Throw us a curveball, College Football Playoff committee. Put Utah at No. 5 ahead of Alabama.
It’ll be astonishing if Alabama isn’t at No. 5 on Tuesday when the next rankings come out. Utah, which beat Arizona handily on Saturday night, will likely be at No. 6 after Oregon’s loss to Arizona State. With Alabama easily handling business against FCS opponent Western Carolina, there’s no impetus for the committee to put Utah ahead of Alabama.
But maybe it should.
This is an Alabama team that’s obviously at less than full strength without Tua Tagovailoa following his season-ending hip injury.