The Alabama football program may have been dealt a playoff-missing blow on Saturday evening with a 24-3 road loss vs. the Oklahoma Sooners. Essentially, nothing went right for the Tide in this game, including a disastrous performance from quarterback Jalen Milroe.

Last year, Alabama was able to sneak into the college football playoff thanks to a controversial decision by the committee to leave out the undefeated Florida State Seminoles, but with three losses now on this new season, it will be tough for the Tide to convince voters that they are worthy, even in the new 12-team format.

Recently, former Alabama football head coach Nick Saban took to ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show to explain why.

“It’s hard to reward a team with three losses, especially the kind of losses that a team like Ole Miss had and like Alabama’s had to pretty average teams,” said Saban. “Where you know you’ve got some other teams that maybe they didn’t play the same competition, but they didn’t lose games to average teams either, so I think that matters.

“The only team that can have an argument to get in with three losses is if Georgia actually plays in the SEC Championship game, they really shouldn’t be penalized if they lose the game.”

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Indeed, the Georgia Bulldogs are expected to make the playoff (assuming they beat Georgia Tech on Friday night) regardless of their result in the SEC Championship Game, which will take place on December 7th against either Texas or Texas A&M depending on the outcome of their matchup on Saturday.

Saban likely isn't thrilled with the direction that the legendary program he helped build has taken since his departure. Alabama is likely looking at its fourth-straight season without a national title, which is quite a lot in Tuscaloosa. The class of 2025 will be the first in a while to go through their four years of college without celebrating a championship.

Of course, there is still time for more chaos to unfold, and one thing that the committee has made certain over the years is that marquee programs like Alabama football tend to get the benefit of the doubt.

Still, Crimson Tide fans probably shouldn't hold their breath.