The Case for Moving Alabama Down in CFP Rankings After Victorious Game vs. LSU

Alabama secured a significant 31-13 victory over LSU on Saturday night, but the Crimson Tide may drop in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday. Or it could stay in its current spot while another SEC team jumps ahead.

In the first playoff rankings, Alabama ranked No. 5 as the highest-ranked two-loss team, and Tennessee ranked No. 13.

Tennessee and Alabama both had the same record heading into Week 10, but the Volunteers beat the Crimson Tide 26-10 in Week 7.

Alabama Ranked Ahead of Tennessee

One reason Alabama was No. 5 was its 45-17 win over No. 6 Kentucky, but now Tennessee also just got a big win over the Wildcats. Tennessee won 34-6, and now the committee could move the Volunteers above Alabama in the next rankings.

Alabama’s resume is strong, with current ranked wins over Kentucky, South Carolina and LSU. The Crimson Tide have two losses: one to Georgia by three points and another to Tennessee.

Tennessee also has a solid resume with top-25 wins over Alabama and Kentucky, along with two losses—one to Texas by three points and another to No. 21 South Carolina by three points on the road.

Alabama might have one more top-25 win than Tennessee, but neither team has any bad losses. Both losses have come against top-25 teams. Now the committee has to consider the head-to-head results between the two schools and potentially rank Tennessee ahead.

Tennessee didn’t beat Alabama on a fluke play; it won by 16 points. Head-to-head has to matter, and the committee should fix it now rather than wait until the end of the season, like it did last year between Notre Dame and Miami.

How the Rankings Should Look

In the second-to-last poll of the 2025 season, the committee ranked Notre Dame at No. 10 and Miami at No. 12 heading into conference championship weekend. The Fighting Irish lost to Miami in Week 1, and both teams finished 10-2.

Neither team played on championship weekend, meaning their resumes could not improve. You would think that Notre Dame and Miami would never have been switched in the rankings since their head-to-head result occurred in September. The committee consistently placed Notre Dame ahead of Miami until the final poll, when they favored the Hurricanes based on the head-to-head matchup. As a result, Miami made it to the playoffs while Notre Dame did not.

Alabama and Tennessee are now in the same boat with the same record, and the Volunteers, with the head-to-head, are behind the Crimson Tide.

Here is how the rankings should look on Tuesday

1. Georiga
2. Utah
3. Notre Dame
4. Texas
5. Tennessee
6. Alabama
7. Indiana

Georgia should be ranked No. 1 after beating No. 10 Ole Miss to improve its record to 8-1. Utah should be No. 2 after staying undefeated and defeating No. 9 BYU. Notre Dame should jump from No. 11 to No. 3 after beating No. 1 Miami. Texas should move up to No. 4 after going on the road and beating No. 18 Missouri, placing Tennessee at No. 5 and Alabama at No. 6.

Texas would get the No. 4 spot since it has two losses, like Alabama and Tennessee, but head-to-head matters, and since it beat the Vols, the Longhorns should be ahead of them.

Indiana should drop from No. 4 to No. 7, even though it had a bye week, because it has zero top-25 wins and its loss came to Ohio State, now 9-3.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

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