Heather Dinich breaks down chaos, likely outcome for Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami in College Football Playoff picture

Following the SEC Championship Game things are as murky as ever in the College Football Playoff picture. Georgia upended Alabama 28-7 on Saturday night, cementing its spot in the field.

Meanwhile, Alabama will wait on pins and needles until Sunday’s selection show. There’s simply no guarantee that the Crimson Tide, who entered the weekend ranked No. 9 in the CFP rankings, will make it into the field.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich spoke to the most likely playoff scenario given Alabama’s loss, coupled with BYU‘s loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship Game. It’s an interesting one.

“Well, while so much of the outside world has been focused on the debate between Miami and Notre Dame, in the selection committee meeting room upstairs, for the bulk of the season their biggest debate has been between Alabama and Notre Dame,” Dinich explained. “So it would not surprise me in the least if they flipped again this week. And what that would do is it would put Notre Dame in at nine, Alabama in at 10 as the last two at-large teams followed by Miami and BYU getting knocked out for those conference champions. Now that’s not a guarantee, I’m telling you something that they will consider.”

Alabama falling behind Notre Dame but no further would erase a scenario that Miami likely needs to see play out to make the playoff field. That’s being side-by-side with Notre Dame in the rankings.

Because Miami beat Notre Dame earlier this season, its head-to-head win would hold some weight, all else equal. So far, the selection committee has not seen all else equal. The ‘Canes have trailed the Irish in the rankings by a few spots.

Why might Alabama hang in there at No. 10 in the playoff rankings, rather than dropping past Miami (which might allow for that head-to-head trump card to be played)? Dinich explained.

“Because you mentioned that Alabama has a regular-season win against the SEC champs, which is hard to beat for the other contenders that we’re talking about,” she said. “They could, however, because of how they’ve played, drop them lower, and Miami and Notre Dame could both be in. But I would be careful to dismiss Alabama and to rush to put Miami back into that conversation.”

Pushing Alabama out of the mix could also create another headache for the sport, though BYU could potentially claim the same. Are teams potentially damaged by playing in conference title games?

Food for thought going forward. Sunday’s rankings release will be fascinating.