By Jim Johnson
SouthernPigskin.com

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It wont be easy, but if Alabama can win out, the Crimson Tide will be in the playoff.

Alabamas season is far from over. At this point its almost a foregone conclusion that two SEC teams will play in the inaugural playoff, and as well as the two Mississippi teams have played so far, its still anyones guess as to who will come out of the West.

Through the first four games of the Tides season, there was an argument to be made for Blake Sims being the best quarterback in the conference. He didnt look like himself against Ole Miss or Arkansas, though. Besides West Virginia, Ole Miss has been the only team he failed to throw a touchdown against. At least he got Amari Cooper, the best receiver in the nation, the ball on a fairly consistent basis, something Sims failed to do against Arkansas.

Two catches. Amari Cooper only caught the ball twice against Arkansas. That simply cannot be justified, especially since he was averaging more than ten catches per game against Alabamas five previous opponents. Lane Kiffin and Blake Sims number one focus this week should be making sure Cooper is utilized as much as possible.

The running game has mostly lived up to expectations so far. The Crimson Tide has averaged over 210 yards per game on the ground. No one ever likes to see any serious injuries, but the loss of third running back Kenyan Drake should be of little consequence going forward as long as Yeldon and Henry stay healthy.

To the naked eye, it may not seem like Alabamas defense is up to par with some of the others from the Saban era, but these guys are only giving 15.3 points per game which is good for 6th best in the country. The tide have yet to allow more than 23 points in any game. So while Bama fans might be a little anxious about only beating Arkansas by one point, they should take solace in the fact that the Razorbacks scored more than twice as many points against upcoming Texas A&M.

There are no easy schedules in the SEC West this year. This, of course, has pros and cons for every team. Alabama actually benefits more than most from the rigorous play each week, and contextually has a little bit easier road going forward. This week they have what seems to be a somewhat overrated Texas A&M squad at home. Then they go on the road to unranked Tennessee and LSU, not easy opponents by any stretch, but about as good a draw as you can get in the SEC this year. After that, two of the last three games will be very taxing against Mississippi State and Auburn, but both games are in Tuscaloosa and they get a break in between against Western Carolina.

It wont be easy, but if Alabama can win out, the Crimson Tide will be in the playoff.