Who has Alabama played? What is its best win? Why does it deserve the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, no matter the outcome of today’s SEC title game with Florida?

Those are questions that have begun to surface across the college football social platforms as we approach final decisions from the selection committee Sunday.

According to the Jeff Sagarin ratings, Alabama has played the No. 7 strength of schedule to date and can earn its third top-15 win of the season by beating the Gators and improving to 13-0 later tonight. Ohio State is the next closest among playoff contenders with the No. 15 S.O.S.

Coach Nick Saban addressed the conversation Friday afternoon:

“I don’t say anything to them because I’ve never heard anyone say that,” Saban said, per AL.com. “But … the last time I looked, we were going through the season, we played six or seven teams this year who were in the top 20 when we played them. I think that, sometimes because teams beat each other in our league, that affects how they get ranked and how they get rated.

“I’ve been pleased with the way our team has played against the competition they’ve played against,” he added. “I’ve been in this league for a long time and I didn’t think we had easier games this year than we’ve ever had in the past.”

Sagarin’s ratings suggest the SEC West remains the NCAA’s most difficult division to play in. It has a rating of 83.67 with the Pac-12 North trailing behind at 78.88.

“So I don’t know who the expert is,” Saban said, though it’s not clear he’s referring to any specific person. “I’m sure it’s somebody in your area out there that is expert to sort of make this (analysis) or make this sort of assumption.

“But it probably is just an assumption.”