As the final regular college football season wraps up, playoff talks are at large. This season, however, isn’t a bright one for the SEC, especially for Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama and Lane Kiffin‘s Ole Miss, who both finished with 9-3. But there’s another SEC underdog who is on the same level as these two powerhouses—South Carolina. All these teams will finish right outside the 12-team playoff bracket at No. 13, 14, and 15, respectively. But there could be heartbreaks, as a CFB analyst predicts.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt appeared on The Next Round on YouTube on December 3 to give his thoughts on the potential first playoff upset. Shedding light on the CFP committee’s head-to-heads, he said, “I don’t think that South Carolina gets a shot because of the head-to-heads like this committee has just honored… So because of that, I think South Carolina falls by the wayside even if you think that they’re playing better football than the other two right now.”

Even in the playoff debate between Alabama and Ole Miss, Klatt feels that the Crimson Tide could be favored over the Rebels. He added, “I think Alabama wins that argument. [The CFP committee] have shown that they will honor brands and the past as well as head-to-heads. So I think that Alabama would win that argument.” 

Alabama is one of the faces of college football. So as far as the brand is concerned, they have the upper edge. But Klatt also voiced his disillusionment that both these programs have sore unforgettable upsets—Alabama’s humiliating 24-3 loss to Oklahoma and Ole Miss’ 20-17 loss to Kentucky. Not what is expected of a potential playoff team. But it is what it is. While Klatt is debating with Ole Miss and Alabama, another analyst has a clear prediction of who the winner would be. 

Paul Finebaum thinks Alabama fits the bill

Good news for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama. According to Paul Finebaum, it’s the Crimson Tide that has the cut to make it to the playoffs. His response on McElroy and Cubelic summarizes his prediction as he said, “Well, I bounced all over the place with Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss. But in the end, I think Alabama clearly has the better resume.” 

That’s not all. He took this platform to snub Lane Kiffin from the playoff conversation while putting Shane Beamer‘s program in the spotlight. He added, “We know South Carolina is playing better today, and I don’t think Ole Miss is even in the conversation.” Predictions can go on, so what we can do is count down the days to when the committee will drop their final ranking on December 8. Before that, the fifth out of six playoff rankings drops in less than 48 hours, and that will give us a much clearer look at the playoff picture.