The final CFP spot looks like it will come down to either Alabama football or SMU.
The Mustangs lost the ACC Championship Game, but only on a last-second field goal. Should SMU be punished for losing an extra game?
Then there’s Alabama, a team with much better wins than SMU but also, a few bad losses on the resume. Alabama is 3-1 against teams ranked in the CFP top 25 (Georgia, South Carolina and Missouri) but lost to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, two teams that finished 6-6.
Meanwhile, SMU is 0-2 against top 25 teams. Those are SMU’s only losses, and both occurred by three points.
Will Alabama get the last spot? Or will it go to SMU?
The 12-team playoff field will be announced at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday on ESPN.
For now, here are the latest projections for the Crimson Tide, which are a mix of CFP and bowl projections.
Jerry Palm still has Alabama making the CFP, even after the results of the ACC title game. Palm projects Alabama will face No. 6 seed Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania before facing No. 3 seed Boise State with a victory.
David Kenyon projects Alabama will face Illinois in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 in Orlando.
SMU takes the No. 12 spot and faces No. 5 seed Texas. Nick Bromberg bumped the Crimson Tide from the field.
ESPN: All but one project no playoff for Alabama
Kyle Bonagura was the lone ESPN writer of a panel of 13 writers who predicted Alabama would be the No. 11 team still with Clemson at No. 12. Everyone else picked SMU instead for the final playoff spot.
Joel Klatt of FOX Sports predicted on social media that Alabama will earn the No. 12 seed in the CFP, facing No. 5 seed Notre Dame in the first round.
