Alabama can re-stake its claim as the nation’s No. 1 team with another win over a ranked opponent.

The No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs made a statement when they trashed LSU back in September. On Saturday, the Bulldogs can scream at the rest of the FBS by upsetting No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide at home. The two teams meet at 7 p.m. ET; the game will be broadcast live on ESPN (live stream).

The Bulldogs burst onto the national scene by upsetting the Tigers, but their other two chances to notch wins over top-25 teams resulted in an aggregate 90-13 score in defeats to Georgia and Auburn. They’ll have the opportunity to prove they belong in the FBS’s inner circle by finding a way to stop the Bama juggernaut Saturday night.

Alabama has been nearly perfect in 2017, thrashing opponents en route to a familiar place inside the College Football Playoff selection committee’s top four. The only team to stay within single digits of the 9-0 Crimson Tide was Texas A&M — but MSU represented the most highly rated opponent Alabama has played since Week 1.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 7 p.m. ET
• Location: Scott Field, Starkville, Miss
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: WatchESPN
• Odds: Alabama is favored by 14 points.

Alabama vs. Mississippi State news:

• The playoff committee may not agree, but the advanced numbers say Alabama is the nation’s No. 1 team.

In a season full of flawed elites, it would make sense that Alabama stands atop the pile. The Crimson Tide are more flawed than normal, but their stubborn refusal to fall victim to the kind of duds and eggs that have beset almost everybody else in FBS makes them a very fitting No. 1 team.

• It’s been against luckluster competition, but Mississippi State is one of the nation’s hottest teams over the past four weeks.

Ten weeks into a college football season, most teams are not what they were at the start. Injuries, slumps, surges, freshmen actually learning where classroom buildings are ... lots of things have changed.

That makes it difficult to rank teams. Sample size is an issue in football, but it gets especially tricky when the teams you’re grading have changed even within said small sample.

• That even includes a sloppy game against UMass — that MSU coach Dan Mullen is happy to turn into motivation.

• Alabama’s 2018 recruiting class is off to a slow start, but that won’t be a problem.

Part of the reasoning has to do with the new staff members who Nick Saban hired in 2017, including offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and co-offensive coordinator Michael Locksley. Daboll was hired from the New England Patriots when Steve Sarkisian took the Atlanta Falcons OC position, and Locksley was promoted from an offensive analyst after the 2016 season.

Can Mississippi State take anything away from LSU’s Bama blueprint?

The Tigers limited the Alabama offense in several ways. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed only 11 of his 24 passes. The Tide ran for just 3.2 yards per carry as a team. While that wasn’t enough to pull off the upset, it’s enough to show Alabama as vulnerable team for one of the few times all season. Mississippi State has held its last four opponents to 54 combined points, but that was against a significantly lower class of competition. Can they have similar success vs. Bama?

Alabama vs. Mississippi State prediction:

After beating LSU, the Bulldogs got starched by the next two top-15 teams they played. Expect more of the same Saturday.