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Alabama, Florida braced for clash of the titans
ATLANTA — After another season of crunching numbers and grinding teeth over the gilded lean-to that is the Bowl Championship Series, this half of the equation, at least, is child's play.
Once again, Florida, ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings and the defending national champion, plays No. 2 Alabama today at the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference championship. The winner will play in the BCS title game Jan. 7 against, in arguable order of probability, Texas, Cincinnati or TCU.
It's a certainty as elemental as Gators quarterback Tim Tebow staring into the gaping maw that is Terrence Cody, Alabama's 365-pound nose tackle, or Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram running downhill in the direction of Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes.
It's a matchup that Florida coach Urban Meyer and Alabama coach Nick Saban greet with a mixture of euphoria and dread, and it's one they would love to see played out again and again.
“I remember back in 2006 when (SEC coaches) got together with our marketing people and put out bullet points (on the league's virtues),” Meyer said Friday. “It was amazing that we had to battle for national respect, and now it's come completely full circle.
“I think it's great for football. It's cyclical. I remember other conferences when they had that status, and we have to keep building. The minute you reflect on how great things are, there's another conference that will pass you in a minute.”
Bama remembers '08 loss
On this final Saturday of the regular season, however, the SEC stands supreme. Early-arriving fans streamed Friday night toward the SEC FanFest at Centennial Olympic Park, passing souvenir shops hawking Gators and Tide shirts on both sides of Andrew Young International Boulevard and scalpers asking from $400 to $1,000 for game tickets.
Depending on your rooting interest, this afternoon's script calls for Alabama to wreck revenge on the Gators for last year's game, which the Tide led going into the fourth quarter before Tebow willed Florida to a 30-21 victory.
“It's always in the back of your mind,” Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said. “Florida put us out of our run for the (2008) national championship. It was always in the back of my mind. I know it was in the back of the other guys' minds. We want that rematch.”
The flip side calls for Tebow, who these days is being talked about in the sort of glowing terms that haven't been heard since the days of Roger Staubach or Doak Walker, to once again drive Florida to another title and himself to another Heisman Trophy.
“There's been a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure, not only by outside forces but by ourselves, by just our expectations of our team,” Tebow said. “And we haven't hit all of them.
“What I'm extremely proud of is that in all the situations, tough situations, opportunities where it looked like we could have folded, we could have lost, we could have not pulled it out, we really rallied together and made great things happen.”
He's the name on everyone's lips, and he's the one on Saban's mind.
“People talk about the wildcat (formation),” Saban said. “They're in wildcat every down, because they have a runner who can really run and is hard to tackle, but he is a quarterback who can throw it down the field as well. That aspect of their team makes them unique in terms of their style and makes it difficult to defend.”
McElroy manages Tide
Alabama counters with Greg McElroy, a junior from Southlake Carroll who struggled at midseason but threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass last week that helped the Tide squeak past Auburn.
“Sometimes you lose your way,” Saban said. “You set out, and you have an expectation, and all of a sudden it is greater than you feel you can achieve, and that creates pressure and doubts and anxiety, and you do things that aren't you.
“What we do with Greg is to tell him to take what the defense gives you, and you'll be fine. You're a smart guy, and you make good choices. You have to get back to that, and you can't make plays that aren't there.”
Florida's defense will be without end Carlos Dunlap, the defensive MVP from the Gators' BCS title win last year over Oklahoma. Dunlap was suspended indefinitely after being picked up last weekend for drunken driving.
He's the only missing element from a formula that once again will make this particular route to the national championship game the clearest-cut, but also the most difficult.
“You will have to beat two of the three best teams in the country to win a championship, which is what (the Gators) were able to do last year,” Saban said. “I don't know how it could get tougher than that, especially last year and this year.
“There may be circumstances and some situations down the road, and you might talk about Texas and Oklahoma when they're 1-2 and they play in their league and they would claim the same thing. But in this moment in time, that's the way it is.”
Once again, Florida, ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings and the defending national champion, plays No. 2 Alabama today at the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference championship. The winner will play in the BCS title game Jan. 7 against, in arguable order of probability, Texas, Cincinnati or TCU.
It's a certainty as elemental as Gators quarterback Tim Tebow staring into the gaping maw that is Terrence Cody, Alabama's 365-pound nose tackle, or Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram running downhill in the direction of Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes.
It's a matchup that Florida coach Urban Meyer and Alabama coach Nick Saban greet with a mixture of euphoria and dread, and it's one they would love to see played out again and again.
“I remember back in 2006 when (SEC coaches) got together with our marketing people and put out bullet points (on the league's virtues),” Meyer said Friday. “It was amazing that we had to battle for national respect, and now it's come completely full circle.
“I think it's great for football. It's cyclical. I remember other conferences when they had that status, and we have to keep building. The minute you reflect on how great things are, there's another conference that will pass you in a minute.”
Bama remembers '08 loss
On this final Saturday of the regular season, however, the SEC stands supreme. Early-arriving fans streamed Friday night toward the SEC FanFest at Centennial Olympic Park, passing souvenir shops hawking Gators and Tide shirts on both sides of Andrew Young International Boulevard and scalpers asking from $400 to $1,000 for game tickets.
Depending on your rooting interest, this afternoon's script calls for Alabama to wreck revenge on the Gators for last year's game, which the Tide led going into the fourth quarter before Tebow willed Florida to a 30-21 victory.
“It's always in the back of your mind,” Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said. “Florida put us out of our run for the (2008) national championship. It was always in the back of my mind. I know it was in the back of the other guys' minds. We want that rematch.”
The flip side calls for Tebow, who these days is being talked about in the sort of glowing terms that haven't been heard since the days of Roger Staubach or Doak Walker, to once again drive Florida to another title and himself to another Heisman Trophy.
“There's been a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure, not only by outside forces but by ourselves, by just our expectations of our team,” Tebow said. “And we haven't hit all of them.
“What I'm extremely proud of is that in all the situations, tough situations, opportunities where it looked like we could have folded, we could have lost, we could have not pulled it out, we really rallied together and made great things happen.”
He's the name on everyone's lips, and he's the one on Saban's mind.
“People talk about the wildcat (formation),” Saban said. “They're in wildcat every down, because they have a runner who can really run and is hard to tackle, but he is a quarterback who can throw it down the field as well. That aspect of their team makes them unique in terms of their style and makes it difficult to defend.”
McElroy manages Tide
Alabama counters with Greg McElroy, a junior from Southlake Carroll who struggled at midseason but threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass last week that helped the Tide squeak past Auburn.
“Sometimes you lose your way,” Saban said. “You set out, and you have an expectation, and all of a sudden it is greater than you feel you can achieve, and that creates pressure and doubts and anxiety, and you do things that aren't you.
“What we do with Greg is to tell him to take what the defense gives you, and you'll be fine. You're a smart guy, and you make good choices. You have to get back to that, and you can't make plays that aren't there.”
Florida's defense will be without end Carlos Dunlap, the defensive MVP from the Gators' BCS title win last year over Oklahoma. Dunlap was suspended indefinitely after being picked up last weekend for drunken driving.
He's the only missing element from a formula that once again will make this particular route to the national championship game the clearest-cut, but also the most difficult.
“You will have to beat two of the three best teams in the country to win a championship, which is what (the Gators) were able to do last year,” Saban said. “I don't know how it could get tougher than that, especially last year and this year.
“There may be circumstances and some situations down the road, and you might talk about Texas and Oklahoma when they're 1-2 and they play in their league and they would claim the same thing. But in this moment in time, that's the way it is.”
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