Alabama already won its game this weekend, so the “if Alabama loses today” scenario for the Iron Bowl did not happen; Alabama beat Auburn 27–20 and clinched a spot in the SEC Championship Game vs. Georgia instead.

What the loss would have meant

Before the game, analysts laid out that if Alabama had lost to Auburn, these were the main projected consequences:

• Alabama would have finished the regular season 9–3 with a third loss and been eliminated from reaching the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
• That third loss was expected to drop Alabama out of realistic College Football Playoff contention, with modeling putting their CFP odds in the single digits (around 6%), meaning almost no path to the expanded playoff.

Current reality after the win

Because Alabama won instead of losing, the opposite is now true:

• Alabama is 10–2 and will play Georgia in the SEC title game.
• With the win, Alabama remains firmly in the playoff hunt; a victory over Georgia would all but lock in a CFP spot, while even a close loss leaves them in the committee discussion depending on results elsewhere.