Paul Finebaum on impact of SEC Championship loss for Alabama in CFP: 'They have to ignore it'

With a win in the Iron Bowl, one would think that Alabama would be fairly safe now for a spot in the College Football Playoff as they now prepare for the SEC Championship on Saturday. However, with a loss this weekend in Atlanta, the Crimson Tide could still be left out of the CFP.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Paul Finebaum debated what the playoff chances would be for ‘Bama if they were to lose to Georgia on Saturday, falling to 10-3 overall at that point, while on ‘Get Up’ on Tuesday morning. Dinich began in saying that a third loss, even if it were in a conference championship, could end up costing Alabama a berth, especially due to the room expected to be made at the back of the bracket for the other two highest-ranked conference champions as far as the format of the CFP.

“It is a debate. It is 100% a debate that they could be in the same position they were a year ago where they are the committee’s top three-loss team, but they get excluded during the seeding process to make room for two guaranteed conference champs,” said Dinich. “The crazy thing is, and this is what makes it so difficult. Alabama went to Georgia, they beat them there. They already did this, and yet, if they lose this game in the SEC Championship, it does open the door for them to be excluded.

“I understand what everyone is saying, but don’t forget. When we talk about these three-loss teams? Alabama lost to Florida State, Texas lost to Florida. It’s not just these big-time games that are knocking them out, okay. There are bad losses on these resumés.”

Finebaum, though, couldn’t have disagreed more, because, if not, he asked what the purpose of conference title games was. For Alabama, who has already beaten Georgia this season in Athens, to miss the playoff as the runner-up from the Southeastern Conference, after having a good enough record to even be in the SEC Championship, would be a joke, said Finebaum. Which is why he says a loss essentially needs to be ignored in the process of the CFP Selection Committee.

“They have to ignore it. Otherwise, they blow up the entire conference championship weekend. What is the point of all this? And, I realize there’s a lot of money to be made for everyone, including the network that we currently work for. But, it would be a travesty to penalize a team for advancing to that point, against a team you’ve already beaten on their home field,” Finebaum said. “I mean, it’s hard to say you’re going to make a bigger mockery of college football than we’ve already made over the last couple of days, but it would.”

We’ll have a better idea of where Alabama falls in all of this again come the release of the latest rankings on Tuesday night. But, with the Tide already being the last team currently projected in, this would be quite the precedent to set in this model, which would put the future of conference title games into question, if they’re eventually punished in that way for a loss in the SEC Championship that’d still have them at 10-3 on Sunday.