Alabama continued its impressive start to the 2026 season with another dominant win in Starkville. Facing a then-unbeaten Mississippi State, the Crimson Tide rolled to a 56-23 win, turning the highly anticipated matchup into a laugher.
Alabama was clearly the better team. Alabama is also pretty clearly a national title contender.
Voters are starting to catch up.
Off the strength of its 33-point win over then-No. 16 Mississippi State, Alabama finally leapfrogged Indiana to No. 6 in the AP Poll, something that was at least one week too late:
https://t.co/T23NtgfCyw
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) October 4, 2026
Missouri sends Florida plummeting and LSU rejoins the top 10. See where your team landed in The Associated Press Top 25. pic.twitter.com/mMIcxZCbfJ
Alabama is up to No. 6 in the AP Poll with No. 2 Georgia on deck in Tuscaloosa
Alabama should be no lower than fifth. There's no reason for a one-loss Ohio State to be ahead of the Crimson Tide right now. That's nothing more than preseason bias still being in play. The Crimson Tide has been the more impressive team than the Buckeyes so far this season.
Alabama is No. 2 in ESPN's strength of record metric through five weeks. There's an argument that Alabama has a better resume than any team in college football to date. They've earned two impressive road wins over Kentucky and Mississippi State, while also knocking off Florida State and South Carolina at home. That's four wins over Power Four opponents already. No team in the country has more.
Kalen DeBoer is probably pretty happy with Alabama's standing in the AP Poll. He can still pitch the underdog narrative to his team for a little while longer. That may only last for one more week.
People are starting to take the Crimson Tide seriously as a legitimate threat in the National Championship race. Alabama has a golden opportunity ahead of it this weekend with Georgia coming to Tuscaloosa.
The Bulldogs are a slight favorite, but the Crimson Tide has plenty of motivation heading into Saturday night's showdown. Alabama wants to prove that it has put last season's issues up front completely behind it. Alabama looks better up front on both sides of the ball, but Georgia will provide the ultimate test.
Alabama will be significantly the best team Georgia has faced so far this season. The same can be said for Alabama, but the Crimson Tide is more battle-tested to this point of the season than the Bulldogs.
A win next week over Georgia would completely flip the narrative on this team. Not only would Alabama make a significant leap in the polls, but any remaining doubts about this team would be totally silenced.
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