Alabama Football: Power shifts 10 weeks into CFB season

The biggest change for CFB week 10 is not Alabama football perched as the nation’s No. 1 team.

Ten weeks into the CFB season, Alabama Football is ranked No. 1 again. In the last 13 college football seasons, the Alabama Crimson Tide has, at some point, been ranked No. 1. Such rankings continuity by the Tide is no surprise to Alabama football fans and many others across the college football world. The Crimson Tide got 55 first-place votes in the latest Coaches Poll, followed by Notre Dame with four. The spread was even wider in the AP Poll with the Crimson Tide getting 59 first-place votes to two for the Irish.

Much of everything else in college football shows power shifting. It is happening inside the SEC and nationally. Game rosters adjusted for COVID is one reason. Notre Dame might not have upset Clemson with Trevor Lawrence as the Tigers’ QB. Other teams, including Georgia, had weakened rosters in CFB week 10.

There is more going on than roster fluctuations. It appears college football is changing. That cannot be known for sure until a post-COVID college football world, but for now, change is evident.

Power Shifting in the SEC

On Saturday, change was clear, not just by the Florida Gators beating the Georgia Bulldogs. Greater impact came from how the Gators won. Florida did not need a second-half to take down the Bulldogs. The game was over in the second quarter. The mighty Bulldogs defense was shredded by 571 yards of Florida offense. In defeat, the Dawg’s passing attack (and quarterbacking) was inadequate.

The second-best team in the SEC is either the Gators or the Aggies. It certainly is not Georgia or LSU. Arkansas is the biggest, good news in the SEC. With a correctly officiated game against Auburn, the Razorbacks would be 4-2. It is not a stretch to argue the Razorbacks are the third-best team in the SEC West. The only other SEC team with a winning record is Auburn at 4-2, but two of those wins are suspect.

Power Shifting Nationally

Much more is changing nationally than the Fighting Irish beating Clemson in overtime. Indiana is a better team than Michigan. So probably, is Northwestern. Maryland destroying a now 0-3 Penn State team in State College was an unexpected surprise. The Nittany Lions were favored by nearly four touchdowns and lost by 16 points.

What signals power shifting more than anything, is the possible Playoff-legitimacy of BYU and Cincinnati. The Cougars and the Bearcats cannot be left out of conversations about the final CFB Playoff field. In the latest ESPN College Football Playoff Predictor, nine teams have a 10 percent or greater chance to make the Playoff. Two of them are BYU and Cincinnati.

According to the ESPN Predictor, Alabama football now has a 90.5 percent chance of making the Playoff. The Crimson Tide also has the highest chance to win the National Championship at 39 percent.