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Sugar Bowl destination good or bad for Alabama? Arguments could be made for each
By Cody McClure
Published:
ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM host Mark Packer said on Monday he was “disgusted” about a situation in which the College Football Playoff committee “whiffed.”
Packer didn’t deny that Alabama was championship material. He thought the Crimson Tide — as well as Ohio State — were worthy of competing for a title. He didn’t seem to mind that the Tide got the nod over the Buckeyes.
He thought, however, that Alabama was, perhaps, unfairly rewarded based on geography.
“Here’s where the committee whiffed — Alabama gets in at No. 4. Terrific, no problem,” Packer said. “But here’s Alabama’s punishment, since we knew Clemson, Oklahoma and Georgia had truly played themselves in as champions of their league and had resumes that were better than Alabama’s.
“They’ve (Alabama) got the weakest resume,” Packer added. “They have no division crown. They have no championship. They had an open date while everybody else had to play great, championship football. And their punishment is to travel 293 miles to the national semis. It’s the shortest distance that anyone has to travel to go play national semifinal football.”
Packer has a point that Alabama doesn’t have to travel far for its national semi. And yes, the Tide would have a geographic advantage there. But has he seen some of Alabama’s results in New Orleans?
If Atlanta is Alabama’s second home, New Orleans has been its worst nightmare at times.
The Crimson Tide has lost three consecutive Sugar Bowls — to Utah (2008), Oklahoma (2013) and Ohio State (2014 playoff) — in Nick Saban’s tenure.
Believe it or not, Nick Saban has lost 3 straight Sugar Bowls. Will Clemson make it 4? #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/JBDMA7P2ch
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) December 4, 2017
Though, it is worth noting Alabama also defeated LSU 21-0 for a national championship in New Orleans in 2011.
Here are Packer’s full comments, courtesy of a video posted on Twitter by @ESPNUonSiriusXM:
.@MarkPacker has no issue with #Alabama playing in the @CFBPlayoff. However, did the selection committee do them a favor? pic.twitter.com/FW1ig0H0ai
— ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM (@ESPNUonSiriusXM) December 4, 2017
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
