It’s really a perfect storm. For all the Bama complaining about how if they just scheduled a softer non-con, they’d be in… scheduling Texas makes sense for them. There was probably like a 95%+ chance that playing that game better positions them for the playoff. Obviously a win would have been huge, and it was very unlikely that a loss would really hurt them if they could run the table. But it was a 95% chance that it would work out for them, not a stone-cold-lock 100% certainty. When you have three undefeated P5 champs for the first time ever (right?) AND the other P5 champ happens to be the team that came to your house and beat you… well, it was a 99% chance it would help them, wasn’t it?