BCS National Championship Game - Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Texas Longhorns

Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) vs. Texas Longhorns (13-0)

Thursday, January7th
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA --- 8:10pm EST

NCAAF Betting Line: Alabama -4

On January 7, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena plays host the BCS National Championship Game. In the game between undefeated No. 2 Texas Longhorns and the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, the BetUS.com sportsbook has the Crimson Tide favored by -3 point over the Longhorns. The predicted game total is set at 45½ points, with a straight up wager on the underdog Longhorns paying NCAAF betting fanatics +155 on the moneyline.

The Texas Longhorns return to the site of their thrilling 2006 BCS Title win over the USC Trojans. Texas hopes 2010 will be replete with the same magic of four years ago as they look to join LSU and Florida as the third team in the BCS era to win two National titles.

The Alabama Crimson Tide are looking at the 2010 games a chance to take back what is rightfully theirs, Alabama has 12 national titles but the last came in 1992, long before the BCS existed. 

As both teams completed a perfect regular season, let’s have a look at how each team treated NCAFF sports bettors this season.

The number two Longhorns didn’t mean the sportsbooks expectations going 5-7-1 against the spread, while Alabama was a little kinder going 8-5 against the spread. If you bet on college football totals both teams were pretty even, with Texas going 6-7 O/U and Alabama was 6-6 O/U.

The Crimson Tide boasts the Heisman Trophy winning tailback Mark Ingram, Ingram rushed for 1542 yards and 15 scores on the ground.  Ingram is a capable receiver finishing third on the Crimson Tide for receiving yards and tied for second with three td catches.  Their quarterback is a very capable Greg McElroy, who has passed for 2450 yards, 17 touchdowns and only intercepted four times.  But ‘Bama didn’t earn their number one ranking based on their passing or even the incredible play of Ingram; they won twelve games and earned their BCS title berth on the strength of their defense.

Alabama only allowed opponents 11 points a game this season, finishing second in the nation in points allowed, rushing yards and total offensive yards given up a game. They slipped a little against the pass ranking eighth but when your run stopping is that good, you force teams to look for other ways to beat you. 

Led by Heisman trophy candidate Colt McCoy, the Longhorns have lit up opponents this season scoring 40.7 a game, good for third in the nation. McCoy stats are down from a year ago but are still NFL worthy; passing for 3512 yards and 27 touchdowns but he’s throw almost an interception a game which could come back to haunt him against the Tide.  Over a third of his completions have gone to his college roommate Jordan Shipley who has caught 106 balls for 1363 yards. They are a nice combo but they’ll need to be at the top of their game to win the National title.

Like Alabama, the Longhorns have a stingy defense; opponents were only able to put 15.2 a game on them. And what has Texas fans giddy is their number one ranked run defense.  Critics point to the level of opponents that Texas has faced this year compared to Alabama, who play in the tough always-tough Southeastern Conference.