Alabama and Tennessee is a toss-up, according to a popular computer model

The SEC has always been a grind. It's an even bigger grind this season. The difference between the best and worst in the league might be a smaller margin than it's ever been, and it feels much more like the NFL week-by-week right now. That means that any win - no matter the margin - is a quality win.

Alabama is off to a 3-0 start in league play, defeating three consecutive ranked opponents in Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Missouri. They'll look to make it four in a row this weekend at home against Tennessee in the Third Saturday in October.

To get that win, even in the friendly confines of Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama better be prepared for yet another 60-minute fight. Alabama fans may want to keep the nitroglycerin pills next to the victory cigar this week.

According to Bill Connelly's SP+ system, Alabama and Tennessee are separated by a razor-thin margin. SP+ favors the Crimson Tide by just 2.2 points at home, projecting a 29-27 win for Kalen DeBoer and his team:

Sports books don't see it as quite the toss-up, at least not in Tuscaloosa. FanDuel's opening line for this week has Alabama favored by 9.5 points.

Alabama has continued to slip in SP+ in recent weeks despite key wins

Alabama's postgame win expectancies were below 50% in two of its last three wins over Georgia and Missouri. That has forced the Crimson Tide down Connelly's SP+ rankings. Even with Alabama moving up in the AP Poll to No. 6 following its fifth straight win, the computer model is more pessimistic. Following the win over Missouri, Alabama has dropped all the way to No. 13 in SP+.

The good news is there's only 1.4 points separating Alabama from No. 5, so they could jump back up pretty high with a strong performance against Tennessee.

Alabama's struggles in plus territory have been arguably the biggest issue the last couple of weeks, preventing the Tide from winning by as many points as they should have.

Against Vanderbilt, it was poor execution. Against Missouri, it had more to do with the offensive line getting soundly beaten. The coaching staff was disappointed enough in the offensive line's performance that, for the first time, they neglected to name an "offensive-power" player of the week.

Despite what SP+ believes, Alabama is clearly improving. The execution has to get better. So does the offensive line. But what matters most week-to-week is doing what you have to do to win football games. That's what the Crimson Tide has done now, for five consecutive weeks.

That's a far cry from last season, when Alabama consistently folded when facing adversity. They'll face more adversity this weekend against Tennessee. Hopefully, they'll respond the same way.