Is Alabama Top SEC Team?

The ripple effects of Oklahoma’s win at Alabama on Saturday not only likely handed over a fifth bid to the SEC, but it massively shook up bowl options for nearly every league in the process, too. 

It also poses quite the quandary for the selection committee with regard to where it might rank teams should, as Sports Illustrated now projects, Alabama wins the SEC with two losses. We’ll get a better read on the Crimson Tide on Tuesday to see just how far they drop in the latest set of rankings, but it’s important to keep in mind they still have a trip to Atlanta for the SEC title game firmly in their grasp as long as they win the Iron Bowl. Strange things happen in that rivalry, but the Tigers have an interim coaching staff and serious issues at quarterback, so we’ll chalk that up as a win until another prayer gets answered at Jordan-Hare Stadium. That then pits the Tide against Texas A&M should the Aggies complete the regular season without a loss, which is still quite a winnable game for Kalen DeBoer’s team based on what we saw in that wild first half against South Carolina.

If Alabama wins out and emerges as SEC champion, where would that put it in the rankings though? Right now it’s a tough debate with one-loss Mississippi, which suffered its only blemish on the road against a team that likely will be no lower than No. 3 on Selection Sunday. You can make the case that the Tide could be the No. 6 seed, but for now they can rest easy one spot lower than that with a juicy home game against Notre Dame. The Irish are set to be the last at-large team in the field once they wrap up their 10–2 campaign and would get placed just ahead of a new name getting penciled in as the ACC champion: SMU. The Mustangs have had an up-and-down season but still have a great path to make it to Charlotte and perhaps exorcize some of their demons from last year’s walk-off in the conference title game by beating Virginia to earn the automatic bid back to the playoff. 

Safe to say ESPN and TNT wouldn’t mind some of those first-round matchups given some of the name brands involved, from Oklahoma going to Autzen Stadium to play Oregon or a potentially all-Texas quadrant of the bracket with North Texas traveling to their head coach’s alma mater and the winner meeting Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. They say everything is bigger in the Lone Star State and the bragging rights certainly would be for some fan base. 

Finally, the rest of the bowls also get plenty of fun matchups as a result of a number of dominoes. The ACC naturally has to deal with a team like Miami missing out on the CFP but the Canes do land in a compelling Gator Bowl against Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt. Clemson and Florida State are now both projected to at least go 6–6 so they find some new bowl destinations too (the Military and Gasparilla bowls, respectively). There’s also the matter of plenty of other big-time helmet games like Michigan-Texas all but certain to wind being the Citrus Bowl even if the preseason No. 1 Longhorns lose four games this season or Nebraska meeting Tennessee to rekindle some yesteryear nostalgia in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

With all that in mind, here is how SI sees the playoff and all of 35 bowl games coming together to form the postseason picture in 2025–26 after Week 11.

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Georgia
4. Texas A&M 
5. Texas Tech
6. Mississippi
7. Alabama 
8. Oregon 
9. Oklahoma 
10. Notre Dame
11. SMU
12. North Texas

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