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Sign up for our email list to be notified when we update the HF Blog. January 7th, 2010
Root for Texas...seriously?
Tonight's BCS Championship game features #1 Alabama, fresh off a convincing SEC title game win over Florida, against the Texas Longhorns who are a month removed from allegedly beating Nebraska. I was at the Big 12 Championship and I'm still not sure. After thinking long and hard about this game, and trying to figure out who to root for and who will win, here are my thoughts.
In Texas' favor:
1) Narrowly beating Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game and having to listen to pundits for the last month talk about how good Alabama is and how badly they will destroy McCoy and the Longhorns. Eerily reminiscent of the last time Texas played in the Rose Bowl against a USC team that no one thought could be beat. Granted this installment of UT doesn't have VY at QB. It's hard to underestimate the impact of being the underdog in a game where the two teams are so evenly matched on paper.
2) The Heisman jinx...recent history has proven that Heisman Trophy winners and/or their teams don't fare well in the national championship game, especially when playing against a Heisman vote getter. Eric Crouch in 2001 comes to mind as does Sam Bradford from last season. Both were Heisman winners playing in the national championship game and both came away empty handed. Perhaps the best example though is Vince Young finishing second in the balloting to Reggie Bush in the 2005 Heisman race. Young had the last laugh by single-handedly leading his team to victory over Bush's Trojans. Will Colt McCoy do to Mark Ingram and Alabama what Young did to USC?
3) Believe it or not, Texas has a potent offense and a good defense. Husker fans aren't quite sure what to think after watching the Blackshirts virtually shut down McCoy and his mates in Dallas. Was NU's defense that good? Did we get Texas' best effort? Why did Texas struggle against a team that lacked any resemblance of an offense?
4) Finally, in Texas' favor is that Alabama may have viewed the SEC Championship as the true national title game. Defeating then #2 and reigning national champion Florida may have given the Tide a sense that their toughest game was now behind them. With the Longhorns eager to prove the doubters wrong and Colt McCoy wanting to redeem himself for nearly costing UT a title shot, don't be surprised to see Texas give Alabama all they can handle tonight.
As hard as it is for me to root for Texas, I'm going to be doing just that. If Bo Pelini can cheer for the Big 12, I can too. More importantly, I would like to see Texas rack up yards and points against Alabama's defense. As long as Texas scores tonight, Nebraska will finish with the highest ranked scoring defense in the country. A Texas win over Alabama would prevent the SEC from winning four national championships in a row, something no conference has done to date. The other reason I'm rooting for the Longhorns...I want them to be undefeated and riding high when they come to Lincoln next fall. That will make the Husker victory even sweeter.
So as much as it pains me to do, I'll be going for Texas tonight while wearing a Blackshirts t-shirt.
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