Alabama football made a surprising jump up the College Football Rankings after beating the spread against Mercer on Saturday. Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide offense have been on fire since the tough loss to Tennesee, propelling head coach Kalen DeBoer’s team to the No. 7 ranking. That position would give Alabama the nine-seed if the twelve-team playoff were to start today. A noteworthy team that the Tide jumped on Tuesday was the 9-1 Miami Hurricanes, which were on bye the past weekend.
This controversy sparked fan backlash, spilling online about how a win over an FCS team could propel the Crimson Tide past the Hurricanes.
Wait Alabama jumped Miami in CFP ranking? Sound familiar pic.twitter.com/fzxCY0SWmW
— Broke Noles Fan (@deecwilliams) November 20, 2024
How does Alabama jump Miami by beating an FCS opponent?
I mean, ok…
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) November 20, 2024
Alabama jumps 3 spots, including over Miami, for beating Mercer.
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) November 20, 2024
Alabama football’s passing of Miami should’ve happened last week
The fans do have a right to question the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s logic. So far, this group of 13 members has been wildly inconsistent, as evidenced by last week’s rankings.
Week 11’s rankings had BYU at No. 9 and Tennessee at No. 7. The following weekend, the Cougars survived against a subpar, unranked Utah team on a controversial call. That same day, the Volunteers steamrolled unranked Mississippi State. For Week 12’s rankings, BYU catapulted three spots to sixth in the country, while Tennessee stayed at the seventh slot. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!
To sum it up, analyzing the logic of why the committee changes its mind about particular teams is enough to make anyone insane. It doesn’t make sense in this case unless there’s new data that the 13 members didn’t see the previous week. The same point can be made for Alabama football’s jump over Miami. However, while Hurricanes’ fans have the right to be mad by this news, the Crimson Tide should’ve been ranked ahead of the ACC powerhouse the previous week.
Head coach Mario Cristobal’s team has not won against anyone in the current top 25. On the other hand, the Crimson Tide has beaten three top-25 teams, including a signature victory against No. 10 Georgia. Alabama’s two losses came at Vanderbilt and No. 11 Tennessee, while Miami’s sole loss was against Georgia Tech in Week 11. The difference in record, however, does not make up for the schedule gap between these two programs.
Going into Week 13, Alabama football has a 16th-best strength of schedule, while Miami’s SOS is 54. From a strength of record standpoint, the Crimson Tide is the seventh-ranked team in the country, while Miami is ninth. Kalen DeBoer’s team is ahead of Mario Cristobal’s in almost every basic and advanced metric.
Overall, the fan backlash to this change is understandable. However, once Miami lost to Georgia Tech and Alabama steamrolled LSU on November 9th, the Crimson Tide should have jumped the Hurricanes. The committee’s inability to be consistent has sparked this unnecessary debate. Luckily, should both teams win out, they’ll safely be in the inaugural twelve-team playoff.
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