Comparing Alabama Crimson Tide's Final CFP Resume Against Notre Dame, Miami

It’s been said for years that teams playing in conference championship games won’t be penalized for losses when it comes to College Football Playoff rankings. That might be put to the test on Sunday when the 12-team 2025-26 tournament bracket is set and announced (11 a.m. CT, ESPN)

Following Saturday’s results, when just about everything didn't go the Crimson Tide's way, chances are the committee will end up picking two just teams between Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami for the final at-large spots.

Did Alabama do enough to get in after being the first team out last year? Will the committee switch it and Notre Dame in the rankings after moving the Crimson Tide ahead of the Fighting Irish last week? Might Miami leapfrog one or both despite not playing this week?

This is to put the team resumes next to each other to make them easier to compare, but before doing so we’re going to make two assumptions:

That No. 11 Brigham Young (12-2) is out of the mix after getting routed in the Big 12 Championship Game to Texas Tech. Why? Their only win against a ranked opponent this season was 24-21 over then-No. 24 Utah.

Unranked Duke won’t be seriously considered by the selection committee despite winning the ACC Championship Game in overtime against Virginia. Even with the win, the Blue Devils finished 8-5.

That means the ACC will be out of the playoff if Miami doesn’t get in.

To fill in a couple of details, one of the changes from last year was that only the top five conference champions in the rankings secure the automatic bids. Consequently, James Madison will squeeze in instead. In case you missed, it, Duke played in the ACC title game in Charlotte after a five-way tie for second place in the league standings, which was finally broken by the sixth tiebreaker.

Tulane, No. 20 in last week’s CFP rankings, will be the No. 11 seed.

Two of these teams will be in the top 10 and still alive for the national championship. Unless the selection committee makes a change with the teams that were idle this week (Ole Miss without Lane Kiffin?) the No. 9 team will visit Oklahoma, and the No. 10 team will draw Texas A&M.

Alabama Crimson Tide

CFP Ranking Last Week: 9
Record: 10-3
Did it play in conference championship: Yes, but not well, losing to No. 3 Georgia.
Wins over ranked teams: at then-No. 5 Georgia 24-21; No. 16 Vanderbilt 30-14; No. 14 Missouri 27-24; No. 11 Tennessee 37-20
Losses: at Florida State in season opener, 31-17; No. 11 Oklahoma 23-21; No. 3 Georgia in SEC Championship Game 28-7.
Note: First team in SEC history to beat four ranked opponents on four subsequent Saturdays. Went 2-2 over final four games.

Strength of schedule last week: 11
Strength of record last week (ESPN): 8
BCS computers last week: 8

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

CFP Ranking Last Week: 10
Record: 10-2
Did it play in conference championship: No.
Wins over ranked teams: Then-No. 20 USC 34-24; at No. 22 Pitt 37-15
Losses: 27-24 at then No. 10 Miami in season opener, 41-40 to No. 16 Texas A&M
Note: Won 10 straight, but didn’t beat a top-15 team.

Strength of schedule last week: 42
Strength of record last week (ESPN): 13
BCS computers last week: 10

Miami Hurricanes

CFP Ranking Last Week: 12
Record: 10-2
Did it play in conference championship: No.
Wins over ranked teams: Then-No. 6 Notre Dame 27-24 in season opener; No. 18 South Florida 49-12; at No. Florida State 28-22; at No. 22 Pitt 38-7
Losses: Louisville 24-21; at SMU 26-20 OT
Note: Beat Notre Dame, and a team that defeated Alabama, Florida State.

Strength of schedule last week: 44
Strength of record last week (ESPN): 14
BCS computers last week: 13

Texas Longhorns

CFP Ranking Last Week: 13
Record: 9-3
Did it play in conference championship: No.
Wins over ranked teams: Then-No. 6 Oklahoma 23-6; No. 9 Vanderbilt 34-31; No. 3 Texas A&M 27-17
Losses: at then-No. 3 Ohio State 14-7; at Florida 29-21; at No. 5 Georgia 35-10
Note: It had three regular-season losses, which was the difference for the Crimson Tide not making it last year. Texas is arguing that it shouldn't be penalized for its season-opening loss against Ohio State. You could say the same then for Alabama and Notre Dame.

Strength of schedule last week: 8
Strength of record last week (ESPN): 12
BCS computers last week: 15

Vanderbilt Commodores

CFP Ranking Last Week: 14
Record: 10-2
Did it play in conference championship: No.
Wins over ranked teams: Then-No. 11 South Carolina 31-7; No. 10 LSU 31-24; No. 15 Missouri 17-10; at No. 19 Tennessee 35-24
Losses: at then-No. 10 Alabama 30-14; at No. 20 Texas 34-31
Note: Best team in Vanderbilt history? The problem is the Commodores lost to two other teams in this group, Alabama and the one directly ahead of it, Texas.

Strength of schedule last week: 22
Strength of record last week (ESPN): 11
BCS computers last week: 12