The committee is a moving target year-to-year so it’s hard to speak w/ any convention as to their criteria week-to-week much less annually. They DID hang their hat on “Conference Championship game participants will not be punished due to a loss” a year ago. This season, and in the past week, Yormark specifically has played it close to the vest in interviews revealing almost nothing to give the public an inside look at committee criteria down the stretch so all we can do is guess. If it’s the eye test, Bama’s finish vs OU, Auburn, & Georgia didn’t exactly light the world on fire. But in a world of speculation, one can only wonder what ACTUALLY tips the scales…..eye test? good matchups for TV ratings? Who knows, but I would bet the committee, already staring at Tulane & James Madison ruining 2 of the 4 1st round matchups, doesn’t want to flirt with a 3rd choosing BYU over Alabama