College Football Rankings 2020: Projected AP Top 25 for Week 12

With 59 of the 62 first-place votes in hand heading into Week 11, there was no risk of Alabama slipping out of the top spot in the AP Top 25 this week unless they lost. That remote possibility was eliminated when the Crimson Tide’s game at LSU was postponed. COVID-19 positives and quarantines due to contract tracing prevented the Tigers from fielding the SEC-minimum of 53 healthy players, and the game is at risk of being canceled entirely.

The offense has not skipped a beat this season despite losses to the unit. Mac Jones ranks in the top five nationally in passing efficiency, DeVonta Smith is in the top five in every receiving category, and Najee Harris entered Week 11 tied with North Carolina’s Javonte Williams for the national lead in rushing touchdowns. While the defense has been down from its usual dominant self, the Tide still allow only 22 points per game.

A visit from Kentucky to Tuscaloosa looms on the schedule for Alabama in Week 12, and they immediately follow that with the Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny against Auburn. The Crimson Tide visit Fayetteville on the first Saturday of December. Given that LSU already has their game against Florida rescheduled on December 12, though, the only way Tide-Tigers gets played is if Alabama doesn’t reach the SEC championship game. As of right now, that drop doesn’t look likely.