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Alabama Suffers Surprise Defeat, Playoff Hopes Shaken
16 Nov
Summary
- No. 11 Oklahoma defeats No. 4 Alabama 23-21
- Alabama's loss hurts its chances of reaching SEC Championship
- Crimson Tide still considered a top playoff contender despite two losses
On November 12th, 2025, the SEC landscape was shaken up as No. 11 Oklahoma defeated No. 4 Alabama 23-21. This result has significant implications for the College Football Playoff picture within the conference.
The win for Oklahoma provides a major boost to its playoff push, while Alabama now faces more uncertainty with only two regular-season games remaining. Despite the loss, the Crimson Tide should still be considered a top contender for an at-large playoff bid, having beaten four ranked SEC teams earlier in the season.
The main consequence of Alabama's defeat is that the team is unlikely to play in the SEC Championship game, and therefore will be unable to secure a first-round bye in the new 12-team playoff format. However, the selection committee is still expected to project the Crimson Tide as an at-large playoff team when the rankings are updated this week.
With two losses, Alabama has joined a group of four SEC teams with that record so far this season. The committee will have some difficult decisions to make in sorting out the playoff positioning of these two-loss squads from the conference.
