2010 BCS National Championship Texas vs. Alabama Picks & Predictions

2010 BCS Championship Game Texas vs. Alabama Start Time, TV Guide & Odds

Pasadena, CA – Alabama and Texas have racked up quite a few trophies during the past month. Both teams desperately want to add one more.

Bet The 2010 BCS National Championship

In a star-studded, powerhouse matchup of unbeaten teams, the top-ranked Crimson Tide and No. 2 Longhorns meet for the BCS championship at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 7.

Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL have made Alabama -5 point spread favorites (View College Football odds) for the Thursday, Jan. 7 game (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 69% of bets for this game have been placed on Alabama -5 (View College Football bet percentages).

While fellow undefeated teams TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State may have felt slighted by being shut out of the title game, the BCS could not have delivered a more high-profile matchup. Coach Nick Saban's Tide feature Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and six first-team All-Americans, while Mack Brown's Longhorns rely on star quarterback Colt McCoy and an equally loaded roster.

Texas (13-0) is seeking its second BCS championship in five years. The Longhorns can win it in the same location where they stunned Southern California for the title during the 2005 season, winning 41-38 behind Vince Young in one of college football's most compelling games.

The powerful Longhorns, though, face a daunting task against Alabama (13-0), which dominated defending BCS champion Florida 32-13 in the SEC title game Dec. 5, snapping the then-No. 1 Gators' 22-game winning streak.

"Everyone had to buy into not to be denied in this game," Saban said after the victory that put Alabama in the title game in his third season with the program. "To be a champion, that's what you had to do. I've never been prouder of a group of players."

No Tide player has been better than Ingram, who rushed for a school-record 1,542 yards and 15 touchdowns. The sophomore ran for 113 yards and three scores against Florida to help him claim college football's highest individual honor - the first Heisman for an Alabama player.

"This is a great, special moment for me but at the same time you've got to move forward," Ingram said at the trophy presentation. "We still have a national championship game to play in."

Ingram is hoping to lead Alabama to its first national title since 1992.

While the Tide try to pound Texas into submission with a ground game that ranks 12th nationally with 215.8 yards per game, their focus on defense will be McCoy.

The senior, who returned to school this year with hopes of winning a national championship, threw for 3,512 yards and 27 touchdowns while completing 70.5 percent of his passes. The Maxwell Award winner as the nation's best all-around player, who also won the Walter Camp player of the year award, McCoy directs a passing attack that was tied for 14th in the nation with 279.7 yards a game.

McCoy's top target is receiver Jordan Shipley, who had 106 catches for 1,363 yards and 11 scores, though Malcolm Williams, James Kirkendoll and Dan Butler all contributed at least 445 yards receiving.

McCoy also was Texas' second-leading rusher with 348 yards behind Tre' Newton (513), and Cody Johnson rushed for 12 touchdowns. The Longhorns' deep and versatile attack, though, should get its stiffest test of the season from an imposing Alabama defense.

Paced by Butkus Award winner Rolando McClain, the Tide were No. 1 in the country in scoring defense at 11.0 points per game and second in total defense at 241.8 yards a contest. McClain piled up a team-high 101 tackles - 12 1/2 for a loss - along with four sacks and two interceptions.

Alabama boasts a formidable secondary, led by Javier Arenas (12 tackles for loss, five sacks) and Mark Barron (seven interceptions). Sophomore defensive end Marcell Dareus recorded a team-high 6 1/2 of the Tide's 31 sacks.

Defense isn't exactly a weak spot for the Longhorns, either. They ranked first in the country with 62.9 rushing yards allowed per contest and third with 251.8 yards given up per game.

That could put pressure on Alabama's efficient quarterback, Greg McElroy, to come up with a big performance. The junior, who passed for 2,450 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions, faces a Texas team allowing 188.9 yards per game through the air - 23rd in the nation.

McElroy went 12 of 18 for 239 yards with one TD and no interceptions against Florida. His ability to avoid picks, however, will be tested by the opportunistic Texas defense.

The Longhorns topped the Football Bowl Subdivision with 24 interceptions, led by junior Earl Thomas with eight - tied for second in the country - and fellow safety Blake Gideon with five. Texas forced those INTs in part because of a pass rush that racked up 41 sacks, paced by Sam Acho (nine) and Lamarr Houston (seven).

The Longhorns, of course, barely made it to Pasadena, narrowly avoiding an upset by Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game with a 13-12 victory Dec. 5. Hunter Lawrence kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired after McCoy and Texas nearly allowed the clock to run out on an incomplete pass on the previous play.

A replay confirmed time remained for Lawrence's field-goal try, as the Longhorns came within a second of being denied a shot at the title game for the second straight year by a single play.

A 2008 loss to Texas Tech, coming on an improbable touchdown pass with 1 second left, likely kept the Longhorns from playing for the championship.

"To be able to overcome a game like that, with the ups and the downs and not very many things go your way and you still find a way to win, I think that really boosts your team," McCoy, a first-team All-America selection who has guided Texas to 45 victories, said after the win over Nebraska.

"You know, we're excited. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be in this championship game."

Alabama has played in an NCAA-record 57 bowl games and is tied with USC for the most wins with 31. Texas has the second-most bowl appearances with 49.

The Longhorns have dominated the Tide in eight meetings, going 7-0-1. The last matchup came in the 1982 Cotton Bowl, a 14-12 Texas win.

"We're very honored to be invited back to the Rose Bowl. The Texas fans loved it out there in '04 and '05," Brown told the team's official Web site. "And we're honored to play such a great team like the University of Alabama and a coach, Nick Saban, whom I have tremendous respect for. And those guys have done a tremendous job.

"And you have to really be excited about the senior classes of both of these teams, because over the last two years they've won a lot of football games. And we're excited about the challenge."

2010 BCS National Championship

Teams: Texas vs. Alabama

Kickoff: Jan. 7, 2010 at 8PM ET

Venue: Rose Bowl

TV: ABC

Odds:

Texas +5 Over 45 (+170)
Alabama -5 Under 45 (-200)

Bet The 2010 BCS National Championship

Picks and Predictions @ The Spread