Clearly, the answer is no. There have been a lot of reporters and fans over the last couple weeks who have convinced themselves that Alabama can win the national championship. Keep dreaming. Alabama is coming home with a loss on Friday night if it can’t run the ball.

Alabama was scrapping for the final playoff spot in 2023 when it was a four-team field. The same was true in 2024 and 2025 when the bracket expanded to 12. The world’s changed a lot in the last two seasons. Nobody reading this deep into a column needs to be told that.