Alabama Football: Latest CFP rankings draw more scorn nationally

Alabama Football remained at No. 2 in Tuesday night’s release of the latest CFP rankings. The SEC led all conferences in the latest rankings with six teams. The SEC had Georgia (No. 1) and Alabama (No.2) at the top. On the opposite end, Mississippi State was ranked No. 25. The other ranked SEC teams are Arkansas at No. 21, Texas A&M at No. 16 and Ole Miss at No. 12.

Among the other Power Five conferences, the Big Ten has five teams ranked; the Big 12 and ACC have three each and the Pac 12 has two teams. Two independents are ranked, leaving four more teams we’ll call ‘others’ in the Top 25.

The Big Ten remained in a strong position with three teams ranked in the top seven. Ohio State held firm at No. 4. Michigan and Michigan State are No. 6 and No. 7. Oregon is at No. 3 and Cincinnati is No. 5. Notre Dame is the highest-ranked independent at No. 8. Oklahoma State at No. 9 and Wake Forest at No. 10 rounded out the top ten.

What does the committee think of Alabama Football?

In talking about the latest rankings, Selection Committee chair, Gary Barta reminded the college football world the committee starts over every week in ranking the teams. Speaking specifically about Alabama Football and its closest non-SEC competitors for a Playoff slot, Barta said,

"Well, this week the committee — everyweek we go from top to bottom, and we talk about everyteam. I can tell you that 2, 3 and 4 was an area where theconversation was a little bit longer. I mentioned earlier, wedidn’t learn a lot about Alabama this week but continue tobe impressed with the way they play on both sides of theball, but there was good conversation about whereAlabama, Oregon and Ohio State should be placed.Ultimately when the vote occurred, it ended up the way itis, 2, 3, 4, Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State. But therewas a lot of conversation with those three teams."

Alabama football fans can read what they wish into Barta’s comments. With three more rankings left in the cycle, what the Selection Committee thought about the Crimson Tide this week can change.

There are five three-loss teams in the Top 25. Mississippi State is the only four-loss team and their inclusion drew an explosion of complaints on social media.

The two tweets below sum up the social media response to the Mississippi State ranking – along with typical Alabama Football backlash.

Apparently, some of the complainers have forgotten the Selection Committee’s primary task is to select the four, best teams.

The complete Nov. 16 CFP rankings can be seen here. There will be two more Tuesday night rankings before Selection Sunday.