X

Have feedback / suggestions? Let us know!

NCAA Football Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama Playoff/Bowl Game Scenarios

By @writered21

Tide

Getty Images

For the Alabama Crimson Tide, a great second-half performance by quarterback Blake Sims in a 55-44 Iron Bowl win over the Auburn Tigers made the their postseason path perfectly clear. Even before the win, Alabama had clinched a berth in the SEC Championship Game thanks to Mississippi State‘s loss to Mississippi that settled matters in the SEC West.

Now, the Crimson Tide know that if they win out, they are going to win the national championship.

First up is the conference final in which the top-ranked Crimson Tide will take on Missouri, champions of the SEC East. While Missouri is not a bad team by any stretch, the Tigers are a team that famously lost at home to Indiana. Missouri is 10-2 and to the Tigers’ credit, they are 13th in the nation in scoring defense at just less than 20 points a game. Missouri has also won six games in a row, but the only SEC West opponents during that stretch were Texas A&M and Arkansas.

While there will be some concern over Alabama’s defense after giving up 44 points to Auburn Saturday, Missouri is only 70th in the nation in points scored and barely cracks the top 100 in passing yards at fewer than 200 per game. If Alabama’s defense can take away Missouri’s running game, the Crimson Tide should be able to capture the SEC championship.

Doing so would lock up Alabama’s (11-1) berth in the playoffs. The Crimson Tide were the top-ranked team in the selection committee’s top 25 last week and that shouldn’t change after this weekend’s results.

Should the Crimson Tide stay in first, they will get to pick their national semifinal site between the Sugar and Orange bowls, and Alabama would surely go to the Sugar Bowl. Who Alabama would play is still anyone’s guess, as the eventual fourth seed in these rankings up for grabs. TCU may end up there when the new rankings come out on Tuesday night, but several teams have a case.

Regardless, Alabama’s win over Auburn makes the Crimson Tide’s road to the postseason perfectly clear, and Alabama is a definite threat to win another national championship.

Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on