On Tuesday night the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings were revealed and Alabama was a primary beneficiary.
The playoff committee dropped the Miami Hurricanes six spots in the rankings following the team’s loss to Syracuse over the weekend. As a result, the Hurricanes were placed one spot behind the Crimson Tide, who appear to have the final playoff spot on lock – if SMU beats Clemson this weekend.
If the Mustangs lose to the Tigers, playoff committee chairman Warde Manuel already opened the door for Alabama to sneak into the playoffahead of what would be an 11-2 SMU team, with two losses to top 25 teams.
Just hours after the good news, though, Alabama suffered a recruiting setback
On Wednesday morning four-star running back Jace Clarizio announced he’s signing with Michigan State after committing to Kalen DeBoer and the Tide. His recruitment has been an interesting ride after initially committing to Michigan State in May.
He went on to visit Tuscaloosa when former Michigan State assistant coach Chris Kapilovic put out a call in early November. After visiting the program the weekend of Nov. 16, Clarizio remained committed to the Spartans, but told 247Sports that Alabama “caught his attention.”
Just a week later, he flipped his commitment to the Crimson Tide … but appears to have had a change of heart just another week later.
On National Signing Day, Clarizio opted to stay close to home to play for head coach Jonathan Smith at Michigan State.
“Staying home,” he told recruiting insider Hayes Fawcett.
