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Kirk Herbstreit weighs in on Alabama opening at No. 2 in the Playoff rankings
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On a night where the College Football Playoff selection committee gave us a number of surprises with its first ranking of the new season, no doubt the biggest was putting the 7-1 Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 2. Notably, unbeaten Cincinnati was outside the top four and 9-0 Oklahoma was down at No. 8.
Alabama’s only loss this season was to Texas A&M on Oct. 9 in College Station. At the time, the Aggies were just 3-2, but that win has kicked off three straight for A&M, which found itself at No. 14 in the committee’s initial rankings.
Some have said the Tide have the most embarrassing loss among the 1-loss teams at the top of the rankings, citing A&M’s unranked status at the time of the game, but ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit tried to calm the waters after the initial reveal.
“It doesn’t matter where the heck Alabama is,” he said. “If they win out, beat Georgia, they’re in. If they lose to Georgia, they’re out. … No matter what happens, it still comes down to that game in Atlanta.”
Herbstreit is, of course, referencing the SEC championship game. Waiting on the other sideline will be No. 1 Georgia, who already has its spot secured thanks to an 8-0 start.
Alabama will look to justify its standing when it plays host to 4-4 LSU on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.