Kirby Smart

Number one ranked Indiana became the first team in the brief history of the 12-team College Football Playoff to win a game after receiving a first-round bye, smothering Alabama 38-3 in a quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Thursday. Fans of the Crimson Tide may be seeking solace with social media posts on how all of the coaches playing for the semi-finals, and the college football title, all worked as assistants for retired Alabama coach Nick Saban. That list doesn’t include the Tide’s Kalen DeBoer.

Alabama’s loss to Georgia during the SEC Championship did not cost the team its shot at the championship. The College Football Playoff Committee put the Tide at number nine against Oklahoma.

Alabama is forcing the committee that will set the College Football Playoff bracket to revisit an old question: Should a 12-team tournament to determine the national champion include a program with three losses? And Duke is bringing up a new head-scratcher that nobody really thought of before: Could a team possibly make the playoff with five?

Gunner Stockton threw three touchdown passes as No. 3 Georgia solidified its position for a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and beat Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game for the first time, pounding the 10th-ranked Crimson Tide 28-7 on Saturday.

That “pins and needles” feeling for fans of the Crimson Tide may not end with today’s SEC Championship against Georgia at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. On Sunday, the teams who will compete in the playoff games for a shot at the championship will be announced. The world of college football is also remembering the man who that system going.

After number three ranked Georgia closed an 11-1 regular season with its eighth straight win over Georgia Tech last week, coach Kirby Smart was asked about his senior class dominating its top rivals through four seasons. Smart replied with a reminder that Georgia Tech, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee do not form a complete list of the Bulldogs' biggest rivals. Tuscaloosa, for instance.

Ty Simpson passed for 276 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score as No. 17 Alabama held on late to beat No. 5 Georgia 24-21 on Saturday night and hand the Bulldogs their first home loss in six years. Alabama has won three straight since opening the season with a 31-17 loss at Florida State.

The Crimson Tide will sit and watch as Texas and Georgia play for the SEC Championship. And, and the Longhorns and Bulldogs got more key players from early signing day. But, Kalen DeBoer got, arguably, the biggest name in the running.

Alabama apparently didn’t make much of an impression on the CFP playoff committee following its pasting of LSU last weekend. The panel that picks teams for the first ever playoffs only ticked the Tide up by one slot to number ten. Alabama’s next opportunity to make an impression is tomorrow when Mercer comes to Bryant-Denny Stadium

Monday may be worse than usual for fans of the Crimson Tide. Alabama lost in a stunning upset against Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon. It was weekend of bad news for ranked teams who fell to unranked opponents.