KNOXVILLE, Tenn. − The College Football Playoff won't release its initial standings for a couple more weeks, and won't commence first-round games for another couple months. Matchups will be unveiled on Dec. 6, but Alabama football got its berth, in the worst sense possible, on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
That's because Tennessee's emphatic 26-10 win over the Crimson Tide put coach Kalen DeBoer's team one loss away from the last place he wants to be: left out of the CFP altogether. Which means for Alabama, every game the rest of the season is, in essence, a playoff game. Any stumble against one of UA's final five opponents − Texas A&M, LSU, Vanderbilt, Chattanooga and Auburn − will vanquish the Crimson Tide to some dying bowl game that might not even exist a year from now.
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We can be somewhat sure of this, anyway, based on the brief two-year history of the CFP's 12-team field. No team with three regular-season losses qualified in either 2024 or 2025. Two years ago, DeBoer's first UA team hoped to sneak in the backdoor at 9-3, and when the door slammed shut he was left to utter the words no Alabama coach wants to say:
"So great to be here at the ReliaQuest Bowl."
Last year, Alabama didn't catch its third loss until the SEC Championship Game, but its 10-2 regular-season mark was good enough for a ticket to ride in the CFP. And now, his third UA team sits at 5-2 in mid-October, its margin for error stripped to nothing and its challenge starkly apparent: win them all or win nothing at all.
The Crimson Tide's first-round playoff game? It just drew the Aggies at home. The second round? That's a daunting trip to Baton Rouge. Catch just one loss, and DeBoer will have to brush up on his platitudes again.
"The people behind the Cheez-It Bowl run a first-class operation."
"I can't say enough about the hospitality we've been shown by the Duke's Mayonnaise folks."
These aren't supposed to be the utterances of a $12.5 million coach, and the half-empty stadiums of also-ran bowl games aren't supposed to host such a coach's team. Alabama's offense sputtered for the second consecutive week against the Volunteers, and there are plenty of problems that need solving before the Crimson Tide embarks upon its way-too-early playoff run.
Qurterback Keelon Russell suddenly looks uncomfortable. Wide receivers aren't getting open, and pass protection has gotten leaky. Injuries are mounting quickly, and to some key players. Operating minus its starting center (Racin Delgatty) and most explosive receiver (Ryan Coleman-Williams) proved to be hobbling enough for Alabama against Tennessee, and the UA defense is looking more banged up, too. Cornerback Zabien Brown, Alabama's best defensive player, missed the second half with an injury.
If there's any positive to be drawn from what was a demoralizing loss to the rival Volunteers, it was only that its task has been crystallized.
The playoffs? Alabama is in.
It just didn't want to be on the October bracket.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: After UT loss, Alabama football is in lose-or-stay-home mode | Goodbread