Alabama football and much of the SEC is in a log jam. In the latest College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday evening, the Crimson Tide is ranked fifth, second in the SEC to Texas, which checked in at No. 3.

The SEC’s place in the rankings is a bit complicated, with a glut of two-loss teams. Tennessee, which beat Alabama but lost to Georgia, was No. 11, while Georgia, which lost to Alabama but beat Tennessee, ran 10th.

Ole Miss, which beat Georgia but lost to LSU and Kentucky earlier this season, was ninth. On a teleconference for media members after the unveiling, CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel was asked to explain how the committee made its rankings.

He said Alabama’s performances since losing to the Volunteers in October have played a big role.

“We have to look at Alabama the last three games,” Manuel said. “Particularly the two before they played Mercer. They won in dominant fashion, and we were really impressed with their win at LSU two weeks ago. So it is close. It’s a lot of conversations, and we’ll continue to monitor the performance of all of these teams as the season progresses.”

Following the defeat, Alabama first shut out Missouri in Tuscaloosa. The Tigers remained in the CFP top 25 despite a narrow loss to South Carolina Saturday, checking in at No. 23.

After that, the Crimson Tide faced a Saturday night in Death Valley, traveling to LSU. Alabama silenced the crowd in Baton Rouge, winning that game 42-13.

Manuel partially explained Tuesday why Tennessee was ranked behind the other two-loss SEC teams.

“They just had a loss to Georgia, and they had the loss at Arkansas,” Manuell said. “It’s really splitting hairs. They have great offense, great defense. They play hard. The committee just had a hard time. You’re talking about four really good teams, when you look at Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. I think the committee, we debated it, as I said earlier, quite a bit as it came down to how we saw those teams. But they have beaten each other at different times.”

For Alabama, the path is fairly simple. If it wins out, it makes the playoff, and if it makes and wins the SEC championship game, it likely earns a first-round bye with one of the top four seeds.

The Crimson Tide is back in action Saturday at Oklahoma. That game is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on ABC.