Alabama can, and does, take a loss and still sneak into the playoffs even if they don’t win the SEC.
I don't think so. There has never been a 2 loss team in the playoffs, including Alabama when they lost to LSU and Auburn in 2019.
Right now Alabama leads their division with a 2-1 conference record. The only teams in their division that could possibly tie a for the division title will play or have already lost to Alabama, so Alabama will win the division as long as they win out the regular season.
So Alabama has to lose another game (including the SEC championship game) to not win the SEC and that second loss would almost certainly eliminate them from the playoffs, unless there are not four appropriate unbeaten or one loss teams available. This is not likely.
So if Alabama wins out including the SEC championship game they will be a one loss SEC conference champion and almost certainly get into the playoffs. Otherwise they almost certainly won't
