Alabama is Kirk Herbstreit’s national champion this season, he explained on Twitter Wednesday.

The ESPN College GameDay analyst believes the Crimson Tide will be playing with a chip on their shoulder this season that will drive them toward winning another national championship.

Herbstreit quoted a Tweet from Touchdown Alabama magazine with a quote from Alabama’s Jase McClellan.

“Our identity is being physical on offense,” McClellan said. “Something that we are focused on is having balance passing the ball and running the ball. We want to show people that Alabama is still the standard.”

Herbstreit is expecting Alabama to come out strong this season and remind everyone why they have dominated college football over the past decade.

The Tide had a relatively down year a season ago, finishing 11-2 and missing out on the SEC Championship and the College Football Playoff. Alabama will be looking to bounce back this season.

One of the biggest questions for Alabama heading into the season is who will get the start at quarterback. The competition is between Jalen Milroe, Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson, but head coach Nick Saban has toyed with the prospect of using multiple quarterbacks to start the season.

We will get our first look at Alabama this Saturday as the Tide take on MTSU.