Mark Ingram cheering for Vanderbilt over Tennessee to help Alabama's College Football Playoff hopes

Former Alabama running back Mark Ingram is all-in on Rivalry Weekend and will be monitoring all of college football’s biggest Week 14 matchups, including the Iron Bowl at 3:30 pm ET on ABC.

But before the annual Alabama-Auburn grudge match kicks off at 3:30 pm ET on ABC, the FOX Sports analyst will have one eye on the state of Tennessee, where the No. 8 Volunteers (9-2, 5-2 SEC) take on upstart Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4 at noon ET also on ABC, due in large part to what it could mean for his Crimson Tide.

“Tennessee was the first team out last week (but) they are in right now because of all the (Week 13) upsets, and they have to go to Vandy this week,” Ingram said on Wednesday’s The Triple Option podcast. “So, Vandy, let’s go! Because I need my Tide, the second team out, to somehow get back into this race.”

Fellow Triple Option podcaster Rob Stone interjected: “Hey man, Vandy can do it. They’ve caused problems this season.”

Alabama and its fans — including Ingram — know full well what problems the Commodores have caused in Nashville this season, including upsetting a then-No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide 40-35 on Oct. 5, and nearly knocking off a Top-5 ranked Texas in a 27-24 Longhorns win three weeks later.

Since a midseason three-game win streak, though, Vanderbilt has lost three of its last four games, including a 28-7 drubbing at home against South Carolina.

Nevertheless, if the ‘Dores are going to play spoiler against the in-state rival Volunteers, Ingram is jumping on the Vanderbilt bandwagon given what it could do for Alabama’s Playoff chances.

In fact, like many Tide fans at the moment, Ingram is all-in on another weekend of college football chaos.

“Tennessee has to go to Vandy. Let’s Let’s go, Vandy!,” Ingram repeated. “Notre Dame, they have to go to USC. Fight on, Trojans!”

“Hey, we had chaos last Saturday,” Stone added, “who’s to say we’re not going to get another dose of it, particularly on Rivalry Weekend.”

Joel Klatt, Heather Dinich break down Alabama’s to CFP

Fellow FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt and ESPN insider Heather Dinich both weighed in on Alabama’s upset-laden path to the Playoff.

Klatt pointed to South Carolina knocking off its own in-state rival, No. 12 Clemson, on Saturday, and then the ACC cannibalizing itself over the next two weeks.

“I think the most likely is a South Carolina win against Clemson, that’d be No. 1, and then Miami really taking care of business against SMU and knocking them way back out of there. Maybe it’s even (combined with) a Cal win over SMU,” Klatt said. “If those two things happen, if the ACC loses that second bid based on any amount of chaos that happens with those games, and Texas beats Texas A&M, now I think Alabama actually does have a path.”

Much like Ingram, Dinich pointed to several other Week 14 upsets and “a prayer.”

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