Halloween might have ended on Saturday, but Alabama got a special treat on Tuesday night when the first College Football Playoff rankings were released.
Alabama, currently 6-2, was ranked No. 5. The Crimson Tide were the highest-ranked two-loss team. Alabama’s high ranking was a bit of a surprise, and ESPN college football analyst Josh Pate does not believe the Crimson Tide should be No. 5.
“I haven’t met someone who thinks Alabama is properly ranked,” Pate said Thursday on “Get Up”. “A lot of people tend to believe that because they are No. 5, they can safely afford to lose this weekend. I don’t believe that. I think their resume right now rests on a blowout win against present-day No. 6 Kentucky and a blowout win against present-day No. 21 South Carolina. If they lose to LSU, they badly need those teams to keep winning because Alabama’s resume floor is a lot shakier at three losses than the rest of the world, which is mad at the No. 5 ranking right now, tends to believe.”
Alabama Will Have a Hard Time Making the Playoffs With Only Nine Wins
Alabama needs to travel to Baton Rouge on Saturday and secure a win if it hopes to have any chance of making the playoffs. Although the 12-team playoff format is only two years old, a clear trend emerges: no team that has won nine or fewer regular-season games in the Power Four conferences has made the playoffs.
Last season, the Crimson Tide qualified for the playoffs with three losses; however, one of those losses was in the SEC Championship game.
If Alabama can beat LSU, it has a good chance to make the playoffs, as it will have only three games left against teams it should beat: Vanderbilt, Chattanooga and Auburn.
Alabama Was Ahead of Tennessee
One thing that surprised many people on Tuesday was that Alabama ranked No. 5 while Tennessee was ranked No. 13, even though both schools have a 6-2 record and the Volunteers beat the Crimson Tide head-to-head. It was not a fluke win, as Tennessee won 26-10.
Tennessee’s two losses came to No. 7 Texas and No. 21 South Carolina, so it’s not like the Volunteers have bad losses on their resume that should keep them far from Alabama in the ranking.
All of this will work itself out over the next four weeks, as Tennessee has a tough road ahead, hosting No. 6 Kentucky and No. 14 LSU while also going to Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Alabama Gets Reality Check on CFP Ranking Heading Into LSU Game appeared first on HEAVY.
Source: Yahoo Sports
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