Greg McElroy considers whether Alabama could miss CFP with win

Alabama and Georiga are set to meet in their seemingly annual clash in the SEC Championship game this weekend — but is a win enough to secure the Crimson Tide’s spot in the College Football Playoff?

According to Greg McElroy, it may not be that simple.

“Alabama is not in control of their own destiny regardless of what they do,” McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback, said. “And that’s a really uncomfortable thought. And frankly, there is a possibility — and we talked about this too — there is a possibility that the SEC could get left out because of the amount of quality that is in other leagues.

“There is a really wide-open race right now for those four playoff spots and you can make a compelling argument on behalf of eight teams. That includes ‘Bama. That includes Texas, and Ohio State, to be honest with you, even though they would probably have the eighth weakest argument to be made. … “Not this many teams that have been tested and have been quality and have been playing at a high level.”

One loss each for Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Alabama heading into conference championship weekend not to mention two-time defending national champion Georgia will be looking to remain undefeated heading into a third consecutive playoff run. Michigan, Washington and Florida State will all play this weekend in a win-and-you’re-in scenario in each of their respective conference title games.

While a bit of college football madness is expected with such a deep field of contenders — none would be more shocking than a one-loss Georgia missing out on the College Football Playoff.

“Georgia could miss the playoffs without losing a game in two calendar years. I know I know that we don’t care about 2022 and 2021,” McElroy continued. “I know that it’s a mind-blowing thought, but it’s still a crazy thing to consider. And frankly, they’ve played their best football in the month of November, albeit with the exception of the Georgia Tech performance where they weren’t very good on defense and had a couple of turnovers offensively.

“They’ve peaked and gotten better of late and they still could miss the playoffs — even though they have a very strong resume with three wins against quality opponents. … I know that it’s a really difficult thing to consider, but I want everyone to hear me when I say this, this is a real thing. The SEC could get left [of the playoffs].”

The simple solution to an SEC appearance in the CFP is for Georgia to defeat the Crimson Tide this weekend in Atlanta. If not, both team’s destiny’s will be in the hands of the rest of the Power Five conference title games.

Kickoff between Alabama and Georgia is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET live on CBS.