Could the best college team beat the worst professional team? It's a dumb question -- whether in basketball or football -- but one consistently posed because we will never get a definitive answer on the playing field.
This year in football, the best college team is Alabama and the worst NFL team is my beloved Cleveland Browns. The Browns are terrible by NFL standards. The defense is hilariously inept and the offense has a few fun pieces, but is otherwise pretty awful as well. At 0-10, they are clearly the league's worst team.
Alabama, by contrast, is the nation's best college football team and second-best doesn't seem particularly close. However, the gap between college and the pros is wide, wider than most fans realize.
On their respective levels, the Browns are awful and Alabama is great. So what would a point spread look like between the two on a neutral field. Paul Finebaum asked handicapper Danny Sheridan that question. The answer: Browns -27.
Alabama gets amazing players, but even for as many pro prospects as the Tide produce from that deep talent pool, let's not confused that with the depth and talent of even the worst NFL team. That said, I've watched an awful lot of Browns football this season and while they would win and win handily against the Tide, I'd still take the points.