Kalen DeBoer’s headache isn’t over yet. After the Georgia Bulldogs steamrolled the Alabama Crimson Tide 28-7 in the SEC title showdown, the No. 9 Crimson Tide handed the CFP committee a rare easy out on the Notre Dame vs. Miami debate. But now, all eyes are back on Alabama’s playoff fate, with fired-up alumni adding fuel to the fire.

“Do you think Alabama’s a playoff team? No, they are not,” Alabama alum Damien Harris dropped a bomb on December 6. “This Alabama team, specifically the offense, it did not look playoff caliber.”

This came from Tide’s top runner in a deep group of backs in the 2018 class. Harris totaled 2,779 career yards to rank eighth all-time at Tuscaloosa. Out of everything, the alum was hurt by the Crimson Tide’s offense.

It didn’t even matter that Alabama looked completely outclassed against No. 3 Georgia in the SEC title tilt. The Bulldogs flexed a statement win, cruising to a 28-7 blowout that barely told the full story. Alabama was stuffed all day, rushing for a shocking minus-3 yards and failing to crack 100 total yards until late in the third quarter.

The Crimson Tide sputtered, totaling just 209 yards, losing three on the ground, and converting only 3-of-13 on third downs. DeBoer’s quarterback, Ty Simpson, had a rough outing, going 19-for-39 for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception that set up Georgia’s second score. The one that ultimately sealed the Bulldogs’ win.

The doubts run deep: Harris isn’t the only former Tide player unconvinced about the Crimson Tide making the CFP. Mark Ingram feels it, too. Ingram won the Heisman Trophy in his sophomore season, the first in Crimson Tide history.

“I don’t think they’re in there,” the Alabama alum did not mince his words. “They say you can’t be punished for how you play your conference game, but it matters how you play your conference game. You get the benefit of not being punished for that.”

For weeks, the CFP debate has centered on Notre Dame Fighting Irish being ranked ahead of the Miami Hurricanes despite identical 10-2 records, similar schedules, and Miami’s Week 1 win over the Irish. With only 12 playoff spots, including both seemed impossible unless Alabama was dropped entirely. 

After Georgia’s blowout of the Crimson Tide, that may be the committee’s only way to dodge a controversy that could linger in CFP history. Alabama sits at No. 9 in the CFP rankings, but that SEC title game flop now puts the Tide in the same comparison bucket as Notre Dame (No. 10), Miami (No. 12), and Texas Longhorns (No. 13). 

How is DeBoer dealing with the situation?

Kalen DeBoer pleads his case after the SEC title meltdown

If Alabama sneaks in as one of the committee’s seven at-large teams, the Tide would make history as the first three-loss squad to ever pull it off. They jumped Notre Dame by a single slot in the last rankings, but that grip is slipping fast. 

Especially with two-loss Miami primed for a big jump after BYU face-planted against Texas Tech. Alabama’s margin for error? Basically gone. But DeBoer is in no mood to give up on their playoff hopes.

“If this game applies to and takes away from our resume, I don’t think that’s right,” the Alabama head coach put their case forward in the post-game conference. “I think the precedent’s been set.”

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DeBoer’s logic? Simple. A No. 1 seed should not get penalized for making it to a conference title game against another heavyweight. But the College Football Committee refuses to break the silence now.

“We will judge all of the conference championship games when they are completed and rank the teams accordingly,” CFP chair Hunter Yurachek made things clear.

Over their last four outings, Alabama got clipped at home by the Oklahoma Sooners (21-23), squeaked past the Auburn Tigers (20-27), tiptoed by Eastern Illinois (56-0), and then got steamrolled by Georgia. In short, their entire CFP destiny came down to that SEC title showdown.

Does that tank Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2025 CFP hopes? Not quite. The Tide still has a shot at sneaking in as an at-large. Interestingly, everything now hinges on how the committee stacks them up against Miami and Notre Dame.