Why Alabama should make the College Football Playoff regardless of SEC Championship Game result

Sure, No. 9 Alabama would love to win Saturday's SEC Championship Game and potentially lock in a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff with another victory over Georgia. But the Crimson Tide's résumé already speaks for itself, and barring a blowout loss to the Bulldogs, Alabama should already be making plans for its first trip to the bracket under second-year coach Kalen DeBoer.

When you secure a title game spot in the nation's toughest conference, it usually means something in the playoff picture. Alabama's lone loss against SEC competition came in early November at Oklahoma, a 23-21 result in which the Crimson Tide gave it away with three turnovers after outgaining the Sooners by 194 yards and dominating time of possession.

The selection committee's decision to bump Alabama to No. 9 ahead of Notre Dame on Tuesday was a positive development and, according to chair Hunter Yurachek, stemmed from the Crimson Tide leading by 17 points in the first half at Auburn before prevailing with precise execution late.

See? Not all quality wins come against ranked competition in the eyes of the committee, and that was revealing this week. There was some concern around Alabama that a loss to Georgia in Atlanta could put the committee in a difficult spot late Saturday and into Sunday morning when final rankings are made had the Tide remained No. 10 -- the "last team in" designation.

These metrics heading into the SEC Championship Game, along with Alabama's updated ranking, should offer the Crimson Tide faithful a sigh of relief.

Alabama by the numbers

Peep the metrics. Do you see any bad numbers that stick out? By comparison, the only programs ahead of Alabama in every category -- outside of strength of schedule -- are Oregon, Ohio State and Indiana, the latter two are unbeaten ahead of a showdown in the Big Ten Championship.

Alabama ranks No. 1 in game control among SEC teams in playoff contention, No. 1 in strength of schedule and No. 2 in overall efficiency (Vanderbilt leads at 85.8). There's a lot to like about the Crimson Tide. The only real drawback is the "bad" loss to Florida State -- something the committee referenced in early November but hasn't emphasized since.

The committee has also mentioned Alabama's lack of a rushing attack, which became noticeable during the second half of the season as the Crimson Tide struggled to control the line of scrimmage. Ironically, Alabama made it a point to establish the run in the Iron Bowl, finishing with 158 yards on 38 attempts. It wasn't eye-popping, but it was considerably better than the team's season average entering the game (13th in the SEC).

Alabama snapped Georgia's nation-leading 33-game home winning streak in September, handed Missouri its first loss of the season with a healthy Beau Pribula and is one of the few teams in the country to quiet Heisman frontrunner Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt, holding the Commodores to just 14 points in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 4.

The committee grades teams from start to finish, with data points stacking as the weeks pass. Outside of the loss to Oklahoma, no SEC team has been more consistent since Week 2 than Alabama, and the Crimson Tide will have a chance to reinforce that this weekend.

However, even if Kirby Smart beats Alabama for only the second time in nine tries with the Bulldogs, the Crimson Tide should still be a playoff lock.