Fox Sports' Joel Klatt has a new top-10 out entering Week 3 of the 2026 college football season, and the Alabama Crimson Tide are in the veteran broadcaster's rankings for the first time this year.
Alabama rallied in the second half for a 45-17 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats last Saturday at Kroger Field in Lexington. While the Tide trailed 17-13 at halftime, the defense played lights-out in the second half. Keelon Russell shook off three early turnovers and Alabama established a potent running game behind Daniel Hill's career-high 104 yards.
That was enough to move the Crimson Tide into Klatt's new top-10 rankings at No. 8, one spot behind Notre Dame and one spot ahead of Southern California.
On the Monday edition of his popular video podcast,
Klatt acknowledged that Alabama didn't look good early. He noted the Crimson Tide ran the ball 16 times for five yards in the first half.
"Here we go again: Alabama can't run the football," Klatt recalled thinking at halftime. "Then they come out in the second half and run it for 150 yards and just bludgeon Kentucky to death. Outscored them in the second half 32-0 and ran for over 150 on six per carry.
"That's something now. Sustaining the run game, this is something I don't think Ryan Grubb has historically done. It's one of the reasons why Seattle had such a problem with him, the Seahawks. He needs to sustain the run game. They were finally able to do that last week."
Alabama finished with 343 yards of total offense. With Hill leading the way, Trae'shawn Brown had five carries for 22 yards (4.4 avg.) and a touchdown, and fellow freshman EJ Crowell added three carries for 17 yards (5.7) and a score. Russell finished 16-of-23 for 188 passing yards, including a 5-yard touchdown to Rico Scott in the fourth quarter.
The Tide defense forced three punts, including one that was snuffed out on a fake, two fumble recoveries and a turnover on downs in the second half.
Alabama moved up two spots to No. 10 in this week's US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25.
Joel Klatt unveils new top 10 college football rankings after wild Week 2
Here's a look at the Fox Sports analyst's full top 10 rankings.
- 10. Utah Utes
- 9. USC Trojans
- 8. Alabama Crimson Tide
- 7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- 6. Indiana Hoosiers
- 5. LSU Tigers
- 4. Miami Hurricanes
- 3. Georgia Bulldogs
- 2. Ohio State Buckeyes
- 1. Texas Longhorns
Alabama football schedule 2026
Who has the edge? Latest odds for Alabama vs. Florida State in Week 3
— Roll Tide Wire (@RollTideWire) September 14, 2026
📸 Melina Myers, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect https://t.co/1AxFfc1KAx pic.twitter.com/tVubkMMrr6
Alabama (2-0) will face the Florida State Seminoles (1-1) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Week 3 Saturday. Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.
- Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina Pirates (W, 48-10)
- Sept. 12: at Kentucky Wildcats (W, 45-17)
- Sept. 19: vs. Florida State Seminoles, 2:30 p.m., ABC
- Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks, prime time
- Oct. 3: at Mississippi State Bulldogs, early window
- Oct. 10: vs. Georgia Bulldogs, prime time
- Oct. 17: at Tennessee Volunteers, TBA
- Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M Aggies, TBA
- Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers, TBA
- Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt Commodores, TBA
- Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga Mocs, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
- Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers, TBA
Record: 2-0 overall, 1-0 SEC.
Contact us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Joel Klatt has Alabama football in new top-10 rankings entering Week 3
