Last week, looking ahead to a visit by playoff hopeful Alabama to an inconsistent, unpredictable LSU team, I wrote that the Tigers winning would ensure an unprecedented outcome in the SEC West. If Ole Miss didn't win out and make the College Football Playoff (which has never happened), the division would either miss the playoff entirely (which has never happened) or give the playoff a two-loss participant (which has never happened).
Well, now we're through the looking glass. For the second time this season, the Crimson Tide were taken down in a spectacular back-and-forth showdown, one that felt more like a heavyweight title match than a football game. Brian Kelly maneuvered his Tigers through a sluggish first half, played risky down the stretch as Alabama's offense woke up, and bet it all on Jayden Daniels for a two-point conversion in overtime. Alabama now has two losses before the Iron Bowl for the first time since LSU's last home win over them, a day under 12 years prior.
November is a month of the unexpected—as we also saw when Georgia took top-ranked Tennessee apart in comprehensive fashion and when Notre Dame beat up Clemson's NFL-bound defensive line, putting two teams' previously-solid CFP hopes on life support. Suddenly, TCU is in playoff position, LSU has firmly cemented itself in the chase, and the Pac-12 has three teams in play at 8-1. There are realistic playoff scenarios for almost all of the top 15 (yes, even Alabama and Ole Miss, just in case they still find a way to Atlanta), and one could dream up scenarios where 7-2 Penn State, Illinois, or Washington win out and make a convincing case amid further chaos. But in four weeks, all but four will be forgotten, and the field will be set.
Which remaining playoff chances—from those who control their destiny, such as Georgia and Ohio State, to those that need more magic down the stretch, such as those two-loss hopefuls down the rankings—will be dashed this week? Someone will emerge as the final challenge to LSU's coronation as Alabama and Ole Miss face off, while the Tigers themselves must avoid an upset in a visit to rival Arkansas. Elsewhere, Oregon and North Carolina need to win out down the stretch as they face some of their toughest competition, and Tulane has a chance to solidify their frontrunner status in the hunt for the Group of 5's top bowl bid. The remaining field, for both the CFP and for other opportunities at postseason glory, is bound to narrow, but who will survive and advance this week?