Tim Keenan on Alabama's CFP case entering SEC Championship: 'We're going to make sure we handle business'

There is going to be an intense debate this year regarding the at-large bids in the College Football Playoff. That’s a debate that the Alabama Crimson Tide don’t want to be a part of at all moving forward. Luckily, by winning the SEC, they won’t need to worry about that debate.

Not leaving it up to the selection committee is exactly what Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan said on the SEC Championship teleconference that the Crimson Tide plan on doing. Win this game because winning the SEC still matters. Win this game because it means you’re definitely in the Playoff.

“We’re a 10-2 team in the SEC,” Tim Keenan said. “We go out and play hard. Of course, it’s the SEC Championship. It’s a big deal. We’ve already beaten this team before. We’re going to go out there and make sure we do the same thing, but we’re going to make sure we handle business on our own end and not leave it up to the committee to make decisions for us.”

The argument against Alabama would be that in a sea of 10-2 teams, the Crimson Tide had a third loss. Add in the now bad looking loss to Florida State, and some other bubble resumes might stack up pretty well. Given that what the selection committee does is subjective, it could lead to a disaster for Alabama.

Of course, the hope that most people around college football have is that a program wouldn’t be punished for losing a 13th game in their respective conference championships. On top of that, since Alabama already beat Georgia, it should effectively cancel out the loss.

Alabama was ranked No. 10 in the selection committee rankings going into the final week of the regular season. Those rankings will be updated on the Tuesday ahead of the SEC Championship Game, then again following this upcoming weekend’s results. Tim Keenan is right, though. If Alabama wins, it will be a matter of what seed the Crimson Tide have and not if they’re in.

Paul Finebaum predicts Alabama will defeat Georgia in SEC Championship

Ahead of the SEC Championship Game, Paul Finebaum predicted that Alabama will win it. After all, that’s what their series’ recent history would indicate.

“I’m in. I once picked Georgia against Alabama, and a friend of mine said, ‘Don’t ever pick Georgia against Alabama.’ Guys, you know it. The record is pretty supportive of Alabama winning. I think it’s 9 out of the last 10,” Finebaum said.

“Now, some will say, ‘Yeah, but weren’t most of those with Nick Saban?’ One of those losses was with Nick Saban, But do I need to remind you that Kalen DeBoer is 2-0 against Kirby Smart? Nobody is 2-0 against Kirby Smart.”

Kickoff for the SEC Championship Game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 6th. The game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.