Alabama ranked No. 2 in the initial College Football Rankings released Tuesday night with a conference rival squarely in front of it.
Georgia was in the top spot, led by Kirby Smart, a former Saban assistant. The Bulldogs have the nation’s premier win of the season in a one-point road victory over Notre Dame in September. Notre Dame was slotted No. 3. Defending national champion Clemson ranked fourth.
CFP Selection Committee Chair Kirby Hocutt said the debate between Georgia and Alabama was very close and passionate. He said the difference was Georgia’s two victories over CFP Top 25 ranked teams.
Saban’s annual rant rankings was delivered during his Monday press conference.
“I could care less about the poll,” Saban said. “What significance does the poll have right now? All we’re talking about right here is the challenge of our season. Where are we going to be in the poll if we don’t play well in the next four games? So I’m focused on our next four games and I could care less about the poll. You won’t see me wasting any time watching TV, watching who’s one and who’s two. It really doesn’t matter. What really matters is how you play the rest of the season. How you focus the rest of the season, how you stay focused the rest of the season. If our players think anything of it, then that could be a problem and an issue too. These are the things that we try to categorize as ‘poison’ that you really don’t want your players to be focusing on or thinking about. But I appreciate you asking so I could get this off my chest.”
The rest of the Top 25 included
No. 5 Oklahoma
No. 6 Ohio State
No. 7 Penn State
No. 8 TCU
No. 9 Wisconsin
No. 10 Miami
No. 11 Oklahoma State
No. 12 Washington
No. 13 Virginia Tech
No. 14 Auburn
No. 15 Iowa State
No. 16 Mississippi State
No. 17 Southern California
No. 18 UCF
No. 19 LSU
No. 20 N.C. State
No. 21 Stanford
No. 22 Arizona
No. 23 Memphis
No. 24 Michigan State
No. 25 Washington State
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.
Week 10 College Football Playoff Rankings:
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Notre Dame
4. Clemson
5. Oklahoma
6. Ohio State pic.twitter.com/ONoeGNq11X— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2017
Week 10 College Football Playoff Rankings:
7. Penn State
8. TCU
9. Wisconsin
10. Miami— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2017
Week 10 College Football Playoff Rankings:
11. Oklahoma State
12. Washington
13. Virginia Tech
14. Auburn
15. Iowa State— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2017
Week 10 College Football Playoff Rankings:
16. Mississippi State
17. USC
18. UCF
19. LSU
20. NC State— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2017
Week 10 College Football Playoff Rankings:
21. Stanford
22. Arizona
23. Memphis
24. Michigan State
25. Washington State— ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) October 31, 2017
This story will be updated.
