Suddenly, Alabama is sitting pretty in the College Football Playoff picture.

The Crimson Tide rolled in at No. 7 in the latest playoff rankings revealed Tuesday night. Not only is the Tide (8-2) the top two-loss team in the nation, but it is also ahead of No. 8 Miami, No. 12 Boise State, No. 13 SMU and No. 14 BYU, who all have 9-1 records.

As far as Alabama’s concerned, projected playoff matchups mean nothing at the moment. Theoretically, the Tide would earn the No. 9 seed in the playoff and travel to No. 8 seed Notre Dame in the first round. However, that projection doesn’t take into account Alabama’s high probability of making the SEC Championship Game.

The Tide will punch its ticket to Atlanta provided it wins its next two games (at Oklahoma, vs. Auburn) and Missouri wins one of its two remaining games (at Mississippi State, vs. Arkansas). Alabama and Missouri are favored in all four of those combined matchups, so there’s reason for the Tide to be optimistic.

Assuming Alabama does indeed play in the SEC Championship Game, its current status as the nation’s top two-loss team doesn’t matter. The Tide would either win the SEC title and clinch a first-round bye in the playoff or it would be reevaluated as a three-loss team.

With that said, there’s still a lot to digest regarding how the latest playoff rankings affect Alabama. Here’s a look at three takeaways from Tuesday’s reveal.