CFP Chair Hunter Yurachek Explains Alabama in Initial Rankings

The initial College Football Playoff rankings were unveiled on Tuesday night, with the college football world having a visceral reaction to one specific ranking: the Alabama Crimson Tide being ranked No. 5.

The college football world had one reaction: Why the hell is Alabama ranked so high after back-to-back losses to Georgia (No. 2) and Tennessee (No. 13) and an ugly win against Texas A&M?

CFP Chair and Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek explained.

"I think you look first at Alabama went on the road and beat the team that we have ranked sixth this week in Kentucky," Yurachek said on ESPN. "They also beat South Carolina, who's ranked in our top 25. And I think many forget that they went on the road and beat Mississippi State when Mississippi State was undefeated and at full strength. We really valued that as a strong win for Alabama back there in the early part of the season when Mississippi [State], again, they had that quarterback, Kamario Taylor, that was very, very good, and Mississippi State was on a roll at that time.

"So, with those, we see those as three quality wins. Yes, they had a loss to Tennessee. Tennessee doesn't have the same level of quality wins. They do have the win against Alabama, but you have to go a little bit deeper to see Tennessee with another quality win on their schedule."

Following the rankings reveal on ESPN, Yurachek held a conference call with reporters. With Kamario Taylor out for the remainder of the season for Mississippi State, is the Tide's 33-point win over the Bulldogs still a quality win?

"Alabama went in there and really took care of business and dominated that team. And so the committee will always view that as a quality game, regardless of what the computer may say about the strength of that game."

Since losing Kamario Taylor against the Crimson Tide, Mississippi State has gone 0-3, scoring just 18 points across three games. At the time, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 16, and it's the last time we saw Kamario Taylor healthy. He briefly played three drives in the Bulldogs' 23-15 loss to Oklahoma, but Mississippi State was scoreless on the three drives he played.

No. 5 Alabama will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a matchup with the 14th-ranked LSU Tigers this Saturday, November 7. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

For more free coverage of Alabama football, download the Tide 100.9 app.

Get our free mobile app

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.