The initial College Football Playoff rankings have finally been revealed, and it certainly did not come without a fair share of controversy. More than a fair share, in fact.

Wake Forest found themselves at 16 and Notre Dame at 11. The Irish’s ranking really dropped some jaws and sent a message that Notre Dame likely has to win against Miami on Saturday to make the field.

But it was the wide gap between the two Third Saturday in October rivals that was the biggest gripe that ESPN’s Rece David had immediately after the reveal. Tennessee came in at No. 13, but Alabama found themselves surprisingly high at No. 5.

ESPN host Rece Davis criticizes wide gap between Tennessee and Alabama in initial College Football Playoff rankings reveal

“How are they eight spots ahead of Tennessee?” Davis asked. “Tennessee rolled them.”

“That’s the shocking part,” Greg McElroy added.

Davis’ first question to chairman Hunter Yurachek was the gap between the two programs, and Yurachek turned to Alabama’s wins and Tennessee’s absence of another quality win besides Alabama. Which is interesting since the highest ranked win of both teams is Tennessee’s win over No. 5 Alabama.

“Tennessee beat them by 16 points head to head on the field,” Davis said. “Why is there such a gap between those two teams particularly?”

Playoff committee chair Hunter Yurachek applauds Alabama’s ‘quality wins’ over Tennessee’s resume

“Well, I think you look first at Alabama went on the road and beat the team that we have ranked sixth this week in Kentucky. They also beat South Carolina, who’s ranked in our top 25, and I think many forget that they went on the road and beat Mississippi State when Mississippi State was undefeated and at full strength, and we really value that as a strong win for Alabama back there in the early part of the season when they had that quarterback Kamario Taylor that was very, very good, and Mississippi State was on a roll at that time.

“So, with those, we see those as three quality wins. Yes, they had a loss to Tennessee. Tennessee doesn’t have the same level of quality wins. They do have the win against Alabama, but you have to go a little bit deeper to see Tennessee with another quality win on their schedule.”

Yurachek also mentioned that Alabama and Kentucky were in the same pod of teams for comparison (Alabama was ahead of Kentucky by one thanks in part to a 45-17 win over the Wildcats) but that Alabama and Tennessee were not in the same pod.

What’s clear now, fair or not, is that Alabama is in a great position to potentially lose a third game and still make the playoff. Tennessee at 13 doesn’t share the same luxury.

But if Tennessee can pick up a big win on Saturday against Kentucky, they should, you’d think, move significantly closer to the Crimson Tide regardless of if Alabama wins or loses to LSU this weekend — and surely pass the Tide if they lose to the Tigers.

But the Vols’ starting spot is telling, and it says the committee looks as Tennessee right now below Alabama and a number of other SEC playoff contenders, fair or not. We’ll find out on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium if the Vols can start to change some minds.