The University of Alabama dominated college football in the early 21st century.
That dominance has come to an end.
On Friday, the Crimson Tide faced off against Indiana in the Rose Bowl, suffering a devastating 38-3 loss—the worst postseason defeat in their history.
This outcome caught the attention of Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN’s chief college football analyst, and his broadcasting partner, Chris Fowler, who expressed their shock at the downfall of the once-great Alabama team.
“It’s like Alabama. It’s weird to watch,” Herbstreit remarked. “They’re just existing. They’re just there. No one’s invading. No one’s playing with fire. They almost feel defeated. It’s like there’s nothing we can do. … It’s like hands on hips, they’re just there.”
As Indiana continued to assert their dominance, particularly when the score hit 38-3, Herbstreit and Fowler’s commentary grew more subdued.
Reflecting on Herbstreit’s astonishment at Alabama’s performance raises a question—didn’t it seem clear they weren’t playing well towards the end of the season? They struggled against an Oklahoma State team with questionable offense and barely managed to defeat an underperforming Auburn squad before being thoroughly outplayed by Georgia State in the SEC Championship Game, a game where they ended up with -3 rushing yards.
In the realm of college football, there was a hope that a loss by Georgia would open the door for Alabama to secure a place in the College Football Playoff (CFP). However, the committee decided otherwise, and Herbstreit surprisingly backed that choice.
He put forth a curious argument, suggesting that Alabama’s early-season victory over Georgia should mitigate the repercussions of their playoff loss to the same team.
“I think the difference in my mind is that Alabama went to Athens and played. They rode into one of the toughest environments in the country and won,” Herbstreit explained. “Right now, their bonus round is they get to play the same team on neutral ground. Unless they get beaten 59-0, if I were on the committee, it would be very hard to punish a team that went to the conference championship and played a team that had already won.”
Yet, it’s worth noting, Herbstreit’s argument is rather convoluted. To put it bluntly, it doesn’t make much sense.
By acknowledging Alabama’s victory over Georgia in the regular season while downplaying their significant loss in the SEC Championship Game, it seems they are effectively saying Alabama defeated Georgia twice.
This rationale appeared to align with the selection committee’s thinking but resulted in troubling outcomes. Alabama’s evident shortcomings were overlooked, landing them in 12th place, just ahead of Notre Dame, a team that would likely have performed better against both Oklahoma and Indiana than Alabama did.
Moreover, it’s notable that all other teams that lost in conference championship games were dropped at least one spot.
Ultimately, Indiana State triumphed decisively and will move on to face Oregon State in the Peach Bowl on January 9th.
