Sports
Alabama snubbed? The Crimson Tide’s case for Playoff inclusion was better than some admit
Taking up the cause for Alabama and the SEC feels like going to bat for Apple or Amazon. It’s fighting for a tax break for Elon Musk or Warren Buffet. It’s rushing to the defense of the biggest bully on the block the one time somebody gets in a shot that knocks him to his knees.
Yet here I am, making the case for the Crimson Tide as the team the College Football Playoff selection snubbed from the first 12-team field.
I do like having an ally in the greatest coach of all time. ESPN’s Nick Saban, dressed in a crimson jacket on the selection show, tried to avoid sounding like a shill for the program he spent 17 years running, but his stance came through loud and clear.
“All wins are not the same as other wins,” Saban said during ESPN’s excruciatingly long lead-in to revealing the bracket Sunday. “In other words, what we’ve always done publicly in college is look at record. We don’t look at strength of schedule. We don’t look at all those types of things.”
This is a left-brain (analytical thinking), right-brain (emotional processing) deal.
If the committee truly had looked at “those types of things,” if this was more of a data-driven process, Alabama would be in the Playoff instead of SMU.
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Strength of schedule metrics vary, but most come to a similar conclusion about Alabama and SMU. The Crimson Tide’s schedule was more rigorous. ESPN’s FPI has Alabama playing the 18th toughest schedule and SMU the 57th toughest.
Most power rankings, which are forward-looking analytics, have Alabama ahead of SMU. The Athletic’s own modeler, Austin Mock, would have Alabama as a six-point favorite on a neutral field against SMU.
Years of recruiting rankings will tell you Alabama has one of the most talented rosters in the country and that the SEC is where the most good football players can be found. The SEC got three teams (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee) in the bracket, one fewer than the Big Ten and one more than the ACC.
“As someone with access to college tape and staff of 11 former NFL scouts that logged hundreds of hours evaluating this CFB season, it’s easy to see why SEC coaches are upset with the final playoff bracket,” Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy posted on X. “Based strictly off future NFL talent, Alabama, South Carolina, & Ole Miss (and you can even throw in Florida, Texas A&M, and LSU for that matter) are all easily in Top-12.”
I get it. Alabama always seems to get the nod from the selection committee. When in doubt, go with the team that made the CFP eight times in 10 years when it was a four-team format — and won it three times.
Even last year, the committee bypassed unbeaten Florida State — because it lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury — in favor of one-loss Alabama.
Do we really need to give the benefit of the doubt to the worst Alabama team in almost two decades, one that lost games to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, both of which would not have been bowl-eligible if they hadn’t beaten the Tide? Most Alabama fans don’t even think their team had a good year.
Left brain or right brain?
How much did rallying around SMU have to do with the Mustangs’ story — a four-decade climb back from the NCAA death penalty — more than their resume? It sure would have felt awful to keep them out of the Playoff after they lost the ACC Championship Game on what will go down as one of the greatest, clutchest kicks in the history of college football by Clemson’s Nolan Hauser.
“When the announcement happened, honestly, I got emotional, just because I’m so happy for our kids,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said on ESPN. “They’ve worked so hard. They’ve won 22 games in the last two years. They laid it all on the line last night. We lost heartbreaking at the end to a great opponent.”
The Mustangs put the committee in a difficult position and exposed a glaring flaw in the system, adding to the reasons the CFP needs to do away with its weekly in-season rankings during the season’s final month.
So much talk heading into conference championship weekend was about how much a team should be penalized for losing a title game. The committee’s answer was resounding: not much. Texas, Penn State and SMU all lost their conference title games. All were very competitive. None dropped more than two spots from last week’s rankings.
The rankings show is just that: a show. Content that helps get people talking about the Playoff in November. There is value to that. It is understandable that the conference commissioners who run the CFP would want to control the process instead of letting fans use the AP Top 25 to speculate about what the Playoff race looks like down the stretch.
“I do believe it’s good for us to release our ranking, because our ranking is out there and competes with two others, the AP and the coaches,” committee chairman Warde Manuel said. “So I think it’s important, since they release a weekly ranking, that at the appropriate time in the season … that we release how we’re thinking so people are not surprised in analyzing and trying to figure out how the committee is thinking about things.”
The chairman has a talking point that the committee starts each week with a blank sheet of paper when it begins ranking teams.
But Manuel also said last week that teams not playing on championship weekend were done being evaluated. They could move around based on the movement of other teams that were playing for league titles, but the order of teams such as Alabama, Miami, South Carolina, etc., was set.
Saban pointed out the problem with SMU and Alabama was SMU entering the weekend ahead in the first place, and maybe he’s right. SMU should have been playing its way into the field instead of playing its way out in the ACC Championship Game, he said.
“Playing in (the SEC), and I played in this conference for over 20 years, and when you have to go play Tennessee, then you have to go play LSU, then that team that you play next, now you might be more vulnerable to,” Saban said.
Saban, Greg Sankey, the SEC and Alabama don’t make for the most sympathetic victims, nor should they be viewed that way.
Defending them all feels like demanding that the spoiled kid who seems to have all the toys also gets a pony — or in this case, the Ponies’ spot in the Playoff.
But it’s hard not to admit that when you crunch the numbers, they have a point.
(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
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When will Team USA lose in the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Or, will it not lose at all?
Let’s check out the odds for the Americans’ stage of elimination at FanDuel Sportsbook, as of June 11.
Team USA — Stage of elimination odds
Last 32: +170 (bet $10 to win $27 total)
Last 16: +220 (bet $10 to win $32 total)
Group stage: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Quarterfinals: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Semifinals: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Runner-up: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Outright winner: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
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The outlook appears to be … ho-hum?
If the odds ring true, the Americans are expected to make it out of the group stage but fall in the first knockout stage game.
How would that result stack up against previous results? Well, at the 2022 World Cup, Team USA made it to the Round of 16, which was viewed as a stellar accomplishment.
The U.S. men’s national team currently has 60-1 odds to lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy this summer (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
In 2018, the USA did not qualify for the World Cup, and in 2014 and 2010, the Americans also made it to the Round of 16. Their best result this century occurred in 2002, when the Americans made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated.
In 1998, Team USA lost in the group stage, in 1994, it fell in the Round of 16, and in 1990, it also fell in the group stage.
With the expanded World Cup format, 32 teams will advance to the knockout stage (out of 48), giving teams a much better chance of getting out of the group stage than in previous tournaments. In past years, only 50% of the field advanced to the knockout round, but now 66.6% of teams will move on.
With that being said, anything less than a knockout round appearance on home soil would be viewed as a major failure this summer for Team USA.
The second result on the oddsboard is the “Last 16,” meaning the USA would make it out of the group stage and win one knockout stage game, before falling in the second knockout stage game. The third result is that the Americans failed to make it out of the group stage, and the fourth is that they made it to the quarterfinals, meaning they won two knockout stage games.
Making the semis, losing in the championship game and winning the championship are the three results with the longest odds.
The U.S. begins its World Cup journey on Friday as the Stars and Stripes face Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium. Getting off to a fast start in the group is crucial for the team’s World Cup dreams of making a deep run this summer.
PITTSBURGH — The Dodgers couldn’t have asked for better timing, as Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff spot came back around.
They were clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning against the Pirates on Thursday. With one out and runners on first and second, the Dodgers superstar, who had already reached base four times, was due up.
Instead, Santiago Espinal stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter.
Ohtani left the game with inflammation in his left knee, the Dodgers announced. They did not immediately offer an explanation for the injury.
Before leaving, Ohtani hit a solo home run — his second homer in as many games — a single and drew two walks.
It was an impressive performance, coming a day after he took on two-way duties. On the mound Wednesday, he allowed three earned runs in 6⅔ innings.
Earlier in the game Thursday, Dodgers starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited with a bruised right hamstring, the team said.
The fifth inning had already begun to spiral on him. After throwing four scoreless innings, he surrendered two solo home runs to Rafael Flores Jr. (the first of his major-league career) and Brandon Lowe.
Then Bryan Reynolds hit a line-drive comebacker off Wrobleski’s leg. The ball ricocheted to the edge of the infield grass, where first baseman Freddie Freeman picked it up.
Wrobleski was already racing toward first base. But after turning to catch the throw, he missed the base and stumbled backward into Reynolds, who tripped over Wrobleski’s extended left foot.
Wrobleski limped away, and an athletic trainer followed him, circling back to the mound. But as he was setting up to throw a warm-up pitch, manager Dave Roberts came out to make a pitching change.
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Seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry has some simple advice for Caitlin Clark: Fight back.
Horry, 55, was asked about the criticism the Indiana Fever star has gotten for complaining to the referees, and Horry said Clark needs to protect herself.
“You think about when you when you’re the best, everybody want to knock you out. And I think a lot of people are going after her and for me, just play the game,” Horry told Fox News Digital at The World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party Blue Carpet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark waits for play to resume during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 28, 2026. (David Gonzales/Imagn Images)
“Some other players around the league didn’t protect themselves, and the (harassment) went on, so my best advice (for) her is protect yourself. Don’t let nobody try to punk you.”
Horry played with Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and cited him as an example of a player who fought back.
“I think I (played) with one of the greatest players (in) Shaquille O’Neal, he got hammered. I know he’s bigger and stronger than Caitlin, but he got to a point where he just started fighting back. You know, someone (elbowed him), you elbow him back.”
Clark has taken some hard fouls during her three seasons in the WNBA, with many fans wondering if the treatment from her competitors is intentional. The 24-year-old frequently pleads her case to the referees after contact, which has drawn the ire of fans who say she complains too much.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever reacts after a foul was called during the first half against the Portland Fire at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on May 30, 2026. (Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)
Fever fans at least weren’t complaining when Clark buried a game-winning 3-pointer to help secure a 78-76 win over the Washington Mystics on Monday. Clark had 19 points, five assists and three rebounds in the win.
The Fever have had a tumultuous start to the season, but are over .500 at 6-5. In 10 games, Clark has averaged 18.7 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Horry played in the NBA for 16 seasons. He began his career with the Houston Rockets, spending four and a half seasons with them and being a key part of their championship-winning teams in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The Alabama native was then traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he spent half a season before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Robert Horry and Candice Horry pose on the blue carpet for the World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on June 9, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Horry was a key contributor during the Lakers’ three-peat from 1999-2001 and earned his third, fourth and fifth career NBA titles. After spending seven seasons with the Lakers, Horry joined the Spurs, where he won two more championships in 2004-05 and 2006-07.
In 16 seasons, Horry averaged 7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
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