By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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We haven’t seen the best of the Crimson Tide yet.

Alabama lost.

When and/or if college football can ultimately process that, a rarity which has actually happened before, the reality of the situation becomes clear: if the Crimson Tide win out, they will undoubtedly be in the College Football Playoff yet again. They might even now be in a better position to do just that.

Simply put, Alabama did not look championship-good in the loss at Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide had two turnovers, 80 penalty yards and allowed a 97-yard kickoff return for touchdown. Alabama gave up four sacks, saw the Aggies average 9.4 yards per pass attempt and was outscored 10-0 over the game’s final five minutes. There was plenty of offensive production, yes, but not the attention to detail or clutch play that we consistently see when the Crimson Tide play. Hence the defeat.

It goes without saying that Alabama is obviously not unbeatable. There were some relative questions even before Saturday night. The Crimson Tide have multiple areas where they need to continue to improve, especially defensively. That said, they also control their own destiny when it comes to the SEC West, the SEC Championship, the College Football Playoff and the national title. History, believe it or not, is also on their side.

Alabama very much remains one of the game’s leading contenders.

The last time the Crimson Tide lost to Texas A&M, they went on to win the national championship. The last time they lost a mid-season regular season game, Alabama went on to win the national championship. The second-to-last time they lost an SEC road game, the Crimson Tide won it all. Heck, Alabama won the title a year ago. The Crimson Tide, remember, are still the defending national champions.

An obvious parallel for what could happen this season is what happened back in 2015. Alabama dropped a close early season game at Ole Miss, losing 43-37 in a wild contest. The Crimson Tide promptly won out from there, later beating Florida in the SEC Championship Game, Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl and Clemson in the College Football Playoff Final. Alabama, of course, lost 41-38 Saturday in College Station in a clash that wasn’t decided until the final play.

Though plenty of challenges await, including a potential showdown with mighty Georgia, a sprint to the finish wouldn’t be the first time the Crimson Tide made a championship run after a loss.

Alabama may now have math on its side. A win at Texas A&M would have been the Crimson Tide’s 20th conseutive victory. Winning streaks much longer than that just don’t happen very often in modern college football and each extra triumph makes it more likely a loss is soon on the way. Had Alabama won every game this season en route to another national title, it would have required the winning streak to reach 29 straight games; only Miami from the early 2000s has had a stretch of 30 wins or more dating back to the early 1970s.

If history suggests that an upcoming defeat, at some point for the Crimson Tide, was likely, a last-second loss to a respected opponent that still has national equity though also already has two SEC losses is the best type. With Texas A&M being top five team a year ago and a top ten team earlier this season, pundits won’t view a close road game against the Aggies as a “bad loss”. Alabama only fell to fifth in the rankings, mere points behind Cincinnati in the Coaches Poll. This is a team staying right in the mix.

The Crimson Tide can have take their once every year-and-a-half off performance, which they just did, reset the likelihood of a loss and start a new, refocused championship streak. Already with the best coaches and players, the odds may now be back in Alabama’s favor. After a rare defeat, the Crimson Tide now have more of a point to prove as well.

We haven’t seen the best of the Crimson Tide yet. After a loss, and entering a home-heavy second-half of the schedule that has just one ranked foe compared to three such contests to date, Alabama will likely only improve from here. Even with a rare misstep, the path to a championship is still very much in place.