Can Alabama move up to No. 1 if they run up the score vs. Texas A&M?

Alabama football could get to No. 1 if the Crimson Tide destroy Texas A&M football.

Alabama football is not that far away from getting back to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

The Crimson Tide won their first game of the season last week over the Missouri Tigers. Though the score indicates it was closer than it actually was, Alabama thoroughly dominated Mizzou in the first half before head coach Nick Saban took his foot off the gas in the second. Should he refuse to do that and run the score up on Texas A&M football, the Crimson Tide could be No. 1.

Will Alabama surpass rival Clemson for the top spot entering Week 6?

While Alabama was only 69 total points behind the Clemson Tigers for the No. 1 ranking in the latest AP Poll, the Crimson Tide have some work to do to garner more first-place votes. Of the 62 first-place votes, AP voters went with Clemson 55 times. Alabama didn’t even have the second most first-place votes, as the Ohio State Buckeyes did one better than them with four votes.

Though you can vote for whoever you want, it’s pretty shameful for four AP voters to waste their first-place vote on a team that won’t be playing until Oct. 24. We firmly understand that Ohio State should be a top-four team this year, but we still haven’t seen anything out of them this year. Regardless, Alabama fared better in the Coaches Poll, which is a surprise to absolutely no one.

Alabama was only 50 points off Clemson’s pace for the top spot. Of the 50 coaches who voted, Clemson got 42 first-place votes, Alabama received four and Ohio State still managed to get two. Though the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is definitely there, this is the week where Alabama can at least temporarily usurp Clemson for the top spot in major college football. How would they do it?

Alabama will host a No. 13-ranked Texas A&M team, while Clemson takes on a top-40 Virginia Cavaliers team. Even if Texas A&M didn’t look sharp in its Week 4 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Aggies are perceived as the better team over the Hoos for now. It wouldn’t be shocking to see either team ranked this year, but Alabama gets a boost from an A&M blowout.

It would be the first ranked team either Alabama or Clemson will have beaten this year. If it is a lopsided affair as many of us expect it to be in Tuscaloosa, it might be enough to propel Alabama to the top spot. However, Clemson will have a chance to reclaim the top spot if the Tigers can beat a top-10 Miami Hurricanes team in Death Valley in Week 6. Alabama won’t be on top for very long.

Overall, we should expect Alabama and Clemson battling it out for the top spot in college football all season. Clemson may be the slightly better team, but Alabama will play more tough opponents in its 10-game, conference-only schedule over Clemson. Fortunately for the Tigers, the ACC doesn’t look to be as awful as it was a season ago. They will play plenty of ranked teams in 2020.

To ensure themselves of a No. 1 ranking, Alabama must dismantle Texas A&M at home in Week 5.

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