In the initial College Football Playoff rankings last week, the committee stunned everyone by placing two-loss Alabama at No. 5.
On Saturday night in Death Valley, Alabama proved the committee correct. With doubt surrounding the program nationwide, the Crimson Tide waltzed into Baton Rouge and dominated LSU 31-13.
On Tuesday night, the committee rewarded Alabama's win by moving the Crimson Tide up even further.
Alabama was ranked No. 3 in the second CFP rankings, behind only No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Utah, ahead of undefeated UCLA and a slew of one-loss teams. They also remain comfortably ahead of Tennessee, which would really irritate Vols fans if they could read.
BREAKING: College Football Playoff Ranking🚨https://t.co/lbDyQ9zryz pic.twitter.com/3wzikg7MfL
— On3 (@On3) November 11, 2026
The CFP committee is leaning heavily on Alabama's metrics
Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek, the CFP committee chairman, explained Alabama's ranking on ESPN:
"They're No. 1 in record strength, No. 1 in schedule strength," Yurachek said, via Mike Rodak. "They have four what we call quality wins because we continue to call that win against Mississippi State earlier in the year when they had Kamario Taylor on their team; they were 4-0. Alabama went there and won that game. Alabama, we believe, deserves to be the No. 3 team in the country."
Alabama has played the toughest schedule in the country, according to ESPN's metrics. They are 5th in strength of record and 3rd in FPI.
People will undoubtedly roll their eyes at his comments about Mississippi State. The truth is that Alabama doesn't need that to be a quality win in order to be ranked as high as they are.
Road wins over Kentucky and LSU do a lot of heavy lifting. The fact that Alabama earned both in dominating fashion helps, too.
And the win over South Carolina, another blowout win for the Crimson Tide, continues to look better. The Gamecocks are 6-3 and a real threat to earn a College Football Playoff bid if they can win out. They have a chance next weekend against Georgia in Columbia to earn a massive November win that earns them some serious consideration.
Alabama is in excellent playoff shape going into the final three weeks of the season. ESPN gives the Tide a 94% chance of making the College Football Playoff. But there's still work to be done.
And while the schedule certainly lightens in the final three weeks, a loss to either Vanderbilt or Auburn would be severely damaging to the Tide's playoff hopes. The committee isn't afraid to make a drastic ranking adjustment. They've proven that with Indiana dropping five spots while on a bye this week.
So Alabama has to take care of its own business, starting this weekend in Nashville.
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