Alabama Opens at No. 5 in First CFP Rankings, Ahead of Unbeaten UCLA and One-Loss BYU

The College Football Playoff committee's first top 25 of 2026 rewarded the SEC's schedule over the records of everyone else, and Alabama is the clearest example. The Crimson Tide are 6-2 and have lost two of their last three games, yet they opened at No. 5. CBS Sports noted that this puts Alabama four spots higher than its AP ranking.

That placement pushed teams with better records down the list. Roundtable Sports pointed out that one-loss BYU sits ninth and undefeated UCLA eighth, both behind Alabama, No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Texas. Jeff Hauser of Roundtable Sports accepted Texas's spot because its two losses came by a field goal on average. Alabama's he could not square: "What doesn't make sense is Alabama has lost two of the last three games."

The SEC put 10 teams in the rankings. Georgia (7-1) is No. 2 behind unbeaten Miami. Ole Miss is 10th, Tennessee 13th, LSU 14th, Missouri 18th, South Carolina 21st and Florida 24th. In the bracket CBS Sports projected from these rankings, Georgia gets a first-round bye along with Miami, Utah and Indiana. Alabama, Kentucky, Texas and UCLA would host first-round games, with the Tide drawing the Group of Six champion, projected to be No. 25 Boise State. Ohio State is the first team left out.

The committee had to look past some uneven results. Alabama's resume includes a 20-point win at Mississippi State, a 45-17 win over Kentucky and a 31-20 win over Texas A&M last week. It also lost to Georgia by three and to Tennessee by 16. Kentucky's only loss is that one to Alabama, and since then it has won six straight, including a 35-34 win over LSU.

What it means for Saturday

None of these spots are safe, because the SEC's top teams play each other this weekend. No. 5 Alabama goes to No. 14 LSU, which is also 6-2. The Tigers have won three in a row since their one-point loss at Kentucky, beating Mississippi State 31-0 and Auburn 38-17. LSU is favored, priced at -203 on Novig with Alabama at +199. The spread is LSU -5.5. Novig lists the Tigers at -108, and the best price across the 12 venues on our board is theScore Bet at -105. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline runs from 3.8% to 6.9%, so the venues are fairly close on this game.

Kentucky's ranking gets tested at No. 13 Tennessee, where the Volunteers are favored at -217 on Novig and lay 6.5 points. The best Kentucky moneyline anywhere is bet365's +205, just ahead of Novig's +203 (board). Tennessee is coming off a 27-24 loss at South Carolina.

Georgia plays at No. 10 Ole Miss and is favored at -170 on Novig, with a 3.5-point spread (board). At No. 21, South Carolina has won three straight and is favored at -251 against Texas A&M (board).

If Alabama loses in Baton Rouge, it would have three losses in four games, and the committee's generosity toward the Tide would face a much harder test in next week's rankings.