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This is an opinion column.

The Heisman Trophy is nothing more than a popularity contest most years, but this might be one of the seasons when voters put a little more thought into their ballots.

Let’s hope so because that’s what it will take for Alabama’s Jalen Milroe to come out of nowhere and steal the greatest individual trophy in American sports from some West Coast guy like … wait for it … Bo Nix.

We had the second set of College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, and Alabama is still hovering outside the party at No.8. The top five teams are all undefeated — Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Florida State and Washington — but Alabama is also looking up at one-loss Oregon and Texas. Alabama vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl for a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup sounds pretty fun to me, but Milroe and Nix have some work to do before anyone can dream about a trip to California.

CASAGRANDE: The factor that beat LSU and saved Alabama’s season

CASAGRANDE: Who is this Alabama football team? Does it matter?

What’s it going to take for Alabama to impress the College Football Playoff selection committee and jump some teams? The committee is devaluing the SEC this season, which means it could come down to the ol’ eye test for the Crimson Tide. That’s where Milroe’s steady improvement this season can influence a system based on subjectivity.

Going into the game against LSU, we knew that Milroe had the ability to be special, but that he hadn’t quite unlocked all of his potential. In last week’s column about Alabama’s developing talent behind center, I wrote that it would take Milroe being the best player in the country for Alabama to make the College Football Playoff, but that he was already a better NFL prospect than LSU passer Jayden Daniels.

Milroe then delivered the groceries for the third week in a row, and Alabama feasted thanks to his talent. That’s what a great quarterback can do for a team, and Alabama knows all about that, but Milroe has something else in abundance other than talent that has been overlooked until this moment.

Milroe is coming into his own on the field, but also in the locker room as a leader. This team believes in its quarterback, and that’s a considerable step that every championship contender must make during a season. It’s also really exciting to see a young person mature into such a dynamic presence right before our eyes, and that’s one of the many reasons why college football will always be a more culturally rich experience than the NFL.

College football is experiencing a banner season, and one of the most compelling storylines is an Alabama team that lost to Texas early but is transforming into a contender. Alabama (8-1, 6-0 in the SEC) is at Kentucky (6-3, 3-3) on Saturday for an 11 a.m. kickoff. Milroe has linked together three season-defining performances in a row, and each one has been better than the last.

He led a generational comeback against Tennessee and then set an Alabama record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (four) in the convincing victory against LSU. The problem for Alabama is that Tennessee lost to Florida, which is awful, and LSU was blown out by FSU at the start of the season. The perception nationally is that the SEC isn’t the juggernaut of old.

What’s it going to take for the selection committee to believe in Alabama’s growth since the loss to Texas? A Heisman-worthy finish to the season by Milroe wouldn’t hurt. Alabama is beginning to look like one of the most improved teams in the country. That’s a weird place for the Crimson Tide, and maybe that’s not something the CFP selection committee cares about, but it sure is fun to watch.

The game against LSU didn’t do much for Alabama in terms of the rankings, but that doesn’t mean the victory was without evidence of a team that could potentially be the best in the country by the end. Milroe was unstoppable, and the punishing dual-threat nature of his game reminded me of a former SEC quarterback who became the best player in the country during the second half of his first full season as a starter.

I’m talking about Florida legend Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore despite the Gators losing to Auburn, LSU and Georgia during the 2007 regular season. Before moving back home to work for AL.com, I had the great privilege of covering Tebow’s career at Florida as the Gators’ beat writer for the Miami Herald. I was there in the press box of South Carolina’s Williams-Brice Stadium when Tebow rushed for five touchdowns against Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks in Week 11. That’s the game that won Tebow the award.

Milroe can be better than Tebow. Alabama’s quarterback has that ability whether people see it yet or not.

Tebow was one of the greatest quarterbacks in SEC history because he could extend drives with his powerful legs while protecting the football. He was also guaranteed to score in short-yardage situations at the goal line. There was something else about Tebow that separated him, though, and Milroe has that, too. Milroe is an uncommon leader, and the proof of that intangible quality is the dramatic improvement of this Alabama and its ability to be coached.

Alabama 2023 is a better overall team than Florida 2007 and now Milroe enters his own Week 11 with everything still to prove.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama”, a book about togetherness, wild times and rum. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.