Just two days before the first official College Football Playoff ranking of the 2025-26 season, Alabama sits at No. 4 in the AP poll. After a 29-22 comeback victory over South Carolina Oct. 25, the Crimson Tide maintained its spot from last week and has recovered from its steep fall after the Week 1 loss to Florida State.
The team is in a far more enviable spot than it was at this time last year. Going into the 2024 Week 10 ranking, Alabama was 6-2 with losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, both games in which it was favored; the atmosphere surrounding head coach Kalen DeBoer in his first year with the Crimson Tide was full of doubt and skepticism. At No. 11, the team found itself behind in the SEC pecking order, trailing No. 3 Georgia, No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Tennessee.
Texas is now No. 13 after a narrow win over previously top-10 Vanderbilt, and Tennessee is all the way down at No. 23 after a home loss to Oklahoma in which it was favored. Even with Georgia staying strong at No. 5, Alabama has leapt past all three of those teams from last year, and the only SEC team ahead of Alabama in the AP rankings is No. 3 Texas A&M.
Come Tuesday night, it’s not likely that the CFP rankings will differ at the top from the AP poll. No. 1 Ohio State took a 24-point win over Penn State on Saturday, No. 2 Indiana won in a resounding 55-10 blowout and the Aggies were on bye. With Alabama likewise not playing Saturday, the two top-ranked SEC teams shouldn’t budge.
The playoff committee could theoretically throw a curveball but there’s very little reason to. Ohio State has been a well-oiled machine, not having won by less than 18 since Week 1, and Indiana boasts one of the best wins in the country with its victory on the road at current-No. 6 Oregon. A&M and Alabama have been the most consistently winning SEC programs thus far, and Georgia couldn’t jump the Crimson Tide even with a win against Florida this week due to the head-to-head loss earlier this season.
Otherwise, there aren’t many games that move the needle for teams outside the top 5. No. 6 Oregon and No. 8 BYU were on bye, and No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 10 Notre Dame took double-digit victories over unranked teams.
For Alabama fans, the objective for the team is fairly simple at this point: keep winning. Conference standings and playoff implications aren’t very close to being set yet, so the only thing the Crimson Tide can do to ensure its residence in the top 5 is to keep its consistent on-field product that it has put out since the Week 1 loss.
With there being no major upsets across the college football landscape this week, there likely won’t be any real surprises on Tuesday. But fans should enjoy the tranquility while they can, because playoff tension will ramp up soon and never look back.
The ranking show will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT and can be watched on ESPN.
