TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (Sporting Alert) — Alabama sits just outside the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings and will be looking to make a statement against No. 1 Mississippi State when the pair clash in the NCAAF game of the week.
The high-profiled Week 12 battle will take place at the Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, at 3:30 ET PM on CBS.
Mississippi State (9-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) head into Saturday’s contest undefeated on the season and hold a 5-0 league record, yet coach Dan Mullen’s team is not the favorite to stay unbeaten after this week.
In fact, some experts doesn’t believe that it will be a close game — selecting the Bulldogs to lose to the Crimson Tide by as many as eight-points.
However, after beating three other top 10 ranked teams already this season Mullen is confident his team is ready to prove why they are No. 1 in the country.
“Every article you read, everywhere you look, we’re the big underdog in this game,” Mullen said. “We’ve done that before and we know that role.
“We’ll be OK with that. Our guys will play with great effort and with a chip on our shoulder that we try to play with every week no matter what the rankings or what everyone else is predicting.”
Since losing 23-17 to the then-ranked No. 11 Ole Miss on Oct 4, Alabama (8-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference ) has found a way to win every other game, even when they weren’t playing their best football.
The No. 5 College Football Playoff ranked side can move into the top four with a victory against the Bulldogs, but a defeat would more than likely end their quest for a slot in the four team playoff.
The Crimson Tide battled out a 20-13 overtime win over LSU last week and head coach Nick Saban admits that he would have rather taken a week-off.
According to the statisticians, Mississippi State will be looking to do something they haven’t done in eight-years, and that is to win “in a place it hasn’t won since 2006.”
Florida State Must Make A Statement
Also in action on Saturday’s busy day for top 25 teams is No. 3 and defending champions Florida State, who make the trip to face Miami (FL).
The Seminoles (9-0, 6-0 ACC), despite winning, were not all that convincing in the 34-20 positive result over Virginia last week and CFP committee decided to drop Jimbo Fisher side one place in the playoff race.
Should FSU win-out the rest of their games this season, a playoff slot is almost certain, but they have been warned that any slip-up would cost them, seeing that they have no more No. 25 ranked opponents on their remaining regular season fixture.
Elsewhere in NCAAF Week 12 action on Saturday, No. 6 Arizona State travel to Oregon State with another victory in mind as they continue to hunt a playoff slot, while No. 4 TCU take on Kansas on the road, hoping to stay in the top four.
Will the results from this weekend reshape the College Football Playoff rankings again?
I guess we will just have to wait and see!
College Football Week 12 Top 25 Schedule
12:00 PM No. 8 Ohio State at No. 25 Minnesota ABC ESPN 3
12:00 PM No. 19 Clemson at No. 22 Georgia Tech ESPN/WatchESPN
12:00 PM Virginia Tech at No. 21 Duke ESPNU/WatchESPN
3:00 PM No. 4 TCU at Kansas FOX Sports 1
3:30 PM No. 1 Mississippi State at No. 5 Alabama CBS
3:30 PM No. 16 Nebraska at No. 20 Wisconsin ABC ESPN 3
3:30 PM Northwestern at No. 18 Notre Dame NBC
6:00 PM No. 23 Utah at Stanford Pac-12 Network
7:15 PM No. 9 Auburn at No. 15 Georgia ESPN/WatchESPN
8:00 PM No. 3 Florida State at Miami (FL) ABC
8:00 PM No. 12 Michigan State at Maryland BTN
8:00 PM No. 17 LSU at Arkansas ESPN2/WatchESPN
10:45 PM No. 6 Arizona State at Oregon State ESPN/WatchESPN
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