The Penn State Football Show

I may be alone, but I like Alabama in this one. Everyone loves Florida and it has just been widely accepted that they would take down the unbeaten and #1 Tide in the SEC Championship, but in the words of Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend."

I understand why everyone is so high on Florida. They look unstoppable, scoring about 50 points per game while only surrendering 13 or so. They just as much talent and speed as anyone in the country, and a great leader in Tebow. But they are only 1-1 against teams that are in the current AP top 25 (beat #17 Georgia and lost to #22 Mississippi), so it is easy to ovverrate their performance so far.

People have underrated and doubted this Alabama team all year. They are #1 and undefeated and they are A TEN POINT UNDERDOG in this game. Trust me, they are a great team, and they play their best in the big games when they are doubted. They will come to play. They do things the right way: run the ball, control the clock, play great defense.

In my opinion, if this game is close at the half, Alabama will win. They need to hold Florida's high powered offense down, which is easier said than done, but I thikn they can do it. The key is if they can get off to a good start. If they can force Florida to punt on their first few posessions and maybe get a score in there, even if it just a field goal, they can set the tone for the rest of the game. If they get down early, they are in trouble, because they will have to abandon their running game which is their strength. I think we will have a pretty good idea of how this game is going to go after the first quarter. If it's close and low scoring, Bama will win. If it looks like a shootout, Bama can't keep up with Florida.

None of the other championship games really excite me. I wouldn't mind seeing Missouri take down Oklahoma, but I don't see it happening.

One final note: I am loving how arrogant USC fans are about playing Penn State. It is almost a foregone conclusion even among the media that USC is going to easily win the Rose Bowl and its a shame they are not in the National Championship Game. Penn State is in a great position to shock some people, and that is when Joe is at his best.