Joel Klatt Shocks Fans: Alabama Should Leapfrog Surprising SEC Favorite—Here’s Why

In the fiercely competitive arena of college football rankings, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt isn’t holding back—he’s vocalizing his belief that the Alabama Crimson Tide ought to be placed higher than their current No. 6 spot in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25. Tuned into Monday’s episode of his widely-followed video podcast, Klatt laid out his weekly top 10 teams with a clear stance: Alabama deserves the nod over Ole Miss, a team perched one rank above the Tide despite a shaky showing against Washington State. The Rebels scraped by with a 24-21 win in a game Klatt branded as “horrendous,” questioning the legitimacy of their high ranking and the ripple effect of their supposed big win over LSU. With a sharp eye on narratives and stats, Klatt challenged the popular buzz around the SEC’s strength, defending Alabama’s defense and critiquing the Tide’s reliance on their star quarterback, Ty Simpson. If you’re tracking the college football pulse, this take demands your attention. LEARN MORE

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt says the Alabama Crimson Tide deserve to be ranked higher than their No. 6 ranking in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll.

Klatt made those and other comments on the Monday edition of his popular video podcast, where he ranks his weekly top 10 college football teams. The former Colorado quarterback and lead analyst on Fox’s “Big Noon Saturday” games feels that Alabama deserves to be ranked ahead of an SEC counterpart.

The team in question is Ole Miss, which closed as a 32 1/2-point favorite over Washington State among oddsmakers. The Rebels, ranked No. 5 in this week’s polls, had to hold off the Cougars for a 24-21 win at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Ole Miss (6-0 overall, 3-0 SEC) is ranked one spot ahead of Alabama (5-1, 3-0) by pollsters.

“This performance in a win was — how should I say it? — horrendous,” Klatt said of Ole Miss’ victory. “It was a horrendous win.”

Lane Kiffin’s Rebels trailed for almost the entire first half and for much of the third quarter before taking the lead with 32 seconds left in the third on a 17-yard touchdown run from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.

“They’re getting this entire résumé and buildup by beating LSU. We don’t know how good LSU is. LSU, offensively, is not very good. They won this last weekend, but was it a great performance? No. And you look around, and Ole Miss has four wins by one score.

“That one against Washington State — I mean, Washington State, guys. They barely beat Washington State — at home.” –Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt on Ole Miss.

Klatt then took aim at what he views as a “narrative” about the SEC’s strength of schedule.

“Can we please stop this narrative of, ‘Oh, in that conference, going into those buildings?’ Stop. Washington State is a team that lost by 49 to North Texas… They lost by, what, 35 to Washington, which is a good football team. You see what Ohio State did to the Huskies in Husky Stadium.”

Klatt said that Ole Miss is largely living off its Week 5 win over LSU in Oxford.

“They’ve been propped up by LSU, who was propped up by Clemson, who we now know is not a very good football season,” Klatt said.

Where Joel Klatt ranks Alabama in new Week 8 college football rankings

Joel Klatt moved Alabama football up to No. 5 in his weekly top 10 rankings following the Crimson Tide’s 27-24 win over the Missouri Tigers on Saturday.

“I know I picked Missouri in this weekend’s game,” Klatt conceded. “But here’s what Alabama was able to do: Alabama was able to correct some weaknesses, and then in the second half of that game, they stopped the run really well.”

The Tide held Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy to only 52 yards on 12 carries. Hardy had entered the game as the nation’s leading rusher at the Power Four level.

“They did not allow Hardy to get loose,” Klatt said. “They put the game on Beau Pribula. He made a couple of mistakes, didn’t play his best, and Alabama won the football game.”

One reason Klatt had predicted a Missouri upset was his belief that the Crimson Tide are too one-dimensional and pass-heavy. He still feels that way after Alabama’s win at Faurot Field, in which Simpson was 23 of 31 for 200 yards and three passing touchdowns.

“Ty Simpson is really good, (but) it’s still a bit of a one-dimensional team. I’ll keep saying that. I know Jam Miller is running the football better than what they ran it early in the year. I totally understand that. But Alabama, for me, is still relying on Ty Simpson just a little bit too much. They had a fourth down in that fourth quarter (where) he had to throw an incredible ball in order to convert that fourth down.”

Miller left in the fourth quarter of Alabama’s win in Columbia with what coach Kalen DeBoer confirmed was a concussion during his weekly Monday press conference.

Klatt praised Alabama’s defense for showing up against a Missouri offense that had been ranked fourth in the nation in yards per game and which had the No. 7 scoring offense in the country prior to Saturday.

“The defense was better against the run, and I think that’s reason for optimism surrounding Alabama,” Klatt said.

Joel Klatt ranks the top five college football teams entering Week 8

5. Alabama
4. Texas A&M
3. Miami
2. Indiana
1. Ohio State

Alabama football schedule 2025

No. 6 Alabama hosts the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (5-1, 2-1) in the annual Third Saturday in October rivalry at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa Saturday. Kickoff for Alabama-Tennessee is 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.

All start times Central.