No. 3 Alabama's Iron Bowl win over Auburn provides more questions than answers

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The Iron Bowl produced another instant classic in its latest installment, with No. 3 Alabama surviving to beat Auburn 24-22 in a four-overtime thriller.

But one thing it might not have provided was clarity on whether or not Alabama is truly one of the elite teams in the country.

A win is a win, and Alabama's latest not only ensures the Tide a spot in next Saturday's SEC Championship Game against No. 1 Georgia, but it also keeps them in contention for the College Football Playoff. The win over Auburn, however, was anything but inspiring.

With standout wide receiver Jameson Williams being ejected in the second quarter due to a targeting penalty, the Crimson Tide offense was without its most explosive player and it showed throughout the game.

Alabama trailed 10-0 entering the fourth quarter and struggled to find its footing offensively for the majority of the game before a late rally forced overtime. The extra action proved to be a back-and-forth affair until Alabama had the ball last and scored on a 2-point conversion to win the game.

Three of Alabama's last four games have all been decided by one score, with two of those games coming against unranked opponents — Auburn, and a 20-14 win over LSU on Nov. 6. That leaves questions surrounding the Crimson Tide's legitimacy as a national championship contender.

This is compounded with the fact that both Michigan and Cincinnati, the two teams ranked in the top five behind Alabama entering the weekend, looked dominant in their wins.

No. 5 Michigan broke through against No. 2 Ohio State in a major way, staking its claim as the second-best team in the country behind Georgia with a 42-27 win.

No. 4 Cincinnati continued its undefeated season with a relatively easy 35-13 victory over East Carolina.

Those teams appear to be peaking as the regular season comes to a close, while Alabama appears to be stumbling towards the finish line, muddying the waters surrounding the question of who is the favorite to challenge Georgia.

Saturday's results left the college football world with more questions than answers.