Preseason college football rankings serve a purpose . and sometimes that purpose is to show voters just how wrong national perception can be after opening weekend. Texas and Alabama , two of the SEC's widely accepted title contenders given their roster strengths, took one on the chin away from home Saturday in wake-up calls that reverberated throughout the college football spectrum.

Pardon the Alabama pun, but it's time to address the elephant in the room that will make all anti-SEC folks cringe: the path to the College Football Playoff's first three-loss, nonconference champion invitee is abundantly clear if either of those two squads can recover moving forward.

Top-ranked Texas had fewer holes, but its offense never found a rhythm against defending national champion O

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