Alabama Football: What Selection Committee got right and wrong

On Tuesday night Alabama Football remained at No. 8 in the second ranking of the CFB Playoff Selection Committee. The Alabama Crimson Tide was not alone in no movement among the top teams. All the top eight slots were unchanged from the first Playoff rankings.

There was considerable movement below the top eight teams. Ole Miss and Penn State moved into the top ten at No. 9 and No. 10.

The complete Top 25 Playoff rankings are listed below. In summary, nine teams maintained last week’s ranking, five teams went down in the rankings and 11 teams moved up in the rankings, with a few of them being unranked the week before.

Alabama football fans are somewhat surprised that the Tide’s win over LSU did not give the Crimson Tide a rankings boost. All it did was solidify Alabama’s hold on the No. 8 spot. Hopefully, the Bengal Tigers will win out and provide a future boost to the Crimson Tide.

At this point of the season, there is little justification to quibble about the Texas Longhorns again holding the No. 7 spot, above Alabama. The Longhorns, like Alabama, have three wins over teams ranked by the Selection Committee.

Alabama football fans are beginning to ask if there is any chance a Big 12 Champion, Texas might make the Playoff field over an SEC Champion, Alabama. My sense is, that is highly unlikely, but it does appear no Power Five conference will get two Playoff teams this season. An Alabama win over Georgia should secure the Crimson Tide a Playoff berth.

What is troublesome in the Selection Committee’s rankings is that Oregon is ranked above Texas and Alabama. Unlike the Crimson Tide and the Longhorns, Oregon has one win over a team ranked by the Selection Committee.

Alabama Football Ranked Wins – plus Texas and Oregon

• Alabama Crimson Tide – Ole Miss, No. 9; Tennessee No. 13 and LSU, No. 19
• Texas Longhorns – Alabama, No. 8; Kansas, No. 16 and Kansas State, No. 25
• Oregon Ducks – Utah, No. 18

Adding more doubt to the committee’s decision-making is the return of North Carolina to the rankings at No. 24. The Tar Heels, with two losses, were unranked. What appears to have propelled them to No. 24 was a 59-7 shellacking of Campbell. Campbell’s Fighting Camels are an FCS team with a losing record. Alabama football fans don’t anticipate such a boost when the Crimson Tide beats Chattanooga.

Penn State might do the Crimson Tide a favor by knocking off Michigan on Saturday. But if Ole Miss loses to Georgia, would a Penn State win push the Nittany Lions above the Crimson Tide?