Alabama finishes the season at No. 5 in final AP poll

Georgia’s mauling of TCU in Monday night’s national championship game wasn’t enough to help Alabama move up in the final Associated Press top 25 rankings. The Crimson Tide remained at No. 5 in the final four as the top four shuffled following this season’s playoff.

National champion Georgia (15-0) took the top spot after blowing out TCU 65-7 in the national championship game. Despite the forgettable performance, the Horned Frogs (13-2) still moved up a spot to No. 2. Michigan (13-1) fell a spot to No. 3 after losing to TCU 51-45 in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State (11-2) remained at No. 4 following its 42-41 defeat to Georgia in the Peach Bowl.

Alabama looked impressive in its 45-20 Sugar Bowl victory over current No. 14 Kansas State. Following the game, Nick Saban said he was proud the way his players closed out the season, stating they proved to the playoff committee that they were deserving of competing for a national title.

“I think we had a little bit of a taste in our mouth that if we had a dominant performance, it would show people that we probably did deserve to do a little better than we did, in terms of the playoff picture,” Saban said at the time.

Alabama (11-2) ended the season with three wins over top-25 teams as Mississippi State ranked No. 20 while Texas rounded out the final poll at No. 25.

Alabama held off No. 6 Tennessee which blew out now-No. 13 Clemson 31-14 in the Orange Bowl. The Volunteers beat the Crimson Tide 52-49 on a last-second field goal in Knoxville, Tenn. Alabama’s other loss came to now-No. 16 LSU as the Tigers used a two-point conversion in overtime to hand the Tide a 32-31 defeat in Baton Rouge, La.

Alabama has now ranked in the top 10 of the final AP poll in each of the last 15 seasons. The only time the Crimson Tide failed to reach the feat under Saban came during his first season in 2007 when it finished 7-6. Alabama has been ranked in the top five of the final AP poll 10 times under Saban, including each of the past three seasons.

Despite losing two projected top-five picks in this year’s NFL Draft in quarterback Bryce and edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., Alabama is once again expected to be national-title contender next season. The Crimson Tide was ranked No. 5 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early college football Top 25, slotting in behind Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and Florida State.

“It might seem like Alabama has reached a crossroads, but we have to remember how many times we've been here before,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote. “Yes, the Crimson Tide were uncharacteristically sloppy and undisciplined in 2022. They finished next-to-last in the SEC in penalties and 10th in turnover margin. That was a big reason Alabama lost twice — each on the last play of road games.

“Replacing Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, won't be easy. Freshman Jalen Milroe struggled with ball security in limited time this past season; Ty Simpson was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the 2022 ESPN 300. Alabama has to figure out a way to get better on the offensive line and at receiver. Benson, a junior college transfer, and Dippre, who caught 30 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns at Maryland in 2022, might provide immediate help.”