For the fourth consecutive week, Alabama ranks No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Just ahead of the Crimson Tide sits Texas at No. 7, courtesy of a Week 2 win by double digits in Tuscaloosa.
The Longhorns handed Alabama the only loss on the Tide’s season and the Oklahoma Sooners, now out of the CFP race, defeated Texas a few weeks later.
With both Alabama and Texas having only one loss, the deciding factor in ranking the two teams appears to be the head-to-head matchup.
This fact has frustrated many Crimson Tide fans, as the team has improved every week since the loss and now looks like a legitimate CFP contender. If both teams win out and become the champions of their respective conferences, then there’s a strong belief that the Tide will remain behind the Longhorns.
Former Alabama quarterback and current ESPN analyst Greg McElroy explained during the rankings reveal why this will be the case unless Texas loses.
“Texas beat Alabama. The results have to matter. We have to respect the results. If the committee were to create a precedent by putting Bama in over Texas, that would be doing the college football world a disservice. It would. You have to acknowledge the regular season and by putting Bama ahead of Texas, you’d be saying the regular season does not matter, and that’s not a precedent you want to set.”
Texas will host Texas Tech to end the regular season, while Alabama will hit the road to take on Auburn.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the 2023 regular season comes to a close.
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