The 2013 BCS National Championship Game will take place in Miami, Florida on Monday, January 7th with a start time of 8:30 PM (Eastern). The game will pit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs the Alabama Crimson Tide will be televised live on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have Alabama favored by 9.5 points, while the total sits at 41.5.
The top-ranked Fighting Irish (12-0) have won eight AP national titles - matching Alabama for the most - but none since 1988. They'll be playing in their first BCS championship game.While maybe failing to meet your eye test with a passing grade, the Irish are truly built like an SEC team. As evidenced by the last six national championships, teams around the country are trying to replicate the success of the SEC. Teams are building bulkier defensive front sevens and power running games with multiple 200-pound running backs to carry the load. That’s exactly what Brian Kelly has done with Notre Dame. e vs. the defending national champion from the SEC, and it couldn’t be more perfect. The Irish have a great history of streak-busting, ending Oklahoma’s epic 47-game run in the mid-1950s and stopping Army’s 25-game unbeaten roll in the 1940s in the classic 0-0 tie. Throw in the halting of Miami’s 35-game regular-season winning streak in 1988, and suddenly, the idea of being of being the first team outside the SEC in 6 years to win the Title doesn' t seem so daunting.
The Tide have a chance to win their third national championship in four years, and no team in the BCS era has won it in back-to-back years – not USC, not Florida. The Tide enter the national championship on the heels of winning the SEC Championship against Georgia, a game that literally came down to five yards. The Crimson Tide will try to extend the SEC’s reign over the rest of the college football universe by claiming the league’s seventh consecutive crystal football. Of course, Alabama has had more recent success. Tide titles in 1992, 2009 and 2011 all came since the Fighting Irish last turned the trick in 1988. And Alabama has two titles in the BCS era (2009 and 2011) while Notre Dame will be making its first appearance since the system began in 1998.
Notre Dame Stat Rankings--- The Irish come in ranked 49th in total offense, 75th in passing, 27th in rushing and 77th in scoring (26.8 ppg). On defense the Irish are 6th overall, 21st vs the pass, 4th vs the run and 1st in points allowed (10.3 ppg).
Alabama Stat Rankings--- The Tide comes in 39th in total offense, 85th in passing 20th in rushing and 15th in scoring (38.5 ppg). On defense the Tide is 1st overall, 6th vs the pass, 1st vs the run and 2nd in points allowed (10.7 ppg).
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