The man is known as “Legend” for a reason: his legendary rants about Alabama football on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”
Just two Mondays ago, he was calling for coach Kalen DeBoer to be fired after an ugly 24-3 loss at Oklahoma by telling the story of an aunt who had been married “about eight” times. Her explanation for having many husbands? “You can’t fix stupid,” Legend said. “But you can get a divorce.”
The legend was just beginning.
“Man, I’ve never been so embarrassed in my entire life,” he continued, lamenting that Bama had not only lost three times this season, but was, in his opinion, out of the playoff hunt.
Well, Legend and the rest of the Alabama fans (and Alabama haters) who understandably buried the Tide after that disaster in Norman…not so fast.
Call them the Zombie Tide, or call it the reality of a 12-team playoff where someone has to get in, or just give credit to the strength of (some) SEC schedules, but it’s not completely over yet.
In fact, it looks pretty good.
The College Football Playoff Committee ranked Alabama 11th on Tuesday night, which would make them the last overall team in the playoff field. Opinions and rankings may change before Sunday’s final decision, but with the Crimson Tide or any of the other teams vying to sneak into the field having no games left, there should be smiles in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer’s club is about to take an Undertaker out of his coffin.
Of course, there are still bugs. No. 17 Clemson could still steal a bid by defeating No. 9 SMU in the ACC title game, which could cause the committee to keep SMU in the field anyway. In that case, Alabama would be attacked. Same thing, perhaps, if No. 20 UNLV won the Mountain West and the committee stuck with No. 10 Boise State anyway.
That said, Alabama has to be thrilled with its place considering its 9-3 record includes two cringe-worthy (and radio-apoplectic) losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. On the other hand, the Tide benefits from a schedule full of quality wins (No. 5 Georgia, No. 14 South Carolina and No. 19 Missouri).
“What it really came down to is Alabama is 3-1 against top 25 teams, Miami is 0-1,” committee chairman Warde Manuel said on ESPN. “Alabama is 6-1 against teams over .500. Miami is 4-2. In evaluating their work, we felt Alabama had the advantage over Miami.”
Should that be enough? Does it matter losing to non-winning and unranked teams?
It doesn’t seem prohibitive for the selection committee, which placed Alabama just ahead of Miami (10-2), which has “better losses” but zero wins over a top 25 team. Then there’s No. 13 Ole Miss (9-3) with two wins over top 25 teams (Georgia and South Carolina too), but not a third.
Also notable: Indiana is ranked No. 9. The Hoosiers are comfortably in the field, but at 11-1 they also don’t have a win over a top-25 opponent and are behind two-loss teams Georgia (fifth), Ohio State. (6th) and Tennessee (7th). In this scenario, that should mean first-round home playoff games in Athens, Columbus and Knoxville.
Make no mistake, the howls of protest and political lobbying are yet to come.
Alabama only got in because it’s a big brand, some will say. Alabama only got television ratings, others will suggest. Alabama only got in because the committee had to favor the SEC and get a fourth team in the league.
Miami will point to those losses to 6-6 teams Oklahoma (24-3) and Vanderbilt (40-35) and call foul. Ole Miss will note that it defeated Georgia and South Carolina by more points than the Tide. Everyone will cite analysis, statistics, etc.
Maybe he can influence the committee between now and then, but it doesn’t seem likely.
“That depends on how we see them go into the final week,” Manuel said. “There’s nothing that’s going to change.”
That means Zombie Tide can return just two weeks after everyone, even their staunchest supporters, had given up.
“You’re not going to the playoffs and all the real Alabama fans don’t give a damn now because there’s nothing at stake!” The legend criticized back then. “…It’s about national championships in Alabama. I don’t give a damn about beating a weak Auburn team! It’s all about playoffs and championships! It’s just pathetic!
Alabama fans buried them that day.
But it turns out they weren’t dead.