SEC Champion Alabama Should Be the Favorite to Win the College Football Playoff

ATLANTA — The SEC Championship Game between Alabama and Florida proved to be exactly what we thought it would be.

It was a victory parade for the Crimson Tide and a statement to the rest of the contenders in the College Football Playoff.

That statement?

"We're back, and you're going to have to deal with us in about a month."

Led by Heisman Trophy contender Derrick Henry's 189 rushing yards and one touchdown and the best defense in college football, the Crimson Tide stymied the listless Gators offense as Henry wore down the defense en route to a 29-15 win at the Georgia Dome on Saturday.

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It wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Sure, Florida held a 7-2 lead midway through the second quarter. But it was clear from the first drive of the game that the Gators—led by true sophomore Treon Harris at quarterback and junior Kelvin Taylor at running back—were going up against the college football equivalent of a brick wall.

The Gators finished with 180 yards. Alabama sacked Harris five times, and Florida rushed for a grand total of 15 yards and didn't convert a single third down.

Zero.

"We really played well on defense," Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said. "We didn't really make a lot of adjustments. The biggest thing...we had a good plan on defense. We knew what they would do. They have a lot of personnel groupings."

This is Alabama football. The second-ranked Tide run the ball, stop the run and should be considered the favorite going into the College Football Playoff.

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Sure, Alabama has question marks. Every team in the country does. But the only way to beat the Crimson Tide is to get them out of their smashmouth comfort zone, and that takes a team that can block the best defense in the country and stop Henry.

Name a playoff participant that can do that.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

No. 3 Michigan State will try to solve the Crimson Tide riddle in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, but that's much easier said than done. The Spartan offensive line has been beat up all year. While that has improved down the stretch and the month-long break will help, this Crimson Tide offensive line is consistent and has improved all season.

Top-ranked Clemson has been awesome this year and even has had success up front. But if it matches up with the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff National Championship, it's hard to imagine that offensive line having tremendous success against the Alabama front seven.

Fourth-ranked Oklahoma? The Sooners gave up the third-most sacks in the Big 12 in 2015 (36) and second-most tackles for loss (80). Plus, Henry is a third-down machine, and the Sooners rank 79th in the country in third-down defense (39.81 percent).

"It's all of us doing our job," center Ryan Kelly said. "When the offensive line needs to do its job, we step up to the occasion. The defense did a hell of a job tonight, and when you've got Derrick Henry back there toting the rock, it's awesome."

Awesome, indeed. And demoralizing for the opposition.

Florida's defense did everything it could to slow down Henry, and he still managed to set not only the SEC single-season rushing record with 1,986 yards but also became the first player in SEC history to top the 100-yard mark in multiple SEC Championship Games. 

"My main focus is on finishing and helping this team win," Henry said. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to help this team win. Whether it's me running the ball, catching the ball, pass-blocking, I'm going to do whatever it takes."

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In a perfect world for Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, quarterback Jake Coker and wide receivers Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart would never be critical names featured in game stories or on highlights. 

"I really don't even care about those things," Coker said. "I'm worried about this team winning, and whatever everybody has to say about it, they can say. It doesn't bother me."

To beat Alabama, you have to get it out of its comfort zone of pounding the rock with Henry and neutralize its defensive front seven with multidimensional, consistent and reliable offenses that move north and south as well as east and west.

That's nearly impossible, because even the best offensive lines in the country would have issues slowing down this front seven.

Because of that, teams make mistakes; the Crimson Tide capitalize and grind out wins.

It's a slow, painful and sloppy death—just the way Saban likes it.

It's a far cry from the Ole Miss loss in Week 3, when Alabama was all but counted out of not only the College Football Playoff race but the division.

Since that time, though, the team came together and re-established Alabama football as the most dominating and intimidating brand in the game.

"Everybody sort of bought in," Saban said. "Really a fun team to coach."

So long as the Tide play their brand of football, he'll get two more games to coach with this group.

They'll most likely be two wins.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.