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Paul Finebaum: Alabama 'is back' in College Football Playoff chase ahead of 'Playoff eliminator' vs. LSU

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison10/27/24dan_morrison96
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The Alabama Crimson Tide needed a big win after struggling in the month of October and they got exactly that in their win over the Missouri Tigers. After winning 34-0, the Crimson Tide are in a much better position moving forward.

In an appearance on SportsCenter on the Sunday after Alabama’s massive win, Paul Finebaum shared that he believes the Crimson Tie are back in the College Football Playoff hunt.

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“Now like the phoenix rising from the ashes, Bama is back,” Paul Finebaum said. “Where have you ever heard that before? Well, certainly not from me lately. A week ago I think I ruled them out but I’m back in right now.”

Alabama had lost two out of its three games since the Crimson Tide beat the Georgia Bulldogs at the end of September. In their one win during that stretch, the Crimson Tide struggled against South Carolina. With that, Alabama has had its back against the wall as it relates to both making a run at the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff. However, the dominant win over a ranked Missouri team seems to have Alabama back on track.

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In that win over Missouri, Alabama rushed for four touchdowns as a team, including two for Jam Miller. Then, on the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson Tide forced three interceptions, all of which came from Drew Pyne after he replaced Brady Cook at quarterback for the Tigers.

With that, Paul Finebaum believes Alabama is set up for a massive game in two weeks after the bye week. There, Alabama will travel to Death Valley to take on LSU. With both teams currently holding onto two losses, Finebaum believes that the loser is going to be effectively eliminated from Playoff contention.

“They have a bye week,” Finebaum said. “This is the great part about college football, it’s week-to-week. They’ll rest up and then they get to go down to Baton Rouge in two weeks to play a beat up LSU team after what happened last night in College Station. This is a Playoff eliminator. No joking, no kidding. Loser leaves town. Winner keeps going with a shot to make the CFP.”

It’s the first season of the expanded College Football Playoff. With that, there are still questions about how the selection committee is going to handle the format. However, given the way that teams currently seem to stack up around college football, it does seem extremely difficult to make the CFP with three losses.