TUSCALOOSA – Here, on one side of the field, is Clyde Edwards-Helaire, embracing his father and weeping tears of joy.
Here, on the other side of the field, is Joe Burrow, carried off on his teammates' shoulders after putting them on his for explosive stretches all season long.
And here, in the middle is Ed Orgeron, smiling in between screams, screaming in between smiles, full of appreciation and awe and, yes, some tears of his own.
None of them were supposed to be here, for one reason or another, according to one critic or another.