The AP Poll is out, and Alabama football has jumped back into the Top 10 in the aftermath of its 24-21 win over Georgia in Athens on Saturday night.
It's a seven-spot jump for the Crimson Tide. They came into Week 5 ranked No. 17, having dropped three spots from No. 14 over the bye week.
Alabama is the third-highest-ranked one-loss team, behind Penn State (No. 7) and Texas (No. 9). Life in the SEC is such that being ranked No. 10 also puts Alabama as just the fifth-highest-ranked SEC team in the poll. They are behind Ole Miss (No. 4), Oklahoma (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 6), and Texas (No. 9).
Georgia fell to No. 12 after the loss. Florida State, which knocked off Alabama in Tallahassee in Week 1, tumbled to No. 18 following a loss to previously unranked Virginia on Friday night. The Cavaliers moved into the poll at No. 24 on the strength of the victory.
BREAKING: College Football AP Poll🚨https://t.co/dcCZPsWxbm pic.twitter.com/YGBcORMtbL
— On3 (@On3sports) September 28, 2025
Alabama's remaining schedule is a murderer's row
Things don't get any easier for Alabama moving forward. The Crimson Tide will face a brutal schedule the rest of the season, starting next week against Vanderbilt in Tuscaloosa. The 16th-ranked Commodores are one of five teams left on Alabama's schedule that are currently ranked inside the Top 20 of the AP Poll.
Alabama's remaining schedule:
vs. No. 16 Vanderbilt
at No. 19 Missouri
vs. No. 15 Tennessee
at South Carolina
vs. No. 13 LSU
vs. No. 5 Oklahoma
vs. Eastern Illinois
at Auburn
The only gimme game left is against Eastern Illinois the week before the Iron Bowl. Otherwise, it's a gauntlet for the Crimson Tide. Even the two unraked SEC opponents on the schedule - South Carolina and Auburn - are road games against teams with Top-25 talent. South Carolina entered the season with playoff expectations after a 9-3 regular season in 2024, and Auburn has lost back-to-back games, but both losses were on the road to Top 10 teams by a combined 13 points.
The win over Georgia was nice, but Alabama still has a lot of work to do. The loss to Florida State feels like a distant memory, but the "1" in the loss column serves as a reminder that the Crimson Tide has already used up some of its margin for error in 2025. Alabama needs to go 7-1 down the stretch to ensure a College Football Playoff bid. 6-2 would probably be enough, but their fate would be in the hands of the committee.