ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia football knows it needs to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game to get into the College Football Playoff, but the same may not be true for the Crimson Tide.
ESPN analysts David Pollack, Joey Galloway and Jesse Palmer were in agreement that Alabama should get into the College Football Playoff even if it loses to the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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Rice Davis, host of the CFB Playoff show, asked what would happen if Georgia beats Alabama, and current No. 5 Oklahoma and current No. 6 Ohio State both win their respective Power 5 conference championship games in the Big 12 and Big Ten.
“It should be Alabama because, and I don’t think they are as good defensively as they’ve been, but offensively they can score,” Pollack said. “This is a no-brainer, they are the top team in the country, period.”
Galloway pointed out that the Tide got into the College Football Playoff last year without even playing in the SEC Championship Game.
“If an Alabama team that did not play of the SEC Championship Game last year got in, they get in this year,” Galloway said. “I didn’t think they should last year, they’ve been that dominant this year, I believe they should get in.”
Indeed, the Crimson Tide has defeated their first 12 opponents by 20 points or more, and in a season where the SEC has a record eight teams ranked in the CFB Top 25 released on Tuesday night.
Palmer said he’d choose to put Alabama in over a one-loss Oklahoma and one-loss Ohio State based on the eye test.
“I don’t think there’s any way you can look at those three teams and say Alabama’s not the best team position by position across the board,” Palmer said. “They’ve beaten LSU, (Texas) A&M and Mississippi State by at least 22 points, will have a top 4 loss against Georgia, it should be Alabama.”
College Football Playoff rankings week 14
1. Alabama (12-0) 2. Clemson (12-0) 3. Notre Dame (12-0) 4. Georgia (11-1) 5. Oklahoma (11-1) 6. Ohio State (10-1) 7. Michigan 8. UCF 9. Florida 10. LSU 11.Washington 12. Penn State 13. Washington State 14. Texas 15. Kentucky 16. Utah 17. West Virginia 18. Mississippi State 19. Texas A&M 20. Syracuse 21. Northwestern 22. Boise State 23. Iowa State 24. Missouri 25. Fresno State