The Alabama Crimson Tide continue to roll after an ugly, yet oddly satisfying, win over LSU on Saturday and, with that, Nick Saban's team is widely expected to run the table before reaching the College Football Playoff. Toppling Alabama is the challenge for every top-tier team in the sport and, on Monday, Stewart Mandel of FOX Sports wrote about various squads that could have a chance to beat the Crimson Tide.
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While tackling the likes of Auburn (by nature of the schedule), Clemson, Michigan, Louisville and Washington, Mandel revealed that his personal pick as the team with the "best shot" to beat Alabama. That team was Ohio State.
Ohio State will have to knock off Michigan on Nov. 26 to even have a chance to possibly match up with Alabama. If they can get there, though, they have three key ingredients for that matchup - an elite coach, elite recruits and a dynamic dual-threat QB.
It's a pretty simple formula.
In fact, it's Alabama's.
This isn't a groundbreaking opinion, especially given that the Buckeyes throttled Nebraska to jump solidly back into a two-team tier with Michigan atop the Big Ten. However, Ohio State's lull at the end of October likely knocked a lot of fans and pundits off the scent, and the Buckeyes remain a loaded team with tremendous upside when they are playing well.
It seems a bit odd to think that the Buckeyes would have the best chance given how well teams like Michigan and Washington are playing, but Mandel isn't the only one holding this opinion. What remains up for debate, though, is whether Ohio State will even reach the playoff to have a theoretical chance.
