We've been calling Alabama's matchup in Baton Rouge this weekend a do-or-die, season-defining game for the Crimson Tide. It has felt like a must-win for Alabama's College Football Playoff hopes.
Not anymore.
The most shocking landing spot for a team in the initial College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday night was Alabama at No. 5, four spots higher than they were ranked in the AP Poll on Sunday, and much, much higher than many experts predicted. ESPN and others projected the Tide to be ranked around 12th or 13th, on the outside looking in.
Instead, Alabama is 5th, and the CFP committee just handed Kalen DeBoer an additional mulligan:
November 3️⃣ #CFP Top 25 pic.twitter.com/brv5QU5Lhk
— CFP (@CFBPlayoff) November 4, 2026
The door is now wide open for a 3-loss Alabama to make the College Football Playoff
There was always a chaotic scenario in which Alabama had a chance to get into the playoff at 9-3. It might not take much chaos after all.
Alabama is ranked ahead of undefeated UCLA and one-loss teams like Kentucky, BYU, and Notre Dame. The committee clearly values Alabama's 28-point shellacking of Kentucky in Lexington in Week 2, and South Carolina's recent rise has given the Crimson Tide another quality win to hang its hat on, with the Gamecocks coming in at No. 21 in the initial rankings.
These rankings might give Alabama an additional mulligan, but they might make DeBoer's job more difficult heading into this weekend's game in Baton Rouge. The vibe in the building since the 26-10 loss to Tennessee was that the playoff had started in Tuscaloosa and the Crimson Tide was going to be in do-or-die mode for the remainder of the regular season.
Alabama needs to continue to prepare that way, though. The rankings can be fickle, and the committee could very easily change their minds depending on the way Alabama plays from here on out.
As it stands, it looks like the committee believes that the Alabama team that went toe-to-toe with Georgia in Tuscaloosa is the real Crimson Tide, and the version we saw the following week in Knoxville was a beaten and battered version. In all honesty, Auburn's win over Georgia the same weekend might have greatly benefited Alabama.
It showed the committee that both Alabama and Georgia were beaten up from their matchup the previous week at Bryant-Denny. Essentially, the committee is throwing those two results from the following week completely out the window.
This weekend against LSU is still a vitally important game for the Crimson Tide. It's just no longer necessarily an elimination game.
Add us as a preferred source on Google