Alabama jumps to No. 1 in College Football Playoff rankings

Bill Bender

Alabama jumps to No. 1 in College Football Playoff rankings image

The College Football Playoff committee, which will pick the four teams in this year's playoff, released its fourth Top 25 rankings Tuesday. 

Alabama (9-1) jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 after its win against Missisippi State (9-1). Oregon (9-1) held its spot at No. 2, while Florida State (10-0) remains in the No. 3 spot. Mississippi State stayed in the top four despite its 25-20 loss to the Crimson Tide. It was No. 1 last week.

TCU (9-1) dropped from No. 4 to No. 5, and Ohio State (9-1) moved into the No. 6 spot. The Buckeyes jumped ahead of Baylor (9-1), which rounds out the top seven teams.

The four-team playoff begins Jan. 1. Two teams will play in the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. ET and the other two will face off in the Sugar Bowl at 8:30 p.m. The winners will play in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET. 

The complete CFP selection committee Top 25:

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Florida State

4. Mississippi State

5. TCU

6. Ohio State

7. Baylor

8. 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

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.