Alabama's message to playoff committee after beating No. 1 Georgia

ATLANTA – Alabama handled business on Saturday in the SEC Championship Game, beating No. 1 Georgia, 27-24, in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That was the first, and biggest, hurdle for the Crimson Tide to make the College Football after entering the weekend as the No. 1 team.

Following what many will consider the best win in the country, head coach Nick Saban did not waste any time sharing his pitch for Alabama’s playoff candidacy in his opening statement.

“The message that I would send is we won the SEC,” Saban said. “We beat the No. 1 team in the country, which everybody on the committee thought was the No. 1 team in the country and they won 29 straight games. So if we needed to do something to pass the eye test, I guess that probably contributed to it significantly. And if you really want the four best teams to compete, the four most deserving teams that have progressed throughout the season…

“We’re not the same team we were when we played Texas. We’re not the same team when we played South Florida. So I don’t think we should be considered as that team right now. And I think people should look at the whole body of work in terms of what the team was able to accomplish and what they were able to do, and I think this team is one of the four best teams and one of the teams that’s deserving to be in the playoff.” 

The Crimson Tide (12-1, 8-0 SEC) did what needed to be done to keep its playoff hopes alive by ending the Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak to win its 31st SEC title. But Alabama will have to wait to learn its postseason fate. A pair of CFP spots have seemingly already been claimed with Washington and Texas winning the Pac-12 and Big 12 championships, respectively.

As I type this Michigan is currently playing Iowa and Florida State is facing Louisville. Michigan and FSU are undefeated, and the Wolverines are considered a lock for the four-team field if they top the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Seminoles, though, are the wildcard as they are down to their third-string quarterback on Saturday because of injury.

If not for the Jordan Travis setback, Florida State would be a no-brainer with a victory over the Cardinals. But its candidacy is now in question, leaving the door open for Alabama even if FSU is able to win in Charlotte. The Tide players believe they have done enough to get in.

“Absolutely,” running back Roydell Williams said. “Shoot, we just beat the No. 1 team in the country, so of course we should. There’s no question about it.”

Added linebacker Trezmen Marshall, “That’s the No. 1 team, and we just beat the No. 1 team. I don’t know. Y’all tell me. I think they’re definitely a great team. I think they’re probably the No. 2 team. We’re the No. 1 team.”

If Michigan and Florida State join Alabama, Washington and Texas in winning their conference titles, the Tide has a 41 percent chance, or the fifth-best odds, of making the playoff, per ESPN’s Playoff Predictor. But if Louisville wins, those chances increase to 84 percent.

Tonight’s primetime games are obviously worth watching, but with an impressive victory over a team that has won the last two national titles, UA feels good about what it has been able to do since losing to Texas in Week 2, as well as its championship chances moving forward.

“I know this team should be in the playoff,” Alabama left guard Tyler Booker said, “and we have everything that it takes to win a national championship.”

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