In Week 3 of the college football season, there is no consensus about the Alabama Crimson Tide. The national media doesn't much know what to make of Alabama. Even with some pundits claiming solid insight, no consensus exists. So far, against two widely different opponents, Alabama has been two significantly different teams.
The muddled situation is similar to what college football went through in the BCS years. Human poll voters were often doubted, and computer models were sometimes considered to be better at ranking teams. The models proved not to be algorithmic soothsayers. Even so, in the BCS Era, there was no widespread debate that in each season, the two best teams competed for the National Championship.