CFP Chairman Warde Manuel explains why SMU beat Alabama for the final CFP spot

A year after advancing to the College Football Playoff, Alabama football was excluded from the newly formed 12-team CFP.

The Crimson Tide entered selection in the CFP bubble on Sunday and were listed as one of the two “top teams” in Sunday’s final CFP rankings.

Securing 11th place ahead of Alabama was SMU, which was upset by Clemson in the ACC championship game on Saturday.

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The CFP selection committee’s decision to select the Mustangs over the Crimson Tide sparked quite a debate in college football circles after the rankings were released – perhaps even starting in the minutes following SMU’s loss on Saturday.

According to ESPN’s College Football Power Index, Alabama had a higher FPI rank (which measures a team’s true strength on the net points scale) than SMU entering Sunday. The Crimson Tide were ranked No. 4 while the Mustangs were ranked No. 13.

Here’s what CFP Selection Committee Chairman Warde Manuel said Sunday about why the Mustangs won the final seed in the College Football Playoff:

Why did CFP choose SMU over Alabama?

Alabama entered Sunday’s rankings with a 9-3 overall record but a 5-3 record in SEC play, with two of those losses coming against Vanderbilt, which was not yet ranked, and Oklahoma, which was not yet ranked Ranking list was recorded. Alabama’s only “ranked” loss came on October 12 against Tennessee, ranked No. 9 in the CFP category.

The Mustangs, in their first season in the ACC after moving from the American Athletic Conference, suffered their only loss outside of Saturday against Clemson in Week 2 against BYU.

Manuel’s main argument for SMU’s win over Alabama was their win total, particularly the Mustangs’ 8-0 conference record.

“We looked at the number of wins Alabama had against ranked teams. We looked at SMU’s schedule and saw that they were undefeated in the conference. Their losses were against ranked teams, but we also looked at Alabama’s loss to unranked teams and there was quite a debate,” Manuel said.

“We value the strength of the schedule, which is why Alabama as a three-loss team is ahead of other two-loss teams. We talk about this quite often. But overall it’s the way SMU played in it.” (ACC Championship Game), last second loss, great win by Clemson, great game. We just felt like SMU was still 10 points over Alabama in this particular case. But that’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength, just look at the overall work of both teams.”

Required reading:How does CFP work? Explanation of the schedule and predictions for the 12-team College Football Playoff

According to Manuel, Michigan’s athletic director, it appeared the committee rewarded SMU for its comeback attempt Saturday against Clemson. Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma in Week 13 eliminated the Crimson Tide from the race to participate in the SEC Championship Game.

Later in the interview, Manuel was asked about the message the CFP committee could have sent if Alabama had defeated SMU and vice versa. If Alabama got in, it would have sent the message that the conference championship games don’t matter, although they do matter for the four byes in the first round. But if SMU were left out, the message would be seen about the strength of the schedule constructed in the non-conference.

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