Initial Championship Game Thoughts

First, hats off to Georgia and Alabama for a great SEC title game Saturday night.  It was entertaining to say the least.  As the game progressed, I felt confident that the Irish could beat either team.  As great as the game was there, were several incidents that showed why each had lost a game during the season and why they could lose again.

There are several reasons why Irish fans should be happy that Notre Dame is facing the Crimson Tide on January 7^th.  For most of the season, Alabama has been seen as the best team in the country and many still think they are.  In any given season, there are so many Irish Haters that there is always talk of Notre Dame being overrated, and this year is no different.  With wins over more ranked teams and more bowl eligible teams than Alabama, there are still many people out there who feel Alabama is the better team that had a better season.  With Alabama being the defending National Champion from the SEC, the conference who has won the last seven national titles, there may be no better opponent to play for the Irish to solidify their claim as the number one team in the land.  As it is said, “to be the man you have to beat the man”.

These are two storied programs and there are and will be all kinds of historical statistics and tales of greatest for these two schools.  Wins, winning percentages, championships, Heisman winners, All- Americans and icons will all be rolled out in the coming weeks.  However, as this Irish team has displayed all season, their history and tradition is respected, but it has no bearing on this team’s play.  I am looking forward to the next five weeks of analyses and the match up itself on the 7^th of January in Miami.