This is an opinion column.

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” – Hunter S. Thompson.

For the last week, Alabama has been a passenger in this College Football Playoff scenario machine.

That wave culminated on Tuesday night when the Crimson Tide became the winner of the three-time losers (and Miami) at No. 11 in the penultimate CFP rankings.

From there things got complicated.

Such is life when you’re riding shotgun down a road paved with boulders and riddled with trapdoors. Saturday night’s action was a confusing journey down winding paths to what Alabama needed from the ACC Championship.

As SMU fell behind around the clock, the Crimson Tide turned Clemson fans and pulled off an upset win.

When the Mustangs celebrated their dramatic comeback, Alabama had to switch sides. From 17 to a tied game with just seconds left to play, SMU needed to win and did its part.

Suddenly a big Clemson kickoff return, a quick pass and finally a 56-yard field goal.

And phew.

Worst case scenario for Alabama.

Clemson’s 34-31 win on the final play of the game was the last thing the Crimson Tide needed as the 13-member selection committee watched in suburban Dallas.

A stunning SMU loss would have been beneficial for Alabama, especially considering it defeated newly crowned SEC champion Georgia.

But a shocking SMU loss makes hosting the Mustangs untenable for the structure of the playoffs and the conferences that organize them. Eliminating a league game participant who rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter would forever destabilize the already shaky framework built by the commissioners building the playoff structure.

If SMU played the last three quarters like they did in the first, Alabama played all day.

But they didn’t.

This is where the eye test becomes a serious factor and SMU passed it. The Mustangs gained 458 yards to Clemson’s 326. SMU had 28 first downs compared to Clemson’s 18.

SMU is no better than Alabama, but the committee’s decision is pretty forced given the circumstances.

It’s chaotic.

And Alabama still has a dispute that AD Greg Byrne brought up on social media after Saturday’s games.

But that’s the problem with taking the ticket instead of playing the game.

Alabama did this to itself.

This is what happens when you lose at Vanderbilt.

Don’t want to sweat on Saturday to win the championship? Don’t take a 24-3 loss to an Oklahoma team that is 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.

Don’t let this become a debate.

A year ago, Alabama found itself in one of these battles in the final year of the four-team field. After beating Georgia in the SEC Championship, we said the Crimson Tide should beat undefeated Florida State for the final spot with a loss.

The committee agreed that Alabama ultimately lost in overtime of the Rose Bowl semifinals and Florida State had never been the same.

Now the same governing body must evaluate a three-loss, ACC finalist Alabama team that lost its second game Saturday night. The overwhelming sentiment is behind SMU considering how it played while Alabama left its fate in the hands of others.

Alabama will point to its three wins against CFP ranked teams and the fact that SMU is 0-2 against ranked teams. If that were the only data point, the choice would clearly be Alabama.

But slamming the door on SMU puts the future of conference title games in question, and the money they bring in comes into question. Mustang coach Rhett Lashley said this week that there would be no reason for a team ranked in the top 12 to play in a championship game if it could be skipped by an idle team.

This case would have been weaker with a massive loss on Saturday, but SMU’s margin couldn’t have been smaller. There would be a revolution if nuclear-resistant Alabama overtook a team that lost on a 56-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar by just a foot.

SMU could have made it easier, but Alabama got the ticket it paid for.

Now it’s probably about going to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, because that’s what happens when you leave it to others.

The loss in Tennessee was survivable. Vanderbilt and Oklahoma would be one either instead of one And Unless Alabama wanted to play an ugly ACC title game between teams that were middle-of-the-pack in the SEC.

If Alabama wants to remain hopeful, the committee could always make strength of schedule the deciding factor. The fact that Miami had no ranked wins seemed to be the deciding factor when Alabama topped the Hurricanes last week. SMU has the same number of ranked wins.

But if the sport wants to avoid a boycott of the conference championships, SMU will get the last spot.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or further Facebook.