Former Alabama Crimson Tide star quarterback Greg McElroy is beloved by Alabama fans for his time with the program. However, that may change after offering a take on why his former program should not get into the College Football Playoff, particularly over the Texas Longhorns.
Alabama has looked great down the stretch of the season. But their one loss on the season to Texas, a fellow CFP contender, could be a huge roadblock in their postseason plans.
McElroy, now a college football analyst at ESPN, spoke about Alabama’s chances of earning a College Football Playoff spot, detailing that he believes Texas should earn a spot over Alabama due to their head-to-head victory.
“Texas beat Alabama,” said McElroy via Alabama beat writer Mike Rodak. “The results have to matter. We have to respect the results. If the committee were to create a precedent by putting Bama in over Texas, that would be doing the college football world a disservice. It would. You have to acknowledge the regular season and by putting Bama ahead of Texas, you’d be saying the regular season does not matter, and that’s not a precedent you want to set.”
Greg McElroy: “Texas beat Alabama. The results have to matter. We have to respect the results. If the committee were to create a precedent by putting Bama in over Texas, that would be doing the college football world a disservice. It would. You have to acknowledge the regular…
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) November 22, 2023
Obviously, McElroy has to be impartial as an analyst now. But some Alabama fans certainly weren’t thrilled with his take on Alabama’s CFP chances.
That argument would be great is Texas were undefeated while they played the BIG 12 schedule. BUT they lost to OU at home! Why does the season matter for Alabama losing, but not Texas?! Don’t understand why this argument hasn’t been made anywhere on TV…
— Joe Callaghan (@jcaljr88) November 22, 2023
They put Bama over Tennessee last year with the same record and the Vols having the head to head. 🤷♂️
— The LFB (@The_LFB) November 22, 2023
Playoff is about best teams, not deserving teams. Tcu "deserved" it last year, we saw what happened there.
And I wish Greg would stop overcorrecting to not appear biased.
— Name Tag Applied For (@RealNTAF) November 22, 2023
In some ways I agree BUT if Bama wins the SEC by beating and undefeated Georgia team then they definitely would have to be in
— DAMOLLO WALKER (@DamolloW) November 22, 2023
The head-to-head loss for Alabama against Texas certainly does loom large when you compare the two teams. However, Alabama will have one remaining chance to make a huge statement to get into the College Football Playoff that some would argue Texas simply cannot match.
Alabama is slated to face off against Georgia in the SEC Championship game. If they go on to defeat them in that game, most fans, perhaps even McElroy, would be hard-pressed not to have them in the College Football Playoff, even over a team like Texas.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.