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Pat McAfee Draws Outrage From 'College GameDay Crowd' For Crude Joke About Alabama

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Dec 7, 2024 11:07 AM ET

The selection committee for the College Football Playoff has one scenario on Saturday that could cause significant chaos for the final rankings on Sunday.

No. 8 SMU (11-1) is set to play No. 17 Clemson (9-3) in the ACC Championship Game Saturday night. With a win, the Mustangs would clinch a playoff spot and likely a first-round bye. However, a loss to the Tigers would give Clemson an automatic CFP Berth, with the committee needing to decide between SMU and No. 11 Alabama for an at-large bid.

Michigan athletic director and CFP committee member Warde Manuel said during his appearance on ESPN's "College GameDay" Saturday morning in Atlanta that the playoff seeding order was set for teams not playing in a conference championship game. Alabama currently holds the lowest at-large seed.

Pat McAfee took that to mean that SMU has a good chance of staying ranked ahead of Alabama, even if the Mustangs lose to Clemson on Saturday night. If that's the case, the Crimson Tide would be left out of the CFP.

"Then you have to wonder about Alabama because I think Warde just said there, didn't want to give you an answer, but he said if you're not playing in the last week, we're not going to reseed you," McAfee said.

"Well, SMU would be ranked above Alabama, so you would think if Clemson comes in, SMU just falls into this spot right here (Alabama's at large seed), and Alabama can roll tide their (expletive) right out of the 12-team playoff. I don't love it, but that's kinda what Warde has been alluding to."

The SEC crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (the site of the SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Texas) booed McAfee after he suggested Alabama could fall out of the playoff in favor of what would be an 11-2 ACC team. Fans started to chant "SEC" in solidarity with Alabama, a conference program.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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