Why Alabama football doesn't care about first College Football Playoff rankings
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Alabama football will soon find out where it stands in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee. And Crimson Tide players don’t care one bit.
The first set of CFP rankings will be released Tuesday, Nov. 4, likely placing Alabama in the top four just like the latest US LBM Coaches Poll and the latest Associated Press poll. But all the Crimson Tide is focused on is what is directly ahead. As quarterback Ty Simpson said, if Alabama doesn’t play up to its standard against LSU, Oklahoma, Eastern Illinois and Auburn, no initial ranking matters.
“We say, ‘You’re remembered by what you do in November,’ right?” Simpson said. “Well, these next couple games are how you’re going to be remembered, right? How you play when people are tired, they’re hurt. It’s a long season, right? We got four good teams ahead of us. We got to be ready to rock and roll and understand that when you come to Alabama, pull ourselves apart in November by being resilient and being ready to go beat anybody.”
Alabama offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor called November the “hardest time of the year,” especially in the SEC. And through resiliency he feels the Crimson Tide has shown all season, Alabama has to continue to push through.
“You still got four games left,” Proctor said. “And you lose these last four? Tanks all that.”
It’s why Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson and the rest of the Crimson Tide roster is adopting a much wider lens ahead of the final four games. It’s about handling business, and letting results speak for themselves. It’s about responding to those who “can’t wait to see Alabama fall.”
That’s the edge Lawson said Alabama has.
“They want to say something bad about you,” Lawson said. “Don’t give them a reason to.”
Simpson knows what November means. It’s about separation. But where Alabama stands at the start of the month? Simpson doesn’t care at all.
“Rankings don’t mean anything,” Simpson said.
Alabama will face LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 8
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Alabama football doesn’t care about first CFP rankings
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