There’s a feeling that by the time the clock hits zero on Saturday between LSU and Alabama, we’ll know a few things.

We’ll know who’s going to win the SEC West (probably), who’s the No. 1 team in the country and who’s going to win the Heisman Trophy.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually think the Heisman race will be far from over at the conclusion of Saturday’s massive showdown in Tuscaloosa.

Crazy, I know.

After all, Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow are No. 3 and No. 1, respectively, in the Heisman Trophy odds. It’s rare that we see such an individual matchup this late in the season. That’s why the winner of Saturday’s game will be the presumed Heisman favorite, and likely with overwhelming odds.

Am I saying the winning quarterback won’t win the Heisman? Not necessarily, but I’ve been around long enough to know that declaring a Heisman winner with 4 weekends of football left is a foolish move.

Fair or not, the Heisman has become a narrative-driven award. It’s a “what have you done for me lately” honor. If you don’t believe that, go back to last year when Kyler Murray’s Big 12 Championship performance pushed him past Tagovailoa after his SEC Championship dud and late injury.

In the Playoff era, 4 of the 5 Heisman winners took home a conference championship en route to a Playoff berth (and they lit it up in the process).

The one who didn’t? Lamar Jackson. In 2016, he actually lost his last 2 games to the likes of Houston and Kentucky. So why did he still win the award? He still had over 450 yards of offense with 4 touchdowns in the regular season finale against Kentucky, and because he had 52 touchdowns, he was still the slam-dunk candidate. Deshaun Watson was the lone Playoff-bound quarterback with a chance — Jake Browning didn’t have as high-profile of a year — but he didn’t quite fit everyone’s narrative because he threw 17 interceptions.

So what does that have to do with 2019? Well, there are still several viable candidates outside of Burrow and Tagovailoa who can follow that all-important Heisman narrative.

Jalen Hurts, despite the loss to Kansas State, is at No. 2 with 5/2 odds. If Hurts runs the table with Oklahoma and does exactly what Baker Mayfield and Murray did last year — suffer that random regular season loss and win out — he could certainly have a case, especially if he continues his absurd 55-touchdown pace for 13 games.

There’s also Justin Fields, who is sitting there at 12/1 with 33 total touchdowns for an undefeated Ohio State team that has a legitimate chance to become the first Power 5 team in the Playoff era to go 13-0 with a 9-game conference schedule. Justin Herbert can’t go 13-0, but if he leads Oregon to a perfect 9-game conference record (plus a conference title victory), he’ll absolutely have an argument.

Plus, what happens if Chase Young continues to dominate for the aforementioned unbeaten Buckeyes? With 13.5 sacks, his odds have surged to 8/1, which is better than Fields. I wouldn’t bet on him to win, but if the guy breaks Terrell Suggs’ NCAA sack record of 24 — something he’s on pace to do — he could gain a ton of late-season momentum if there’s a debate between the quarterbacks at the top. That’s especially true for an Ohio State team that could potentially end the season with games vs. Penn State, at Michigan and against the Big Ten West winner.

All of those things can happen, regardless of what the Alabama-LSU result is.

There’s still a lot of time for Alabama and LSU, as well. Tagovailoa’s health makes his Heisman candidacy an obvious question mark while Burrow would still have to avenge last season’s A&M loss and he’d potentially have to deliver a strong closing argument against Georgia’s No. 4 scoring defense in Atlanta. Voters will take all of those things into account.

We make fun of voters who turn their ballots in before conference championship weekend — an offense that should have their votes removed — because the idea of deciding the Heisman without all of the data seems premature. That’s why it would be premature to decide it based on one game that we see Saturday.

Could Burrow or Tagovailoa have their proverbial “Heisman moment?” Absolutely. But a “Heisman moment” isn’t a play that wins the award. It’s the play that stands out when ballots are filled out if that’s who gets the first place vote.

Remember last year when this was supposed to be Tagovailoa’s Heisman moment?

It didn’t matter that Tagovailoa won that game 29-0 and that his undefeated team won a conference championship en route to the Playoff. Voters decided that Murray passed him up down the stretch.

If I were a betting man, I’d say the odds will shift dramatically in favor of the winning quarterback of this game (assuming it isn’t Mac Jones). If I were a betting man, I’d also stay far away from betting on the post-Week 11 Heisman favorite. I’d roll the dice elsewhere. A lot can happen in 4 weekends of college football.

My advice for Saturday afternoon is simple. Sit back and enjoy what’s shaping up to be an epic matchup of 2 special players.

Just don’t hand out any Heisman hardware at game’s end.