Alabama -3 .5 vs. Oregon, NCAA Championsip game, who does everyone like?

[QUOTE=Fezzik;31013]Should be a good game.[/QUOTE] Oregon is way live here and balance of play should give them the cover along with outright win. Chip Kelly can coach and prep every bit as good as Nick Saban in this spot. Oregon rotates players defensively and offensively about as well as any team in the country (25 on defense and 20 on offense). Therefore, instead of Alabama's running game wearing down the ducks over the course of 60 minutes, Oregon's Deron Thomas and LaMichael James will be able to finish what they start and rush for a combined 300 yards against Bama's defense. Something not talked about but should be is Oregon and Alabama have great special teams. Oregon FG kicker Rob Beard will be playin on Sunday's and the punt return game for the Ducks is also key in this potential title tilt (I believe 3 TD returns already, maybe 4) And if Oregon can outrush Alabama, then they cover and win outright. Give me Oregon +3.5 all day... You can flip flop the final score and either way, the Ducks cover... Final Score, Oregon 37-34

[QUOTE=Calsport;31082]Ducks lay an egg against SC (and I don't even like SC) this weekend and will be out of the conversation. USC gets revenge for last year's Halloween massacre (47-20). Boise deserves to go. Auburn running the table gets Bama out of the picture. What's the line on my matchup?[/QUOTE] Auburn will not run the table and Oregon will beat USC, that doesn't mean they will still meet in the title game, but the two spots that will trip them up are more likely the voters and other dynamics...

[QUOTE=yeagerbomb1;31059]What happens if mich. St runs the table. Don't they have a shot at the title game?[/QUOTE] We can only hope as they are the most overrated team in football...

[QUOTE=Shooter;31027]Alabama. How anyone could take Oregon in a big game of this magnitude with that defense is beyond me. Still a BIG difference between SEC defenses and Pac-10 defenses.[/QUOTE] I'm a little confused Shooter??? Which SEC defenses are you talking about? Surely not Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Florida, South Carolina? All of these teams have shown they can be gashed this year...This is a down year for the SEC, which has been the dominant conference in the past, but not this season...

This Oregon offense is great, but you have to be a little careful taking into account how much they gain numbers wise from the pace they play at. They gain greatly from a total points and yardage perspective from the hyper up tempo. They even imo get a boost on a per play basis from the outmatched opponents who are worn down. This offense reminds me of the Oklahoma offense in 2008 who lost to Florida 24-14 in the BCS title game. Oklahoma was putting up enormous points and yardage weekly by playing their ultra hurry up vs mostly bad defenses, but it came to a halt when they faced their best defensive opponent to date. It's tricky, because in essence the up tempo lengthens the game by having a larger sample of plays.. which is great strategy if you are the favorite, and leads to many more big wins. But you have to be careful translating the up tempo blowouts to matches with teams that have as good or better talent.

I bet you Bama wants no part of South Carolina in the SEC title game. A Spurrier offense has what it takes to score on Alabama and Saban knows it. Conversely Bama will key on Newton and beat him. Not many offenses can handle Bama...SC can.

[QUOTE=johnnetto;31129]I'm a little confused Shooter??? Which SEC defenses are you talking about? Surely not Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Florida, South Carolina? All of these teams have shown they can be gashed this year...This is a down year for the SEC, which has been the dominant conference in the past, but not this season...[/QUOTE] So who is the dominant conference this year if not the SEC?

We have this conversation every year around New Year's. Pundits talk about how this team or that can hang with the SEC. And every year they take a beatdown in the title game. When is the last time an SEC team lost in the title game? Wasn't it one of Spurrier's teams in the mid 90's? I guess you should take a loss once in every 15 years or so. But the SEC is much more dominate now than it was then. The national championship game is December 4th, 2010 in the Georgia Dome. If the winner of this game ins't in the BCS championship game then the BCS is more of a fraud than all of us already think it is. In fact, I'll go a little further. The BCS should be set up like the Little League World Series. The winner of the SEC should get to play whoever wins the rest of the nation.

[QUOTE=johnnetto;31129]I'm a little confused Shooter??? Which SEC defenses are you talking about? Surely not Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Florida, South Carolina? All of these teams have shown they can be gashed this year...This is a down year for the SEC, which has been the dominant conference in the past, but not this season...[/QUOTE] The SEC defenses are not as dominant as in years past, but keep in mind, they are playing against some good offenses as well. Cam Newton ran all over LSU, but LSU has shutdown everyone else they played. Even if Oregon can score at will, Oregon cannot stop Auburn or Alabama. Plus, especially with Alabama, I would take Saban over Chip Kelly (not that he's bad) any day of the week.

And I hate praising the SEC, being a Big Ten guy, but facts are facts. Tally up the top 100 prospects each year in recruiting. Almost half of them are SEC kids or at least 40-45%.