Alabama ranked ahead of Florida State in new AP Poll despite head-to-head loss
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The AP Top 25 has been updated following a wild week in college football.
Week 5 saw 4 top-10 teams go down, including Florida State on Friday night. The Seminoles fell 10 spots to No. 18 as a result of that loss to Virginia. They’re now 3-1 on the season.
However, some fans and media were quick to point out a contradiction with this week’s AP Poll. Alabama — despite a 14-point loss to FSU back in Week 1 — is ranked at No. 10 this week after a big road win over Georgia. That means Alabama is ranked 8 spots ahead of a team it lost to by multiple touchdowns less than a month ago.
As you might expect, college football analyst and former FSU quarterback Danny Kanell was not happy when he saw the new AP Poll:
Both Florida State and Alabama are 3-1 on the season with wins over ranked teams and losses to previously-unranked opposition. Given their similar résumés, it is a bit surprising to see such a difference in their respective rankings in the AP Top 25 this week.
For what it’s worth, Alabama is ahead of Florida State in ESPN’s strength of record metric. The Crimson Tide rank 16th while Florida State sits at No. 26.
Both of these teams have top-25 matchups in Week 6, so this should sort itself out in the near future. Alabama hosts Vanderbilt next week while FSU hosts Miami.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
