Alabama regains playoff position in new CFP rankings

By WVUA 23 sports reporter Jack Bentley-Lester

After a chaotic and eventful rivalry week, Alabama jumped back into the College Football Playoff at No. 11 in the latest update before the actual playoff field is announced.

Alabama defeated Auburn 28-14 for the fifth straight time in the Iron Bowl rivalry.

The chaos of rivalry week and surprises like Ohio State’s 13-10 home loss to Michigan resulted in the Buckeyes falling to No. 8. OSU is currently hosting Tennessee in the first round of the CFB playoffs.

The loss of Miami hurts the hurricane even more. Last week, Miami was No. 6 in the CFP rankings, but their spot in the College Football Playoff appears to be in jeopardy after a 42-38 road loss at Syracuse. Miami will not play in the ACC Championship Game this Saturday and there is no way it can improve from this week’s ranking of No. 12.

“We value both teams, but the bottom line is that Alabama is 3-1 against ranked teams and Miami is 0-1,” said Warde Manuel, chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee. “In evaluating their work, we felt that Alabama had an advantage over Miami.”

Even though Miami is the 12th-ranked team in the last update, it is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs because either Arizona State (No. 15) or Iowa State (No. 16) must compete as Big 12 champions. Assuming everything stays the same and all the favorites win in the upcoming “Championship Week,” there is no way for Miami to get there. If SMU lost to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, it would be either SMU or Alabama against Miami. If SMU wins, things will stay much the same as before, and Alabama will likely stay at No. 11.

Rivalry week is a weekend full of emotion and excitement, and Ohio State and Michigan were the epitome of that. On Saturday, Michigan upset Ohio State in the rivalry dubbed “The Game,” but the real battle on the field came after the game. Michigan tried to plant its flag on Ohio State’s field, and OSU didn’t like it. A brawl ended up breaking out at midfield, leading to authorities pepper-spraying both teams as a last resort to separate them. The Big 10 ultimately fined both teams $100,000 for the altercation.