After Alabama football's 52-7 drubbing of Mercer, the Crimson Tide should remain in roughly the same spot in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee.
After Alabama appeared at No. 10 in the second edition of the rankings, Tennessee and BYU both lost, leaving a potential two-spot jump for the Crimson Tide , which would remain in the visitors' side of the first-round bracket.
Alabama will face Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC before hosting Auburn in the final game of the regular season.
Where could Alabama finish in the next set of CFP rankings? And how far could the Crimson Tide go? Here are the latest projections.
Note: Seedings are based on this week's US LBM Coaches Poll and rules of the College Football Playoff format
No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 12 BYU to play No. 4 Boise State
No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 Ole Miss to play No. 3 Miami
No. 8 Notre Dame vs No. 9 Alabama to play No. 1 Oregon
The latest US LBM Coaches Poll has Alabama right on the edge of being a first-round host in the CFP. The ninth-seeded Crimson Tide would face No. 8 Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, on Dec. 20 or 21.
Alabama has a significant strength-of-schedule advantage over Notre Dame, which has ranked wins against Texas A&M , Louisville and Navy.
But if Riley Leonard 's dual-threat ability doesn't hurt Alabama, Oregon's high-octane offense led by Dillon Gabriel certainly could, creating a tall test for Alabama if it wants to reach the CFP semifinals.
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 9 Ole Miss
CBS Sports : No. 2 Alabama vs No. 7 Georgia/No. 10 Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl
247Sports : No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Notre Dame
The Athletic : No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 7 Penn State/No. 10 Indiana
Action Network : No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 9 Ole Miss
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football CFP bracket predictions after Mercer win
