The first College Football Playoff rankings for the 2025 season were released on Tuesday night, and there were few surprises at the top. The top five teams in the committee rankings held true to the AP and Coaches Polls. Alabama slotted in where most expected at No. 4, behind undefeated teams in Ohio State, Indiana, and Texas A&M.
It's been an impressive rise for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama since the loss to Florida State sent the Crimson Tide spiraling. After opening the year ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll, Alabama fell all the way to 21st after the Week 1 defeat. But the Tide has won seven in a row, and no team in the country has put together a more impressive resume of wins.
That's why Alabama is ranked ahead of undefeated BYU and is the highest-ranked one-loss team in the country, in spite of the Florida State loss looking worse by the week, with the Seminoles sitting at just 4-4 overall.
College Football Playoff committee chair Mack Rhoades, the Athletic Director at Baylor, was asked about the Crimson Tide on Tuesday, and he made it clear why they were ranked at No. 4.
"I'm not sure, when you look at resume, anybody had a better stretch of four games," Rhoades said. "When you think about Alabama, really, really impressive, two of those wins on the road. Going into Athens, one of the hardest, toughest environments to be able to get out of there with a win.
"There was certainly discussion about the Florida State loss early on, but just felt like that four-game stretch - which, by the way, historical in the SEC. Nobody has beaten four straight ranked teams without a bye."
Rhoades went on to praise Ty Simpson, saying the redshirt junior is giving Alabama "elite" QB play right now.
Alabama's four-game stretch of ranked wins overshadows FSU loss
Plenty of folks are still out there screaming about Alabama's season-opening loss to Florida State. The same folks, of course, who had little to say about Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois in the regular season a year ago.
It's clear at this point that the Florida State loss does still matter. It's the reason Alabama is No. 4 and not a runaway No. 1. No team in the country has the collection of wins that the Crimson Tide does.
So don't let anyone tell you that the committee is ignoring the loss. They aren't. But they are rightfully crediting the Crimson Tide for playing a brutal schedule and doing something that's never before been done in SEC history by beating four straight ranked opponents without a bye week. All four of those teams were ranked inside the committee's Top 25 on Tuesday.
The road win over Georgia - which slotted in just behind Alabama at No. 5 - is the best win in the country this season so far.
Alabama has a lot of work left to be done, but it has positioned itself well heading into the stretch run.