Paul Finebaum presses Pat Forde on ranking Alabama No. 4

Paul Finebaum gave Sports Illustrated reporter Pat Forde an opportunity to explain his No. 4 ranking for the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide in his Week 3 standings, lest Tide fans track down his address to ask him themselves.

“I think the Alabama fans who call after you hang up will be pestering me for explanation and probably wanting your home address,” Finebaum said on the Paul Finebaum Show.

Forde ranked Georgia, Oregon, Penn State and Alabama the top-four teams in the country after last weekend’s slate. Alabama beat Florida on the road 31-29 in the Swamp Saturday after coming in as a double-digit favorite.

“It was a heck of a game,” Forde said. “If you’re Alabama and Nick Saban, you’re sitting there this week saying, ‘We gave up 258 yards rushing yards, to anyone?’ I mean that is a very, very rare thing. The last time they gave up more than that was to Ezekiel Elliott and Ohio State in that very memorable playoff loss.

“So, you go back and look at your defense, which, I know they’ve some injuries, is still supposed to be the strong suit of this team and say, ‘We gotta get better against the run,’ because there are some other teams in this league that can run it, too. So, that’s the concern there. That’s why I’ve got Alabama No. 4 in my poll because while it was a good win in a tough environment against a better team than we thought, it still exposed a little bit of weakness in Alabama.”

Nick Saban had a similar assessment of his defense, saying his defense “didn’t execute.”

More challenges ahead for Alabama

Alabama has a low-pressure game on Saturday versus Southern Miss, but the defense will be put to the test again in two weeks against No. 13 Ole Miss. The Tide then goes on the road to face No. 7 Texas A&M.

“The SEC West looks even better than it usually does,” Forde said. “You look at Ole Miss, you look at Arkansas, the way Mississippi State handled NC State, there’s no real easy spots in that division. The Mississippi game becomes much more intriguing.”

As shocking as Forde’s rankings are, it’s only September.

“Rankings now don’t mean anything,” Forde said. “You’re in the top four, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re one, two, three or four. I think that Georgia looks like a more complete team, although they still have some issues with their team.”