The No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide were outclassed in a 28-7 loss to No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday in Atlanta. Alabama didn’t score until the fourth quarter and finished the game with minus-three rushing yards.
Ahead of the Big Ten Championship Game broadcast on Fox, the Big Noon Kickoff crew offered their thoughts on Alabama, and the opinion was unanimous- the Crimson Tide shouldn’t be in the College Football Playoff.
Even legendary Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram, who won a Heisman Trophy and national title with the school, admitted that Alabama doesn’t belong in the College Football Playoff field.
The Fox ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ crew thinks Alabama should not be in the College Football Playoff.
Even Mark Ingram. 🏈🎙️ #CFB #CFP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) December 6, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Chris “The Bear” Fallica opened the conversation by explaining the shaky Alabama resume.
“I think that the committee has every reason in the world now to leave Alabama out,” Fallica said after noting the flaws in the Crimson Tide’s resume. “I think the safest way, I think the path of least blowback, would be to put Miami and Notre Dame in over Alabama. And if the SEC only gets four teams in, boo hoo, because I think the way Alabama has finished the year… They got the worst loss to Florida State of all the teams in consideration. I could see it either way, but you’re asking me for my opinion, I see Alabama out now.”
“How about the committee just rehauls eight through 11 now?” Fallica continued. “Maybe Miami goes to eight, Notre Dame goes to nine, Oklahoma goes to 10, and you’ve got Virginia and the Group of Five… Who wouldn’t be watching a Miami-Notre Dame rematch in the first round, right?”
Ingram then responded to Fallica’s comments and agreed that Alabama should be “out.”
“He makes a great point,” Ingram said. “Conference championships matter. But you have to play well in the conference championship. BYU, you go out and lose by 27, you’re out. Bama, you play Georgia in the SEC Championship, and you lose by 21? I got too much Bama in me, but you’re out! Now, Miami and Notre Dame should both get in, in my opinion. I think that is the decision that the committee’s going to have to make.”
“I think if we’re being real with ourselves, Bama has not looked like the Bama teams that you played for under Nick Saban,” Brady Quinn said to Ingram. “They don’t run the football well. They can’t stop the run very well. They’re incredibly inconsistent… I don’t think they’re a playoff team. To your point, I think Notre Dame and Miami are both better teams at this point in the season and are much more deserving of getting in.”
“I don’t think that Alabama deserves it,” Matt Leinart responded. “You’re talking about the best teams right now, playing their best football, Notre Dame and Miami should be in over the Tide.”
“With that being said, roll damn Tide,” Ingram said, making it clear he still supports his alma mater.
During halftime of the Indiana-Ohio State game, Ingram expanded on his thoughts about Alabama’s CFP status.
Mark Ingram with more on why he doesn’t think Alabama is part of the College Football Playoff field now. #CFB #CFP pic.twitter.com/gx5NqVF3A1 https://t.co/wEEdyTX3BW
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 7, 2025
“In my opinion, I don’t think they’re in there,” Ingram said. “You’re No. 9, two losses, you get a third loss, 28-7, you lose by 21 points. They say you can’t be punished for how you play your conference game. But it matters how you play your conference game. If you play well, play close, play tough, then you get the benefit of the doubt of not being punished for that. But if you go into the conference championship game, you’re BYU, you lose by 27 points. You’re Alabama by 21 points. You’re No. 9, you’re No. 11, on the bubble. Now, with three losses, I think that they’re out. If you’re a Notre Dame, and you’re a Miami fan, everything happened the way you wanted it to happen today. BYU gets dominated, Alabama gets dominated. In my opinion, that opens the door for Notre Dame to get in, and both Miami to get in as well.”
After the loss to Georgia, Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer predictably made his pitch on why Alabama belongs in the CFP.
“If this game applies to our resume at all, I don’t think that’s right,” DeBoer said. “A precedent has been set.”
“If this game applies to our resume at all, I don’t think that’s right. A precedent has been set.”
Here it is: Kalen DeBoer makes his pitch for #Alabama to be included in the CFP.#RollTide | @CBS_42 pic.twitter.com/iKP9n1U9nw
— Jacob Morris (@JacobMorrisTV) December 7, 2025
And ahead of Saturday’s games, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made his pitch for the conference getting seven teams into the CFP.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.