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…
Florida on top of 2009 BCS Rankings
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Surprise surprise.
After all the drama and the emotional comebacks, everything is where it should be at this point of the 2009 NCAA college football season.
You read it, because after watching Tim Tebow go down hard that almost destroyed the world around Gator fans in Florida, the Florida Gators are once again on top of the BCS rankings.
Thanks to Tebow’s surprising return to the Florida Gators roster two weekends ago, the Gators were able to stay undefeated to be named no.1 in this season’s first BCS rankings. Their first test as the nation’s no.1 team this year is on Saturday when they go up against Mississippi State.
Not far behind are the Alabama Crimson Tide. Second in every statistical category compiled by the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Harris poll, the Crimson Tide is easily Florida’s biggest threat, so far anyway. If both the Gators and the Crimson Tide remain undefeated, they will play each other in the Southeastern Conference championship. A prelude to the BCS national championship game perhaps?
Sitting on third are the Texas Longhorns, joining Florida and Alabama in the top three. With the strength of their schedule, all three just need to win out to reach the BCS national championship game on January 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. At least that’s according to BCS analyst (yes, the BCS has analysts…) Jerry Palm.
The problem is, it seems history is not on their side.
In the first 11 years of the BCS rankings, the top two teams in the first standings have only reached the title game once when Texas and Southern California did it in the 2005 season. Overall, only 10 of the 22 teams that were ranked first or second in the first standings made it all the way to the championship game.
That’s probably good news to the still undefeated…
Oklahoma Sooners – Texas Longhorns Tips
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
Bradford’s back. That’s everything you need to know this week.
Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and the rest of the Oklahoma Sooners are ready to face the Texas Longhorns this Saturday as the 2009 NCAA college football season continues with Week 7.
Sam Bradford had 49 throws in a 33-7 for the Oklahoma Sooners over Baylor. Bradford threw for 389 yards and a touchdown after missing the last month with a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder. It was the 14th 300-yard passing game of his career, matching the school record set by 2000 Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel.
If there’s still any questions on Bradford’s health, he sure answered those in emphatic fashion.
”I think that’s something that we were all curious around here is how I would react to 3 1/2-4 hours in my pads, on and off, not throwing the whole time, kind of sitting on the bench, coming back and making some throws,” Sam Bradford said. ”I felt like my arm responded great, and I felt good out there.”
”To have been off as much as he has and go out there in his first go at it to play as well as he did, I thought he played great,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. ”He stays away from the poor, the negative plays or the bad plays and he had a great night.”
The undefeated Texas Longhorns, on the other hand, look to continue their winning ways at the expense of the Sooners. The Longhorns beat Colorado 38-14 win Saturday night with the help of Earl Thomas and Ben Wells. Thomas returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown while Wells recovered a blocked punt for another score to help the Longhorns pull away in the second half.
Colt McCoy became the 15th player in college football history to generate more than 12,000 total yards last weekend. He has thrown touchdown passes in 21 consecutive games. It’ll be nice to see him match-up with Bradford.
Our pick? We’re sticking with…
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