ESPN analyst identifies where Alabama must improve to make CFP

ESPN analysts see Alabama as a potential candidate to make it into the College Football Playoff, but improvements must be made for the team to have postseason success.

There’s been a lot of talk about potential culture issues at Alabama, and outside of that, the Crimson Tide have played some very suspect defense as of late. If there’s anything particularly major that’s holding the team back at the dawning of the Kalen DeBoer era, it’s that.

Alabama went on a tear against Georgia as the Tide looked to boat race the Bulldogs judging by the way things were shaping up at halftime, but they also nearly allowed one of the biggest comebacks of the season before all was said and done with.

ESPN analyst Sam Echo sees a glaring problem there and beyond.

“We saw that Alabama’s defense, for lack of better terms, collapsed in that second half. Against Vanderbilt, they didn’t play great. Now, South Carolina. You’re seeing it consistently. The defense needs to improve significantly if they want to compete in the SEC for an SEC title.”

.@TheSamAcho says Bama's defense needs to step it up to be CFP contenders in the SEC pic.twitter.com/GEwIsXNjzu

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 15, 2024

With so many one-loss teams, the SEC looks incredibly shaken up this year and it’s going to be a tight race. It wasn’t long ago that Alabama was considered the best team in the nation, but it could be far from that by the time all is said and done with this season.

Crissy Froyd

Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.