So, it’s Iron Bowl week, and the game Auburn and Alabama fans alike look forward to for 364 days every year. It’s the game that defines each program’s season, to make or break it.

Bragging rights only begin to define what this game is all about. From 2009 to 2013, the winner went on to win or play for a national championship. It is unquestionably the most important rivalry in college football today.

Alabama leads the all-time series 45-36-1, but since the rivalry moved on campus from Legion Field in 2000, Auburn has held the advantage, with a 9-5 edge in games played at Jordan-Hare Stadium and a 7-4 lead in games played in Tuscaloosa.

The teams square off at 3:30 p.m. EDT Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, where the Tide have won a school-record 25 consecutive games. And while Auburn won 26-14 last season at Jordan-Hare, its largest margin of victory in the series since 1969 (49-26), it is Alabama who has dominated in recent years, winning seven of the last 10 meetings.

There’s really nothing to suggest that trend won’t continue this season. Alabama is ranked No. 1 in the nation again and is undefeated again. Only this year, they are also unchallenged in 11 games so far. Nobody has come within three touchdowns of the Tide in 2018, a season many are calling the best of the best in Alabama football history.

Texas A&M came the closest to matching the Tide. And by “closest” we mean the Aggies were the least blown out by this juggernaut hell-bent on a fifth consecutive College Football Playoff appearance and a sixth national championship in 10 years. Alabama beat the Aggies by only 45-23.

With Saturday’s 50-17 victory over The Citadel, Alabama has opened the season with 11 consecutive wins by 20 points or more, the most to start a season in NCAA history.

Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Nothing and nobody has been able to stop the Tide this season, or even slow down this machine that even by Nick Saban standards has been nothing short of amazing.

The Tide on Saturday rolled up 500 yards for the 10th time this season, and they are third in the nation by averaging 48.7 points per game.

The big difference, of course, is the emergence of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who set the program’s single-season record for touchdown passes on Saturday. His 3 gave him 31 for the season, breaking AJ McCarron’s record of 30 set back in 2012.

How efficient is he? Well, in 88 drives this season, Alabama has scored 52 touchdowns (59.1 percent) and added 7 field goals, meaning that in 67 percent of his drives, the Tide has scored points.

If that’s not enough, the Alabama defense has been equally effective, recording back-to-back shutouts of LSU and Mississippi State. Only three teams this season have found the end zone more than twice in any one game. Alabama is third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of just 13.1 points per game.

All that to say this: If the Tide play their usual game on Saturday, it could mean a long afternoon for the Tigers. After all, if Auburn ends the game within 3 touchdowns of Alabama, it will be the best any team has done against them all season.

No, those aren’t encouraging words, just the reality of it. Nobody has even challenged the Tide, and most are convinced that they won’t be until the Playoffs, if then.

So the Tigers are no doubt in for a major test to determine whether they finally give Alabama a four-quarter game or become just a footnote in what most believe is inevitable.