Alabama leaps into projected CFP field, leaving Miami stunned, angered; NBA Cup reaches quarterfinals

This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

🏈 Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE NO. 11 ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE … AND THE REST OF THE PROJECTED COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TEAMS

The Alabama Crimson Tide haven’t rolled like normal this season, and yet, with its regular season over, Kalen DeBoer‘s club is in position to make the College Football Playoff. Alabama jumped to No. 11 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, ahead of other potential at-large candidates such as No. 12 Miami (which fell from No. 6), No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 14 South Carolina.

Here’s the top 15 (italics mean first-round bye):

Oregon (12-0) | Projected No. 1 seed
Texas (11-1) | Projected No. 2 seed
Penn State (11-1) | Projected No. 5 seed
Notre Dame (11-1) | Projected No. 6 seed
Georgia (10-2) | Projected No. 7 seed
Ohio State (10-2) | Projected No. 8 seed
Tennessee (10-2) | Projected No. 9 seed
SMU (11-1) | Projected No. 3 seed
Indiana (11-1) | Projected No. 10 seed
Boise State (11-1) | Projected No. 4 seed
Alabama (9-3) | Projected No. 11 seed
Miami (10-2)
Ole Miss (9-3)
South Carolina (9-3)
Arizona State (10-2) | Projected No. 12 seed

Remember, rankings do not equal seed. The five highest-ranked conference champions (out of the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and the Group of Five conferences) are guaranteed a berth, and the four highest-ranked conference champions get the four top seeds and the accompanying first-round bye. As such, this is what the bracket would look like:

Here’s the first round:

BYES: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 SMU, No. 4 Boise State
No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Penn State
No. 11 Alabama at No. 6 Notre Dame
No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Georgia
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State

Unlike Alabama, No. 17 Clemson is playing on championship weekend, and the Tigers could jump up and “steal” a bid if they upset No. 8 SMU in the ACC Championship Game. Basically, Alabama fans are HUGE SMU fans this weekend. Furthermore, the Mountain West Championship Game (No. 10 Boise State vs. No. 20 UNLV) and the Big 12 Championship Game (No. 15 Arizona State vs. No. 16 Iowa State) are essentially play-in games.

You may be wondering how three-loss Alabama — left for dead two weeks ago — is in this position. I’m not on the selection committee, so I don’t know its exact thoughts, but here’s a rough outline:

Alabama is ahead of two-loss Miami because the Hurricanes lost two of their last three games, had several narrow wins and boast zero wins over ranked teams.
Alabama is ahead of Ole Miss because, though the Rebels also have three losses, Alabama has a stronger resume outside both teams’ best win — over Georgia — and Ole Miss’ worst loss (vs. Kentucky) is worse than Alabama’s worst loss (at Oklahoma)
Alabama is ahead of South Carolina because, though the Gamecocks also have three losses, Alabama has the head-to-head win.

No, it won’t satisfy everyone. But, for now, that’s how we got here.

👍 Honorable mentions

😖 And not such a good morning for …

THE NO. 12 MIAMI HURRICANES AND THE ACC

Miami was in this section Monday, two days after losing at Syracuse, and it’s here again after landing on what appears to be the wrong side of the Playoff bubble.

There are legitimate reasons to question why Miami fell six spots after losing by four at nine-win Syracuse when Alabama only fell six spots after a 21-point loss at six-win Oklahoma.

But there’s also a legitimate answer: The Crimson Tide has better wins, something committee chair Warde Manuel mentioned specifically.

Alabama has wins over the current No. 5 (Georgia), No. 14 (South Carolina) and No. 19 (Missouri).
Miami does not have a win over any current CFP-ranked teams. The Hurricanes did not play SMU or Clemson and lost to Syracuse.

Basically, Miami has no great wins to protect its ranking. Alabama does.

Still, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips and Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich blasted the committee, and John Talty sees their point.

Talty: “The ACC rebuttal is you can only play the teams you have on your schedule, which is true, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that teams that play tough schedules should be rewarded. And while it didn’t work out for Florida State last year, if Miami won all its games this season, it’d be in. … The issue is that the selection committee yet again wasn’t consistent in its approach. If Alabama got the benefit of the doubt over Miami, so too should have Ole Miss and South Carolina, the SEC’s other three-loss teams. … The benefit of the doubt will always go to Alabama over the ACC.”

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏀 NBA Cup quarterfinal round set

Group play for the second NBA Cup has ended, and we’re down to eight teams.

In case you forgot, the NBA Cup is an in-season tournament where the 30 teams were divided up into six groups (three in each conference) of five teams.

In group play, each team played the other four teams in their group, with the team with the best record in each group advancing (tiebreaker: head-to-head). So that’s six advancing teams right there.
Then, both conferences sent one “wild card” team — the team that didn’t win its group but had the conference’s best point differential among non-group-winning teams — through as well. That’s how we get to eight.

So here’s who’s advancing:

East No. 1: Bucks (Group B winner)
East No. 2: Knicks (Group A winner)
East No. 3: Hawks (Group C winner)
East No. 4: Magic (wild card team, Group A runner-up)
West No. 1: Thunder (Group B winner)
West No. 2: Rockets (Group A winner)
West No. 3: Warriors (Group C winner)
West No. 4: Mavericks (wild card team, Group C runner-up)

The quarterfinals are Dec. 10-11 with the four higher seeds hosting. The first night, next Tuesday, will feature the No. 1 Bucks playing host to the No. 4 Magic at 7 p.m. ET, and the No. 1 Thunder hosting the No. 4 Mavericks at 9:30 p.m. The second night will showcase the No. 2 Knicks hosting the No. 3 Hawks at 7 p.m. ET, and the No. 2 Rockets hosting the No. 3 Warriors at 9:30 p.m. The semifinals and final will be held in Las Vegas on Dec. 14 and 17.

🏈 Week 14 NFL Power Rankings

The top five of Pete Prisco’s NFL Power Rankings remained the same as last week’s:

Lions
Bills
Chiefs
Eagles
Vikings

That makes sense considering all five teams won in Week 13, but no one had a more impressive win than the Eagles beating the Ravens in Baltimore.

Prisco: “Whatever Nick Sirianni did during that bye week, he should bottle it and sell it to other coaches … Saquon Barkley has been on a tear during the eight-game streak, showing his greatness but also showing how the Eagles can beat you down with their run game. They ran it on 12 consecutive plays to the game-clinching touchdown Sunday against the Ravens. That’s brutish football against a team known to be a bully.”

At this moment, fourth even feels low for Philly.

I also enjoyed Doug Clawson examining how the Eagles compare favorably to the Super Bowl-winning 1992 Cowboys.

🏈 National Signing Day storylines, what to know

The three-day Early Signing Period begins today, the earliest it’s ever been. The NCAA changed things up because the transfer portal — which opens Dec. 9 this year — has become so massive that overlapping that with high-school signings was too much. Now, high schoolers can commit between now and Friday, before portal madness fully begins.

The top four 2025 recruiting classes are separated by fewer than 10 points according to 247 Sports’ class rankings.

Georgia: 305.07
Alabama: 302.51
Ohio State: 301.94
Texas: 301.65

But things can change in a hurry, as plenty of top prospects will either commit or possibly flip their commitments in the coming days. Among the ones we’re watching are …

Tennessee OL commit David Sanders Jr. (No. 7 overall)
Uncommitted DL Justus Terry (No. 9 overall)
Ohio State CB commit Na’eem Offord (No. 12 overall)
Uncommitted ATH Michael Terry III (No. 24 overall)

Our friends at 247Sports have all the latest developments, and Brandon Huffman has four key storylines.

Here’s how to follow along:

📺 What we’re watching Wednesday

🏈 247Sports National Signing Day Show, 10 a.m. on YouTube
🏀 No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 22 Louisville (W), 5 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 15 Baylor at No. 25 UConn (M), 6:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 10 Alabama at No. 20 North Carolina (M), 7:15 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Lakers at Heat, 7:30 p.m. on NBA TV
🏒 Bruins at Blackhawks, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 No. 5 Marquette at No. 6 Iowa State (M), 8 p.m. on ESPN+
🏀 No. 1 Kansas at Creighton (M), 8:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 2 Auburn at No. 9 Duke (M), 9:15 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Stars at Kings, 10 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Timberwolves at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. on NBA TV