ESPN - Alabama has company, it's Alabama, LSU, Ga, and Aub

ESPN - It isn't Alabama-and-everyone-else, at least not based on the two-week snapshot we have. It's Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Auburn. With LSU's win at Texas, a game in which quarterback Joe Burrow catapulted himself into the Heisman conversation, the Tigers legitimized their playoff hopes and made their case for a top-four ranking in the next AP Top 25.

Consider this: ESPN's FPI projects LSU to win each of its remaining games except a Nov. 9 trip to Alabama (31.3%). What if that's LSU's only loss and Bama wins the SEC? We've seen an SEC team finish in the top four without winning the West (Alabama). The same question can be asked for Auburn, which has its own thrilling nonconference win over Oregon.

What if ... LSU and Georgia finish with one loss, each to the SEC champ, Alabama?

OK, OK, we're jumping ahead here, but the SEC's performances the past two weeks have opened the door to the possibility of multiple SEC teams finishing in the top four. Again.

That could make life difficult, of course, for the other Power 5 conference champions that finish with at least one loss, especially if Texas runs the table and wins the Big 12. Yes, Oklahoma is the conference's team to beat until proven otherwise, but it's hardly as if Texas fell apart against a talented LSU team. If LSU and Texas are both in the mix -- and Texas has a league title and LSU doesn't -- things could get very tricky for the selection committee.