Bowl projections: Alabama out of playoff field and SEC rival moves in

There’s a line from ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ that goes as follows: ‘Sometimes when you win, you really lose and sometimes when you lose, you really win.’

Alabama won Saturday. But the Crimson Tide are losers this week after being knocked out of the projected College Football Playoff field following their close defeat of South Carolina. Kalen DeBoer’s team now faces the challenge of going to Tennessee in Week 8 and still has trips to LSU and Oklahoma along with a home date against Missouri. Getting through that and the Iron Bowl with just one loss seems optimistic given the performances the past two weeks. The turnaround needs to start in Knoxville.

Taking Alabama’s place is one of those future opponents. LSU’s comeback against Mississippi likely knocked the Rebels out of the picture without an unscathed run the rest of the way. The Tigers still must face that aforementioned game against the Crimson Tide and have a trip to Texas A&M, but they look to be in good shape at the halfway mark of the season.

RE-RANK: Ohio State edges Oregon for No. 1 spot in NCAA 1-134 ranking

Among the notable decisions involving teams already in the projected College Football Playoff, Ohio State retains its place as the Big Ten champion despite a narrow loss to Oregon. The Buckeyes and Ducks appear on the collision course for a second meeting in the conference championship game with Ryan Day’s team a slight favorite should the rematch occur.

Iowa State occupies the Big 12 champion spot, swapping places with Kansas State. The Cyclones were impressive at West Virginia, while the Wildcats needed some late drama to beat Colorado.

Note: Legacy Pac-12 schools in other conferences will fulfill existing Pac-12 bowl agreements through the 2025 season.