The Alabama Crimson Tide started the season with its worst performance of the year. Since the loss to the Florida State Seminoles, the Tide was undeniably dominant, taking down top team after top team.
That was, until the Oklahoma Sooners came to town and upset Alabama on Saturday. Now, the College Football Playoff committee has the Crimson Tide on the verge of missing the Playoffs.
In the third CFP rankings of the year, the committee dropped Alabama all the way to No. 10 in the country, despite having the head-to-head win over No. 4 Georgia, and having three more wins against ranked opponents compared to No. 9 Notre Dame.
Measureables aren't counting for CFP rankings
While the committee supposedly uses head-to-head results and strength of schedule as determining factors in the ranking, they simply didn't seem to weigh heavily enough for Alabama to stay within the top nine.
Wins Against Current Ranked Opponents:
— SEC Numbers Guy (@secnumbersguy) November 19, 2025
-Alabama 4
-Notre Dame 1
The committee is making it clear that beating big time programs is not something they are willing to reward.
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Now, with just two games remaining in the regular season, Alabama can't afford another loss, or the Tide could easily see itself outside of the Playoffs for a second year in a row.
Luckily, the Crimson Tide is set to host the Eastern Illinois Panthers on Saturday for what should be a get-right game for the team and specifically quarterback Ty Simpson. However, Alabama has to take a road trip to Auburn for the annual Iron Bowl just one week later.
Because it's such a heated rivalry game, no matter how much better one team is than the other, the results are always up in the air. This season, Alabama cannot afford for the Iron Bowl to go in the Auburn Tigers' direction, or the Tide's postseason will look extremely different from what everyone was planning just a few weeks ago.
Alabama will still get a postseason game; the Crimson Tide already has eight wins on the season (only losing to Florida State and Oklahoma, so far). However, as head coach Kalen DeBoer has repeatedly voiced, the goal and the standard is for Alabama to make the Playoffs.
Odds are, the Tide will win out and likely cement its place in the College Football Playoffs, but odds aren't always in Alabama's favor when it comes to the Iron Bowl and the end of the season.