Expanding the College Football Playoff Would Only Help Alabama

With all the talk about whether Ohio State should be allowed to have the opportunity to compete for the national championship after the Big Ten had to modify its own rules to get the Buckeyes into the league title game, it seems only inevitable that expansion of the College Football Playoff will soon be a hot topic.

Earlier this week, Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, who was recently named the 2020 Steve Ellis Beat Writer of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America, correctly read the tea leaves and reminded his twitter followers of a post from a year ago about how a specific eight-team playoff model was circulating around the college football world.

It would feature five automatic bids for the power five champions, two at-large teams and one group of five qualifier.

Considering the potential financial gains after such a disastrous 2020, look for there to be a huge push for it to happen, and soon.

"It's time for FBS to move to a postseason format similar to every other level of football: remove as much of the human element as possible by granting conference champs and a G5 champ (best team) an automatic bid in a six or eight-team playoff," Dellenger also posted.

It's time for FBS to move to a postseason format similar to every other level of football: remove as much of the human element as possible by granting conference champs and a G5 champ (best team) an automatic bid in a six or eight-team playoff. https://t.co/n3FzpYXw0u
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 9, 2020

Not factoring in league championship games, such a playoff would look something like the following this season:

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Southern California

No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Texas A&M

No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Cincinnati

No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 6 Iowa State

The only matchup that would likely get people excited at all is the Buckeyes vs. the Aggies.

Meanwhile, the players could potentially be looking at a 16-game season and would likely have to give up Christmas break and play games during finals week, all so other people could make even more money off of them.

The expectation here is that the rallying call will be the opportunity to get more teams into the playoff because fans are sick of seeing the same ones over and over again.

The reality is that it would only make it easier for Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma to make the playoff, not more difficult.

Updating Alabama's Records Chase

Last week, All Things CW took a close look as how numerous Crimson Tide records were on the verge of being broken even though Alabama has played a 10-game SEC-only schedule this season.

Numerous team records are about to be toppled as well.

TEAM RECORDS

The 2019 Crimson Tide set records in the following categories:

Points per game: Alabama is averaging 49.22 points per game. The team record is 47.2.

Passing yards: The 2020 team is averaging 361.1 yards per game. The record is 342.2.

Average gain per offensive play: Alabama is going at a 8.1 clip. The record is 7.9.

Additionally, the Crimson Tide is averaging 548.3 yards per game. The Alabama record, set in 2018, is 522.0 yards.

INDIVIDUAL

Here's an update:

Having locked up the SEC West title and a spot in the SEC Championship Game, Alabama is scheduled to play at least three games, and possibly four (assuming Saturday's game at Arkansas isn't canceled).

Completion percentage: The Alabama single-season mark, minimum 200 completions, is Greg McElroy at 70.9 percent in 2010. Tua Tagovailoa was on pace to top that last year at 71.4 percent, but only had 180 completions. Redshirt junior quarterback Mac Jones is at 75.7 percent.

400-yard games: Jones has topped 400 yards three times this season, trying Tagovailoa's mark last season. The SEC record is four: Tim Couch (1998), Johnny Manziel (2013) and Joe Burrow (2019). He was pulled at LSU with 385.

Passer efficiency: Jones is second in the NCAA in passing efficiency with a 210.82 rating, but the quarterback ahead of him has only played in five games. Kaleb Eleby of Western Michigan has a 212.68 rating (Justin Fields of Ohio State has fallen to fourth at 196.12 in five games). According to the NCAA record book the minimum standard is 15 attempts per game. Burrow set the record last year at 202.0.

Passer efficiency career: Jones has a career efficiency rating of 200.4. Tua Tagovailoa set the career mark last year at 199.4. Jones would need 325 completions to qualify and he's at 295. He's averaging 21.4 per game this season, he would only need two more games to be on the all-time list.

Single-season receptions: Senior wide receiver DeVonta Smith has 80, while Amari Cooper holds the Alabama record of 124 (2014). Smith is averaging nearly nine receptions per game. If he did over four games Smith would be eight short at 116.

Single-season receiving yards: Smith has 1,305 yards, while Cooper has the record at 1,727. At his current average of 145.0 yards per game he would accumulate 580 over four games, giving him 1,885 and the record.

Single-season touchdown receptions: Smith has 15. Cooper holds the record with 16.

Career receptions: Smith has 198, while Cooper had 228 catches from 2012-14. With four more games, Smith is on pace for 233.6.

Career receiving yards: Smith is already second on the all-time list with 3,414 yards, and is closing fast on Cooper's 3,463.

Career 100-yard receiving games: Cooper holds the record with 14. Smith has six this season, and 11 for his career.

Career rushing yards: Alabama’s all-time rushing king is Henry with 3,591 yards from 2013-15. Senior running back Najee Harris has 3,415. He's averaging 115.3 rushing yards per game this season, which means he's on pace to break the record during the SEC Championship Game.

Single-season rushing touchdowns: Harris has 20, and with four additional games is on pace for 28.9. Henry had 28 in 2015.

Career rushing touchdowns: Mark Ingram II (2008-10) and Henry share the Crimson Tide record of 42, one ahead of Shaun Alexander (1996-99). Harris has 40.

Among records that have already fallen:

• Jones set the Alabama mark for most consecutive completions with 19 during the Oct. 17 game against Georgia and at Tennessee a week later.

• His four passing touchdowns of 85 yards or more set an Alabama career record.

• Smith set both the Alabama and SEC record with his 32nd career touchdown reception during the second quarter of the Kentucky game on Nov. 21. He's added to that total, and has 38 heading into the Arkansas game.

Alabama Awards Haul?

With Smith looking like he could be a Heisman Trophy finalist along with Jones, and Harris still possibly in the running, Alabama will get a ton of awards attention over the next couple of weeks.

Regardless of what happens in the SEC Championship Game, the Crimson Tide could be in the cusp of an epic year in terms of postseason honors.

Alabama is looking at having a finalist for just about everything outside of the Ray Guy Award, and is probably the frontrunner for the Joe Moore Award for the Most outstanding offensive line unit. Being No. 1 at the end of a regular season in which a lot of teams played half as many games will greatly help the Crimson Tide's chances.

Alabama is promoting 10 players for All-American consideration: Landon Dickerson, Christian Harris, Najee Harris, Josh Jobe, Mac Jones, Alex Leatherwood, Dylan Moses, Will Reichard, DeVonta Smith and Patrick Surtain II.

Ironically, of the major honors those players are up for the one it probably has the least chance of winning is the one most thought it had the best chance of landing at the beginning of the season, the Butkus Award for most outstanding linebacker.

Did You Notice?

The Selection Committee Makes It Clear: There's Never Room for a Non–Power 5 Team in the Playoff

SI Insider: Should Ohio State Be Allowed to Play in the Big Ten Championship?

Brought In to Improve Team Culture, Texans Exec Jack Easterby Has Only Made Things Worse

After Kentucky's 1–3 Start, Can the Wildcats Turn Things Around?

Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things Bama regularly appears on BamaCentral