The 2019 College Football season has been an up-and-down season for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Inspired by another run for the College Football Playoffs, the Tide lost sight of their path in front of them. Fate and bad luck would force many injuries on the Tide to where they were forced to play younger, inexperienced players in big-game situations. Alabama’s playoff aspirations vanished after the shocking 48-45 loss to the Auburn Tigers on rivalry week. This is an unorthodox and less focused Tide team late in the season. The Tide can gain back respect and the powerhouse identity they have lost in the Citrus Bowl.
The CFB playoff committee places Alabama at #13
Before this past Sunday, the Crimson Tide have been apart of all five of the College Football Playoffs. This 2020 CFB playoffs will be the first time that Alabama will not be in the final four. The biggest surprise of the new CFB playoff rankings is that the committee voted the Tide in at #13. Alabama having a 10-2 record is not a bad record with one of those losses coming as an upset. The committee made a statement with their selections even outside of the final four playoff spots. The committee wanted to make it clear that even if teams are out of the playoffs, that doesn’t mean they will be forgiven for difficult attributes.
Strength of schedule, wins (or lack of) against ranked opponents, injuries, common opponents, late-season collapses would still be significant for all college football teams. The lack of ranked wins, outside of the win over #24 Texas A&M, was concerning to the committee. The Tide was 1-2 against ranked opponents with loses to #1 LSU and #16 Auburn. Injuries to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, linebackers Dylan Moses and Joshua McMillion, and kicker Will Reichard were very significant. The weak non-conference schedule with the Duke Blue Devils (5-7) being the best opponent damaged the Tide’s credibility. The most significant attribute that the committee took into effect was the two losses to LSU and Auburn in November. Alabama was 2-2 in November. This is the biggest penalty a team outside of the playoff hunt could encounter.
Bama placed outside of a major bowl for first-time since 2010
This season will be the third time in head coach Nick Saban’s career with Alabama where they won’t play in a major bowl. The first time was his first season in 2007 where they played in the Independence Bowl and finished 7-6. The second time was in 2010, the season after their 13th National Championship, where they demolished Michigan State 49-7. The Tide finished the 2010 season with a 10-3 record. It isn’t common for the Crimson Tide to miss an appearance in a major bowl. This season draws a heavy comparison to the 2010 season where they lost games due to the heavy turnovers on defense due to departures and injuries.
Nick Saban versus Jim Harbaugh
This Citrus Bowl game will call for many different storylines and keys leading up to the game. The availability of some players that are considered highly ranked NFL Draft prospects will be questioned. This game might seem meaningless to some players, especially if they don’t want to get hurt before the 2020 NFL Draft. There is a lot of uncertainty leading up to the game. This will make the matchup of the #13 Alabama Crimson Tide taking on the #14 Michigan Wolverines even more exciting. This game will be the first-ever meeting between Saban and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Both coaches are former NFL head coaches and have encountered more success at the collegiate level.
This Citrus Bowl matchup will kick off in less than a month, but it is still a long way off. Both Alabama and Michigan have been the product of falling short of their heavy expectations. They have both also been undisciplined in terms of penalties and making key mistakes. There will be plenty of time for both coaches to get their team more sync and ready for a potentially good start for 2020.
