When the College had Playoff committee chose the SMU Mustangs over the Crimson Tide in the final CFP rankings on Selection Sunday, Alabama had already received one snub.
Was Alabama overlooked once more? Apparently so.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports claims that the Citrus Bowl decided to play the South Carolina Gamecocks at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on December 31 instead of Alabama. Shane Beamer, coach of the Gamecocks, confirmed that South Carolina will play Illinois (9-3).
SEC and Big Ten teams that don’t make it to the College Football Playoff are typically selected for the Citrus Bowl (and previously, the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl) based on bowl seeding and conference tie-ins.
After Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide defeated Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines 35-16 in 2019 thanks to a 21-0 second-half shutout, Alabama advanced to the Citrus Bowl for the third time. Future NFL players Xavier McKinney and Jerry Jeudy played their final game in an Alabama uniform on January 1, 2020.
On New Year’s Day 2011, Alabama travelled to Orlando and trounced Kirk Cousins and the Michigan State Spartans 49–7.
In the Citrus Bowl on January 2, 1995, the Crimson Tide defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 24–17 thanks to a 50-yard touchdown throw from Jay Barker to Sherman Williams with 42 seconds remaining.
Alabama’s remaining bowl games are the Texas Bowl at Houston’s NRG Stadium, the Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, and the ReliaQuest Bowl (previously the Outback Bowl) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
