Alabama Ranked 5th In CFP “Doesn’t Make Sense,” Says Mobile Radio Host On Tiger Rag Radio

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The Alabama football team looked very average in a 26-10 loss at Tennessee on Oct. 17 and struggled to beat a struggling Texas A&M, 31-20, on Oct. 24. Yet the Crimson Tide (6-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference), which is No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, was ranked No. 5 in the nation in the first College Football Playoff poll released on Tuesday night.

“How crazy is that? They’re number five? That’s wild,” morning radio show host Mark Heim at WNSP in Mobile, Alabama, said on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night.

Alabama was eight spots higher than No. 13 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC), which manhandled Tide coach Kalen DeBoer’s offense to the tune of 54 rushing yards on 26 carries. And Alabama sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell threw two interceptions amid 19-of-29 passing for 147 yards around five sacks.

Alabama will be at No. 14 CFP LSU (6-2, 3-2 SEC) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ABC). The Tigers are favored by 5.5 points.

“I didn’t see that coming at all,” Heim said of the CFP rankings. “Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”

Heim says Alabama must beat LSU to reach the 12-team CFP playoffs.

“I don’t see how Alabama gets in with a third loss, especially the way they lost two straight (20-17 to Georgia before Tennessee) and had to rally against Texas A&M. They are not consistent in a lot of areas. This is must-win time for Alabama.”

Alabama has had a plethora of injuries – wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, center Racin Delgatty, running back EJ Crowell and several in the secondary.

“LSU is certainly trending in the right direction the last couple of weeks,” Heim said.

But LSU coach Lane Kiffin is 0-4 against Alabama as a head coach, all while he was Ole Miss’s head coach from 2020-25 – 63-48 in 2020, 42-21 in 2021, 30-24 in 2022 and 24-10 in 2023 when Alabama was coached by Nick Saban. This will be Kiffin’s first head-to-head match with DeBoer.

“I think LSU’s biggest hurdle in this game may be Lane Kiffin,” Heim said. “He wants to beat Alabama so bad. I think at Ole Miss that actually cost him some games. He treats it like a Super Bowl. I’m curious to see how he handles this week, because he’s always got Alabama on his mind. But if I’m Lane Kiffin, I feel pretty good about my chances.”