How far will team fall after Vanderbilt loss?

(This story was updated with new information.)

Alabama’s time atop the college football top 25 polls will be short-lived.

A week after beating then-No. 1 Georgia in what might have been the game of the year, Alabama is now part of the upset of the year, falling 40-35 to unranked Vanderbilt in Nashville. It was the Commodores’ first win vs. an AP top-five opponent in 61 tries, and their first vs. an AP No. 1 team in 11 tries.

Alabama had no answer for Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt’s offense, which out-gained Alabama 418 yards to 394. The Commodores were 12 of 18 on third-down conversions, 1 of 1 on fourth down and dominated the time of possession battle 42:08 to 17:52. Alabama never led in the loss.

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With that, Alabama falls 63-4 all time in games where it was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 and facing an unranked opponent.

But what does the loss mean for Alabama’s top 25 rankings and, more pressingly, the College Football Playoff?

The good news is that Alabama still has a strong case to make the playoff field, which beginning in 2024 expanded to 12 teams. So a loss — even one as monumental as the one the Crimson Tide suffered vs. the Commodores — doesn’t preclude the team from making the playoff.

However, that doesn’t mean the sting of this loss will go away anytime soon. Alabama football will be reminded of that fact on Sunday, when the Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 release their updated rankings.

With that, here’s a look at how far Alabama football might fall in the next set of college football rankings:

REQUIRED READING:How did Vanderbilt football win country’s respect? By shocking AP No. 1 Alabama | Estes

Alabama football rankings: Where will Crimson Tide fall in top 25?

Rankings reflect Coaches Poll heading into Week 6 of the college football season

1. Texas: BYE
2. Alabama: 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt
3. Ohio State: 35-7 win vs. Iowa
4. Tennessee: 19-14 loss to Arkansas
5. Georgia: 31-13 win vs. Auburn
6. Oregon: 31-10 win vs. Michigan State
7. Penn State: 27-11 win vs. UCLA
8. Miami: vs. Cal
9. Missouri: 41-10 loss to No. 21 Texas A&M
10. Michigan: 27-17 loss to Washington
11. Ole Miss: 27-3 win vs. South Carolina
12. LSU: BYE
13. Notre Dame: BYE
14. Clemson: 29-13 win vs. Florida State
15. USC: 24-17 loss to Minnesota

Alabama’s fall will be impacted by other teams’ results in the top 15, plus the fact several more teams are on bye, such as No. 1 Texas, No. 12 LSU and No. 13 Notre Dame.

Alabama can take cold comfort in the fact it won’t be the only team in the top 10 to lose on Saturday, as fellow SEC teams in No. 4 Tennessee and No. 9 Missouri lost 19-14 at Arkansas and 41-10 at Texas A&M, respectively. Elsewhere, No. 10 Michigan also lost to an unranked opponent in Washington, 27-17. No. 15 USC also lost to Minnesota.

However, those defeats will only mitigate Alabama’s fall so much, considering the fact Vanderbilt is an unranked team and scored a historic upset of the Crimson Tide. If Alabama wants to make it back to the top of the rankings, it will come after a notable climb back up the rankings.

Final ranking prediction: No. 12