Will No. 1 Mississippi State remain playoff contender after loss?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama finds itself in control of the SEC West and as the SEC's top contender for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Now what for Mississippi State?

The Bulldogs will drop from No. 1 in the playoff rankings after losing 25-20 to No. 5 Alabama. The question is how far the selection committee drops Mississippi State and, based on plenty more games around the country, whether it still has a legitimate shot at making the College Football Playoff as a second SEC team.

We've yet to see how the committee evaluates a loss by its No. 1 team. Last week, committee chairman and Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said the committee felt Mississippi State 'was clearly the top ranked team.' Such is the delicacy of providing weekly rankings and comments when all that matters is Dec. 7. How is Mississippi State impacted by a five-point loss on the road to the No. 5 team in a game Alabama controlled more than the final score suggests?

'I don't know what they're judging it off of,' Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said Saturday night. 'I think we're the only team that played four top-10 teams and we're 3-1 against those top-10 teams. So if it's on strength of schedule, absolutely not, I imagine we'll still be in the hunt. If it's on something else, I can't tell you what they're talking about behind closed doors there.'

Mississippi State has wins over then-No. 8 LSU (now 17th), then-No. 6 Texas A&M (now 24th), and No. 2 Auburn (now ninth). The Bulldogs still have a chance for another top-10 win on Nov. 29 at No. 10 Ole Miss.

'It's just mind-boggling anybody could look at the SEC West schedule and question that schedule,' Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said earlier this week. 'I imagine anyone who questions it is not currently residing in the SEC West. What we've done through the first nine games, obviously the committee thinks we've had the best resume in the country right now.'

The debate figures to center in part on Mississippi State playing a weak nonconference schedule with wins over Southern Miss (3-8), UAB (5-5), South Alabama (5-4), and Tennessee-Martin (5-6). Also, Mississippi State will have played weak cross-divisional opponents from the East in Kentucky (5-6) and Vanderbilt (3-7).

Mississippi State and Baylor are the only teams ranked in the top nine by the committee that didn't schedule at least one Power 5 opponent out of conference. Long previously cited Baylor's strength of schedule as a reason it's currently behind TCU despite a head-to-head win by Baylor over TCU.

'I think the committee is going to compare your schedule. I don't think they're going to compare parts of your schedule,' Stricklin said. 'If they compare our schedule, I think after 12 games, our schedule is going to be pretty good. I stand by that.'

Starting in 2016, the SEC is requiring every team play at least one nonconference opponent from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or Pac-12. Mississippi State essentially scheduled this season to be bowl-eligible. It has future games against Kansas State, N.C. State and Arizona.

Mississippi State entered Saturday tied with No. 2 Oregon and No. 4 TCU for the national lead in number of wins over teams with an above-.500 record (six). TCU survived with a 34-30 win over Kansas (3-7) on Saturday.

'Is a close win against a team that's in the lower part of your league on the road, is that as impressive as this?' Stricklin asked rhetorically, referring to Mississippi State's loss to Alabama. 'I don't think so. We've got good football people on the committee. They'll make good decisions.'

It's worth noting: Mississippi State's SEC championship hopes are not done yet. An Alabama loss to Auburn on Nov. 29 opens the door for Mississippi State, which still plays Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.

'I know we are (still alive for the playoff),' Mississippi State running back Josh Robinson said. 'We just have to win out, play Mississippi State ball and we'll be fine. They always thought we was out of it from day one. We've always been the underdog so we just have to climb back up to the top.'

Maybe Mississippi State remains in contention. But no one knows how the committee will evaluate a loss by No. 1. And no one knows how Mississippi State will react to its first loss.

'It's a feeling I can't even explain to you right now,' Mullen said. 'Unless you've been out there on the field and you've been a part of it, you have no idea what I'm talking about and that sickness in your stomach and that feeling. But you should embrace that feeling because we want to make sure that doesn't happen again.'

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