ROLL TIDE! UNIVERSITY of ALABAMA WINS BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

ROLL TIDE, people.
THE University of ALABAMA Crimson Tide rolled to another National Championship last night, beating the Texas Longhorns in Pasadena. The TIDE is back where they belong. On top of the college football world. In three short years, Coach Nick Saban has resurrected one of the most storied programs and placed us firmly where we belong.
The national media, partisan naysayers and bitter auburn types will say "What if...?" and "Well, if only....!", but BAMA did exactly as I thought they would. Take McCoy out. Now, don't get me wrong-- I'm not rooting for anyone to get hurt, and I love a hard-fought, evenly-matched game, but THAT'S THE JOB OF THE DEFENSE-- to take the opposition out of their game plan!
It was a clean hit, just one that pinched a nerve in the Texas qb's shoulder.
As my pre-game prediction stated: "POW! Right in the Kisser!"

This from the Denver Post: "It took Colt McCoy four years to return to the Rose Bowl for a shot at a national title. It took five plays for him to go back to his old spot on the Rose Bowl sideline.
An injury to his throwing shoulder on Texas' first drive turned the Longhorns' BCS championship on Thursday night into no more than a wing and a prayer. Yet with a wing from a freshman quarterback who overcame a horrid first half and a stout defense that dominated the second, Texas had a prayer before finally falling to top-ranked Alabama 37-21."
The Tide pounded backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert, like Eryk Anders demonstrates above. The Longhorns' backup qb kept plugging away, though. The Texas offense finally got on track, but BAMA bowed up and make some big plays to put the game away in the fourth quarter.

Above, Marcel Dareus scores a touchdown in the waning moments of the first half.

As usual, even after being ranked #1, and man-handling media darling and favored Florida Gators in the SEC Championship, ALABAMA was not given the proper credit due prior to this game. Many of the 'experts' and 'pundits', including Lou Holtz and USC coach Pete Carroll, picked the Longhorns to take the title. I KNEW we were going to win when Lee Corso also picked Texas.

That's okay. Let 'em hate. Let 'em keep rooting against us. Even with graduation and several probable early departures for the NFL, Coach Saban has stockpiled some talent, with more on the way. This looks like the beginning of another chapter of 'winning tradition'.

BIG AL Responds To LSU Smack-Talk, Wins SEC West

24-15.
THE University of ALABAMA Crimson Tide beat LSU in Tuscaloosa yesterday to clinch the SEC West Title, and advances to play Florida in the SEC Championship Game.
A friend from New Orleans, Rod Cochran of PlanetVooDoo Radio, had been sending smack over on facebook. The first comic below was one of my pre-game responses, which included a prediction:
This next one was rendered post-game a bit later, as I had an appearance obligation and didn't get home until pretty late:

Roll Tide, everyone. Roll Tide.

Today's S.E.C. PICKS

Now it REALLY starts. After a surprisingly easy win over Arkansas, The Crimson Tide rolls into Athens for a big game on ESPN on the national stage for the second time this season. ESPN's Gameday crew will be on hand for the Georgia game to hype/promote/report/jump on the bandwagon. (As an aside, to see some of the best ESPN Gameday signs held up behind the set go to http://www.bustedcoverage.com/?p=7340 . And yes, I suggest you look up the meaning to any words about Corso style reference!)

Last year, an under-manned heavy underdog Alabama took a young Bulldog squad to the wire, losing in overtime. The young squad of Saban recruits this year have kicked it up a notch, and are seemingly putting it together earlier than anticipated. We match up pretty well on both sides, and this looks to be a great contest with several great matchups all over. It will be exciting, but I think The Tide will be ready. The Dawgs will be unable to top Mount Cody, and I think we will see some different offensive looks from Bama. We should be able to pressure their quarterback enough to make up for the height advantage they have over our speedy defensive backs. Again, we should see something different. Tide rolls, moves into Top 5.
ALABAMA 31, Georgia 20

Okay, now to the rest of the Conference:

auburn faces tennessee in a freakish orange clash which the tigers/plainsmen/war-eagles (MAKE UP YOUR F*****G MIND!) should prevail. Another nail-biter. cow college 14, vols 7

KENTUCKY 34, Western Kentucky 10 Kentucky should break into the Top 25.

Gamecocks get much-needed practice. Spurrier may finally get to see his offense play close to what he envisions. SOUTH CAROLINA 31, UAB 14

LSU 45, Mississippi State 14 Tigers are too much for these Bulldogs.

In a make-up game from a hurricane delay, the Arkansas Razorbacks travel to take on the Texas Longhorns. I don't think the Hogs are as bad as Bama made them look last week, and some of their mistakes will be corrected. This one, surprisingly, will be closer than many people think. Texas 21, Arkansas 20

Ole Miss IS steadily improving and Nutt has a few tricks up his sleeve, but I don't think the Rebels will be able to sneak up on Florida this time. They always play the Gators tough and took them to the wire last year, but I believe it will end up Florida 45, Mississipi 17

Nationally, Penn State should top Illinois 28-10. They say Joe Paterno has one foot in the grave, but if that's the case he has the other one on somebody's throat!

On a side note, I was shocked--SHOCKED-- that once again the highly-touted 'possibly-the-greatest-team-in-college-football-history-EVER' USC Trojans were upset by the OREGON STATE BEAVERS. I was honestly surprised, but it has happened before. And it is quite satisfying after hearing the hype annually about how invincible Southern Cal is.

First Picks of College Football Season

Well, we're here again. First week of football season. Bama on national TV.
Hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. Looks like things are back to normal.

This means picking football games. The USC Gamecocks and Vanderbilt Commodores started the SEC slate off on a positive note with decisive victories. This should continue, for the most part. Every team in the Conference has a good chance to be 1-0 before Conference play begins. Hopefully, the Tide can keep the trend alive. I'll probably be way off, but what the heck!

Without too much fluff or fanfare, here we go:
Look for Georgia to top Ga. Southern, 34-10
LSU will thump Appalachian State (no sneakin' up!) 42-17
Florida gets Hawaii (June! Come back, June!) 44-14
MSU should get by La. Tech 21-10 (we'll see if Croom's for real)
Arkansas most likely will overpower W. Illinois 29-6
auburn will pound La.-Monroe (no upset here!) 52-17
Ole Miss should to Memphis 17-14 (Nutt finds a way!)
Kentucky outplays Louisville, 27-24 (Brooks will bring consistency)
tennessee should finally win a big one over UCLA, 31-21

This brings me to Atlanta on Saturday night. ALABAMA plays Clemson on national network television Saturday night. The Tigers are ranked #9 and The TIDE is an underdog.
We match up pretty well, and we'll get a chance early to see how these highly-touted freshmen will do on a big-time, national stage. I'M DRINKIN' THE KOOL-AID! My pick: Bama's young studs out-jump, out-run, and out-muscle the Tigers.

UPSET SPECIAL!
ALABAMA 31 Clemson 21

CRAP! Corso Picks BAMA

Well, hopefully it's not the usual 'kiss of death'. Normally anytime that hack from ESPN, Lee Corso, picks us when we host ESPN Gameday, we roll over. And lose. On national tv. With the college football world watching. (My favorite Corso moment is when he questioned Gene Stallings about his strategy, and Coach Stallings replied "Well, I guess that's why I'm coaching a championship team and you're announcing or analyzing or talking about it.....")
Except this time it's different. I think The Tide is better prepared and hungry for another victory at home over a ranked opponent on national television. It's about time. I believe we are about evenly matched with the Georgia Bulldogs, but I think we can actually claim (legitimately) home-field advantage for a change.
I think the oddsmakers' 31/2 points us about right.
Prediction: ALABAMA 28, Georgia 24

My OTHER Picks:
WHY in the world would anyone outside of Gainesville actually want to see this? Fortunately, due to technical difficulties, no one will have to, as it is mercifully pre-empted. Apologies to Glover and the Rebel nation......
FLORIDA 1,000,000 Ole Miss 3

Spurrier's pretty sneaky, but I think the Bayou Bengals are just too strong....
LSU 31, South Carolina 28

The Razorbacks nearly pulled another one out over the Tide last week. Do they have enough in the tank to stop The Wildcats? History says probably not.
Kentucky 31, Arkansas 28

Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions are just a little too strong for the enigmatic Wolverines.
PENN STATE 24, Michigan 10

Irish will finally score......to no avail
MICHIGAN STATE 28, Notre Dame 3

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while......
auburn 5, New Mexico 3