Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
There is no doubt that the College Football Playoff is big. Huge. Massive. Vast.
That's what America wanted and modern economics demanded. The vastness isn't going to shrink over time. If anything, it is going to expand even more when the inevitable eight-team version arrives. But this particular playoff game in New Orleans, which should be outstanding given the quality of the participants, Alabama and Ohio State, seems to be looking for a spark of good old-fashioned dislike.
All the elements are there and ESPN, the network with the rights, is working all the angles. Big Ten vs. SEC. Saban vs. Meyer. But the general aura is, as Alabama running back Derrick Henry said Tuesday, a "business trip." Yes, the stakes are high, but it feels more like Apple squaring off against Microsoft in some massive copyright trial rather than the old Sugar Bowl days with Florida and Florida State (who admittedly have a bit of a history) going after each other armed with the banquet silverware.
There are a few factors that seem to contribute to the air of lofty adversarial warcraft as opposed to a good old mud-slinging feud. As more fans arrive in New Orleans, the ratchet-jawing will increase and a refreshing blast of pure ill will may prevail, but that hasn't happened yet. Second, let's face facts - Alabama is a nine-point favorite here, but there are no real underdogs anywhere in the playoff, populated by the most successful teams in America over the last four seasons. There is no cute puppy in this dog show, only full-grown, pedigreed programs. Third, if you vent all your emotion in a semifinal, what is left if you make the final?
Saban versus Meyer is sure-fire material. After all, these are the two best coaches in the game today, Jim Harbaugh's hiring on Tuesday notwithstanding. In the 2008 and 2009 SEC Championship Games (which were de facto BCS semifinals as well), they went at one another from opposing sidelines with an awesome ferocity. But both seem to be changed a bit by time. They remain fiercely competitive, but Meyer's post-Florida sabbatical seems to have given him perspective. And for Saban, after building a dynasty by grueling effort, this year has been, well, almost fun.
Still, reporters peppered Saban with questions about Meyer on Tuesday. When he was asked directly about his relationship with Meyer, Saban told the familiar story of failing to return Meyer's message when he was seeking to join Saban's first coaching staff at Toledo. But he also spoke warmly of the time following the 2010 season when both were working as color analysts for the Auburn-Oregon title game.
"We spent three or four days together," Saban said. "We really got to know him and his wife. We really saw what a good person he is. I really developed a tremendous amount of respect for him, not just as a coach but for the kind of person he is. So it was no surprise to me that he got back into coaching. In a very good situation and that it did not take him long to develop one of the top programs in the country."
That doesn't exactly fit the feuding angle, but maybe this game will be good enough to be played straightforwardly, without angles. It will still be very good - and big. Very big.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1720674
TideSports.com Columnist
There is no doubt that the College Football Playoff is big. Huge. Massive. Vast.
That's what America wanted and modern economics demanded. The vastness isn't going to shrink over time. If anything, it is going to expand even more when the inevitable eight-team version arrives. But this particular playoff game in New Orleans, which should be outstanding given the quality of the participants, Alabama and Ohio State, seems to be looking for a spark of good old-fashioned dislike.
All the elements are there and ESPN, the network with the rights, is working all the angles. Big Ten vs. SEC. Saban vs. Meyer. But the general aura is, as Alabama running back Derrick Henry said Tuesday, a "business trip." Yes, the stakes are high, but it feels more like Apple squaring off against Microsoft in some massive copyright trial rather than the old Sugar Bowl days with Florida and Florida State (who admittedly have a bit of a history) going after each other armed with the banquet silverware.
There are a few factors that seem to contribute to the air of lofty adversarial warcraft as opposed to a good old mud-slinging feud. As more fans arrive in New Orleans, the ratchet-jawing will increase and a refreshing blast of pure ill will may prevail, but that hasn't happened yet. Second, let's face facts - Alabama is a nine-point favorite here, but there are no real underdogs anywhere in the playoff, populated by the most successful teams in America over the last four seasons. There is no cute puppy in this dog show, only full-grown, pedigreed programs. Third, if you vent all your emotion in a semifinal, what is left if you make the final?
Saban versus Meyer is sure-fire material. After all, these are the two best coaches in the game today, Jim Harbaugh's hiring on Tuesday notwithstanding. In the 2008 and 2009 SEC Championship Games (which were de facto BCS semifinals as well), they went at one another from opposing sidelines with an awesome ferocity. But both seem to be changed a bit by time. They remain fiercely competitive, but Meyer's post-Florida sabbatical seems to have given him perspective. And for Saban, after building a dynasty by grueling effort, this year has been, well, almost fun.
Still, reporters peppered Saban with questions about Meyer on Tuesday. When he was asked directly about his relationship with Meyer, Saban told the familiar story of failing to return Meyer's message when he was seeking to join Saban's first coaching staff at Toledo. But he also spoke warmly of the time following the 2010 season when both were working as color analysts for the Auburn-Oregon title game.
"We spent three or four days together," Saban said. "We really got to know him and his wife. We really saw what a good person he is. I really developed a tremendous amount of respect for him, not just as a coach but for the kind of person he is. So it was no surprise to me that he got back into coaching. In a very good situation and that it did not take him long to develop one of the top programs in the country."
That doesn't exactly fit the feuding angle, but maybe this game will be good enough to be played straightforwardly, without angles. It will still be very good - and big. Very big.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1720674
