Updated November 3, 2026, 8:53 p.m. ET
The first unveiling of the College Football Playoff rankings is in the books, and head-scratchers have followed.
A notable cause of this is that the CFP selection committee ranked Alabama, after two losses, fifth in the 12-team bracket.
“Everybody’s surprised,” ESPN’s Joey Galloway said of Alabama’s ranking on the network’s broadcast.
∎ USA TODAY Sports provided live reaction to tonight’s College Football Playoff rankings reveal. Join Blake Toppmeyer and John Brice for their snapshot analysis of the first CFP top 25:
The reason the Crimson Tide’s specific ranking is a headache is that Alabama was ranked ahead of a one-loss Kentucky team, which Keelon Russell and Co. beat in Week 2, and eight spots ahead of a Tennessee team that toppled the team, 26-10, just a few weeks ago.
To put the committee’s decision into further perspective, Matt Hayes of USA TODAY Sports had the Crimson Tide as the No. 9 team in his CFP bracket projection heading into Tuesday. In that same projection, the Crimson Tide was ranked behind Texas – which has two top-10 wins at home against the then-No. 1 seed. 1 Ohio State then-No. 7 Mississippi, plus a road win at Tennessee. The committee had the Longhorns at No. 7 in the bracket.
CFP Committee Chairman Hunter Yurachek explained Alabama’s ranking after the rankings were revealed.
“You look first Alabama went on the road and beat a team that we have six this week in Kentucky. They also beat South Carolina, which is ranked in the top 25, and I think a lot of people forget that they went on the road and beat Mississippi State when Mississippi State was undefeated and at full strength,” Yurachek said. “We really enjoyed it as a strong Alabama win early in the season when Mississippi State had this quarterback (Kamario Taylor) who was very, very good. Mississippi State was on a roll at that point.”
Yurachek noted that Tennessee doesn’t have the same number of quality wins as Alabama, despite facing the Crimson Tide. He also noted that Alabama was given the head-to-head advantage against Kentucky because the Crimson Tide and Wildcats were in the same “group” by the committee. (Alabama and Tennessee, notably, were not).
Unsurprisingly, the Crimson Tide’s ranking sparked a lot of reaction on social media across the college football world. Here is an excerpt of the reactions:
College football reacts to Alabama CFP rankings
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