Alabama Football: Jerry Palm with shocking Playoff prediction

Alabama football fans might want to skip Tuesday night’s first CFB Playoff rankings. That is if Jerry Palm of CBS Sports is correct.

When the first of six CFB Playoff rankings are released on Nov.1, Palm predicts the Alabama Crimson Tide will be a distant No. 7. While it is true, only the last ranking on Dec. 4 matters, but, the earlier ones indicate how the Selection Committee is inclined to vote at the end.

Palm’s recent prediction is included below, along with the current records of his predicted top ten teams. Also included is the Strength of Record (SOR) calculation from the ESPN FPI.

Alabama football fans don’t need to overreact about Palm’s prediction. The Crimson Tide still controls its destiny, though the path is not without peril. The only reason for concern is that Jerry Palm is not known for taking strong opinions to drum up interest in his content. Unlike some other national pundits, when Palm is wrong, it is because of a sincere misread of something.

Where Alabama Football stands per Jerry Palm

1. Georgia Bulldogs; 7-0; SOR – No. 7 – Next Game: Florida Gators
2. Ohio State Buckeyes; 7-0; SOR – No. 6 – Next Game: at Penn State Nittany Lions
3. Tennessee Vols; 7-0; SOR- No. 1 – Next Game: Kentucky Wildcats
4. Clemson Tigers; 8-0; SOR – No. 2 – Next Game: at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5. Michigan Wolverines; 7-0; SOR – No. 5 – Next Game: Michigan State Spartans
6. TCU Horned Frogs; 7-0; SOR – No. 3 – Next Game: at West Virginia Mountaineers
7. Alabama Crimson Tide; 7-1; SOR – No. 4 – Next Game: Open
8. Oklahoma State Cowboys; 6-1; SOR – No. 8 – Next Game: at Kansas State
9. Oregon Ducks; 6-1; SOR – No. 10 – Next Game: at Cal
10. Penn State Nittany Lions; 6-1; SOR – No. 9 – Next Game: Ohio State Buckeyes

One bit of good news for the Crimson Tide is Jerry Palm has future Alabama opponents, Ole Miss ranked No. 13 and LSU ranked No. 16.

It is good to remember the primary, original task of the Selection Committee, going back to 2014, was to select the four ‘best’ teams. There have many explanations of how the committee accomplishes that task. A fair complaint is the explanations have, at times, been contradictory.

Also, Jerry Palm is not stating how he believes the committee should rank the teams. Instead, he is predicting how he thinks the committee will initially rank the teams.

At least, even if Jerry Palm is correct, the Crimson Tide will be the highest-ranked one-loss team in the first rankings.