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Heather Dinich reveals how Vanderbilt upset affects Alabama, Georgia's College Football Playoff bids

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•10/08/24•

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Georgia HC Kirby Smart, Alabama HC Kalen DeBoer
John David Mercer | Imagn Images

The first College Football Playoff rankings are not due for another month. Nov. 5 is when the committee reveals its introductory top 25 of the season. But according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, there is already a big question they are facing following a dramatic Week 6.

“The biggest question right now is what to do with Alabama, which is a very complex character,” Dinich said on SportsCenter. “They have one of the worst losses in the country to Vanderbilt but they still have the best win in the country against Georgia.”

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Kalen DeBoer experienced the highest of highs when taking down Georgia before the lowest of lows the following week. Alabama was stunned by the loss to Vanderbilt and had to watch fans storm the field in Nashville after the historic moment. At least from the outside, the conversation surrounding the game has continued through Tuesday.

Georgia responded to their loss impressively, taking care of Auburn in Athens. An argument could be made for their resume being better than Alabama’s due to what Dinich described as “one of the worst losses in the country” and deserving to be ranked higher.

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Even so, Dinich does not believe DeBoer’s squad will ever be placed behind Georgia, as long as the records remain identical. The CFP committee values head-to-head too much, no matter how bad of a loss Alabama has.

“When you’re in that selection committee room, head-to-head results matter tremendously as long as their records are the same,” Dinich said. “I would be shocked if they dropped Alabama below Georgia as long as their records are the same. That could prevent them from sinking too far, at least at this point.”

Both teams will be tested before the initial College Football Playoff rankings are revealed. Alabama is set to host South Carolina Saturday and Missouri on Oct. 26 while also having a road trip to Tennessee.

Georiga travels to Austin before facing Florida in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party on Nov. 2, a huge rivalry game. There is a chance one, if not both, have more than one loss on the resume by the team we get to the rankings.

In a world where the two exit the first weekend of November with a 7-1 record, Dinich is betting on Alabama being the higher-ranked team.