Tennessee Beat Alabama by 16 and the Committee Ranked the Tide Eight Spots Higher
Tennessee went into Neyland Stadium on Oct. 17 and beat Alabama 26-10, the Volunteers’ first win in the series since 2006. On Tuesday night the College Football Playoff selection committee released its first rankings of the 2026 season and put Alabama at No. 5 and Tennessee at No. 13.
Both teams are 6-2. One of those losses happened in that game. The committee ranked the loser eight spots higher than the winner.
The Committee’s Case
Hunter Yurachek, the Arkansas athletics director serving a second season as committee chair, went on ESPN after the reveal and argued the gap on wins rather than on the result in Knoxville.
“Well, I think you look first at Alabama went on the road and beat the team we have ranked sixth this week in Kentucky,” Yurachek said. “They also beat South Carolina who is ranked in the top 25. And then I think many forget that they went on the road and beat Mississippi State when Mississippi State was undefeated and at full strength.”
He called those three quality wins. On Tennessee: “Tennessee doesn’t have the same level of quality wins. They do have the win against Alabama, but you have to go a little bit deeper to see Tennessee with another quality win on their schedule.”
Later, on a media teleconference, Yurachek said the uncomfortable part out loud. “Just like the head-to-head matchup between Tennessee and Alabama is not going to come into play at this point,” he said.
Resume Math Has Limits
The committee is allowed to weigh schedules, and Alabama’s holds up. Kentucky is 7-1 and ranked sixth. The road win at Mississippi State came when the Bulldogs were undefeated. South Carolina made the top 25 at No. 21.
Then look at how each team lost. Alabama fell 20-17 to Georgia and 26-10 to Tennessee. The Georgia game was a field goal. The Tennessee game was a 16-point beating in the loudest building in the sport.
Tennessee’s two losses are 20-17 to Texas and 27-24 at South Carolina, both by one score. Alabama has the better wins. Tennessee has the closer losses and the only result that put these two rosters on the same field. Eight spots is a lot to hand a team on the strength of games against third parties.
Notre Dame Got It Worse
Alabama was not the only ranking that landed badly. Notre Dame came in at No. 11 at 7-1 after sitting fourth in the AP poll, a seven-spot drop and the widest gap between the two polls anywhere in the initial rankings.
The ESPN set did not hide its reaction. “Notre Dame at No. 11! Did not expect to see this,” Rece Davis said on air. “I thought they’d be much, much higher.”
Yurachek’s explanation was consistent with his Alabama answer. “They lost in their only top-25 matchup at BYU, their next-best win is at a neutral site,” he said. “They don’t have that signature win. They’ve got a great opportunity in front of them at home versus Miami to get that signature win.”
Media reaction was loud. “Alabama at No. 5 is ridiculously overrated, maybe the most overvalued team in the initial CFP rankings history,” 247Sports writer Brad Crawford posted. Danny Kanell asked whether the committee realizes Nick Saban no longer coaches in Tuscaloosa.
Five Chances to Fix It
Miami sits first at 8-0, followed by Georgia, Utah and Indiana, the four teams that would take first-round byes in the 12-team field. Alabama’s reward for No. 5 in the projected bracket is a home game against Boise State, while No. 12 Ohio State is left out entirely.
Five more rankings releases are coming, the next on Nov. 10, with the final field announced Dec. 6. Alabama still has games left that can settle this on the field. The committee gave itself five more chances to change its mind, and it should use one of them.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
