deboer.png
Getty Images

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer's attention quickly shifted to the College Football Playoff conversation following Saturday's 28-7 loss to No. 3 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide's third setback of the season.

If Alabama is chosen as one of the selection committee's seven at-large teams, the Crimson Tide will make history as the first three-loss team to do so. Alabama moved ahead of Notre Dame by one spot in the penultimate rankings, but the Tide is in danger of falling out completely with two-loss Miami expected to surge following BYU's loss to Texas Tech.

"You look at the games we played throughout the season, but if you're really looking at this game, it was a 14-point game with 7.5 minutes to go, and we had the ball," DeBoer said. "You look at things that didn't go well. Four short fields. I don't want to take anything away from what Georgia did. Field position battle is part of it. Four short fields. That's a testament to our defense being resilient. One of those touchdowns ... if we're really worried about the score, probably punt it on your own 11, right? 

"But we're here to win an SEC Championship. We're not here ... if you lose by 1, or you lose by more, it's still a loss. That's what I was caring about. We're here to win an SEC Championship. You can't be worried about how much you lose by. That's what it was about. We're here to win. That's how we play. Again, it was a 14-point game with 7.5 minutes to go against a really good team that knows us well and we know them well. I thought our defense did a heck of a job going against them. The one thing we didn't really do is take the ball off them. 

"The one turnover they got helped set up, again, a short field. But that's the way I looked at this game. If this game applies to and takes away from our resume, I don't think that's right. I really don't. I think the precedent has been set. I don't know how you can go into a conference playoff game when you're the No. 1 seed and did all these things throughout the year and playing in this game, against one of the top teams in the country as well, how that can hurt you and keep you out of the playoff when we've done what we have done all year."

Alabama trailed 21-0 after three quarters before its only score of the contest came on Germie Bernard's 23-yard touchdown reception to cap a 91-yard drive in the final frame. The Crimson Tide turned it over on downs on its final two possessions of the game, sandwiched between a scoring drive from the Bulldogs to fuel the blowout.

During his appearance on College GameDay, committee chair Hunter Yurachek said results of conference championship games will impact Sunday's final rankings and made no promise that Alabama was in the field if the Crimson Tide lost to Georgia.

That was the assumption, however, earlier this week when Alabama moved ahead of Notre Dame to No. 9, avoiding the "last team in" designation.

DeBoer harped on injuries playing a role in his team's loss to the Bulldogs, mentioning pass rusher LT Overton and tailback Jam Miller, among others. He said those two players specifically would be ready if "given two weeks," hinting at the committee needing to put Alabama in to see this team at full strength later this month.