The College Football Playoff committee keeps getting Alabama wrong in its rankings, and this week’s release made the problem even more glaring.

After beating LSU on the road, the Crimson Tide moved up multiple spots to No. 3. That jump came despite two losses on Alabama’s resume, including one to a Tennessee team still sitting five spots behind it.

Alabama deserves credit. The Crimson Tide did enough to justify their place inside the top seven. Where they ended up after one road win is a different matter.

Alabama earned respect, not a jump to No. 3

After the first rankings came out last week, a lot of people argued Alabama shouldn’t have been anywhere in the top 10. The Crimson Tide’s domination of LSU on the road quieted many of those doubters. It was a statement performance, and it proved they belong in the conversation.

However, LSU is hanging on by a thread in the rankings. The Tigers could fall out entirely with a loss to Texas. That’s why it’s hard to treat that win as the most impressive result of the week.

Numerous teams bolstered their resumes with wins in highly ranked matchups. With all of the chaos around the sport, how does Alabama’s win over LSU carry more weight than any of those outcomes? The committee rewarded Alabama like it beat a top-five team. It didn’t.

The committee is ignoring Tennessee’s win over Alabama

The most important issue with all of this is the complete disregard for Tennessee’s placement.

If Alabama and Tennessee had vastly different resumes, this would be a completely different conversation. If the Volunteers had an unranked loss on their record, I could understand the gap. That isn’t the case. The two resumes aren’t that far off from each other, and Tennessee beat Alabama 26-10.

Head-to-head results should matter, especially when two teams are this close. Instead, the committee doesn’t appear to factor that game in at all. Tennessee and Alabama should not be five spots apart. A margin like that makes zero sense, and it shows the committee doesn’t have a clear idea of what it’s doing.

Apparently, Alabama’s loss to Georgia is enough to carry its resume. Losing to a quality opponent shouldn’t count as an accomplishment, and it certainly shouldn’t outweigh a decisive head-to-head loss.

Notre Dame and Miami deserve better

Tennessee isn’t the only team getting shortchanged. If Alabama had one loss, I’d feel differently about this. The Crimson Tide have two, though, and one of them was a lopsided defeat where they got dominated.

That resume shouldn’t sit ahead of one-loss Notre Dame and one-loss Miami. The Fighting Irish and Hurricanes just went through a dogfight against each other. It was a heavyweight battle between two of the best teams in the country, and it could set up a College Football Playoff rematch down the road.

For that game to be disregarded while Alabama moves up is asinine. Both programs showed they belong near the top of the rankings. Neither should be punished for playing a tough, competitive game against an elite opponent.

The correct order isn’t complicated. Notre Dame and Miami should be in the top five. Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas should follow after them. That arrangement respects head-to-head results, rewards one-loss teams, and still gives Alabama credit for its win over LSU.

The committee’s job is to evaluate full resumes, not overreact to the most recent highlight. Hopefully, it corrects course next week, because rankings that ignore head-to-head games and one-loss resumes will only lead to a messier playoff picture down the stretch.