Bama Central

Kalen DeBoer, Media React To Alabama's College Football Playoff Selection

The Crimson Tide was chosen in the ninth spot of the 2025 College Football Playoff.
Joe Gaither|
Dec 6, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Germie Bernard (5) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs during the 2025 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Dec 6, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Germie Bernard (5) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs during the 2025 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

No. 9 Alabama is in the College Football Playoff field. The Crimson Tide remained at No. 9 despite losing the SEC Championship 28-7 to No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta. The program was chosen with an at-large bid and will hit the road to take on No. 8 Oklahoma in a rematch of a 23-21 regular season loss in Tuscaloosa.

Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer spent time with ESPN to give an immediate reaction to his team staying in the top-12 and earning a place in the playoff field in his second season in charge of the program.

On his approach to selection day: "When it's not in your control, there's always anxious times. Just really still felt good about what we accomplished all season long, and you just trust that that resume, I guess if you want to call it that, is what's going to provide the information to help make this type of decision."

On rematch with Oklahoma: "Credit to Oklahoma, Coach Venables has done an awesome job -- that's their strength. They win the field position. They win the turnover margin. That's a lot of what we've done most games. The two games that we've faulted in here late in the season, including last night -- that was the case. Field position was given up. Shorter fields.

"And in that [first Oklahoma] game, yeah, it was a combination of things. Turnovers in particular, the one that went for a touchdown was a killer at the time. Our guys kept fighting and kept clawing back. Just a couple special teams plays, one in particular -- our kick/punt return at the beginning of the game really set them up as well.

"Every game is its own game. You learn from it. We understand them. They understand us. This third time meeting in a little over a year. It's going to be a physical game. Hard fought. I know it's going to be an awesome environment on a Friday night to kick off the playoffs."

On health of Alabama players: "Yeah, really four of the last five -- maybe more -- have been very physical games for us. Last night included. That was an extremely physical game. The last time we played Oklahoma, LSU, Auburn were all very physical games against very good teams. For us, we got a couple days here. This will be the biggest gap we've had with technically a bye week to prepare. We got finals and stuff going on. The first couple days this week, certainly let the guys take care of business there, and then get back to work. These guys are going to be chomping at the bit, doing everything they can. This time frame right now will allow us to certainly get healthier, though."

The media had a mixed reaction to Alabama's selection with some supporting the Crimson Tide and others supporting Notre Dame's claim to the at-large bid.

Birmingham columnist Kevin Scarbinksy touted Alabama's resume, while condemning Notre Dame's lack of conference participation and soft scheduling.

Former Crimson Tide running back Damien Harris took up the cause for Notre Dame. Harris condemned Alabama's play of late and gave the Irish credit for their strength of losses and how they pass the "eye test".

NBC Sports insider Nicole Auerbach expressed surprise that the committee didn't drop the Crimson Tide a single spot after losing to Georgia. Auerbach compared Alabama's loss to BYU's loss in the Big 12 Championship Game, despite the Cougars also losing their regular season matchup to Texas Tech.

Barstool's Brandon Walker took a tongue in cheek route to support the Crimson Tide, touting Alabama's number of ranked wins, strength of schedule and participation in the SEC Championship game to the Fighting Irish.

Matt Moscona, ESPN radio host in Baton Rouge actually supported Alabama's choice as a College Football Playoff team. Moscona condemned including Group of 5 champions instead of more at-large contestants.

Former Alabama defensive back Caleb Castille used a simple gif to reveal his thoughts on Alabama getting into the field.

Alabama Crimson Tide On SI

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Joe Gaither
JOE GAITHER

Joe Gaither oversees videos and podcasts for Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral. He began his sports media career in radio in 2019, working for three years in Tuscaloosa covering the University of Alabama and other local high school sports. In 2023 he joined BamaCentral to cover a variety of Crimson Tide sports and recruiting, in addition to hosting the “Joe Gaither Show” podcast. His work has also appeared on the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt web sites.

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