Paul Finebaum believes Alabama, despite a 21-point loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, should still be included in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
No. 9 Alabama was dominated by Georgia in a 28-7 win for Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs. However, Finebaum argues that Kalen DeBoer’s Tide, despite three losses, deserves a spot in the CFP.
“They should be in, but they made it unnecessarily difficult for the committee because of an utterly humiliating performance,” Finebaum told AL.com on Saturday. “They will likely drop to the cut line, but it would be egregious to cost a school a berth in the field because they qualified for the conference game while Notre Dame isn’t even in a conference.”
Like Heather Dinich, Finebaum and other SEC Network analysts point to an earlier game between the two SEC schools. “The win at Georgia over the eventual SEC winner should matter,” he said.
During the SEC Championship Game, Gunner Stockton threw three touchdown passes as No. 3 Georgia solidified its position for a first-round bye in the CFP by beating Alabama for the first time.
Georgia (12-1, No. 3 CFP) had been 0-4 against Alabama in the SEC title game and 1-7 against the Crimson Tide under Smart. The lopsided loss forces Alabama (10-3, No. 9 CFP) to worry about its standing with the CFP selection committee.
The Crimson Tide was believed to be in good position when they moved up one spot in last week’s CFP ranking, but the loss to the Bulldogs raises renewed concerns that Alabama could miss the playoff for the second consecutive season under coach Kalen DeBoer.
Georgia led 21-0 before Alabama’s Ty Simpson threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Germie Bernard early in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome the Bulldogs’ strong performance.
https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2025/12/finebaum-alabama-loss-utterly-humiliating-but-it-would-be-egregious-to-leave-tide-out-of-cfp.html