Alabama leads the way in ESPN’s SEC-heavy playoff projection

For just the second year ever, there will be 12 teams in the College Football Playoffs. For the first year ever, that could easily include six teams from the SEC, further proving that it is the deepest conference in the country.

Last year, only three teams from the SEC made the Playoffs: Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee. This year, while Georgia and Texas are likely to return, they could be joined by the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas A&M Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels, and Oklahoma Sooners.

The Tide, with four dominant wins over ranked opponents, including Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt, should undeniably lead the charge in the SEC Playoff rankings, and that is what a lot of experts are expecting to see on Tuesday.

Alabama should be a top-2 (if not No. 1) SEC team in the CFP rankings

Other than the Aggies, who have stunned the world with a perfect 8-0 start of the season, there isn't a single team in the conference that should be ranked ahead of Alabama when the first CFP rankings are released this week.

Not only does Bama have the head-to-head win over Georgia, but it also has the most total ranked wins in the conference (two more than Texas A&M).

Alabama has taken down every SEC opponent that has crossed its path, which has four wins over the ranked opponents, as well as a seven-point win over the South Carolina Gamecocks. Meanwhile, Texas A&M's only ranked wins were over then-No. 8 Notre Dame (now No. 10) and then-No. 20 LSU (now unranked).

With the Playoffs only including 12 teams, for now, a showing of six programs from the SEC alone would only cement the conference as the best in the country, which could easily lead to the Crimson Tide being considered one of the best, if not the best, teams out there.

If the Tide makes it into the Playoffs, which looks more and more likely with every week that passes, it will be the first time since Kalen DeBoer took over the program just under two years ago. It would be Alabama's ninth appearance in the Playoffs in program history.

The first College Football Playoff rankings are scheduled to come out at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 4, when the Tide will see just how much strength of schedule actually weighs in.