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The Alabama Crimson Tide won its 14th Associated
Press National Championship (including their four BCS National Championships), thrashing Notre Dame, 42-14.
Head Coach Nick Saban won his third BCS title in the last four years and his
fourth overall. Admitting this makes the LSU purple and gold blood pumping
through my veins curdle: Alabama football is a dynasty right now.
DOWNFALL OF THE SEC?
Twelve weeks into the college football regular season,
Alabama was reeling after being upset at home by Texas A&M. Bama fell to #4
in the rankings at 9-1, behind #1 Kansas State, #2 Oregon, and #3 Notre Dame,
all 10-0. The sports world was abuzz with talk of imminent demise of the SEC
vice grip on the national championship, the sportsworld outside of the
Southeastern Conference.
The Twittersphere was tweeting to the tune of “Ding Dong The
Wicked Witch Is Dead”. Calmly, coolly, methodically, the SEC machine rolled on.
The football gods smiled, knowing the little people of the college football
world would enjoy some temporary joy and optimism. Then the dominoes fell in
order.
The following week, Kansas State was obliterated on national
television by unranked Baylor. For the second year in a row, Oregon was rubbed
out of contention by losing to a fellow Pac-12 opponent by a field goal,
falling to #13 Stanford in overtime, 17-14. With Alabama returning to #2 in the
BCS rankings, the path was set for last night’s contest between the Tide and #1
Notre Dame.
| Cold but fair.... 2 |
Notre Dame is college football’s most storied franchise.
However, their last national championship came in 1988 and the Irish had not
been in contention for the title heading into their bowl game, by any measure,
since 1990. College football’s iconic program fell into a generation long rut
of being mediocre to above average. Along comes coach Brian Kelly on his white
horse.
Kelly is an offensive mastermind. He helped vault the University
of Cincinnati into the national spotlight and the BCS Bowl mix. But the
Cincinnati Bearcats’ brand is known more for basketball than football. Being a
member of the Big East conference, Kelly reached his ceiling at Cincy. The
stars lined up for Kelly to try his hand at returning the Fighting Irish to
national prominence.
In 2012, Notre Dame catapulted to the top of the national
rankings with a 7-0 start. Ranked #5 in the nation, generations of Notre Dame fans
and alums could sense a resurgence of the program to the top of the mountain. Still,
there were valid criticisms about the strength of Notre Dame’s schedule and the
quality of their wins. Having nipped unranked Purdue early in the season and
slipping by unranked peon BYU, 17-14, sports video jockeys had Soul II Soul’s “Back
to Life (Back to Reality)” cued up for the Irish’s pending road trip to #8
Oklahoma on October 27th.
Count me among the naysayers. The Hat Trick was very dismissive of Notre Dame’s chances in Stillwater in the Must See Sports preview
for that weekend. By Sunday morning, I and countless others had Nike leather
with a side of shoelaces for breakfast. The Irish were for real.
Still, after escaping with their lives in a triple overtime
game with mediocre, unranked Pittsburgh, the talk of doubt surface again in the
national media. Still, in the BCS era, the quasi-Golden Rule has been that
finishing the regular season undefeated will probably give a team a shot at the
BCS Championship. Notre Dame held up its end of the bargain and earned a shot
at their one moment in time.
| Touchdown Jesus is smiling again in South Bend, Indiana. 3 |
BOW DOWN
The late Whitney Houston sang the 1988 hit, “One Moment in
Time”. Like Ms. Houston, Notre Dame’s 2012 hopes are now part of our cultural
past. Alabama was too much for upstart, hopeful Notre Dame.
Bryan Santiago (@Santiago_TPD) tweeted:
“Tonight Notre Dame silence all the haters, and against all
odds finish up a perfect season. #IrishSwag”
Rajive Cunningham (@CrimsonDynamoII) tweeted:
"Alabama won't be able
to beat Notre Dame because the Irish want it more. A chance at a perfect
season? pfft!!"
Before last night’s contest, Rajive and Bryan were among the
many who could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then the Alabama train
hit them, with running back Eddie Lacy (140 yds., 1 TD, 7.0 avg.) powering the
locomotive. Notre Dame, nonetheless, is back among college football’s
powershouses. The Tide rolled once again. And the SEC is still the crown jewel
among college football’s power conferences.
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2) image from www.bbcboards.net
3) Image from http://blog.ctnnews.com
4) Image from www.al.com
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