"Greg Sankey is going to lose his mind": CFB insider alerts Kalen DeBoer of consequences if Alabama fails to make playoff

Alabama had a legendary run under former coach Nick Saban, but with his retirement, the responsibility of maintaining the Crimson Tide’s status as a perennial national title contender now rests on the shoulders of Kalen DeBoer.

In his first season with the team, Alabama went 9-4 and was in the mix for the college football playoff for most of the year; however, three road losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma pushed the Crimson Tide out of the top 12, finishing just outside the playoff.

On ESPN’s “Get Up” on Friday, college football insiders Paul Finebaum and Heather Dinich discussed what qualifies as a successful 2025 campaign for DeBoer and Alabama.

“Making the College Football Playoff,” Finebaum said. “Everybody in the world knows what happened last year. They missed out with the debacle at the end of the season. (DeBoer) has done an amazing job recruiting. In fact, he’s done it at a level that is very close to what Nick Saban did at times.

"But, if he doesn’t make the playoffs, the pressure will intensify. He won’t be fired. He is still in rather good stead because of the recruiting but he needs to make the CFP.”

Kalen DeBoer. NCAA Football: ReliaQuest Bowl-Alabama at Michigan - Source: Imagn

Dinich added that it’s not just about Alabama, it could also hurt the Southeastern Conference if the team misses out again.

“SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is going to lose his mind because, if (Alabama does) not make the playoff, it’s probably because they’re going to be a three-loss team, which happened last year and, if you remember, Alabama was the committee’s highest-ranked three-loss team, from the SEC,” Dinich said.

“They were excluded because they had to make room for another conference champion.”

Last year, three of the first four teams left out of the playoff had three losses, and all of them were from the SEC. If the Tide does not make the playoff again in 2025, it could hurt the conference’s reputation.

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Kalen DeBoer’s team’s chances at the 2025 natty

According to ESPN’s FPI, Alabama ranks fourth in its chances (10.4%) to win the national championship in the upcoming season, behind Ohio State, Georgia and Texas.

Betting site FanDuel gives the team +1000 odds to win the national title, while BetMGM has it at +1500.

Alabama has the third-best recruiting class in the country, with 30 commits, including five-star quarterback Keelon Russell, who is expected to replace Jalen Milroe, now in the NFL. Kalen DeBoer also has offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb by his side, which should help keep the offense strong.

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