Manti Te'o and the Irish want to be be No. 1. (Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE)
The BCS Championship Game between Alabama and Notre Dame has been analyzed to death by now.
Each analysis is supposed to give insight into which team will win and why that will happen. But no matter how much you analyze a game, the truth is that nobody can tell you without a doubt how any game will turn out. There are times when you can come close to making an accurate guess as to a winner or loser.
This is not one of those games.Alabama is favored but statistically the two teams appear to be evenly matched.
Notre Dame is undefeated. The Fighting Irish has three close calls that they could have lost just as easily as they won, but the fact is they won all three games. That says a lot about a team’s character.
Alabama lost one game but the Tide bounced back stronger. That also says a lot about a team’s character.
Both teams have shown that they are winners; not invincible, but winners just the same.
If Alabama loses, then there is no shame in losing to the No. 1-ranked team, which just happens to be an undefeated team.
If Notre Dame loses, then there is no shame in losing to the No. 2-ranked team, which just so happens to be the defending national champion.
So rather than try to analyze the game and pick a winner, instead I want to take a look at how things will be once the game is played and the winner is determined. What will an Alabama win mean? What will a Notre Dame win mean?
If Alabama wins:
– it will give the SEC a 6-3 record in the bowl games;
– it will give the SEC a seventh consecutive nationals championship, reinforcing the theory that the SEC is still the best football conference in America;
– it will give Alabama three national titles in the past four years, reinforcing the notion that Nick Saban is the best football coach in the country;
– Crimson Tide fans will not take enough time to enjoy winning three out of four BCS title games and start immediately thinking about winning three consecutive titles next year;
– AJ McCarron will go down as the most productive quarterback in terms of wins and loses in Alabama history, and that includes the likes of Joe Namath, Pat Trammell, Kenny Stabler, Richard Todd and a host of other great quarterbacks who never won two national titles.
If Notre Dame wins:
– Brian Kelly will join an illustrious list of former Notre Dame coaches Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz who have won national championships;
– After 15 years of being an average football program, the Fighting Irish will officially be back among the nation’s elite;
– linebacker Manti Te’o will go down as one of Notre Dame’s best linebackers and most inspirational leaders;
– Notre Dame will again be the most appealing prize out there as conferences such as the ACC and Big Ten think about more realignment and bringing the Irish into their league;
– Notre Dame fans will once more think that national titles are their birthright and the rest of college football fans can go back to hating Notre Dame again.
There will be plenty on the line when these two traditional powers meet in Miami Garden’s Sun Life Stadium. One way or another both teams will reap the benefits from a victory. And even though there will be plenty of disappointment for the team that doesn’t win, there shouldn’t be any long lasting negative affects.
