The College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s opinion of the University of Alabama remains unchanged.
Alabama stayed put at No. 5 in the rankings released Tuesday, after a week of games that included UA’s 38-7 win at Mississippi State. There were no changes from last week to this week at the top of the rankings: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Georgia and No. 6 Oregon.
Rob Mullens, Oregon Director of Athletics and the CFP Selection Committee chair, said on a teleconference the Committee spent a lot of time debating Alabama and Oregon when it came down to the No. 5 spot. Last week, Mullens said the Committee spent a lot of time debating Georgia and Alabama for the No. 4 spot.
“The members talked about how dominant Bama has been all season. They also had Oregon is explosive and they were impressed by Oregon’s quarterback (Justin Herbert),” Mullens said. “But Oregon’s only loss came to the No. 15 team at a neutral site, while Alabama’s only loss came to No. 1 LSU.”
Georgia did add a quality win, beating Auburn 21-14.
Auburn came in at No. 15 in the new rankings. Auburn’s ranking is of note for UA both before and after the Iron Bowl, as the Committee’s opinion of Auburn will influence how it views Alabama considering an Iron Bowl win would be UA’s best win in the Committee’s eyes.
Mullens said the Committee also spent time discussing the season-ending injury to Tua Tagovailoa, but did not project it onto Alabama going forward. It will evaluate what Alabama is without Tagovailoa once it sees it.
“We are aware of who’s available in what games and we make an evaluation based on watching the games and the results,” Mullens said.
Reach Brett Hudson at 205-722-0196 or bhudson@tuscaloosanews.com or via Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
