Alabama drops six spots after losing to Oklahoma

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Alabama’s College Football Playoff hopes suffered a massive blow in the latest rankings released Tuesday night.

The Crimson Tide (8-3, 4-3) fell six spots to No. 13 after being eliminated by Oklahoma on Saturday in Norman.

After two losses to start the season against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Alabama had worked its way back into the top 10, but their latest loss makes a path to the College Football Playoff significantly more difficult, although not impossible, if chaos reigns over the next two weeks.

Even with three losses, Warde Manuel, chairman of the College Football Playoff committee, said there is a precedent that teams with three losses could finish in the top 12 at the end of the season.

“In the last 10 years, in the history of the CFP, there have been 22 teams ranked in the top 12 with three losses,” Manuel said during an appearance on ESPN Tuesday night. “So the committee has never shied away from putting multiple-loss teams in the top 12 when we see them that way.”

The top four of the rankings once again remain unchanged, with Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State occupying those spots.

Losses by Indiana, Alabama and Ole Miss shook up the rest of the top 10.

Georgia, which clinched a spot in the SEC Championship after Saturday, sits at No. 7 and controls its own destiny heading into the playoffs.

Tennessee is one spot behind the Bulldogs and only Vanderbilt stands between them and a likely spot in the CFP.

Indiana, which was ranked in the top five on Saturday, fell to No. 10 after the loss to the Buckeyes.

Manuel said the committee liked what they saw from the Hoosiers, even in defeat.

“They played well against Ohio State at times and Ohio State got a win and really got into the game in the second half of the game,” he said. “But we were impressed with some of the things Indiana did. They dropped five points but we really felt their work was strong enough to stay in the top 10.”

Indiana is the lowest-ranked team with a single loss. Two teams with two losses each – Georgia and Tennessee – are above them.

Manuel said the number of losses does not dictate where the committee thinks a team should be ranked.

“I think there is a desire to evaluate the teams the way we see them,” he said. “If there is a team that has suffered one more defeat than a team in front of them, and we think they should be ahead of them, then we have shown that we can do it.”

Only two weeks remain until the final College Football Playoff rankings are released and the bracket is announced.

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