LSU/BAMA

If you are reading this post then you are well aware of what is going on this weekend in Tuscaloosa. The ESPN hype machine is out in full on this game. ESPN is such a powerful media source that once they start on a subject, topic, game, etc. there is no stopping it. I can only speak for what has happened in my life time, so games that happened in the 60s and 70s are really irrelevant to me. With that being said the interest surrounding this game is larger than any regular season football game I have ever seen. Much of the credit for that should be given to ESPN.

Before I go into anything else let me say I have major respect for these two football programs. Nick Saban in my opinion is the best coach in college football. I have always thought Les Miles was not all there, but the man never loses. Whatever he does works and that deserves my respect. The goal for these two programs every year is to win a national championship. A lot of places say that is a goal for them but at these two universities anything less is a failure. They are the absolute best there is right now, and collectively there may be more talent on the field Saturday than there ever has been in a college football game.

When I look at a college football player one of the first questions I ask is if the guy can play in the NFL. If so what kind of contributor do I believe he can be in the NFL. The NFL picks the best of the best and if you are a potential NFL player you have the skills, size, strength, intelligence, etc. to just dominate at the college level. The two teams that will take the field Saturday are loaded with future NFL players. There are NFL players on each offensive line, at receiver, at running back, and even at quarterback. However, the real talent is on defense. Both of these teams have at least 2 players at every level that will play in the NFL. What I mean by every level is defensive line, linebackers, and secondary. I will never say a college football team can beat a NFL team because they can't, but these two defenses could compete against a below average pro offense.

Stats don't lie this time of year. Heading into November your team is what the stats say you are. By this point in the season every team has played enough good and/or bad opponents for the stats to begin to level out. On paper these two teams are as good as there is. Each of these teams are in the top 5 of all major defensive categories. Just getting a first down against these two defenses is hard. The defenses for these teams are so unbelievable that the offenses get completely overlooked. LSU and Bama have very good offenses. Bama currently ranks 11th in scoring and LSU is 14th. Both offenses are very balanced and they have playmakers at Wide Receiver, TE, and especially Running Back.

How does one predict a winner for this game? That is the million dollar question this week because these two teams are pretty much flawless up to this point in the year. Vegas has the line for this game at 4.5 to 5. The points are being given to BAMA mainly because they are playing at home. The keys for me like in all games are field position and turnovers. I see this being a game where each team scores between 13 and 21 points. At the end of the day whichever teams super star playmaker makes the big play wins the game. I think LSU has a couple of more guys that produce those big plays and win this game 20-17.

It is hard to believe it has already been a year, but this weekend is mine and Stephanies 1 year anniversary. We will be in New Orleans Sat and Sun. In my opinion one of the best places to watch this game besides at the game will be in the French Quarter. Only problem to that is if LSU loses you better hide because there will be some crazy LSU fans roaming. Either way I hope all of you have a good weekend and thank you Stephanie for a great year. Enjoy the game and thank you for reading.

Wally