{"id":605529,"date":"2025-12-01T15:41:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T15:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/605529\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T15:41:18","slug":"after-iron-bowl-escape-alabama-looks-like-a-cfp-bubble-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/605529\/","title":{"rendered":"After Iron Bowl escape, Alabama looks like a CFP bubble team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/87434244007-1-bt-6513.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>US LBM Coaches Poll: Oklahoma makes its case in playoff push<\/p>\n<p>Paul Myerberg breaks down the latest US LBM Coaches Poll and discusses the Oklahoma Sooners making a push for the playoff.<\/p>\n<p>Sports Pulse<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alabama is supposed to be a playoff team. Are we sure about that, after this clunky Iron Bowl win against struggling Auburn?<\/li>\n<li>Crowded CFP bubble includes Alabama. Tide would remove doubt by winning SEC Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Auburn coaching search needs to end somewhere other than DJ Durkin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>AUBURN, AL \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/sports\/college-sports\/sec\/alabama\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alabama<\/a> is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaaf\/sec\/2025\/11\/29\/texas-college-football-playoff-score-texas-am-cfp\/87518476007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">playoff<\/a> team. At least, that\u2019s what the selection committee\u2019s rankings told us this week.<\/p>\n<p>What about next week? Some shuffling could be in order.<\/p>\n<p>Because, as I watched No. 10 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/ncaaf\/teams\/alabama-crimson-tide\/3478\/\" data-autotag=\"6c1f0d70-9904-45ac-a261-5bcd28d2a449\" rel=\"noopener\">Alabama<\/a> yuck and muck around in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tuscaloosanews.com\/story\/sports\/college\/football\/2025\/11\/29\/alabama-auburn-live-updates-iron-bowl-score\/87382127007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a 27-20 victory<\/a> in the Iron Bowl, I had to remind myself a few times that this is supposed to be a playoff team.<\/p>\n<p>Could\u2019ve fooled me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"related-link\"><strong style=\"margin-right:3px\">College football winners and losers: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaaf\/2025\/11\/29\/college-football-winners-losers-week-14-cfp\/87531711007\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ohio State, Oklahoma lead Week 14 headlines<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alabama survived this scare by forcing and recovering a fumble to halt <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/ncaaf\/teams\/auburn-tigers\/3480\/\" data-autotag=\"c21b4b23-e879-47f2-9a3e-abc30ff7e51d\" rel=\"noopener\">Auburn<\/a> 20 yards short of tying the score, late in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Or, maybe I\u2019m the fool, because this is probably just what a borderline playoff team looks like in this 12-team CFP era.<\/p>\n<p>Flawed and occasionally brilliant. Talented but imperfect. Better than most, but far from elite.<\/p>\n<p>Alabama\u2019s resume is as good or better than that of Notre Dame, Brigham Young, Miami, Vanderbilt, Texas, Utah or anyone else you might want to shove onto this crowded bubble.<\/p>\n<p>If the Tide win the SEC Championship game against Georgia, they\u2019re in the playoff, no questions asked.<\/p>\n<p>If they lose but show well, they&#8217;re back on the bubble. Which side of the bubble? Don&#8217;t ask me, that&#8217;s for the committee to decide.<\/p>\n<p>Bigger College Football Playoff means flawed contenders like Alabama<\/p>\n<p>I guess I\u2019m still rewiring to what a playoff team looks like. Two years ago, this Alabama team probably would\u2019ve been headed toward something like the Citrus Bowl. Now, that\u2019s a playoff team.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe. Maybe not. This lackluster performance left some work to be done.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It wasn\u2019t perfect, \u2026 but they had their backs to the wall, and I\u2019m really proud of the way they\u2019ve just continued to grit and grind,&#8221; said Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, whose team scored the winning touchdown on Ty Simpson&#8217;s fourth-and-2 toss with less than four minutes to go.<\/p>\n<p>If Alabama loses to Georgia in Atlanta and misses the playoff, that\u2019s no travesty. The playoff can exist without this team.<\/p>\n<p>If Alabama qualifies, that\u2019s no travesty, either. Roughly six bubble teams are vying for about two spots, and I\u2019m not convinced much separates any of those teams.<\/p>\n<p>On this night, not much separated Alabama from five-win Auburn.<\/p>\n<p>I know what the fine folks in the SEC headquarters in Birmingham would say. They\u2019d tell you this was another sign of the conference\u2019s depth and how tough it is to win on road in the SEC, and nothing is a given in rivalry games, and more propaganda goes here.<\/p>\n<p>Some of that\u2019s probably true, and it\u2019s also true <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaaf\/2025\/11\/29\/ohio-state-vs-michigan-score-buckeyes-leave-no-doubt-snap-u-m-streak\/87525720007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ohio State bludgeoned rival Michigan<\/a> in the snow in Ann Arbor, hours before Alabama beat Auburn in a pillow fight on the Plains filled with penalties, dropped passes and enough incompletions to fill a full month for the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/ncaaf\/teams\/ohio-state-buckeyes\/3439\/\" data-autotag=\"0570041d-af26-45dc-bbba-3bff6c6603b3\" rel=\"noopener\">Buckeyes<\/a>\u2019 Julian Sayin.<\/p>\n<p>While Ohio State, Indiana and Texas Tech feasted on their foes this Thanksgiving weekend, Alabama needed some fourth-quarter grit to fend off one of the SEC\u2019s worst teams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re 10-2 and 7-1 in the SEC,&#8221; DeBoer said. &#8220;We\u2019ve got quality strength wins and some wins on the road. We\u2019ve got more than a playoff-caliber football team. There\u2019s not a question in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Does Auburn elevate DJ Durkin? Surely not<\/p>\n<p>Competitive though it was, this won\u2019t be remembered as one of the finest installments in the 90 editions of the Iron Bowl. Auburn\u2019s first three possessions produced no first downs, six yards and three punts. Tigers receivers dropped about as many passes as they caught.<\/p>\n<p>You could\u2019ve headed up to the highest reaches of Section 57 in the upper deck and found a few fellas who could\u2019ve devised a better game plan than Auburn trotted out in a miserable first quarter.<\/p>\n<p>The Tigers finally moved the chains for the first time, seconds before the first quarter ended, and the home fans let out a cheer at least half-baked in derision.<\/p>\n<p>Those turned to impassioned cheers in the second half, as Auburn rallied and tied the score in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Hard though these Tigers fought, Auburn fans deserve so much better than five miserable losing seasons in a row and six straight Iron Bowl defeats. Some fans probably exited Jordan-Hare Stadium fearful that this competitive Iron Bowl might persuade athletic director John Cohen to remove the interim tag from DJ Durkin and pretend he\u2019s the solution to all that ails Auburn.<\/p>\n<p>What a heaping helping of humble pie a Durkin hire would be.<\/p>\n<p>Durkin is a capable defensive coordinator, but Auburn needs a coaching direction more hopeful than someone with a 12-17 career record.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-football\/story\/_\/id\/24351869\/maryland-terrapins-football-jordan-mcnair-death-dj-durkin-scandal-line\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fired Durkin from his last coaching job in 2018<\/a> amid a season of human tragedy, strife and an internal investigation that produced findings of a problematic culture and alarming allegations against the team\u2019s strength coach.<\/p>\n<p>Surely, Auburn should expect more of itself than simply promoting Hugh Freeze\u2019s leftover lieutenant.<\/p>\n<p>DeBoer should expect more from his offense than what the Tide mustered here.<\/p>\n<p>Simpson cannot seriously be called a Heisman Trophy candidate anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Can Alabama be called a playoff team? I wouldn&#8217;t expect the committee to be convinced by this performance.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.knoxnews.com\/staff\/2648210001\/blake-toppmeyer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blake Toppmeyer<\/a>\u00a0is the USA TODAY Network&#8217;s senior national college football columnist. Email him at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:BToppmeyer@gannett.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BToppmeyer@gannett.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow him on X\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/btoppmeyer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@btoppmeyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US LBM Coaches Poll: Oklahoma makes its case in playoff push Paul Myerberg breaks down the latest US&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[10548,18687,189732,6304,189729,187357,12634,24398,174471,189731,174487,13236,136450,136438,33644,20810,12058,10932,158620,12067,46928,8745,187351,80496,189728,10516,94,29729,15458,31583,189730,189727,189733,12049,73131,6584,12,80495,136445,12029,20814,391,11767,5179,6591,2959,29294,24337,92519,136439,136451,136448,11759,20573,57402,177851,79,6924,5199,326,19332,369,187352,135613,3948,49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-605529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-10548","9":"tag-al","10":"tag-al-sharing-crimson-tide","11":"tag-alabama","12":"tag-alabama-crimson-tide","13":"tag-alabama-crimson-tide-football","14":"tag-american","15":"tag-american-football","16":"tag-auburn","17":"tag-auburn-tigers","18":"tag-auburn-tigers-football","19":"tag-big","20":"tag-big-10-hub","21":"tag-big-ten-conference-football","22":"tag-bowl","23":"tag-buckeyes","24":"tag-college","25":"tag-college-football","26":"tag-college-football-playoff","27":"tag-college-sports","28":"tag-conference","29":"tag-content","30":"tag-crimson","31":"tag-dame","32":"tag-deboer","33":"tag-fighting","34":"tag-football","35":"tag-hub","36":"tag-irish","37":"tag-iron","38":"tag-iron-bowl","39":"tag-kalen","40":"tag-kalen-deboer","41":"tag-ncaa","42":"tag-ncaa-southeastern-conference","43":"tag-negative","44":"tag-news","45":"tag-notre","46":"tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish-football","47":"tag-ohio","48":"tag-ohio-state-buckeyes-football","49":"tag-opinion","50":"tag-opinion-content","51":"tag-overall","52":"tag-overall-negative","53":"tag-playoff","54":"tag-raiders","55":"tag-red","56":"tag-sec","57":"tag-sec-conference-football","58":"tag-sec-hub","59":"tag-sec-south-content-sharing","60":"tag-sharing","61":"tag-south","62":"tag-southeastern","63":"tag-southeastern-conference-football","64":"tag-sports","65":"tag-sports-news","66":"tag-state","67":"tag-tech","68":"tag-ten","69":"tag-texas","70":"tag-texas-tech-red-raiders-football","71":"tag-tide","72":"tag-tigers","73":"tag-united-states","74":"tag-us","75":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}