Crimson Tide closes season on top of BCS
It began looking as if it would be a long night for Mark Ingram and the Crimson Tide. In the end it was a long and painful night for Texas quarterback Colt McCoy who watched most of the Longhorns 37-21 loss to Alabama from the sidelines after injuring his shoulder early in the contest. Nick Saban and the Tide took the trophy home to Tuscaloosa, Alabama's first national championship since 1992.
So much for the Heisman jinx keeping Mark Ingram and Alabama from taking home the national championship.
Ingram ran for 116 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Crimson Tide (-3½) past the Texas Longhorns 37-21 in the Citi BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Thursday night.
With the win, Ingram became the first Heisman Trophy winner to lift his team to a BCS victory since Matt Leinart led USC to the national title in 2005.
Ingram combined with Trent Richardson for 225 yards rushing and four TDs, but it was the performance of Alabama’s defense – and an injury to Colt McCoy – that made the difference in the big game.
McCoy didn’t make it past the first series of the game after being hit by Marcell Dareus, who also had a 37-yard interception return for a score with three seconds left in the first half. By that time, freshman backup Garrett Gilbert was already well into the game for the Longhorns.
Gilbert finished 15-of-40 for 186 yards with two touchdowns to Jordan Shipley and four picks, and even drew Texas to within three points down with just over six minutes remaining. That said, Longhorns bettors were left holding the bag – and wondering what could have been – if McCoy had stayed in the game.
In any case, Gilbert’s relatively solid showing gives Texas hope for next season, its first without McCoy in four years.
Next season represents a changing of the guard in college football, even if the Tide figure to open the offseason as favorites to repeat as national champions.
Three quarterbacks and their teams headlined this season’s narrative: Tim Tebow and Florida, Sam Bradford and Oklahoma, and McCoy and Texas. All three will be gone next season, and it’s almost goes without saying that those programs won’t be the same.
The Gators (-12) won the Allstate Sugar Bowl with a 51-23 pasting of Cincinnati, but they finished a pedestrian 7-6 ATS (13-1 SU) after topping the college pigskin moneylist in 2008 (13-1, 11-2 ATS). Believe it or not, Tebow’s departure is the best thing for Florida backers. Expect the still-loaded Gators to see better odds next season.
The Sooners beat a tough Stanford team 31-27 in the Brut Sun Bowl, but they couldn’t cover as 10-point chalk. Considering it played without the reigning Heisman winner for all but three quarters this season, Oklahoma did well to go 8-5 SU and 5-7-1 ATS.
One team set to emerge next season is Ohio State, which didn’t exactly stink it up by winning the Rose Bowl and finishing fifth in the final Associated Press poll released on Friday. The Buckeyes (11-2, 10-3 ATS) were the most profitable spread wager in the nation not named Connecticut (8-5, 11-2 ATS) this season, but the reality is that’s about to change.
Ohio State is a prime candidate to make it to Glendale for the 2011 BCS title game at University of Phoenix Stadium, and that’s going to inflate its odds this fall.
What’s ironic is the Buckeyes could very well face the same Oregon team it defeated 26-17 as 4½-point underdogs at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
If you’re expecting the Ducks to simply hand over their Pac-10 championship to USC next season, you had better do some more handicapping. Oregon returns all but four starters from this year’s 10-3 SU (7-6 ATS) team that is as good on paper as what the Trojans (9-4, 4-9 ATS this season) will bring to the field next season.
Perhaps the biggest thing to take away from this season is the BCS – albeit a new-look BCS – is here to stay. Yes, we’re a long way from any type of playoff system, but the BCS – and voters – have bent to public pressure to give the non-BCS schools a better shake.
We started the year wondering if even one non-BCS school would receive a BCS bid, but in the end both TCU and Boise State (No. 4 in the final polls, by the way) ended up going to the Fiesta Bowl. Both schools also proved worthwhile at the window, going a combined 17-10 ATS (26-1 SU) despite dominating their respective conferences.
It began looking as if it would be a long night for Mark Ingram and the Crimson Tide. In the end it was a long and painful night for Texas quarterback Colt McCoy who watched most of the Longhorns 37-21 loss to Alabama from the sidelines after injuring his shoulder early in the contest. Nick Saban and the Tide took the trophy home to Tuscaloosa, Alabama's first national championship since 1992.
So much for the Heisman jinx keeping Mark Ingram and Alabama from taking home the national championship.
Ingram ran for 116 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Crimson Tide (-3½) past the Texas Longhorns 37-21 in the Citi BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Thursday night.
With the win, Ingram became the first Heisman Trophy winner to lift his team to a BCS victory since Matt Leinart led USC to the national title in 2005.
Ingram combined with Trent Richardson for 225 yards rushing and four TDs, but it was the performance of Alabama’s defense – and an injury to Colt McCoy – that made the difference in the big game.
McCoy didn’t make it past the first series of the game after being hit by Marcell Dareus, who also had a 37-yard interception return for a score with three seconds left in the first half. By that time, freshman backup Garrett Gilbert was already well into the game for the Longhorns.
Gilbert finished 15-of-40 for 186 yards with two touchdowns to Jordan Shipley and four picks, and even drew Texas to within three points down with just over six minutes remaining. That said, Longhorns bettors were left holding the bag – and wondering what could have been – if McCoy had stayed in the game.
In any case, Gilbert’s relatively solid showing gives Texas hope for next season, its first without McCoy in four years.
Next season represents a changing of the guard in college football, even if the Tide figure to open the offseason as favorites to repeat as national champions.
Three quarterbacks and their teams headlined this season’s narrative: Tim Tebow and Florida, Sam Bradford and Oklahoma, and McCoy and Texas. All three will be gone next season, and it’s almost goes without saying that those programs won’t be the same.
The Gators (-12) won the Allstate Sugar Bowl with a 51-23 pasting of Cincinnati, but they finished a pedestrian 7-6 ATS (13-1 SU) after topping the college pigskin moneylist in 2008 (13-1, 11-2 ATS). Believe it or not, Tebow’s departure is the best thing for Florida backers. Expect the still-loaded Gators to see better odds next season.
The Sooners beat a tough Stanford team 31-27 in the Brut Sun Bowl, but they couldn’t cover as 10-point chalk. Considering it played without the reigning Heisman winner for all but three quarters this season, Oklahoma did well to go 8-5 SU and 5-7-1 ATS.
One team set to emerge next season is Ohio State, which didn’t exactly stink it up by winning the Rose Bowl and finishing fifth in the final Associated Press poll released on Friday. The Buckeyes (11-2, 10-3 ATS) were the most profitable spread wager in the nation not named Connecticut (8-5, 11-2 ATS) this season, but the reality is that’s about to change.
Ohio State is a prime candidate to make it to Glendale for the 2011 BCS title game at University of Phoenix Stadium, and that’s going to inflate its odds this fall.
What’s ironic is the Buckeyes could very well face the same Oregon team it defeated 26-17 as 4½-point underdogs at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
If you’re expecting the Ducks to simply hand over their Pac-10 championship to USC next season, you had better do some more handicapping. Oregon returns all but four starters from this year’s 10-3 SU (7-6 ATS) team that is as good on paper as what the Trojans (9-4, 4-9 ATS this season) will bring to the field next season.
Perhaps the biggest thing to take away from this season is the BCS – albeit a new-look BCS – is here to stay. Yes, we’re a long way from any type of playoff system, but the BCS – and voters – have bent to public pressure to give the non-BCS schools a better shake.
We started the year wondering if even one non-BCS school would receive a BCS bid, but in the end both TCU and Boise State (No. 4 in the final polls, by the way) ended up going to the Fiesta Bowl. Both schools also proved worthwhile at the window, going a combined 17-10 ATS (26-1 SU) despite dominating their respective conferences.
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