The College Football Playoff committee has its own criteria for choosing the No. 1 team in college football. But whatever variables you wish to add into the equation, the results are obvious. The Alabama Crimson Tide should be ranked the No. 1 team in the country right now.

Here are 10 reasons why:

  1. Best team in college football: Nobody is playing better football right now than the Tide. Show me a team that’s more dominant in the past two months. You can’t. The Tide just beat two Top 20 teams by a combined score of 61-22. They beat the No. 2 team in the country by two touchdowns and held their leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy to 31 yards rushing on 19 carries. They aren’t beating teams, they’re controlling them.
  1. Domination at the line of scrimmage: Football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage. No team is playing more dominant football in the trenches right now than Alabama. The Tide owns the line of scrimmage with a relentless attack from their defensive front and a wall of blockers on the other side of the football. Either way, the Tide dictates the tempo.
  1. Strength of schedule: Of the 10 games played so far this season, Alabama has faced six teams ranked in the Top 20 at the time it played them. Of those, three were ranked in the Top 10. What other team can say that?
  1. Impressive resume: Alabama has played its best football in the biggest games. In winning all three games against Top 10 opponents, the Tide outscored each one by at least two touchdowns. The most recent victory, a 30-16 triumph over LSU was the closest of those games. The others were no contest as well. The Tide took care of No. 8 Georgia, 38-10, and discarded No. 9 Texas A&M by a convincing 41-23 score.
  1. Best team in the best conference: The SEC has long been recognized as the top conference in college football. This season is certainly no different. On top of that, the SEC West is easily the most competitive division of any conference in the country. If that old saying is true – that to be the best you have to beat the best – then there can be no questioning who the best is. Alabama is the best team in the best conference in college football.
  1. Best victory to date: Alabama owns the best victory to date. Not only was it a victory, but it was a most-convincing victory, as well. The Tide dismantled No. 2 LSU 30-16 and it wasn’t even that close. Alabama owned the line of scrimmage and the game was never in doubt. The Tide scored the first 10 points of the game, and then after LSU tied it, 10-10, reeled off 20 unanswered points to take a 30-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
  1. They pass the eyeball test: When you watch Alabama, you see a team that is bigger, faster, and stronger than its competition in every way, every game this season. Even in losing to Ole Miss, it was apparent that the Tide was the better football team. Only a plethora of errors and a few freak pass plays prevented them from winning and staying unbeaten.
  1. Derrick Henry is the best player in college football: Standing side-by-side, it was clear that Derrick Henry was far and away the better player than Heisman frontrunner Leonard Fournette when the two met at Bryan-Denny Stadium earlier this month. Henry, it seems, is just getting better as the season wears on. He’s rushed for 200-plus yards in three games this season, including the last two games both against quality defenses in LSU and Mississippi State. Nobody is running harder than Henry this late in the season. Entering Week 12, Henry has piled up 1,458 yards rushing (6.1 yards per carry) and 19 touchdowns. He’s also caught nine passes out of the backfield for another 69 yards.
  1. Las Vegas says so: Even Las Vegas oddsmakers are convinced that Alabama is the best team in college football Therefore the Crimson Tide should take its rightful place atop the rankings. ESPN reports that for the first time this season, Alabama is the favorite to win the College Football Playoff. According to ESPN, the Tide on Monday became a 5-2 favorite to win it all at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. Ohio State is a very close second at 11-4 odds.
  1. The Prediction Machine says so: The USA Today posted results from predictionmachine.com, which found that Alabama has a 56.2 percent chance of winning the SEC. That almost assures the Tide entrance into the four-team playoffs. Additionally, Alabama has a 42.7 percent chance to win the conference without losing another game. Using 50,000 simulations, the conclusion drawn is that Alabama beats Clemson 51 percent of the time by a score of 23-22 for the national championship. Well, what more proof do you need?