CFP chair Warde Manuel explains why SMU beat out Alabama for final CFP spot

One year after sneaking into the College Football Playoff, Alabama football was left out of the newly formed 12-team CFP.

Entering Selection Sunday on the bubble for the CFP, the Crimson Tide were listed as one of the two ‘first teams out’ in Sunday’s final CFP rankings.

Earning the No. 11 seed over Alabama was SMU, who was upset in the ACC championship game on Saturday by Clemson.

The decision by the CFP selection committee to pick the Mustangs over the Crimson Tide has stirred up quite a debate within the college football circles following the rankings release — perhaps even started in the minutes following SMU’s loss Saturday.

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

Here’s what CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel said on Sunday on why the Mustangs won out the final seeding in the College Football Playoff:

Why did CFP select SMU over Alabama?

Alabama came into Sunday’s rankings with a 9-3 overall but a 5-3 record in SEC play, with two of those losses coming against then-unranked Vanderbilt and unranked Oklahoma. The only ‘ranked’ loss for Alabama came on Oct. 12 against Tennessee, which was given the No. 9 seed in the CFP bracket.

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

Manuel’s main point for SMU edging out Alabama came down to their overall wins, especially the Mustangs 8-0 conference record.

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

‘We value strength of schedule, that’s why Alabama as the three loss team is ranked ahead of other teams that have two losses. It is something that we talk about quite a bit. But in the balance of it in the way SMU played in that (ACC championship) game, losing in the last second field goal, great win by Clemson great game we just felt that in this particular case, SMU still had the nod at 10 above Alabama. But it’s no disrespect to Alabama strength of schedule. It is merely looking at the entire body of work for both teams.’

According to Manuel, who is the athletic director at Michigan, it seemed like the committee rewarded SMU for its comeback attempt Saturday vs. Clemson. Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma in Week 13 eliminated the Crimson Tide out of contention for playing in the SEC championship game.

Later in the interview, Manuel was asked about the message that could have been sent by the CFP committee if Alabama had made the field over SMU and vice versa. If Alabama were to get in, it would have sent the message conference championship games don’t matter though they do for the four first-round byes. But if SMU were to be left out, then there would be the message regarding the strength of schedule built in the non-conference.

‘On the conference side, you can’t control who you play,’ Manuel said on how to balance both messages. ‘You can’t control how those teams will be playing and how highly ranked they will be or not. But what we also value is competition and playing competition in the non-conference, if you schedule that way, or in the conference. We look at who these teams play.

He added: ‘Alabama is (a) three-loss (team). They’re ranked 11th in the country. We have to see them the way we’re asked to see them, but Alabama is the 11th-ranked team in the country with a strong schedule, even with some unranked losses’

SMU (11-2 overall, 8-0 in ACC play) will travel to Penn State in the first-round for a noon ET kick-off on Saturday, Dec. 21 at Beaver Stadium.