The Alabama Crimson Tide benefitted from some upsets of Top 15 teams last Saturday during a bye week for coach Kalen DeBoer and players.
The previously eighth-ranked Clemson Tigers fell 33-21 to Louisville in a huge setback to the College Football Playoff hopes for Dabo Swinney’s team. Likewise, the previously unbeaten and 10th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones fell to Texas Tech in Ames.
And a week after taking down the LSU Tigers in College Station, the previously 11th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies suffered a 44-20 blowout loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Those three results moved Alabama up three spots to No. 11 in both this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll. It also moved the Crimson Tide back into USA TODAY Sports’ new 12-team College Football Playoff projections.
On Tuesday, analysts Erick Smith and Paul Myerberg updated their weekly Playoff and bowl game forecast. Smith and Myerberg currently see Alabama as the No. 12 seed in the playoff entering Saturday’s must-win game against LSU in Baton Rouge.
Smith sees the Tide making a trip to Happy Valley to face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the first round of the playoff, while Myerberg has Alabama squaring off against the Texas Longhorns in Austin.
Myerberg said of Alabama as his No. 12 seed:
“Beating Georgia is enough to land Alabama here, ahead of other contenders such as SMU, LSU, Mississippi and Texas A&M. Losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt will also be looked at kindly, especially if the Commodores land somewhere in the final three spots in this week’s (CFP) rankings.”
RELATED: How to watch CFP rankings for Alabama football fans: Time, live stream, channel
Alabama (6-2) and LSU (6-2) will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Baton Rouge. The game will be televised on ABC.
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