Alabama reaches College Football Playoff at No. 4

Alabama has made it into the College Football Playoff at No. 4 with its victory in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama will play No. 1 Michigan in the Rose Bowl the playoff semifinal.

The other two teams in the playoffs and will play in the Sugar Bowl are No. 2 Washington and No. 3 Texas, which had beaten Alabama in the regular season.

The national championship will be decided Jan. 8 in Houston.

Florida State was ranked No. 5 and Georgia, which had been No. 1 until the Bulldogs 27-24 loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, fell to No. 6. Those two teams will not be playing for the chance at a national championship.

The only thing that was certain in revealing the CFP rankings was that some fan bases would be left disappointed, despite having arguments that they should be included in the top four. The final season of the four-team playoff before it expands to 12 next year presented the CFP selection committee with its toughest decision in the 10-year history of the postseason system.

Florida State is the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be excluded from the four-team field.

The Seminoles (13-0) lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks ago, but continued to win with a backup and then a third-string quarterback. But the committee is instructed to judge the teams for what they are heading into the playoff and decided FSU without Travis was not among the best four in the country.

Here is what’s unusual about this year’s CFP rankings:

— The No. 1 team heading into championship weekend had never missed the CFP, even with a loss. That has happened with Georgia falling to No. 6.

— No team ranked outside the top six of the second-to-last CFP rankings has ever jumped into the final four. Both Alabama and Texas have done that.

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)