Alabama is not the top team in college football according to ESPN’s Matt Barrie.

During an appearance as the guest speaker for the 1st and 10 Club at the Mobile Marriott Monday, Barrie said he believes Ohio State is actually the nation’s best team, according to AL.com. The analyst believes that the Buckeyes have a favorable edge with an experienced quarterback in J.T. Barrett, as opposed to a true freshman in Jalen Hurts.

“I believe that they [Ohio State] do a lot of the little things perfect, if that makes sense,” said Barrie, a SportsCenter anchor and former host of College GameDay on ESPN Radio. “I believe that they’re the fastest team in the country. J.T. Barrett’s got an offense he’s comfortable with. He’s got skill players with experience.

“The reason I don’t think Alabama, at least at this point in the season, has shown themselves to be the best team in the country, I still have to see more of Jalen Hurts, and see what he can do as a true freshman quarterback. And as he continues to develop, Alabama’s got the skill on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve got Calvin Ridley and O.J. Howard, they’ve got the skill positions in place.”

Barrie said that he wouldn’t be surprised to see another meeting between Alabama and Ohio State in a College Football Playoff game, as was the case two years ago during the inaugural CFB Playoff season. As you’d expect from his comments, he’d pick the Buckeyes to defeat the Tide once again.

“In a playoff situation, if it came down to those two teams, I’d go with a veteran quarterback like J.T. Barrett who’s been in that position before in terms of big games, having that experience,” Barrie said. “And Urban Meyer finds a way. Last year was the team that was supposed to win the national championship and they didn’t. The year before when they were coming up, they did. So I kind of compare it to that team.”