Bama is ranked that high to salvage any missteps by UGA and save the day for ESECPN. Their hope is that Bama beats UGA in the SEC championship game so that both teams get in. However if Bama loses to Auburn then they can justify ranking Auburn in the top 6 because they beat the #2 team (We all can appreciate that a great win trumps any bad loss). That way, if UGA loses to Auburn in the conference championship game then they would easily remain in the top 4.
If A&M beats Auburn this weekend and Auburn beats Bama then A&M would move into the top 6 and face UGA in the conference championship game (if they can win out). Once again, the justification for keeping UGA in the playoff if they slip up against A&M in Atlanta. Bama’s #2 ranking is the only reason why Ole Miss, MSU and A&M have their current rankings. If Bama was ranked 8th or so then A&M would be out of the top 20 and Ole Miss and MSU would be unranked. The SEC is nothing more than a big “self-licking ice cream cone”.