Hunter Yurachek explains why Alabama jumped Notre Dame in latest CFP rankings
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Hunter Yurachek had to know the question was coming and, sure enough, it was the first question out of Rece Davis’s mouth on Tuesday night after the latest College Football Playoff rankings were revealed.
The ESPN host fired away, and the Playoff committee chair was ready with an answer about just why Alabama moved up 1 spot and Notre Dame moved down 1 spot in the new rankings. The blue bloods switched places, with Bama moving up to No. 9 and Notre Dame sliding back to No. 10.
So, why did this happen in the next-to-last CFP rankings, just 5 days before Selection Sunday when the final rankings and College Football Playoff bracket are revealed?
“The debate between Alabama and Notre Dame over the past 3 weeks has been 1 of the strongest debates we’ve had in the room for the past 2 years since I’ve been a member of the committee,” Yurachek said.
The committee chair said that even though Alabama struggled to beat Auburn on Saturday night on the scoreboard, the eye test with how the Tide grinded out a gutsy win helped their cause going into Tuesday night.
“That was enough to change the minds of a couple committee members to push Alabama above Notre Dame in this week’s rankings,” Yurachek said.
Davis pressed Yurachek a little more, asking the committee chair if Alabama was moved up 1 spot to protect against the Tide being left out of the Playoff if they lose the SEC title game and BYU upsets Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship Game.
“That did not come up,” Yurachek said. “We will evaluate the results of the championship games after they are all completed.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
