Reacting to Alabama's No. 5 CFP Ranking

Number five. Number five. Are you serious? Alabama coming in at number five in the first college football playoff poll. I'm stunned. Point blank. I cannot really believe it. I'm still trying to make sure this is real. I saw it come across my screen on ESPN and it's just baffling. I'm standing here in the Coleman Coliseum media room. Alabama basketball just tipped off its season playing Sam Houston State. Right across the hall. So, apologies for any loud noises there. But I had to step away just to react to this because it is incredible. Alabama coming in at number nine in the AP poll. Expecting, you know, pretty similar range in the CFP poll. And I'm watching this and you see, okay, Texas, Ole Miss, those teams come off. And then we get to number nine and I'm just sitting there. I'm waiting for Alabama. Waiting for Alabama. They're not. Selecting Alabama, you get up to number six, and I'm thinking, okay, now at number six, we're either going to have Alabama or Kentucky. A Kentucky team that Alabama beat by 28, and then Kentucky is named, and all of a sudden, a two-loss Crimson Tide team is ranked higher in this first CFP poll than it ever was in the AP poll, even when it was undefeated. Just pretty absurd. Doesn't even need to be said, the highest ranked two loss team in this poll. And it really just shows how favorably the committee views Alabama. Crimson Tide has wins over number 21, South Carolina, number six, Kentucky. Those are the rankings we're going off now because they are the CFP's rankings. Those are the most important rankings now. With the losses coming to number two, Georgia, number 13, Tennessee. You saw, you know, if there were any doubts about how high the SEC schools across the board were going to be ranked, they should be gone now. You saw, you know, really just so many SEC teams near the top of this ranking, all these teams really being valued. But I am honestly a little surprised still that Alabama is the second highest ranked team in the conference in this poll. This tells us that Alabama has the inside track. to be a three loss team in the college football playoff. That's my immediate takeaway. Look at how many teams with two losses are already, you know, in the top 12 of the rankings. It does certainly seem like we are headed for a three loss team in the CFP. Now, and that doesn't even need to be a team that only has three losses because the third loss came in the conference championship game, which was Alabama's case a year ago. I legitimately think Alabama could Lose this game to LSU and have a real shot at still making the college football playoff at 9-3. If you're an Alabama fan and you wanted to see the Crimson Tide in the playoff and you weren't feeling great about this weekend's game, it's still absolutely a must-win. It's still a game that you have to go out and take care of business during, but all of a sudden, I'm starting to think that there might be another pathway to the top 12. You know, these CFP rankings are always cause for controversy, and here we are. Number one of the 2026 season in Alabama is right at the center of that controversy.