Rece Davis, Booger McFarland ‘surprised’ by Alabama’s CFP inclusion

Alabama survived. Barely.

The Crimson Tide was revealed as the No. 9 team in the College Football Playoff field on Sunday, booking a first-round trip to Oklahoma despite getting throttled by Georgia 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game the night before. The committee gave them a pass, but not everyone on ESPN’s selection show was convinced it was the right call.

Rece Davis certainly wasn’t.

“I will say this: I understand the concept of not being overly punitive for a conference championship game,” Davis said, “But if you’re going to play them, they have to have stakes, both ways. To win a conference championship, or what happens if you lose?”

It’s a fair question. If winning a conference championship is supposed to matter, then losing one should, too. Otherwise, you’re just creating a risk-free exhibition game for teams that are already in. Booger McFarland had the same issue with Alabama’s inclusion.

“They have to count somehow, and we’re talking about Alabama maybe having the best win in the sport by going to Athens; they also have one of the worst losses by losing to Florida State,” McFarland explained. “So we just cannot erase that. I’m surprised at this move right here.”

Alabama is revealed on ESPN as the No. 9 team in the College Football Playoff field.

Booger McFarland: “I’m surprised at this move right here.” 🏈🎙️ #CFP pic.twitter.com/yM94ED8gqH

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 7, 2025

He’s right to be surprised. Alabama became the first three-loss team to make the 12-team playoff, a decision that might be defensible if those losses came against elite competition. But one of them came against Florida State, a 5–7 team that looked lost for most of the year.

And then there was what Georgia did to them Saturday night. If conference championship games are supposed to carry real stakes, that performance should have mattered more than it apparently did.

So how did Alabama survive? Because the committee decided that Alabama’s win over Georgia in Athens back in September was good enough to offset everything else. That win is legitimately impressive. Wins over Vanderbilt, Mizzou, and Tennessee help, too. But when you’re splitting hairs between teams this close to the cutline, the bad losses have to count for something. And Alabama’s loss to Florida State is worse than anything Notre Dame or any other bubble team has on its schedule.

The Crimson Tide is in the playoff, but they backed their way in. They’ll play Oklahoma in Norman on Dec. 19, and if they win, they get Indiana in the quarterfinals. The path is there. But after what Georgia did to them on Saturday, it’s hard to see this Alabama team making any real noise. They looked limited against a physical opponent. They looked like a team that got exposed when it mattered most. And they looked like a team that’s one bad quarter away from going home early.