The closer we get to kickoff of the Rose Bowl, the more doubt emanates from the national media about Alabama's chances of knocking off No.1 Indiana.
Despite the doubt, Alabama still showed up in Southern California on Monday night ahead of Thursday's College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup. Kalen DeBoer and his team fully intend to play the game anyway.
Indiana is an excellent football team, but the Hoosiers are being built up as some unstoppable force. They are justifiably favored, but those who continue to peddle the narrative that the Crimson Tide has no shot of winning this game are setting them up for disappointment, though the goalposts will undoubtedly be moved again if Alabama does pull it out.
An Alabama win at the Rose Bowl would be a "large upset," according to FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt.
"It would be a large upset if Alabama won this game," Klatt said on The Next Round. "They are not as good of a team as Indiana. They are not as sound on the defensive side. They are not as sound on the offensive side. They are not as balanced."
Joel Klatt says Alabama is not as good as Indiana
It's certainly a bold take to state that the No.1 team is a better team than the No. 9 team. Indiana is undefeated. Alabama has three losses. But this is why the games are played and ultimately decided on the field, and not in the perception of the national media that is consistently as negative as they can possibly be about the Crimson Tide.
The negative noise is music to DeBoer's ears leading up to the Rose Bowl. He's got more bulletin board material this week than he'll even be able to use.
The narrative has shifted in the aftermath of Alabama's win over Oklahoma in the opening round of the playoff. The Crimson Tide didn't deserve to be in, according to the media and whiny rival fans. After Alabama beat Oklahoma, the new narrative is that it doesn't deserve to be on the same field in Pasadena as big, bad Indiana.
But what constantly keeps getting ignored about this team is that it is a culture of fighters. Alabama has more than a puncher's chance of winning on Thursday afternoon. This team has responded well to adversity all season long.
Alabama is also as healthy as it has been all year. On its availability report on Monday night, only three names remained.
That's another fact that gets overlooked. Alabama will have its full arsenal of weapons and depth available for the first time in a long time. That should lead to this team looking more like the one that knocked off Georgia on the road and beat four straight ranked teams from late September through October than the one that limped to the finish line.
And that team is among the best in the country and fully capable of beating Indiana, regardless of what pundits like Klatt want to believe.