At 7-1, the Alabama Crimson Tide has a reasonable shot at finishing the regular season at 11-1. Even with one more loss, the 10-2 Crimson Tide would be likely to advance to the SEC Championship Game. Whatever happened in Atlanta, Alabama, would make the Playoff field.
The Crimson Tide has three tough regular-season games remaining. Two of them now look tougher than they did a week ago. Don't be misled by the 12.5 point spread favoring Alabama against LSU. LSU will be a harder team to beat without Brian Kelly than it would have been with him.