The first College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night on ESPN, and Alabama came in at No. 4. This means that if the College Football Playoff started today, Alabama would clinch a first-round bye and head to a New Year’s Six Bowl for the quarterfinals.
Alabama, now sitting at 7-1 on the season, is projected to face off against the winner of a first round matchup between No. 5 Georgia from the SEC and No. 12 Memphis representing the American.
“We have a variety of tools at our disposal,” College Football Playoff selection committee chair and Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades said about evaluating teams. “We try to look at each team on its own and its body of work.”
Other SEC teams featured in Tuesday’s reveal included Texas A&M at No. 3, Ole Miss at No. 6, Texas at No. 11, Oklahoma at No. 12, Vanderbilt at No. 16, Missouri at No. 22 and Tennessee at No. 25.
“We need to finish it out and make sure that we come ready to play, and we separate ourselves these next couple games,” Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson said.
The Crimson Tide will continue its playoff push Saturday at home versus LSU at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed on ABC.
