Scott Van Pelt goes off on CFP committee for Alabama-Tennessee ranking discrepancy
· Yahoo Sports
Scott Van Pelt was all of us watching the College Football Playoff rankings reveal on Tuesday night. Alabama — the same Alabama that Tennessee beat by 16 points just two weeks before — was ranked 5th in the initial rankings. Tennessee, with the same record as Alabama, checked in a full EIGHT spots lower than the Crimson Tide.
SVP was left scratching his head like the rest of us.
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"I don't have a problem at all with them being one of the 12. I have a specific problem with one being 5 and one being 13 when they played AND THEY LOST!"
— SVPod (@_SVPod) November 5, 2026
How does Alabama eight spots ahead of Tennessee make sense?#RollTide#GBO#Vols#Alabama#CFPRankings#Tennesseepic.twitter.com/Tu67VUtyMa
“Alabama played them. Tennessee beat them by double digits. One is No. 5, one is No. 13,” Van Pelt ranted.
Hunter Yurachek defended his committee’s ranking of Alabama, citing their wins at Kentucky and Mississippi State. Tennessee, outside of the win against Alabama, doesn’t really have anything else to hang their hat on. The Volunteers have opportunities on Saturday and next Saturday against Kentucky and LSU to change that in a large way.
Still, to rank Alabama at five seems like the committee is up to something. The Tide almost have a pass to lose this week at LSU with a built-in cushion to fall from their No. 5 ranking. They’ll then finish with Vanderbilt, Chattanooga and Auburn, more than likely finishing 9-3 and grabbing a bid.
Tennessee, well, they clearly don’t have that luxury. These things have a way of working themselves out, but Alabama’s clear head start is a definite head scratcher for the first batch of rankings.