Alabama Loss to LSU Could Virtually Eliminate Crimson Tide From CFP Contention
By Jerry Trotta
The game of the 2019 college football regular season is slated for late Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa as the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide will welcome the No. 1 LSU Tigers to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
No matter which way you look at it, this showdown will have massive CFB Playoff implications, but it's obvious that Alabama has more to lose, and with an L, they can virtually kiss their hopes of competing for another national championship goodbye.
No. 1 @LSUfootball vs. No. 2 @AlabamaFTBL
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 4, 2019
This is the 3rd time LSU and Alabama will meet as the top 2 teams in the AP Poll — the most in college football history. pic.twitter.com/mjvZNA4bjx
The fact of the matter is that Ed Orgeron's side has a MUCH stronger resume than Nick Saban and Co. LSU has wins against three teams that were ranked in the top-10 at the time they squared off: Texas, Florida and Auburn. Alabama would be their fourth opponent in the top half of the rankings.
The Crimson Tide, on the other hand, has played ONE ranked team -- a Texas A&M squad many pundits believe isn't all that good. The Aggies were ranked No. 24 in Week 7, and they dropped out of the rankings following their loss to Bama.
When speaking in terms of out-of-conference resumes, the Tigers most impressive W came against then No. 9 Texas in Week 2, whereas Alabama's came against an unranked Duke team.
"Alabama must ? win ? this ? game."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 5, 2019
—@finebaum needs the Tide to know how serious this Saturday is. pic.twitter.com/uvoEpbc4EP
Ask yourself this, college football fans: would the resume of a one-loss Alabama side be stronger than that of a one-loss Big Ten, Big 12, or Pac-12 conference champ?
It's certainly worth a debate, but we're not so sure that Saban's side would come out on top there.
The Crimson Tide lucked out during their 2017-2018 national championship campaign when they squeaked into the Playoff after suffering a regular season loss to Auburn. That scenario won't transpire this year if they lose to LSU at home on Saturday, even if they go on to defeat Auburn to close out the season.