Alabama head coach Nick Saban and players celebrate after winning the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game 42-13 against Missouri on Saturday in Atlanta.
Alabama quarterback Blake Sims runs out of the pocket against Missouri during the first half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday in Atlanta.Two college football coaches with a combined six national championships will vie in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s night when Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide take on Urban Meyer’s Ohio State Buckeyes.
Meyer guided the Florida Gators to national titles in 2006 and ’08, with his ’08 team rallying past Saban’s Tide 31-20 in the Southeastern Conference championship game. The Gators were No. 1 entering the 2009 SEC title game but were throttled 32-13 by Alabama, which was on its way to the first of three national crowns in a four-year stretch.
“I can’t remember my address or phone number, but I could tell you probably every play in those games,” Meyer said Sunday afternoon. “The 2008 game was one of the great games in college football history where two evenly matched teams were going back and forth, and that was one of the best teams I’ve ever coached against in that second year. Alabama handled us pretty good with [Mark] Ingram at tailback, and they just dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides.”
Alabama (12-1) and Ohio State (12-1) will comprise one semifinal in the sport’s inaugural four-team playoff. The first semifinal will take place New Year’s afternoon when Oregon (12-1) and Florida State (13-0) collide in the Rose Bowl, with that pairing containing Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota, the expected winner of this season’s Heisman Trophy, and Seminoles counterpart Jameis Winston, last year’s Heisman winner.
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston throws in his team’s game against Boston College in Tallahassee in November. Florida State defeated Boston College 20-17.The College Football Playoff selection committee revealed its final rankings early Sunday afternoon, with Alabama No. 1, Oregon No. 2, Florida State No. 3 and Ohio State No. 4. Baylor (11-1) and TCU (11-1) were co-champions of the Big 12 Conference and were ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, with TCU plummeting from No. 3 the previous week despite shredding Iowa State 55-3 Saturday afternoon.