Championship Saturday lived up to all the hype and then some. I didn't get the chance to watch the day's opening game. Somehow, Cincinnati was able to come all the way back against Pitt to finish off the best season in school history and punch their ticket to a BCS game.
I think the biggest disappointment of the day was the SEC title game. Florida didn't show up, period. Tim Tebow couldn't overcome the defense's inability to stop the Alabama run game. Bama simply dominated Florida who is now facing the prospect of a Sugar Bowl bid against a very good team, when they really don't want to be there. Just like Bama last year against Utah, it will be hard for the Gators to bring their best to the Super Dome on New Year's Day.
The two late games were spectacular. Georgia Tech and Clemson played a game that deserved to be in a great atmosphere, not in Tampa with about 10,000 empty seats. The Jackets get their first BCS game, and according to ESPN, their first big bowl game since 1961!
Texas got lucky. I don't know if Colt McCoy was confused or just too poised at the end of the Longhorn's game against Nebraska, but if the clock would have run out on Texas last night, McCoy would have been haunted with that play for the rest of his life. I doubt he will ever say what he was thinking about, but the guys calling the game probably got it right: I think Colt thought the play clock was the game clock, and he thought there were around 37 seconds left in the game. Some people might think that Texas doesn't deserve to go to the title game after the way they played last night, but those people are wrong. Texas is undefeated, no one cares if you win by one point or 50, just win. They have won every game they have played this season, and they are more than deserving to play for the title against Bama.
When you look at the Bowl picture now, it seems like the choices are very clear. I'm not bragging, because I've been wrong this season a lot more than I have been right, but I had the bowls picked last week, and I still believe that is how the bowls will shake out. The only change would be if the Orange Bowl picks Iowa instead of Penn State, but for Tech fans, I hope you get Joe Pa and the Nitny Lions.
On the local front, Georgia is going to get hosed tonight. The SEC Bowl tie-ins should send Tennessee to the Outback Bowl and Georgia to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but Tennessee wants to play in Atlanta for recruiting purposes, so the Outback Bowl is going to take Auburn. It looks like Georgia has a date with Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl. Don't look now, but Georgia will most likely lose that game.
Maybe something will happen today to shake things up for the Dawgs, but it looks like the win over Tech didn't change anything for Georgia's bowl prospects.
