Where CFP Committee Ranks Alabama Ahead of Iron Bowl

The Alabama football team gobbled up its annual cupcake opponent this past week, devouring the Eastern Illinois Panthers 56-0 in the final regular season game in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide improved to 9-2 on the season with the victory and now turns its attention to its annual Iron Bowl rivalry game against the Auburn Tigers.

The College Football Playoff committee met and announced the fourth playoff rankings of the season on Tuesday night. Alabama looks to return to the College Football Playoff after missing the first 12-team edition last season. The Crimson Tide remains ranked at No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings after defeating Eastern Illinois at home.

The Crimson Tide has made eight College Football Playoff appearances dating back to 2014 while claiming three national championships in the playoff era.

The College Football Playoff will select 12 teams, with the selection committee's five highest-ranked conference champions earning automatic bids. The top-four seeds all earn a first-round bye. The teams ranked No. 5-8 will host first-round playoff games in on-campus games against the teams ranked No. 9-12.

As for why Notre Dame is ranked ahead of Alabama despite the Crimson TIde's strength of schedule:

Well, I think one of the most important factors for this committee in particular is they watch the games, and they watch how a team performs. They watch them offensively, defensively, special teams, that's an important factor. They look at the 12 correlative statistics that really are statistically indicative of strong football teams. They look at those very heavily. They do look at schedule strength and record strength. So there are several different things that the committee looks and they discuss them in great detail to come up with their rankings. So it's really hard to put your finger on one thing to say that that's the deciding factor.
CFP executive director Rich Clark

2025 College Football Playoff Rankings

1. Ohio State, 11-0
2. Indiana, 11-0
3. Texas A&M,11-0
4. Georgia, 10-1
5. Texas Tech, 10-1
6. Oregon, 10-1
7. Ole Miss, 10-1
8. Oklahoma, 9-2
9. Notre Dame, 9-2
10. Alabama, 9-2
11. BYU, 10-1
12. Miami (FL), 9-2
13. Utah, 9-2
14. Vanderbilt, 9-2
15. Michigan, 9-2
16. Texas, 8-3
17. Southern Cal, 8-3
18. Virginia, 9-2
19. Tennessee, 8-3
20. Arizona State, 8-3
21. SMU, 8-3
22. Pittsburgh, 8-3
23. Georgia Tech, 9-2
24. Tulane, 9-2
25. Arizona, 8-3

2025-26 College Football Playoff round-by-round schedule

First round | Week of Saturday, Dec. 20
Location: the home field of the higher-seeded team or another site designated by the higher-seeded program.
One game | Friday, Dec. 19
Three games | Saturday, Dec. 20
Quarterfinal sites:
Cotton Bowl | Wednesday, Dec. 31 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
Orange Bowl | Thursday, Jan. 1 | 12 p.m. | ESPN
Rose Bowl | Thursday, Jan. 1 | 4 p.m. | ESPN
Sugar Bowl | Thursday, Jan. 1 | 8 p.m. | ESPN
Semifinal sites:
Fiesta Bowl | Thursday, Jan. 8 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
Peach Bowl | Friday, Jan. 9 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
CFP National Championship Game:
Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 (in Miami, Florida) | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN

The 2025 College Football Playoff Committee
Hunter Yuracheck - Committee Chair - Arkansas Athletic Director
Chris Ault - Former College Football Head Coach
Troy Dannen - Nebraska Athletic Director
Mark Dantonio - Former College Football Head Coach
Jeff Long - Former College Football Playoff Committee Chair
Ivan Maisel - Sportswriter
Chris Massaro - MTSU Athletic Director
Mike Riley - Former College Football Head Coach
David Sayler - Miami (Ohio) Athletic Director
Wesley Walls - College Football Hall of Famer (Ole Miss)
Carla Williams - Virginia Athletic Director
Mark Harlan - University of Utah Athletic Director

Alabama in the College Football Playoff Ranking Through 2025

Week 1 (After Second BYE): No. 4
Week 2 (After LSU Win): No. 4
Week 3 (After Oklahoma Loss): No. 10
Week 4 (After Eastern Illinois Win):