Montravius Adams: Is Alabama a Lock to Land Nation's Hottest 5-Star Recruit?

5-star defensive tackle Montravius Adams projects to be an elite and dominant defensive player at the college football level, and considering his commitment is still wide open, he's arguably the biggest name in the 2013 class right now.

Many schools have made offers to Adams—247Sports—has 20 listed, but his interest list has narrowed down to a lucky five: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida and Georgia.

Fittingly enough, one of the biggest names in the 2013 class has chosen some of the biggest programs in college football as his final five, but is there one program that stands out over the rest as being a clear lock for the 6'4'', 310-pound defensive lineman?

Yesterday, I wrote an article on how the Alabama Crimson Tide could use the success of their former stud defensive lineman Marcell Dareus to help them recruit Adams, and I do feel as if that will give them a nice advantage in the process. Alabama has to feel pretty good about its chances of recruiting Adams in general anyhow.

What elite recruit wouldn't want to play for arguably the best coach in the nation in Nick Saban and a program that's generally in contention for the National Championship, or at least a big bowl game?

Alabama can essentially recruit itself, and these quotes from Adams regarding his recent visit really point to him liking what the Crimson Tide have to offer, via Andrew Bone of TideSports.com:

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"I like the coaches, players, tradition and environment at Alabama," Adams said. "I like the tradition the coaches have at getting players to the League."

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There's certainly a lot to like about Alabama, and that's probably an understatement, but is that enough to call it a lock to land Adams?

As great as Saban and the Crimson Tide are, and for as many advantages as they have, I cannot in good conscience call them a lock yet.

They're certainly as close as you could get, but I still wouldn't call them a lock.

This isn't meant to bash the Crimson Tide, but it's more of a realistic look at the college football landscape as a whole. Even the strongest commitments can break off before National Signing Day, so it's hard to call anything a lock nowadays, and that's not even taking into consideration what Adams' other choices bring to the table.

He's from Vienna, Georgia, so the Georgia Bulldogs have to be feeling good about their "home-state advantage" with him.

The Florida Gators are having an extremely impressive year and it's safe to say that Will Muschamp is doing a great job of rebuilding the Gators into a nationally renowned program.

Even though Gene Chizik's program is struggling to pick up wins this season, Auburn is looking good for the future with a great defensive class coming in, highlighted by three 5-star recruits.

Finally, there's Clemson, which has a great recruiter in Dabo Swinney at the helm and currently has the commitment of No. 1 overall recruit, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche.

Alabama has four other formidable opponents to go up against for the commitment of Adams, so it's not going to be a walk in the park for Saban and company.

I wouldn't hesitate to give Alabama the best shot at landing the 5-star defensive tackle based on its championship allure and coaching staff alone, but make no mistake about it, this will end up being a heated contest.

Until further notice, I can't call Alabama a lock to get Adams' commitment.