I have no idea if Finebaum’s right about that, but check out Sagarin’s ratings today. There are four SEC West teams in his top ten, but the gap between #1 Alabama and #7 Auburn is wider than the gap between Auburn and #32 TCU.
‘Bama has already beaten four top 30 teams. If the Tide rolls Auburn and LSU, that would make six. (Throw in the SECCG, and that’ll likely make seven.) No other D-1 school has more than two such wins. I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty convincing case for the best team in the country to me.
Purely as an intellectual exercise, what would be the point of putting Alabama through an eight-team playoff? Besides giving college football the opportunity to make more money and some folks a chance to scratch their Cinderella itch, that is…
Get The Picture 
Hell, what’s the point of putting them through a four team playoff?
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This is what I don’t like about the playoff concept (I know, gotta move on and accept it). Even if bama lost a playoff game it would not convince me that they aren’t the best, most deserving team (especially if the team they played had a regular season loss which, given that bama will likely be the 1 seed, is likely). Why should a loss in the playoffs count more than everything that happened all season long?
During the playoff argument people kept saying it would encourage tougher scheduling, while I think it’s the exact opposite. All a team has to do is make the top 4 (which an unbeaten or 1 loss major conference champion will almost always do) and they are in, starting with a blank slate. Why push yourself schedule-wise all season of it means nothing at the end?
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Playoff will never decide “who is the best”, only who wears the crown. Bid difference. Can only argue/guess who is the best, but always tip your hat to the champion who wins the playoff because they got it done with whomever was in front of them at the time it counted.
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“Even if bama lost a playoff game it would not convince me that they aren’t the best, most deserving team”
I see what you’re saying the best team doesn’t always win, but that has always been the case in every college football system. So if a team can’t convince you that they’re better than Bama by beating them head to head then what would be a better way for them to prove themselves?
“Why should a loss in the playoffs count more than everything that happened all season long?”
Couldn’t you say the exact same thing about the SECCG? A loss has pretty much always eliminated teams from contention, the question is would you rather it eliminate them during the regular season or in a playoff game against another highly ranked opponent?
“During the playoff argument people kept saying it would encourage tougher scheduling, while I think it’s the exact opposite.”
First of all, I’m pretty sure that there are more major non conference games now than with the previous system. It’s worth the risk now because you can get into a 4 team playoff with one loss, so you’ll go get that revenue from a home and away with Notre Dame because a loss doesn’t necessarily end your season like it did with the BCS.
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This looks like Saban’s best team to me. Adding a running QB to their offense had really made them damn near unbeatable.
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Was Kirby leaving for UGA a matter of addition by subtraction for Bama?
j/k. I think.
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No, but the subtraction of Bama’s talent from Kirby’s disposal has certainly changed the equation.
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Is it my imagination or is Bama’s defense better this year without Kirby?
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So, if McFrugal was bent on hiring a DC for the HC job at UGA, should he have hired Jeremy Pruitt instead of Kirby?
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ADGM had no choice in the matter. The donors told him who he was going to hire. CJP was never an option
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Auburn is looking scarier by the week
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Agreed and the LSU offense is better than what it was. Bama should win but as we saw last night in Happy Valley anything can happen.
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Bama is not unbeatable by any means. They were down 14-13 early in the 3rd although they had physically dominated the first half. Their red zone offense had some troubles. That defense is pretty scary though. Funny thing is that even the great Saban had some substitution issues and special teams miscuses yesterday.
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Maybe they should just set up the playoffs to keep going until ‘Bama loses a game.
You may be surprised to learn there’s a difference between dominant and perfect.
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They are damn near Perfect!
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That’s because they don’t recruit any thugs and never have players get in any kind of trouble.
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Sarcasm I hope
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Yep. Go back and look at the comment thread for the ‘ Foiling Jimmy Williamson’ post from the 18th.
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Kiffin is the only thing that can stop Bama. He’s some kind of cute with his play calling but the talent overcomes it.
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Yeah, Kiffin has really done cute things to Bama’s offensive production in the time he has been there….just ask anybody they have played how cute looks.
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I completely agree with this belief. The 3rd quarter of yesterdays game, Kiffin refused to run the ball even though the QB had no time to throw and A&M had no answer to stop the run the entire game. It got A&M back in the game and made it closer than it should have been. On the other hand, it’s nice for them that they only have one concern about their team.
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I offered a huge Bama fan $100 to take Kirby back, he said no thanks.
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I offered a BullGator $100.00 to not run up the score on us,he said no thanks.
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Florida run up the score? On who? They don’t have the offense to do that, takes mistakes (turnovers), or STs for them to break 21 in games I have seen.
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Richt and B-M were holding Pruitt back?
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“Purely as an intellectual exercise, what would be the point of putting Alabama through an eight-team playoff?”
On that note. Why even play the rest of the season?
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