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SEC showdown
Tide plays underdog role
By ED SHEARER
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The nation’s unbeaten top-ranked college football team goes into its conference championship game as an underdog.
As unusual as that might sound, this one appears to be for good reason.
It’s No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida in the Southeastern Conference championship game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday.
The once-beaten Gators — most dominant team in the SEC title game that began an annual run in 1992, are favored by 9 1/2 points in this showdown that will send the winner to the BCS national championship game in Miami.
This will be the sixth time they’ve met for the crown, with Florida holding a 3-2 edge. This will be Florida’s ninth time in the game, Alabama’s sixth. No team can equal Florida’s six championships.
The last time they met Bama thrashed the Gators 34-7 in 1999.
This one will match Florida’s explosive offense against a solid Crimson Tide defense that blanked two of its last four opponents.
Florida features last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow, also with speedsters Percy Harvin, Brandon James and redshirt freshman Chris Rainey. Harvin, the league’s leading scorer, left last week’s victory over Florida State with a sprained ankle.
The Alabama attack is led by steady John Parker Wilson, who averages 159 yards per game passing, less than Tebow’s 191.
The Tide running game features the league’s No. 3 rusher in Glen Coffee (102.9 per game).
Mark Ingram is sixth in the league with a 56.8 average.
Florida hopes to use a victory over the Tide to get back to the national championship game for the second time in three years.
The Gators won the
national title two years ago in a route of Ohio State.
Will this one go to Florida’s glitzy crew or Alabama’s tough guys in the trenches. Give this one to ... Alabama 24-21.
As unusual as that might sound, this one appears to be for good reason.
It’s No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida in the Southeastern Conference championship game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday.
The once-beaten Gators — most dominant team in the SEC title game that began an annual run in 1992, are favored by 9 1/2 points in this showdown that will send the winner to the BCS national championship game in Miami.
This will be the sixth time they’ve met for the crown, with Florida holding a 3-2 edge. This will be Florida’s ninth time in the game, Alabama’s sixth. No team can equal Florida’s six championships.
The last time they met Bama thrashed the Gators 34-7 in 1999.
This one will match Florida’s explosive offense against a solid Crimson Tide defense that blanked two of its last four opponents.
Florida features last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow, also with speedsters Percy Harvin, Brandon James and redshirt freshman Chris Rainey. Harvin, the league’s leading scorer, left last week’s victory over Florida State with a sprained ankle.
The Alabama attack is led by steady John Parker Wilson, who averages 159 yards per game passing, less than Tebow’s 191.
The Tide running game features the league’s No. 3 rusher in Glen Coffee (102.9 per game).
Mark Ingram is sixth in the league with a 56.8 average.
Florida hopes to use a victory over the Tide to get back to the national championship game for the second time in three years.
The Gators won the
national title two years ago in a route of Ohio State.
Will this one go to Florida’s glitzy crew or Alabama’s tough guys in the trenches. Give this one to ... Alabama 24-21.
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| Harvin’s health a mystery |
