IRON BOWL '14: Title Contender vs. The Spoiler

While the blog has been silent, the tension has been palpable.

After taking care of Mississippi State and dusting off Western Carolina, in a game that seemed to last three days, Iron Bowl week has finally arrived. Once again, as seems to be all too common in recent years, Alabama's dreams, in respect to the SEC and national title picture, will either be cemented or broken by the outcome of the annual tussle with Auburn.

#Breaking: GameDay is heading to Tuscaloosa for the #IronBowl! #GetUp4GameDay pic.twitter.com/4LjExavJoH
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 23, 2014

While the Crimson Tide did suffer a plethora of bumps and bruises against Western Carolina, thankfully most of those ailments don't seem to be serious, per Nick Saban.

Wide receiver ArDarius Stewart and tight end Brian Vogler appear to be the only players whose status will be in doubt for Saturday's clash in Tuscaloosa. Saban has described both men as having stretched knee ligaments. Additional updates will likely be given Monday during Saban's game week presser.

When it comes to the gauntlet that I wrote about several weeks ago, so far so good seems to be the obvious conclusion. At this stage of the season, win and advance is the order of the day. Here's to continuing that trend for two more weeks.

For detailed information concerning Iron Bowl week, but sure to monitor the RSS feed of your choice located on the left side of the page.

No time for celebration for hungry Tide

LSU recap? Whew. Well, that's it. Game over. Right? On to the next one...

Unfortunately celebration time is/was short-lived. Personally, I soaked up the dramatic win at Tiger Stadium for all of one hour and then I was ready to move my fandom to the next game.

While it seems crazy to have to forget about such an amazing victory, the heavy lifting part of the mission has really just started.

Game preview? No. 1 Mississippi State is coming to town. I'm pretty sure that sentence alone defines what's at stake for the Crimson Tide.

One corner has been turned in respect to Alabama's November gauntlet, but the quest for the ultimate prize is still a work in progress.

Here's Nick Saban's Monday presser...

Alabama prepares to run November gauntlet

Take a deep breath while you can, Tide fans. Why? The next 48 hours could be your final time to do so until early December.

As has been the case so many times before, the Alabama Crimson Tide will attempt to run the November gauntlet for yet another season and the first adventure begins this Saturday at LSU.

T.J. Yeldon scores the game-winning touchdown to beat LSU in 2012, Alabama's last trip to Baton Rouge. #tbt pic.twitter.com/OTzWxkEFko
— TideSports.com (@TideSports) November 6, 2014

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LSU
Mississippi State
Western Carolina
Auburn
SEC Championship Game

Okay, perhaps I did fib when it comes to the breath holding business. Yes, you can breathe against Western Carolina. However, if Alabama drops a game before that time, it really won't matter what you do because all will be lost in terms of the SEC title and the national title.

Getting down to the nuts and bolts of the matter, because of Alabama's early season loss to Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide must conquer the month of November. Not have a good showing...conquer.

Saban: "This is the time of year when everyone has to be committed to playing their best football."
— Marquavius Burnett (@Marq_Burnett) November 5, 2014

If things remain the status quo, holding strong throughout the month, Alabama will have defeated a top-20 LSU team, No. 1 Mississippi State, and No. 3 Auburn. In the process, the Tide will have clinched the SEC Western Division crown while punching their ticket to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

Based on how the College Football Playoff selection committee has viewed things and done things up until this point, it seems the criteria changes with every passing week. Winning out, for everyone within the top-10, seems to be the only method that is somewhat understandable.

College Football Playoff Rankings. #CFP25 1. Mississippi State 2. Florida State 3. Auburn 4. Oregon pic.twitter.com/TvpOh3YUl9
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 5, 2014

Not to change the topic at hand, but I think those who were upset with the BCS format and wanted a change, will likely be issuing missing persons flyers for the BCS before too long.

At any rate, the mountain for the Crimson Tide is quite steep, and objectively speaking, I'm not sure they can pull it off. Having said that, if Alabama is still a one-loss team one month from now, there'll be no question who the No. 1 team in the nation is on the final selection day.