Alabama enjoyed a much-needed bye week, its second and final one of the regular season, before entering a treacherous November stretch run.
The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday. Alabama is expected to be the highest-ranked one-loss team in the committee's rankings. The Crimson Tide is also expected to be ranked ahead of at least one undefeated team. Heading into this week, Alabama was six spots ahead of unbeaten BYU in the AP and Coaches Polls.
But according to Heather Dinich, Alabama may slot in ahead of another undefeated team, too.
Most experts believe the top three will be, in some order, undefeated Ohio State, Indiana, and Texas A&M. That's how they stack up in the AP and Coaches Polls, and while the order might change ever so slightly, that's likely going to be the top three on Tuesday night.
Dinich made the case for Alabama to be No. 3, however, ahead of SEC rival Texas A&M.
Dinich credits Alabama as having a slightly better top win than Texas A&M, rating a road win over Georgia a little bit higher than the Aggies' road win over Notre Dame. But it's the wins after that on the resume that truly give the Crimson Tide the edge. Alabama has three additional wins over currently ranked opponents. A&M has none.
"The bigger difference is that the Tide also earned wins against Vanderbilt, Mizzou, and Tennessee, which should all be CFP top 25 teams on Tuesday night," Dinich writes. "Alabama has four consecutive wins -- from late September to mid-October -- against teams the committee holds in high regard, including two on the road."
What will likely tip the scales in Texas A&M's favor, however, is Alabama's one loss. Perhaps if Florida State hadn't fallen so far since beating Alabama in late August, the loss wouldn't outweigh everything else this team has accomplished. But the Seminoles are unranked and just 4-4 overall.
Alabama and Texas A&M look to be on a collision course in Atlanta
Regardless of which team deserves to be ranked ahead of the other - and I fully expect Alabama to be No. 4 on Tuesday night, behind Texas A&M - the Crimson Tide and Aggies seem to be on a collision course in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.
Alabama is in tremendous shape to be one of the two representatives. With the tiebreaker over Georgia and the Tide's ridiculous schedule, Alabama will have the tiebreaker over most teams if it happens to lose a game in November.
Alabama is almost certainly locked into the SEC Championship if it can go 2-1 in its final three conference games. Home games against LSU and Oklahoma, along with a road trip to Auburn to finish the regular season won't be a cakewalk, but if Kalen DeBoer can help his team navigate that stretch - even with one loss mixed in - Alabama will not only make it to Atlanta, but it will have clinched its place in the College Football Playoff regardless of the result.