It’s never too early to look ahead to next year’s College Football Playoff, even if the first edition of the 12-team postseason just ended.

Good news, Crimson Tide fans, at least one publication has your Alabama team on schedule for a postseason run.

ESPN took a look at what season’s CFP will look like and had this to say about Kalen DeBoer’s team:

“Alabama is in because I’m giving Kalen DeBoer a mulligan,” Bill Connelly writes. “The Crimson Tide suffered a couple of statistically fluky losses while stumbling to 9-4 last season — they averaged 6.1 yards per play against Vanderbilt and Michigan and allowed 4.3 but fell to both teams — and though the Bama offense cratered late in the season, DeBoer’s offensive track record is strong, and he was working with inherited personnel. Bama will have an inexperienced QB in 2025, but everyone should understand each other a bit more, and the talent levels will still be ridiculously high. That gives the Tide the edge over a Florida team with another brutal schedule, a Tennessee team with a rebuilding offense, an A&M team with a rebuilding defense and, well, a rebuilding Ole Miss.”

Check out the criteria ESPN used for the projections.

Alabama’s season ended with a loss to Michigan for the second year in a row. The Wolverines and the Crimson Tide (9-4, No. 11 CFP) met in a College Football Playoff semifinal at last season’s Rose Bowl, with Michigan winning on the way to capturing the national championship.

This season’s 19-13 loss in the ReliaQuest Bowl ended Alabama’s string of 16 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. DeBoer inherited the streak from seven-time national championship-winning coach Nick Saban, who retired after last season.