The College Football Playoff is no pharmacy, but it's now distributing pills for the first-loss hangover. And either the Georgia or Alabama fan base will be filling the prescription on Sunday morning. Ask any rabid fan of the sport what the Sunday after a first loss has felt like in the past, and they'll describe a stay-in-bed level of misery, unique to any other ailment, that's accompanied by a dark cloud that can hover for the balance of the season. Now, however, the playoff doors are open to 12 schools.

Take two of these and call me in the morning.

At its core, that's the effect of the CFP's new 12-team field; a single loss isn't anywhere near as damaging to a team's national championship hopes as it used to be. In fact, at least for power conference schools, it's not damaging at all. And that's why Saturday's Alabama-Georgia game, while still a thrilling matchup, doesn't carry the high stakes it would have in past years.

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Pit Alabama and Georgia in the SEC title game with two losses each, on the other hand, and you've probably got a playoff spot on the line. Those are serious stakes. This Saturday? It's more about bragging rights and, of course, maintaining an inside track on a berth in the SEC title game.

For now, where playoff entry is concerned, consider three losses as the new two losses.

That's a mild oversimplification, but it ultimately might prove pretty close to accurate. Two losses was disqualifying in a four-team playoff field; no two-loss team ever made the four-team CFP in its 10 years of existence. In the new 12-team playoff, three losses might or might not be disqualifying, but that third L will certainly place any program — even elite ones — in grave danger of missing out. If a team's highest-quality win comes against its fourth-toughest opponent, its resume isn't likely to stack up well against the CFP selection committee's other options. And lest anyone forget, the 12-team field will include an automatic qualifier from a Group of Five conference champion, certain to have fewer than three losses, which will have the effect of crowding the back end of the field for a three-loss candidate. For the power conferences, it's a battle for 11 spots. Ten if Notre Dame nabs one of them. And that's not a very big window for a three-loss squad.

Last year, by way of example, the December CFP rankings that set the playoff field didn't include any three-loss teams ranked in its top 12. And there wasn't even a Group of Five school among them. The year prior, however, there was some three-loss daylight; with three losses each, Utah and Kansas State were ranked 8th and 9th, respectively, in the CFP's determinative field.

There will certainly be a lot to gain for Saturday's Alabama-Georgia winner. A big feather in the quality win cap, to be sure, and a stronger position to claim one of the top eight playoff spots that will either get a first-round bye, or play a first-round game at home. But for the loser, it won't be catastrophic, and there will be plenty of time and opportunity to recover for a playoff berth.

The first-loss hangover is a thing of the past.

And the 12-team playoff is the cure.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Alabama-Georgia football stakes aren't as high as they once were