College Football Playoff Rankings: Projected top four after Week 9
Alabama Crimson Tide
Last week: BYE
Last rank: 1
Other playoff contenders have better wins than the Crimson Tide, but there’s no doubt Nick Saban’s team will be No. 1 in the initial playoff rankings.
With utter chaos taking place elsewhere in the top five, Alabama enjoyed a much-needed week off. The timing of the bye gives Saban an extra week to prepare for LSU, which has looked good over the past few weeks since losing to Troy.
Alabama has not wavered from its preseason No. 1 ranking with a perfect 8-0 mark, with seven of those wins coming by at least 17 points. The Crimson Tide have utterly destroyed every SEC opponent other than Texas A&M, and the committee could value its season-opening win over Florida State highly considering the Seminoles had quarterback Deondre Francois at the time.
Like always, Alabama finds success with the ground game but also has a dynamic dual-threat quarterback in Jalen Hurts. A rebuilt defense is surrendering just 9.8 points per game to rank second in college football and is much improved in the secondary behind the likes of Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison.
Next: UCF controls its own New Year's Six fate
While Georgia and Ohio State have better wins, nobody is taking over the top spot if Alabama remains undefeated. Next week’s matchup with LSU is one of the hardest remaining on the Crimson Tide’s regular season schedule.