Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
History was made Sunday, and it's not surprising that one of college football's most historically important programs took center stage.
The University of Alabama emerged from a win in the SEC Championship Game ranked No. 1 in the first ever College Football Playoff, the committee released Sunday during a more than two-hour selection show.
Alabama (12-1) faces No. 4 Ohio State (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day in one of two playoff games that determines the national championship.
No. 2 Oregon (12-1) meets No. 3 Florida State (13-0) in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., also on Jan. 1.
It should be noted that all four teams won their respective conference championship.
Blake Sims leads Alabama into the first ever College Football Playoff.
For Alabama it's the second consecutive postseason trip to New Orleans and fourth trip in seven years.
"This is obviously a great opportunity and a real honor for our team to be able to come back to the Sugar Bowl, to be a part of the firstever playoff system playing against an outstanding, very traditional, a great traditional program like Ohio State, with a great coach like Urban Meyer," UA coach Nick Saban said.
The Crimson Tide last faced the Buckeyes in the 1995 Citrus Bowl, a 24-17 win.
Ohio State rose to the fourth spot on the strength of a 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday night. The Buckeyes dealt with adversity for much of the season, overcoming a loss to Virginia Tech in the second game of the year and losing two quarterbacks, including returning starter Braxton Miller before the season.
Back-up quarterback J.T. Barrett had a highly productive season and was considered a candidate for the Heisman Trophy before suffering a broken ankle against Michigan a little more than a week ago.
Cardale Jones made his first career start against Wisconsin, completing 12 of 17 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns.
Saban said Jones' lack of experience doesn't necessarily give Alabama an advantage.
"Well, obviously he played very, very well when he played," Saban said. "And I think that's the key thing that a guy has the capabilities to play. "Blake (Sims) started out this season where he hadn't played in any games and he certainly did a good job of playing and improving, becoming a great leader for his team and making a lot of plays that got his team where they are."
One thing for certain is that the Alabama coaching staff has limited film on Jones of which to study.
"I'm not sure that we're going to be able to see him ,everything that he's capable of doing, but we certainly have a lot of respect for the way he's played when he's played," Saban said.
For the head coaches, it's the fourth meeting, the previous three coming when Urban Meyer was the head coach at Florida. Saban is 2-1 against Meyer.
The pair share a not highly-publicized friendship. Both have served as studio analysts for ESPN during bowl games, etc.
"…I consider him a good friend," Saban said.
"We always used to sit next to each other in the SEC meetings," Meyer said. "We've actually known each other a long time. We worked together (fighting against) agents and those types of things in the past, so a very good relationship."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1712949#sthash.clmnyfxf.dpuf
TideSports.com Senior Writer
History was made Sunday, and it's not surprising that one of college football's most historically important programs took center stage.
The University of Alabama emerged from a win in the SEC Championship Game ranked No. 1 in the first ever College Football Playoff, the committee released Sunday during a more than two-hour selection show.
Alabama (12-1) faces No. 4 Ohio State (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day in one of two playoff games that determines the national championship.
No. 2 Oregon (12-1) meets No. 3 Florida State (13-0) in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., also on Jan. 1.
It should be noted that all four teams won their respective conference championship.
Blake Sims leads Alabama into the first ever College Football Playoff.
For Alabama it's the second consecutive postseason trip to New Orleans and fourth trip in seven years.
"This is obviously a great opportunity and a real honor for our team to be able to come back to the Sugar Bowl, to be a part of the firstever playoff system playing against an outstanding, very traditional, a great traditional program like Ohio State, with a great coach like Urban Meyer," UA coach Nick Saban said.
The Crimson Tide last faced the Buckeyes in the 1995 Citrus Bowl, a 24-17 win.
Ohio State rose to the fourth spot on the strength of a 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday night. The Buckeyes dealt with adversity for much of the season, overcoming a loss to Virginia Tech in the second game of the year and losing two quarterbacks, including returning starter Braxton Miller before the season.
Back-up quarterback J.T. Barrett had a highly productive season and was considered a candidate for the Heisman Trophy before suffering a broken ankle against Michigan a little more than a week ago.
Cardale Jones made his first career start against Wisconsin, completing 12 of 17 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns.
Saban said Jones' lack of experience doesn't necessarily give Alabama an advantage.
"Well, obviously he played very, very well when he played," Saban said. "And I think that's the key thing that a guy has the capabilities to play. "Blake (Sims) started out this season where he hadn't played in any games and he certainly did a good job of playing and improving, becoming a great leader for his team and making a lot of plays that got his team where they are."
One thing for certain is that the Alabama coaching staff has limited film on Jones of which to study.
"I'm not sure that we're going to be able to see him ,everything that he's capable of doing, but we certainly have a lot of respect for the way he's played when he's played," Saban said.
For the head coaches, it's the fourth meeting, the previous three coming when Urban Meyer was the head coach at Florida. Saban is 2-1 against Meyer.
The pair share a not highly-publicized friendship. Both have served as studio analysts for ESPN during bowl games, etc.
"…I consider him a good friend," Saban said.
"We always used to sit next to each other in the SEC meetings," Meyer said. "We've actually known each other a long time. We worked together (fighting against) agents and those types of things in the past, so a very good relationship."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1712949#sthash.clmnyfxf.dpuf
