Nick Saban called the game-sealing score “one of the greatest drives in Alabama history.”

The entire thing really was a knockdown, drag-out slugfest between two college football heavyweights jockeying for position in the inaugural College Football Playoff.

No, it wasn’t the Iron Bowl or Alabama-LSU.

It was a game that involved Mississippi State.

Mississippi State. The school more famous for its cafeteria chocolate milk than its football program. The team that was picked to finish fifth in the SEC West this season. The program that celebrates Gator Bowls like Southern Miss fans celebrate wins nowadays.

For once in the past 50 years, it was Mississippi State that was the national media darling headed into a game against Alabama, with all the pressure firmly perched on the Crimson Tide’s shoulders. Lose the game and Bama is effectively eliminated from national championship consideration and an SEC Championship berth. It was a must-win matchup, and it just so happened to be against the team that won exactly one game in the series between 1958 and 1995.

But win Alabama did, behind a bruising run game and three Dak Prescott turnovers. It was a victory that will vault the Tide back into the top four of the playoff rankings and, in a lot of prognosticators’ predictions, bump the Dawgs out.

So let’s talk about how dumb that is.

Who do you put in their place? Let’s play, shall we.

TCU? Sure, the Frogs’ only loss is to a really good Top 10 Baylor team. But these guys barely scraped by Kansas. South Panola could do that. Gary Patterson’s club has an impressive win over K-State. Mississippi State has a romp against the Top 20 team that went to Manhattan and pulled out a win. MSU has the better loss, if there is such a thing (there is), and its resume is more complete.

Baylor? The Bears lost to the above-mentioned TCU team — and a really good one at that — but Mississippi State went to Death Valley and stomped LSU. Art Briles’ team got beat by West Virginia, which is definitely a worse loss than Alabama.

Ohio State? Shut up. The Buckeyes are definitely the hottest team right now but they lost to a five-loss Virginia Tech team that just went crazy about beating Duke. You can’t move them ahead.

Georgia? The other Dawgs are the only team in the East talented enough to have a legitimate shot at beating the SEC West winner, but you can’t get waxed by Florida and expect to jump a team whose only loss is to a Top 4 conference mate on the road.

Ole Miss? Nope, not right now. Not after the Rebels’ second SEC West loss to a team Mississippi State beat. An Egg Bowl win would definitely make Ole Miss the better team but that’s about as obvious as guessing what kind of pants Bo Pelini will wear on Saturdays (hint: khaki.)

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say the field is actually kind of weaker than we think this year. MSU’s best win is an Auburn team that is now three losses deep, but at the end of the day the Dawgs’ body of work is better than any other one-loss team sans Oregon and Alabama.

Someone is going to be left watching with a bowl of Cheetohs at home when it’s all said and done.

But it shouldn’t be Mississippi State.

Dan Mullen seems more like a vanilla wafer guy anyway.

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Cory Gunkel is a reporter. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, Ext. 178 or by email at cory.gunkel@vicksburgpost.com.