I'm not going to bury the lead on this one: Roll Tide, Roll!

So what if only one of the favored BCS teams has come out victorious
in this years mediocre slate of games? So what if the Heisman Trophy
winner is 2-7 in bowl games since 2000? So what if Texas is ranked
first in rush defense and third in yards per game?

The last time we saw Texas on the football field Colt McCoy almost
too calmly lofted a pass out of bounds that nearly cost the Longhorns a
chance at a National Championship. Luckily this isn't 1984 and there is
replay, and the refs correctly found there was one second left on the
clock when McCoy's pass hit the ground. Texas' Hunter Lawrence banged
the field goal through the uprights and clinched at 13-12 Big 12
Championship. That game was a terrible offensive performance by the
Longhorns as their historically potent offense put up a measly 202
yards of offense.

Most of that Big 12 Championship game's poor offense performance by
the Longhorns was credited to the Ndamukong Suh led Nebraska Cornhusker
defense.

This IS Jeopardy:

I'll take Defenses Better than
Nebraska for 800 Alex....The clue is: This team ranks No. 1 in the nation
in total points allowed and No. 3 in yards per game... Who is Alabama?

While the Crimson Tide might not have a Suh, they do have a Saban.
Head coach Nick Saban had led some phenomenal defenses in the past, and
this year is no different. In the country's darling conference, the
SEC, the Tide has allowed only 11 points per game, and only 233.3 ypg.
They are also 13th against the pass and 5th against the rush. In
possibly their best game of the season Alabama held choirboy Tim Tebow
and the Florida offense to 13 points in a dominating SEC Championship
win. They will be able to control the front just as Nebraska did, put
the pressure on McCoy and force him to make plays on long third downs.

What's the biggest difference between playing Nebraska and Alabama?
How about Alabama actually has a pulse on offense. Not only do they
have a pulse, they have the running back the elderly East Coast Heisman
voters decided was the best player in the nation in Mark Ingram. Ingram
ran for 1,542 yards on the season with 15 rushing touchdowns. While
Texas has the No. 1 rush defense in the nation they haven't seen the
type of rush attack that Alabama brings to the table. Alabama
quarterback Greg McElroy has had his ups and downs this season, he had
a great game against Florida throwing for 239 yards, a TD and made all
the right reads against the Gators' defense. If he performs even close
to that and doesn't turn the ball over Alabama will be able to move the
ball against the Longhorns's defense keying on the run.

Don't like those reason? How about the coaches? Who would you rather
have as your coach Nick Saban or Mack Brown? Assuming you have Saban on
a long range tether I take him all day, everyday and twice on Rosh
Hashanah. Saban will have his defense ready to disrupt and confuse
McCoy and the Texas offense. Look for a lot of disguised coverages and
weak-side blitzes to keep the Longhorns play caller on his toes and
ultimately on his back. But hey, maybe McCoy likes the view better on
his back.

Unfortunately this time that view won't be the rack of one of the
Longhorns smokin' hot cheerleaders, it will be of the Crimson Tide
hoisting the crystal football.

* * * * * *

Good pick, Patra.  Totally wrong, but I guess you had to pick one of
the teams.  The only way I would like to see Bama roll is if, in the
end, the AP writers split the National Championship ala 2003 (USC and
LSU).  That would just be a huge "F-U" to Decepticon Nick Saban who was
the coach of the LSU Tigers and it would prove once and for all that
the AP writers hate Decepticon Saban.

So, you want to play Jeopardy - the game for nerds to show how smart
they are in useless trivia like "This fruit bounces up and down when
dropped in fresh glass of soda." - but sports are about numbers, and
really hot fans.

Let's play the numbers game:

6 -  is the number of times Heisman Trophy winners have played in the National Championship game.

0 - is the number of
times those Heisman Trophy winners won those National Championship
games (the 2 wins you mentioned were by "your boys" at USC and were in
the meaningless Orange Bowl). Wait, is zero a number?

.400 - is the win percentage for your choice of coaches, Decepticon Saban, in bowl games (4-6).

.733 - is the win percentage for Mack Brown in bowl games (11-4).

11 - is the number of wins for Brown in bowl games, which is one more win than Decepticon Saban has in appearances.

5 - is the number of the current bowl win streak for Brown.

4 - is the number of
years Colt McCoy started as quarterback at the University of Texas.  He
has seen it all including any wrinkle Decepticon Saban wants to throw
his way.  You won't confuse this kid, and he will hurt you.

3 - is the number of bowl games that McCoy has played in and won.

1 - is the number of
seconds put back on the clock in the Big 12 Championship game giving
the Longhorns a chance to kick the field goal and win, proving there is
a thin line between controversy and destiny.

0 - is the number of wins for the higher ranked team in BCS bowls.  Yep, the trend is for the upset and no one is picking Texas.

62 - is the number of rushing yards Texas gives up per game, which leads the nation.

135 - is the number of yards Toby Gerhart, the real Heisman Trophy winner, gained in the Sun bowl.

24 - is the number of interceptions by Texas this season, which leads the nation.

8 - is the number of times Alabama has played Texas and hasn't won.  Hmmmm, sounds like someone has Bama's number.

The final number is 3.  It is the number of fingers that the fans in
"burnt orange" will need at the end of the game; two on the left hand
doing their traditional horns gang sign, and one on the right hand
announcing that they are No. 1.

* Reports say that Decepticon Saban says that Alabama wins - and we
all know that you can't believe a word that comes out of that liar's
mouth.

** answer: what is a raisin?