The CFP committee just isn't able to quit on Alabama

There's always one person in our lives who we just can't quit on despite knowing we deserve better.

For some, it's a high school flame. Others navigate it through early adulthood. And then there are the 13 people on the College Football Playoff Committee who find themselves in that situation toward the end of November and start of December each year - with the temptress that is Alabama.

For some reason, the committee just can't seem to shake the idea that the Crimson Tide deserve a playoff spot regardless of whether the format includes four teams or 12. For the second straight season, that affinity for Alabama will come at the expense of a school from Florida.

Last year we saw an undefeated Florida State program left out of the playoff for the one-loss SEC champ Crimson Tide. The latter also needed a miracle win against unranked Auburn in the dying seconds of the regular season's final week. The committee's reasoning leaned heavily on the Seminoles losing star quarterback Jordan Travis for the season, though they hadn't lost without his services in the final three games on the schedule.

This year it's Miami that finds itself burdened by the pull of the Crimson Tide, with the 10-2 Hurricanes left behind 9-3 Alabama in the penultimate CFP rankings that dropped Tuesday. The Hurricanes won't jump ahead before Sunday's final rankings as both teams are off during conference championship weekend.

Now, before we pour one out for Mario Cristobal's program, let's acknowledge that it's the Hurricanes' own fault they find themselves at the committee's mercy. Miami simply needed to hold on to the 21-0 lead it built early Saturday on the road at Syracuse to clinch a spot in the ACC title game and essentially guarantee a CFP berth. It failed to do so, eventually losing by four points to send Clemson to face SMU in the conference championship.

That left the door open for the committee to pull some shenanigans, and it delivered once again, dropping Miami six spots for losing on the road to the 9-3 Orange. That's further than previous No. 2 Ohio State fell for scoring just 10 points and losing at home to 7-5 Michigan as a 20.5-point favorite the same day.

So, what's the excuse du jour for the committee to place the Tide ahead of an ACC team this time around?

"Alabama is 3-1 against current top-25 teams and Miami is 0-1. Alabama is 6-1 against teams over .500 and Miami is 4-2," committee chair Warde Manuel explained, per ESPN. "Both teams have had some losses that weren't what they wanted out of those games, but in the last three games, Miami has lost twice. So for us, in evaluating the body of work, we felt that Alabama got the edge over Miami."

Manuel and the committee clearly think that a 6-1 record against teams over .500 is a flex for Alabama. But what about Crimson Tide's other two losses? Two of their three setbacks this year came against teams that are .500 or worse - not exactly the sign of a playoff-worthy juggernaut.

Manuel is right to point out that Miami laid an egg in November with two losses in its last three games. However, those were the Hurricanes' only two defeats on the entire season. Alabama has lost three of its last seven games against FBS competition. Why does a loss on Nov. 9 mean more than one suffered Oct. 19?

There's one common opponent on Miami and Alabama's schedule: South Florida. The Crimson Tide struggled mightily against the Bulls at home in Week 2, taking a narrow 14-13 lead to the fourth quarter before exploding for three touchdowns in the final 5:50 to win 42-16. The Hurricanes shut South Florida out in the second half of their Week 4 contest to win 50-15.

Sure, there's still a chance Alabama is left out of the playoff. The most obvious situation that could lead to that outcome is SMU losing the ACC title game to Clemson and grabbing the last at-large bid at 11-2. However, Manuel even laid some groundwork for the Crimson Tide to survive that scenario as well.

Alabama has shown flashes this season that it can be a dominant team and hang with anyone in the country - most notably the incredible first-half showing against Georgia.

However, the Tide have played to the level - or below - of an inferior opponent too many times this season, and they ended up with their most regular-season losses since 2010. That should have been enough to keep Alabama from the playoff field, but once again the committee showed it just can't quit on the Crimson Tide.