Actually, the Crimson Tide are probably fine. With no teams other than Georgia unscathed in the conference, Alabama’s narrow loss to the Bulldogs won’t damage the body of work.
That is, of course, as long as the Tide handle the remainder of what looks to be a manageable slate compared to other contenders. Yes, we know Auburn is a rivalry game and weird things can happen, and there are road dates at Tennessee and LSU. But there’s no Ole Miss and no Texas on the docket.
Ten wins would all but guarantee a playoff bid, and 11 would probably earn the Tide a rematch with the Bulldogs in Atlanta that would give the winner a first-round bye. Tide faithful are understandably chagrinned with Saturday’s ending, but the overall outlook for the team hasn’t appreciably changed.
