When the College Football Playoff committee released their initial rankings for the 2022 season on Tuesday, many were shocked by some of the placements of some teams. One of the most discussed issues with the rankings that people had was the fact that TCU was ranked below Alabama.

The Horned Frogs and their faithful definitely feel they should be ranked higher than the Crimson Tide, and here's three reasons they're correct.

3. TCU is undefeated

The easiest measure of whether TCU should be ranked higher than Alabama in the College Football Playoff rankings is the fact that TCU is undefeated, and Alabama is not, after their loss to No. 1 Tennessee. Generally, undefeated Power Five teams are ranked higher than their counterparts who have a loss, which would mean that TCU should have the No. 7 spot, and Alabama the No. 8

This should work itself out over the course of the season, it's just odd that the committee chose to do this with their first rankings, considering that TCU has wins over two currently ranked teams, and Alabama has just one. Everything about their resume suggests that you'd put TCU higher, but the College Football Playoff committee just didn't on Tuesday.

2. Alabama has looked incredibly vulnerable at times

Alabama is 7-1, sure, but you have to remind yourself that they are not far away from being 5-3. The Crimson Tide needed late-game heroics to find a game-winning field goal on the road at Texas, and Texas A&M was an incredibly puzzling play call away from beating Alabama at home.

Article Continues Below

Alabama also nearly blew a huge lead to Arkansas, but found a way to keep them at arm's length. This is perhaps the most beatable Alabama team we've seen in the last decade, and it'll be interesting to see if they're able to right the ship, because they have got some issues that need to be fixed.

For the first time in Nick Saban's tenure, it seems as though the problem is coaching, and another is all too familiar: special teams. All the pieces are there for absolutely stellar units on both sides of the ball. Bryce Young has the receivers to have a great year, while Will Anderson is still there on defense destroying bloodlines and taking names.

The Tide just don't play very disciplined. They're among the most penalized teams in the Power Five, and on special teams, we saw against Tennessee what kind of negative impact the kicking game made.

1. TCU football leads the Big 12

It's well known at this point that TCU is the lone undefeated team in the Big 12. In fact, they're the only team in the conference with fewer than two losses. Perhaps that last tidbit tipped the committee toward the Tide, but it's certainly not TCU's fault that Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas aren't legitimate contenders. TCU has taken care of their business and made themselves the likely favorite for the Big 12 title.

The credit has to be given to Sonny Dykes and his staff for coming in, and in their first year in Fort Worth, building a legitimate College Football Playoff contender at TCU. You'd have to think, with Tennessee-Georgia and Ohio State-Michigan working themselves out in the next few weeks, if the Horned Frogs can run the table and win the Big 12, they're certain to find themselves one of the top-four teams in the final rankings.