Where Alabama stands following a wild week in college football

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Despite not playing on Saturday, Alabama is set to take over the No. 1 ranking for the first time this season as previously top-ranked Clemson was upset by Notre Dame. On top of that, a rematch against Georgia no longer appears to be in the cards after the Bulldogs were upset by Florida, putting the Gators on a collision course with the Crimson Tide for the SEC Championship Game in December.

What does all that mean for Alabama?

For starters, the Tide will continue its streak of reaching the top spot in the Associated Press Top 25 in every year since 2008. Other than that, there won't be too many short-term effects. Nick Saban will look to snuff out any distractions this week as he prepares his team for an always-tricky trip to Baton Rouge, La. to take on LSU. However, Saturday’s results could have quite a few implications on the Tide in the future. Here are a few to consider.

Alabama’s been here before. While this will be the first time the Tide tops the polls this year, the No. 1 ranking shouldn’t weigh too heavily on the backs of its players. Expect plenty of rat-poison warnings this week as Saban looks to keep his players grounded heading into what was already going to be an emotionally charged matchup against LSU. That being said, it’s hard to imagine something so trivial turning into a distraction.

The real question is what the No. 1 ranking will mean in the long term.

There’s still a lot of football to play, but since the purpose of this exercise is to examine hypotheticals let’s have a little fun. Let’s assume college football avoids any further chaos (admittedly not the most advisable bet) and Alabama wins the remainder of its games. The Tide would assuredly land the top spot in the College Football Playoff.

This year, that could be particularly advantageous for a couple of reasons. First off, it likely means Alabama is headed to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl instead of a cross-country trip to Pasadena, Calif. for the Rose Bowl. Second, and more importantly, it likely prevents a semi-final matchup against a red-hot Justin Fields and Ohio State.

On the other hand, Clemson’s loss to Notre Dame could set up a potentially tricky semifinal matchup regardless. The Tigers’ playoff dreams are still largely intact as Clemson still controls its destiny for the ACC title. A redemption win over an undefeated Notre Dame in the conference championship could even see the ACC land two teams in the playoff.

In such a scenario, Clemson likely moves ahead of Notre Dame, setting up a matchup between the Tide and the Irish in the Sugar Bowl. However, other situations — for example an undefeated Pac-12 champion — could see Clemson enter the playoff at No. 4. That would certainly create a difficult playoff path for Alabama.

The moral of the story here is that it’s still early in the season. Chaos is fun, but from an Alabama standpoint, Tide fans should be careful what they wish for.

Even after Alabama’s 41-24 victory over Georgia last month, there was a general belief that both teams would meet up again in Atlanta for the conference championship game in December. That doesn’t appear to be the case as the Bulldogs picked up their second loss in a 44-28 defeat to Florida.

Instead, the SEC stage seems to be set for the Gators and the Tide as both teams will be favored in the remainder of their matchups. But is that a good thing for Alabama?

Florida certainly looked the part of a playoff contender on Saturday as quarterback Kyle Trask entered the Heisman race, completing 30 of 43 passes for 474 yards and four touchdowns with an interception against Georgia. The Gators also have one of the nation’s biggest matchup nightmares in 6-foot-6, 246-pound tight end Kyle Pitts, who has eight touchdown grabs through five games.

Florida’s defense isn’t as formidable as the Georgia unit that Alabama torched for 564 yards last month. However, these days college football is run by explosive offenses, and the Gators may have the necessary firepower to keep up with the Tide.

While Alabama avoided a wild week in college football with its open date, the time off allowed other Heisman contenders to close in on Mac Jones.

The Tide quarterback entered the weekend as the betting leader for the award. Although it will be interesting to see if that’s still the case when the latest odds are released.

Trask’s big day against Georgia places him firmly in the running. Through five games, the Florida quarterback has completed 68.68 percent of his passes for 1,815 yards and 22 touchdowns with three interceptions.

Fields also continued his torrid start, completing 24 of 28 passes for 314 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions while running in another score during a 49-27 win over Rutgers. Through three games, the Ohio State quarterback has completed an eye-popping 86.74 percent of his passes for 908 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions.

BYU quarterback Zach Wilson had a big night Friday, throwing for 359 yards and two touchdowns while adding a score with his legs in a 51-17 win over Boise State. He has 29 total touchdowns through eight games and is a dark horse candidate for the award.

Clemson running back Travis Etienne might have crashed out of the competition with the loss to Notre Dame. The senior averaged just 1.8 yards per carry against the Irish, running for 28 yards and a touchdown. While he did record eight receptions for 57 yards, he likely needed a much better performance to pull even with the quarterback contenders.