BCS Championship Game: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Texas

I'm sorry, but this is the same Bama team that had to block two Tennessee field goals to win 12-10 and did not lead in the Iron Bowl until 1:24 remained in the game. Point being, both teams have looked great at times and mediocre at others.

It's going to be a close game between two teams with very strong defenses and offenses with flaws(Bama can run, but struggles passing while Texas is the opposite).

 

Gonna be a great game......GREAT game...2 staunch defenses.....

DD

 

Sure Texas didn't look good on offense today, but what do you think Bama woulda looked like if they played against this Nebraska D today?

 

No official line yet, but some odds makers are saying Bama by 4.5

 

Sounds about right. People tend to overreact to single games, and this one was truly ugly for the Texas offense. But that said, the Texas defense was stunningly good. We know Nebraska's offense sucks, but holding them to 100 yards and basically no points outside of that last FG (the others were all due to offensive turnovers) is as good as you can get. Last week, all the concern was the defense while the offense was a machine.

Alabama probably should be favored, given that they've had the most impressive performance of the season, and it came in their last game. But the defensive power of these teams combined with the offensive struggles both teams have had at various times keep the spread fairly small.

Personally, I think it's more of a pick'em. The Alabama defense's strength is not as much bullrushing the passer (where the Texas O-Line apparently just sucks horribly) - it's more stuffing the run. Texas can't run up the middle anywhere, so that's neutralized a little bit, so I think the Texas offense matches up better vs Alabama than Nebraska. The real wild card, to me, is Greg McElroy. Texas can shut down the Alabama running game if they can simply focus on that - but if McElroy actually can play QB (as he did today), that changes the dynamic a lot. Ultimately, I think the Texas offense and defense just matches up much better against Alabama than they would have against Florida, but Texas is struggling a bit right now.

My prediction: Texas 24, Alabama 20

 

If they played next week, then yeah I think Bama would win.

But it's not next week, it's the 2nd week of January.
you can throw predictions out of the window if they have that long to prepare for a team.

 

Very true.

I want Texas to win because I hate the SEC, but I do not want Texas to get another national title either. Sucks to be a Buckeye these days...

 

I like that texas wll be ranked two and hearing that Alabama will skull ***** us for the next month.

I like that Ingram will win the Heisman. During the BCS era only 1 heisman winner has gone on to win his bowl game, Leinert in 2004. The stats don't favor heisman winners very favorably in the postseason.

I like that Texas is 8-0 lifetime against Bama.

 

Remember, close games mean you suck unless you're in the SEC. Then they're OK.

 

Can anyone seriously dispute Texas getting the nod in the championship game? Please prove the following points wrong and I will accept that Texas should get passed...

1) To get in the championship, all that matters is your overall resume: Texas will have faced the highest strength of schedule of UT/TCU/Cincy as well as teams with the highest winning percentage. Not to mention absolutely overwhelming performances against Mizzou and OSU, which many analysts pick to upset the Longhorns.

2) What matters is "what have you done for me lately": Texas won by one point. Cincinnati won by one point. TCU didn't even play.

3) Defense wins championships: Texas has shown time and time again that their defense is one of the best in the whole nation. If it weren't for Colt's interceptions, Nebraska scores 6 points. We didn't allow a single touchdown in our conference's championship game. Cincinnati, on the other hand, gave up 44 points. (Yet, of course, all of the talking heads on TV say that our offense can't hang with the big boys after the Nebraska game.)

4) Offense wins championships: Texas averages over 40 points a game. (tied with TCU and more than Cincinnati). We have proven that on nights when our defense is overmatched (A&M) our offense can answer the call and win a game for us. (Yet, of couse, all of the talking heads on TV say that our defense can't hang with the big boys after the A&M game.)

5) The BCS wants a matchup that will attract viewers: Texas vs. Alabama will have an incredible amount of history, as well as two of the best traveling fan-bases in the nation. Neither TCU not Cincinnait can come close to the fanbase of Texas.

All this talk about how Texas struggled really shows how much everyone values offense. Yeah, our offense sucked tonight. Our offensive line looked like a bunch of 5th graders out there. However, as bad as our offense was, our defense was just as good. They were INCREDIBLE.

I understand that Cincinnati/TCU/Boise St. fans may be upset. But to say that Texas doesn't deserve this is absurd. Texas and TCU and Cinci and Boise St. ALL deserve this. I will be the first to admit that Texas isn't perfect, but none of these teams are. Heck, even 'Bama needed 2 blocked kicks vs. Tennessee and a tough 4th quarter comeback vs. Auburn to win. Every single undefeated team deserves a shot at the title, but in our system only two get it, and if you look at the stats completely objectively, it is really hard to claim that Texas doesn't deserve this.

 

My Sooners would NOT have beaten LSU 27-0 with half our team injured.

 

At least neither team is going to have someone with bible verses painted all over their face.

Maybe Sergio Kindle can paint SATAN - 666 under his eyes.

Dude plays like a man possessed anyway.

 

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Okay give mack brown one month to prepare and Nick saban one month to prepare, I gotta go with Nick Saban....

But college football anything can happen esp in a game with two really good defenses....

 

Do you not understand how silly it is to react so strongly based on one individual week? Yes, you could judge the season based on yesterday and come to that conclusion. However, I could also go back to, say, October 24 - when Alabama needed three blocked field goals for a last-second win against Tennessee (worse than Nebraska), 12-10, at home. That same night, Texas dismantled an 8-4 Missouri team, 41-7, in Columbia. Using that week as the standard, how could anyone imagine Bama having a chance against UT?

I know you don't fall into this category, but I hope the media hands Ingram the Heisman and tosses Alabama into the unbeatable category. We saw four years ago how well that worked out for Heisman winner Reggie Bush and the "all-time great" Trojans.

 

I think this is spot on, and my pick is similar. Casual fans are going to make comparisons all month of what Suh did to what Cody will do, but they're two completely different types of DTs. Suh made his plays as much with his athleticism (for his size) as he did his strength. He chased Colt and other runners down on multiple occasions. Sure, Cody is big, but he's not the kind of quick athlete that Suh is - and against a Texas defense that doesn't run up the middle much anyway, it's not the same impact.

Also agree that it all comes down to McElroy. That was by far the best game I've seen him play all season. He's looked almost awful at times, and it would be very silly for anyone to assume that the McElroy that showed up yesterday will show up in Pasadena.

 

You do realize that Case Keenum writes Bible verses on his eye black, right?

 

cliche response from the trolls about a lower ranked team being better than UT- yes

worthless threat of 'meet my team anytime, anyplace' even though there is no way it will happen- yes

use of double standard logic to predict a future beat down- yup.


The Longhorns must've won.(again)

 

Yep. So? Does that mean I have to like it?