much of a chance at all,” Finebaum said Wednesday morning on ESPN’s GetUp.

The key phrase there is “not much,” as the Crimson Tide’s fading Playoff chances sit on life-support entering Saturday’s regular-season finale against bitter rival Auburn (5-6) in Iron Bowl.

Of course, hope springs eternal, even for a three-loss Alabama.

According to ESPN expert Heather Dinich, the Tide needs help, and that begins with No. 15 South Carolina (8-3) – which Alabama beat 27-25 last month – knocking off its own in-state rival, No. 12 Clemson (9-2), on the road Saturday. And even then, Alabama’s path remains murky.

“Well, in addition to obviously winning the Iron Bowl, they have to have multiple upsets in front of them – multiple,” Dinich said during a Wednesday morning hit on GetUp. “Because if Clemson loses to South Carolina and Alabama gets bumped up by default to that 12^th spot, they would still be out of the College Football Playoff because the fifth-highest ranked champion would get that 12^th seed if they are ranked outside of the committee’s Top 12 on Selection Day.

“So you can name your upsets here, but they need at least two. Miami losing to Syracuse, Notre Dame (losing to) USC, whatever way you want to stack it up, they need lots of help and a prayer.”

Of course, in order for Alabama to even be worthy of that prayer, it requires the Tide taking care of business against Auburn inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

From there, a South Carolina win over Clemson coupled with either another Week 14 upset such as USC upending No. 5 Notre Dame (10-1) in Los Angeles or Syracuse (8-3) knocking off No. 6 Miami (10-1) would likely open enough holes in the Top 12 for Alabama to slide back into the field.

Should both the Fighting Irish and Hurricanes win Saturday, the road gets narrower for the Tide, but all’s not lost. In fact, a win over the Orange would set up an ACC championship game between Miami and No. 9 SMU (10-1). And given the Mustangs’ 77th-ranked strength of schedule and zero Top 25 wins, a loss in Charlotte could allow the CFP committee to drop SMU behind a then-No. 11 Alabama for the last at-large bid in the final Playoff rankings. In that scenario, the Big 12 champion secures the 12th seed from outside the Top 12.

Of course, as has been evidenced week-in and week-out this season, anything can happen on any given Saturday, and the 13-member CFP committee could still leave Alabama out of the field in favor of a much-hotter three-loss SEC team.

“Even if Clemson loses, South Carolina has a case,” Finebaum said. “They have been outstanding the final couple of weeks of the season, and I would look to them with some consideration. Now they lost that head-to-head to Alabama, but they’ve played better than Alabama, Ole Miss or all the other schools in the SEC begging to get into the tournament right now.”