After the top 8 teams or so, I don't think it matters. Those are Tier 2 teams that didn't do enough to convincingly earn a spot in the CFP (except Arizona State, who earned a spot by winning their conference championship game). And at that point it's somewhat subjective. If you're trying to answer the question of "who do you think is a better team", you have to weigh potential and results. Alabama certainly has the capability to beat any team in the country. But you also have to take into consideration how they performed on the field. Their loss to OU was so pathetic and embarrassing that it was disqualifying and relegated them to the second tier of schools who did not earn a spot but were hoping for one. If they would have beat OU, they would have been in. Simple as that. But they didn't.
I don't give a shit how you rank any of the schools between 9 and 17 in the AP poll. They're all Tier 2 teams this year.
Also, sorry to derail this thread. I'll stfu now.