New College Football Playoff poll has Alabama #1, Mississippi State drops to #4

Crimson Tide WR Amari Cooper has helped bring Alabama back to the top of the NCAA again.

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The new College Football Playoff poll has been released and has propelled the Alabama Crimson Tide to No. 1 in the nation for the first time this season.  The Oregon Ducks once again came in at #2, undefeated Florida State maintained its #3 spot, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs, despite their recent loss to Alabama, bumped TCU out of the #4 spot to take it for themselves.

Even though they have been in the top 10 all season, Alabama’s loss to #11 Ole Miss back in October had them off the radar for a while as the Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers all stayed in the top five for the better part of the month.  But with all of those teams losing one to three games in the last six weeks, Alabama’s win over Mississippi State put it over the top.  With WR Amari Cooper on pace for arguably the best season for a receiver in Alabama’s storied history and a great defense that has yet to allow more than 23 points in a game this season, the Crimson Tide are in the fast lane for a trip to both the SEC Championship and the College Football Playoffs.

With seven teams from Power Five conferences with 1 loss or less, the Selection Committee felt that Mississippi State’s loss to Alabama was more acceptable than TCU’s loss to Baylor (and near loss to lowly Kansas), Ohio State’s loss to Virginia Tech, or Baylor’s loss to West Virginia.

Here are the top 25 rankings from the College Football Playoff polls:

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Florida State

4. Mississippi State

5. TCU

6. Ohio State

7. Baylor

8. Mississippi (Ole Miss)

9. UCLA

10. Georgia

11. Michigan State

12. Kansas State

13. Arizona State

14. Auburn

15. Arizona

16. Wisconsin

17. Utah

18. Georgia Tech

19. USC

20. Missouri

21. Oklahoma

22. Clemson

23. Nebraska

24. Louisville

25. Minnesota