After the final College Football Playoffs Rankings reveal Alabama was one of the first teams to be eliminated – leading to questions about whether the Crimson Tide should have been on the field. These also got louder after a first round of blowouts.

But after Tuesday ReliaQuest bowl loss too MichiganAlabama finished the year 9-4. To Danny Kanellit showed that the Tide’s placement was appropriate.

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Kanell appealed to fans and analysts who believed Alabama should have been in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The decision led to questions about the strength of the schedule and other factors, and he called the Tide’s performance on Tuesday evidence that teams have to “earn” a spot in the field.

“People actually thought Bama was one of the top 12 teams in college football,” Kanell wrote on X. “That’s exactly why teams have to earn entry.”

Alabama was one of three three-loss SEC teams competing for final bids to the revamped group. The Crimson Tide started championship week on a bubble, but Clemson’s win SMU meant the Tigers had stolen an offer and walked away Kalen DeBoers Group from outside looking in.

But there were a series of losses in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Both SMU and Indiana narrowly lost and a debate began as to whether these two teams belonged. Tennessee was also thrown out Ohio Stateand Clemson lost to Texas after a rapid increase of 14 points.

“So far, the CFP selection committee has given us some blockbusters,” hosts SEC Network Paul Finebaum wrote on X during the first round. “Notre Dame led 27-3 late against Indiana and Penn State took a 28-0 halftime lead against the bottom team on the committee. Bow.”

The conversation about SMU and Indiana joining the CFP caused quite a stir. Alabama fell out of the final rankings after the Mustangs fell by Clemson in a close ACC Championship, and Indiana’s strength of schedule has been a major point of discussion all year.

According to ESPN’s FPI, Indiana ranked 67th in the country during the regular season, making it the second-weakest of the 12 teams. Only Boise State had an easier schedule at No. 80. SMUMeanwhile, after IU’s game against No. 60 Notre Dame, IU moved on to the first round of the schedule.

That led to a discussion about whether IU and SMU deserved to be on some three-loss SEC teams. Ole Miss, Alabama and South Carolina were among the first teams off the field despite a tougher schedule – they were ranked 33rd, 18th and 13th, respectively, as of Dec. 20, according to ESPN.