A college football insider may have just given Alabama football the kiss of death

Eight weeks ago, Alabama football was a punchline. After a 31-17 season-opening loss to Florida State in Tallahassee, the Crimson Tide suffered a free-fall in the polls, tumbling all the way down to No. 21. Alabama's status as a college football superpower was in question. Kalen DeBoer was on the hot seat. Questions lingered around Ty Simpson as the Alabama starting quarterback.

Fast forward to now, and Alabama has won six straight games since the debacle at Doak. The last four wins have come against ranked SEC opponents, and Alabama has moved all the way up to No. 4 in the polls. The fanbase is completely behind DeBoer, and Simpson has gone from an iffy starter to arguably the best quarterback in the entire country.

Alabama fans saw the change in mentality in wins over UL Monroe and Wisconsin. The rest of the world took longer to catch up, but they're seeing it now. Alabama has beaten Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee in four consecutive weeks. If there were any lingering doubts left about the Crimson Tide, you'd have to dig deep to find them.

Alabama fans would prefer to see more doubt from the national media. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot out there. Instead, this Tide team is getting pumped full of rat poison ahead of this weekend's matchup with South Carolina.

The latest comes from On3's Brett McMurphy, a prominent college football insider. In his latest College Football Playoff and bowl projections, he not only has Alabama comfortably in the playoff, he has the Crimson Tide winning the National Championship:

Brett McMurphy's lateest playoff projection has Alabama winning it all

The draw McMurphy has in front of Alabama in this scenario would be difficult. The Crimson Tide would certainly have to earn it. After earning a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed, McMurphy would have the Crimson Tide facing off with a familiar foe: Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs. Can you imagine for a second how funny it would be for Alabama to beat Georgia again, this time in the playoff?

After knocking off Georgia, McMurphy sees Alabama matching up with defending National Champion and No. 1 seed Ohio State. A win over the Buckeys and former Tide players Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin would be ultra-satisfying.

In the National Championship Game, McMurphy sees Alabama taking down Oregon. DeBoer winning the title by beating Dan Lanning - again - certainly would be poetic.

This team has a long way to go before it can really think about the lofty goal of winning the National Championship. They've still got some improving to do on both sides of the ball. But Alabama appears to be getting better every single week, with plenty of room left to grow.