CFP Chair Warde Manuel Explains Why Alabama Is Highest Ranked 3-Loss SEC Team

Following the release of the updated College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, CFP Chair Warde Manuel explained why the committee had No. 13 Alabama (8-3) ranked ahead of No. 14. Ole Miss (8-3) and No. 15 South Carolina (8-3). Per On3:

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“Because of their win over Georgia,” Manuel said of Alabama. “They won against Missouri, they’ve beat South Carolina and they won at LSU in dominant fashion. When you put those four wins against Mississippi and what they did, they had the win against Georgia and the win at South Carolina, but they had a tough loss to Florida. Lost to LSU in overtime. So when we compared resumes, that’s how we saw it, in terms of the difference between Alabama and Mississippi.”

“I would say in the committee’s eyes, they’re really similar teams, and they’ve had similar ways that they’ve gone through the season,” Manuel said of Alabama and Ole Miss. “Both have had losses that you didn’t expect them to have. Alabama had a loss at Oklahoma, and Oklahoma’s performance was dominant against Alabama.

“And then, you have the loss by Mississippi to Florida at Florida. It was one of those losses that you just don’t expect them to have. It was a close game, but where we evaluated it, we came out with Alabama ahead of Mississippi and South Carolina since Alabama and Mississippi both won head-to-head against South Carolina.”

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