The description of the Alabama Crimson Tide as "not a great team yet" comes from al.com's Kevin Scarbinsky. Scarbinsky nailed it in his opinion piece. Alabama has shown plenty of potential greatness. It has also shown weaknesses that could block a championship path.
With a week to go before the first CFB Playoff Selection Committee rankings, the Crimson Tide is a solid contender for the 12-team field. Before seeing the first of seven rankings, the attention of Alabama fans can shift to Playoff seeding.
After escaping a now 5-loss team on Saturday, it may feel ironic for Alabama fans to turn attention to a possible National Championship. Of course, such attention comes naturally to Alabama fans.
Outside the Crimson Nation, others are discussing the Crimson Tide as one of a few National Championship contenders. One source is ESPN's Bill Connelly. Commenting on what was learned in Week 9 of college football, Connelly wrote, "... even in a sea of parity talk and close games, one thing Week 9 did do is clarify which teams are playing the most like national champs at the moment."
Alabama Crimson Tide a true National Championship contender
Connelly identified four teams currently "playing like potential national champions." The teams are the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, Indiana Hoosiers, and the Texas A&M Aggies.
It is tempting to debate Connelly over Indiana due to its mostly cakewalk schedule. ESPN's Strength of Schedule (SOS) metric gives the Hoosiers an SOS of No. 42 among all FBS teams. All 16 SEC teams have a higher-ranked SOS than IU. Indiana's blowout wins have impressed, so maybe Connelly's assessment is correct.
Connelly is clearly correct about Ohio State and Texas A&M. Nine SEC football teams, including Alabama, have played tougher schedules than the Aggies. But Mike Elko's team is real. So real they might be the SEC's best team.
About the Aggies, Connelly wrote, "In Friday's preview, I wrote, 'If the Aggies overcome this team and this environment, they are legit SEC, and potentially national title, contenders.' I don't know about you, but I think going on a 35-0 run over about 24 minutes in the second half and turning a nip-and-tuck game into a 24-point laugher counts as 'overcoming' LSU and Tiger Stadium."
If the Aggies and the Crimson Tide meet in Atlanta, the game might showcase college football's best teams.
Connelly wrote of Alabama, "... I'm struggling to avoid feelings of inevitability here, both because of how many times in a row the Crimson Tide have made the exact plays they needed to make in the fourth quarter and because Kalen DeBoer's Washington Huskies basically did the exact same thing two years ago on the way to the national title game... This team knows how to see games out and won't face many matchup disadvantages in any hypothetical CFP matchup. That's a pretty scary combination, isn't it?"
Alabama fans are ever ready to talk National Championships. Such presumption is not unwarranted now.