Alabama football will be healthier and likely have several starters back for the College Football Playoff.

A handful of starters missed the SEC Championship Game: running back Jam Miller, tight end Josh Cuevas, left guard Kam Dewberry and defensive lineman LT Overton

“I’m optimistic on a lot of these guys,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Sunday.

No. 9 seed Alabama will face No. 8 seed Oklahoma on Friday, Dec. 19 in Norman, Oklahoma in the first round.

“Jam I feel is probably the farthest along, if I really kind of put that in order,” DeBoer said. “I feel really that he’s got a really strong chance of being not just available but ready to go at a level he can compete and do some good things for us.”

Miller leads Alabama with 123 carries for 493 yards and three touchdowns. His pass blocking is also helpful. Miller was seen in a medical boot at the game in Atlanta.

“And Josh would be, he’s on his way,” DeBoer said Sunday. “Kind of just got to keep evaluating with him. I’m holding on to some pretty good hope, but we’ll see. He hasn’t seen our training staff yet today, but every day here now, the next four or five days, they all matter.”

Cuevas became one of quarterback Ty Simpson’s most reliable targets this season before he was injured following the Oklahoma game. He’s missed the past three games with a lower-body injury. Prior to his junior, he caught 30 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns. Cuevas was also wearing a medical boot during the SEC Championship Game.

“Then we’ll continue to evaluate just where LT’s at,” DeBoer said. “And add Kelby Collins to the mix there too with some of their illnesses and stuff like that, that they’re going through.”

Overton was spotted in normal clothes on the sideline at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday. Overton is second on the team with four sacks this season. He also has tallied 33 tackles.

As for Dewberry, the primary starter at left guard this season, DeBoer said postgame he expects Dewberry bak

“So many guys in the last two to three weeks have, even go back to the Oklahoma game, a number of our guys got dinged up,” DeBoer said. “Just grinding through it. Some of the guys, I don’t think, if it was someone else, they probably wouldn’t have played. But our guys wanted to get out there last night and compete and help the team out.”

Finally, Oklahoma will learn its path on Sunday.

The Sooners sat out conference championship weekend knowing that they’ll be on the bracket when the College Football Playoff field is announced (11 a.m., ESPN).

And after Saturday’s events, OU will likely get to play one more game at the Palace. 

Brent Venables’ fourth OU squad — Team 131, he calls them — entered the weekend ranked eighth by the CFP Selection Committee.

The top four teams in the final rankings will each get a bye in the first round of the CFP, and the teams ranked 5-8 will host the lower seeds in a first-round contest. 

Nothing happened Saturday to alter OU’s plans to host. 

How to Watch the College Football Playoff Bracket Reveal

• When: Sunday, Dec. 7
• Time: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Channel: ESPN

BYU was torched by Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship Game, then Georgia overpowered Alabama in the SEC title game in Atlanta. 

The Cougars and the Crimson Tide were the only two teams who had a real chance to jump Oklahoma and force the Sooners to hit the road for their first-round game.

Sunday, OU simply waits to see who they will face in their first College Football Playoff since 2019, and when: the evening of Dec. 19, or sometime on Dec. 20.

The likely opponents come down to Notre Dame, Alabama or Miami, but it is unclear what the committee will do with the Crimson Tide following their emphatic defeat to Georgia.

Read More Oklahoma Football

If Oklahoma stays at No. 8, the Sooners will host the 9-seed in Norman. The winner of the 8-9 contest will likely head to the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals to play the presumptive No. 1 seed, Indiana.

The Hoosiers on Saturday captured their first Big Ten Championship since 1967 and their first outright conference title since 1945 with a victory over No. 1-ranked Ohio State. The Hoosiers improved to 13-0 in Curt Cignetti’s second season in Bloomington. They are quarterbacked by the new Heisman frontrunner, Fernando Mendoza.

The Sooners also have executed something of a rebuild under Venables, albeit a little slower, with their second 10-2 regular-season finish in their last three years and a playoff berth in just their second season as a member of the SEC.

Sunday’s Selection Show is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on ESPN.