The University of Alabama did not achieve its goal of competing for a Southeastern Conference Championship, but an opportunity to make the College Football Playoff in Kalen DeBoer’s first season is still there.
Alabama fans will be glued to television on Tuesday as the CFP Committee makes its deliberation, but DeBoer became the first head coach for the Crimson Tide since Frank Thomas (1931) to win nine games as a first-year coach for the school. He guided the Tide to finishing its regular season the right way with a 28-14 victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.