Can the Tide roll on the Longhorns?
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
They are the favorites.
And that’s despite the fact that Alabama is coming to the 2010 BCS national championship game without any experience whatsoever playing in a game this big with the freaking national title at stake.
Yep, the Alabama Crimson Tide is coming to their first ever BCS national championship game facing the Texas Longhorns who have already won it five years ago on the same field that they’ll be in this Thursday night. We still like the Tide though, here’s why.
Third year head coach Nick Saban has engineered a quick turnaround in Tuscaloosa as he led the Alabama Crimson Tide to two undefeated seasons in the last two years. This season, the Crimson Tide dominated the defending national champions Florida Gators to win the SEC title, earning a bid for the Crystal Trophy for the first time.
Alabama enjoyed a significantly improved season on offense. Behind the rushing of Mark Ingram and the steady play of quarterback Greg McElroy, the Tide scored an average of 31.7 points per game, finishing 27th nationally.
Their running game was dominant, finishing 8th in the country and earning starting tailback Mark Ingram an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Their passing offense was efficient but it only finished 67th nationally, showing their commitment to running the football. With the way Ingram has been running with the football, nobody is complaining.
As good as their offense already is, the Crimson Tide’s true strength rely on their defense. They are the top-ranked defense in the country as far as points allowed are concerned at a mere 11 points per game. Tim Tebow and the rest of the Gators learned that the hard way when they could only come up with 13 points against the Alabama defense.
Alabama is also 2nd in the country in…
Can Texas beat ‘Bama to win the BCS?
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
They can but it won’t be easy.
Because the Texas Longhorns will definitely have their hands full against the Alabama Crimson Tide when they play for the 2010 BCS national championship. Oh yeah, the title game is this Thursday, marking the culmination of yet another thrilling college football season.
The Texas Longhorns are seeking their second BCS national championship in five years. You see, it was five years ago when Texas shocked the USC Trojans to win the national title 41-38 behind Vince Young’s heroics. On Thursday, they can win it on that same field when they take on Alabama in Pasadena, California.
Just like in 2005, the Texas Longhorns will be the underdogs as they try to upset the Alabama Crimson Tide from winning their first ever BCS national title. Alabama is so well put together this season that beating them is such a daunting task. After all, this was THE team that booted out the defending national champions Florida Gators out of the national championship picture and if these guys can neutralize a guy like Tim Tebow, you can just imagine what they can do to Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.
One thing going for the Longhorns is the fact that they have been a fixture in the BCS in recent years, thanks primarily to senior quarterback Colt McCoy. This is their 4th BCS berth in the last six seasons. The return of the 2005 BCS champions to the site of their monumental triumph should motivate them enough to become the 3rd team in the BCS era to win two national championships. The Longhorns are 3-0 in their BCS history (including 2-0 in Pasadena) and will look to maintain their perfect record against the Tide.
Coached by the venerable Mack Brown, who is capping off his 12th season in charge in Austin during that time period, the Longhorns are an incredible 128-26 and have won at least ten games every year since 2001. Brown presided over Texas’ first national championship since 1970 and his teams at Texas are an excellent 8-3 in BCS bowl games.
Texas has a very strong offense, spearheaded by…
Betting on the 2010 BCS Title Game?
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Water coolers and sports talk radio hosts can rejoice once again this year, as the BCS system has people bemoaning the lack of a true playoff system in college ball.
In case you didn’t know it yet, the Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off a tidy upset of the No.1 Florida Gators, moving into the 2010 BCS national championship game. Listed anywhere from as 5.5-point underdogs up to +7, ‘Bama was getting only about 30 percent of all the betting action by kick-off, according to online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com.
Bettors took a hit when the Tide defense did a number on Gator QB Tim Tebow en route to a 32-13 win.
Now Nick Saban and the rest of the Alabama Crimson Tide will prepare to play the Texas Longhorns, who were much less convincing in their BCS title berth showcase.
Coming into a few weeks ago ranked No.3 by the BCS, the Texas Longhorns were set for one of the national championship spots, facing the No.22 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big 12 title game. Texas was in a ”win and you’re in” scenario, kicking off as 14-point favorites.
It was hardly a convincing win, as Texas struggled throughout, but they did manage to eke out a 13-12 win to claim the conference championship. Texas bettors were never really in a spot to cover the two touchdowns all game and moneyline bettors were fortunate to get even the straight up win.
The near-loss to the Cornhuskers didn’t matter to the BCS selection committee though as the Longhorns were given a berth to the college football championship game in Pasadena to face the Crimson Tide.
SPORTSBETTING.com opened Alabama as a 3.5-point fave. Money immediately flowed in on the Tide and the number moved to -5. It has since gone up to -5.5 as ‘Bama money continues to show up.
The total sites at 44.5, with about 65 percent of the action so far favoring a play on the ”Under.” Bettors have clearly been impressed by this team’s defensive performance all year, but particularly in that matchup with the Gators in the SEC Championship game.
Let’s look at a few numbers for the big game…
TCU vs Boise State at 2010 Fiesta Bowl
Monday, January 4th, 2010
The BCS Bowl season continues to heat up January.
And this time, we have the 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl for you. This one features two undefeated teams in their respective conferences as the Boise State Broncos go up against the TCU Horned Frogs at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Both the Boise State Broncos and the TCU Horned Frogs finished with unblemished records to win their respective conferences. Boise State finished 13-0 to win the WAC title while TCU finished 12-0 to win the Mountain West Conference.
The Boise State Broncos and the TCU Horned Frogs have only met twice with both meetings occurring in big BCS bowl games. They collided last season in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl with the Horned Frogs winning an exciting 17-16 decision then. Boise State prevailed 34-31 in their first meeting on December 23, 2003 in the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl on TCU’s home turf.
For the past 10 years, the Broncos boast a 121-20 composite record for a .858 winning percentage that leads the nation over that span. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be Boise State’s 10th bowl appearance and second BCS appearance in the past four seasons.
The Broncos ride into the Valley of the Sun after posting their 12th consecutive winning season, ninth conference championship, ninth season of 10 or more victories, eighth consecutive season ranked in the Top 25, seventh Western Athletic Conference championship, sixth season with 11 or more wins, fourth Top 10 BCS ranking, and fourth undefeated regular season.
The Broncos finished sixth in the final 2009…
Who’ll win SEC? Florida or Alabama?
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
It doesn’t get any better than that.
Arguably the biggest game of the weekend, the top two teams of the nation, both still yet to taste defeat this 2009 NCAA college football season, collide as No.1 Florida Gators take on No.2 Alabama Crimson Tide for the SEC title.
That’s right, the SEC championship game will pit two undefeated teams against each other in order to decide who wins the conference this season. The 2009 SEC championship game will also most likely decide who will play for the national title come January.
This title game between the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide is dubbed as the most anticipated matchup in college football since Florida and Oklahoma played in the BCS title game last year. It’s the game people started talking about in the preseason and have been pointing to ever since and now it’s finally here.
The Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide are in a battle between two high-profile coaches; Florida’s Urban Meyer and Alabama’s Nick Saban. This contest will also be about two Heisman trophy hopefuls Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram, not to mention a war between two of the nation’s best defenses with a spot in the national championship game on the line. The winner advances to the BCS title game in Pasadena, Calif. The loser still gets a BCS berth, almost certainly in the Sugar Bowl.
In a game this huge, who should you pick?
Let’s look at Florida. The Gators, the defending national champions, were the unanimous choice to win the Eastern division, while No.2 Alabama was a popular pick in the West. The Gators needed a last-second field goal to beat Arkansas and played close games against Mississippi State and South Carolina. They secured a spot in the SEC title game in late October.
Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide edged Tennessee on a…
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