How Alabama Matches Up with the 5 Other Potential Playoff Teams
Alabama fans can finally book that travel to New Orleans.
Barring some drastic shake-up in the College Football Playoff rankings on Sunday afternoon, the Crimson Tide will play as the No. 1 or 2 seed in the Superdome in the first round of the inaugural four-team tournament.
Alabama’s 42-13 win over Missouri in the SEC championship game sealed the Crimson Tide’s playoff fate. Now fans can begin to look ahead to potential opponents, for the first round and the championship game.
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Let’s take a look at the remaining contenders in alphabetical order and determine how Alabama matches up with each, along with a projected Vegas spread.
Baylor
The narrative for this game would be pretty straightforward: Baylor’s high-flying offense against Alabama’s stingy defense.
The Bears had the top offense in the country in yards per game coming into this weekend. Alabama’s defense was No. 11.
The good news for Baylor is that its offensive strength is Alabama’s defensive weakness.
Despite the gaudy overall defensive numbers, Alabama is just No. 55 in pass defense. Against Auburn, it gave up several long passing plays, and Saturday, Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk hit a couple of deep balls to keep the Tigers in the game too.
The difference in the game would occur when Alabama has the ball.
Baylor has given up at least 300 yards in all but two of its games this year, against FCS Northwestern State and lowly SMU. The Bears just don’t have the defensive talent to keep up with Amari Cooper.
Points would be scored, but Alabama would get a few more stops.
Predicted spread: Alabama (-11)
Florida State
Of all of these hypothetical matchups, the Seminoles are the only ones who can go pound-for-pound with Alabama talent-wise.
FSU’s recruiting classes have been ranked Nos. 4, 10, 3 and 2, whereas Alabama has had the top class every year.
Head coach Jimbo Fisher is a Saban disciple and has built a similar wear-you-out team in Tallahassee.
Quarterback Jameis Winston could pick apart the Alabama secondary better than most, while FSU’s offensive line could hold its own against Alabama’s front seven.
The Crimson Tide would likely have the weight of the college football world behind it. Florida State has, fair or unfair, been billed as college football’s villain this year.
It would be a doozy for sure.
Predicted spread: Alabama (-2)
Ohio State
This one is probably the biggest wild card of the group.
Cardale Jones looked fantastic in his first start after injuries to Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett forced him into action, throwing three touchdowns in a blowout of Wisconsin on Saturday.
Still, the Crimson Tide’s modus operandi on defense is collapsing the pocket and forcing bad decisions by opposing quarterbacks. You have to think Nick Saban and Kirby Smart would go hard after a quarterback like Jones in that situation.
Otherwise, it would seem to be a fairly even matchup, with some interesting individual battles on the other side of the ball.
Joey Bosa vs. freshman left tackle Cam Robinson would be an intense one-on-one matchup. Ohio State safety Von Bell chose the Buckeyes over the Crimson Tide in recruiting and would play a role in slowing down Cooper and the Alabama passing game.
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten Urban Meyer vs. Nick Saban. A rejuvenation of that personal rivalry would be highly entertaining in the postseason.
Predicted spread: Alabama (-6)
Oregon
It feels like college football has waited ages for this matchup, hasn’t it? Oregon’s innovative offense against Saban and Alabama’s defense.
That side of the ball would be nothing if not entertaining. The Ducks came into the weekend with the country’s third-best offense and humming under quarterback and likely Heisman winner Marcus Mariota.
The Ducks offensive line, though, could be susceptible to an aggressive pass rush. Oregon has allowed 29 sacks coming into the weekend, ranking just No. 93 in the nation. Alabama had registered 28 sacks before that. Mariota would at least be on the run for a good part of the game.
It would seem to be a mismatch on the other side of the ball.
Oregon is giving up 413.8 yards per game, ranking No. 82 nationally. Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin would be licking his chops, ready to unleash his offense on that susceptible defense.
Predicted spread: Alabama (-8)
TCU
Who will the Big 12 send to the playoff? Will it send anyone? If it does, its two options are relatively similar.
TCU, like Baylor, is very good on offense and average-to-good on defense.
The Horned Frogs are No. 46 in the country in total defense, giving up 370.7 yards per game this year. Their offense, meanwhile, sits at No. 5 (525.8).
The difference for TCU, and what would make this a little bit more competitive of a game for TCU, is under center.
Trevone Boykin and Bryce Petty are putting up similar numbers this year passing the ball. But Boykin brings an extra dimension to the position.
He is averaging 54.36 yards per game on the ground, compared to Petty's 13-plus per game.
Alabama has been susceptible to mobile quarterbacks this year. Nick Marshall went for 49 last week. Dak Prescott rushed for 82. Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs added 75 on the ground.
Boykin could be a difference-maker, but Alabama still has the edge.
Predicted spread: Alabama (-7)
Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats come from CFBStats.
Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.
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