Alabama V Utah in 2009 Sugar Bowl
It’s so unfortunate for the Crimson Tide to end what has been a dominant year this way.
The Alabama Crimson Tide stayed on top of the BCS rankings the longest this 2008 NCAA college football season. Head coach Nick Saban has done an awesome job keeping the Crimson Tide at the top of their game.
Unfortunately, the Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a 31-20 loss to the Florida Gators at the wrong time, during the last few weeks of the season. The defeat couldn’t have come at a worse time, since it gave Alabama no chance to bounce back like other one-loss teams like, ironically Florida and the Oklahoma Sooners, two teams facing off in the BCS championship game in Miami. So instead of playing for the national title, they had to settle for the 2009 AllState Sugar Bowl.
Despite that, the Alabama Crimson Tide was STILL one of the country’s most compelling teams, returning to national prominence in coach Nick Saban’s second season.
Before Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama had gone through a rough decade; four coaches, four losing seasons, stifling NCAA sanctions and just one appearance in a major bowl. Saban brought the Crimson Tide back and despite losing out on a chance to play for the BCS national title, the season they had is still a success, anyway you look at it.
They meet the Utah Utes, also returning to prominence with the strong campaign they had this year.
Four years ago, Utah became the first non-BCS school to reach a major bowl since the format was created in 1998. The Urban Meyer-coached Utes defeated Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl to complete their first perfect season since 1930.
Utah finished sixth in the BCS standings, securing its spot in one of the major bowls. The only other unbeaten team in the NCAA’s top division was Boise State (12-0), but a ninth-place finish wasn’t good enough to get the Broncos into a big-time game.
This will be the second straight year that a non-BCS team has appeared in the Sugar Bowl. But with a powerhouse like Alabama standing across them on the football field, will the Utes simply be prey to the Crimson Tide? There’s only one way to find out.
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