This is not as good as my write-up, but it's still pretty good ESPN article by Will Harris... LSU Tigers at Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama is favored by 4.5 points TeamRankings win odds for LSU: 36 percent LSU is an outstanding, well-coached team with a top-flight defense and a powerful running game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, this game doesn't really have much to do with them. Alabama is a championship team on a championship mission, and LSU is simply in the way. We've been beating this drum all year, but Alabama's defense is absolutely not "one of" the best in the country. It is not simply the nation's best in 2011, but rather a once-in-a-generation defense. That's not hyperbole. It's also what we should expect given the Crimson Tide's perfect set of circumstances. The sport's top defensive coaching staff in terms of both scheme and technique is, in its fifth year, at the very pinnacle of its recruiting and player development machine. The Alabama defense was a top-five unit last season with a lineup full of newbies. This year, with experienced, fully developed and uber-talented upperclassmen manning nearly every spot on the two-deep, the Tide stop unit is setting a new standard. When elite coaching combines with elite talent and maximum experience at an elite program with unlimited resources … well, that's exactly how once-in-a-generation defenses are made. Add in the nation's best offensive line and backfield duo, and you have a championship-caliber team. The home-field advantage will also be unprecedented, as this will be the loudest and most intimidating crowd in Bryant-Denny Stadium history. LSU's defense is fantastic, but its reckless style relies on rattling the opposing offense, then feeding on the resulting turnovers and miscues -- mistakes that an experienced, disciplined and prepared Alabama team simply will not make at home. It also must be mentioned that the Crimson Tide seem to be playing for a bigger purpose. It's difficult to judge the precise impact the tornado that devastated Tuscaloosa this April has had on this football team and its focus and preparation throughout the season, but it is undoubtedly significant. LSU is a very fine football team, but nothing points to a failure this weekend for Nick Saban's program. In the most hyped game of the season, Alabama will leave no doubt. The pick: Alabama 31, LSU 3 Very nice... And I agree with everything this guy is saying. LSU is just another team in the way of greatness. This defense will go down as THE GREATEST IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY! LSU will be lucky to score on Bama in this game, and I stand firm on that. Call me a homer, I don't care. I just know my team is better than yours...
Who is Will Harris? Is he a paid writer or is this another Bleacher Report? The internet makes everyone think they can write. Apparently, he has sat through a class on hyperbole.
If you want to talk football here, do so. If you are just here to cheerlead for your team . . . move it to The Sidelines.
HERE is an excellent article on the game and from a Bama site, too. Jess Nicholas is a keen observer of SEC football as you will see from the article.
Thanks for posting that tappy, saw it on espn, but its insider, so I couldnt read it. Now I see I didn't miss much! 31-3?????? That dude is a bigger homer than even you!
Very nice write up... I pretty much said the same thing about all of it in my original. I only disagree with the credit they give Lee/JJ in this game, and the final of course.
