College football rankings 2023, Projected Week 12 CFP Top 25: Georgia claims No. 1, Michigan makes statement
- Georgia and Michigan both strengthened resumés with statement wins
- Oklahoma State, Kansas, Tennessee upset embarrassingly
- Alabama, Ohio State leave no doubt
Projected Top 25 College Football Playoff rankings after Week 11: No. 8-7
8. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama doubters that were quite vocal early in the season (myself probably included in that conversation) are getting awfully quiet these days. Over the past few weeks, especially in the big win over LSU a week ago, Jalen Milroe and this Crimson Tide team have been absolutely humming. That meant bad news for a struggling Kentucky team in Lexington on Saturday in Week 11.
While the Tide’s defense did let up a couple of times, Milroe did no such thing. After rushing for four scores against the Tigers, his encore this week was accounting for six touchdowns in a ridiculous individual effort, finding three through the air and as many on the ground.
It still remains to be seen what the ceiling of Alabama is this season, particularly in a game like this against a Kentucky team that just might not be that good. But if the job is taking care of business with a little bit of flair, Nick Saban’s team is getting that done right now.
7. Texas Longhorns
You truly have to wonder if Steve Sarkisian saw the trouble that Maalik Murphy almost got Texas into a week ago and maybe told Quinn Ewers that he was ready to come back. That’s probably not the case, but QB1 did return for the Longhorns on Saturday as they went on the road to face in-state rival TCU in hopes of staying on track to make it to Arlington for the Big 12 Championship Game.
Having Ewers back in the fold paid big dividends for the offense. Though he did have a turnover, he also dialed up several big plays to Xavier Worthy and his other weapons, which opened up the rest of the attack.
Unfortunately, that stalled in the second half and, for the second straight week, the Longhorns allowed an inferior opponent to bust through the backdoor. Texas ultimately put the win away with a pass from Ewers to AD Mitchell on third down in the closing minutes, but it was much hairier than it ever should've been.