The confetti rained down from the roof of the Superdome, Nick Saban finally received a legitimate Gatorade Bath, and the few people watching the game outside of Tuscaloosa and Baton Rouge sighed with relief that they could again tweet about what really matters—Tim Tebow.
Final score: Alabama 21, LSU 0.
OK, now that The Game of the Century: Part Snooze is over with we can forget the 2011-2012 college football season ever happened and immediately begin with the wild conjectures about next year.
The most exciting race next season will be out West between two juggernauts that desperately want to wrest control of the crystal ball from the clutches of the big, bad SEC.
Only problem is that they will have to get through each other first.
Oregon and USC will no doubt dominate their respective divisions next year and for all intensive purposes be undefeated going into their Nov. 3 matchup at the Coliseum.
Oregon opens up their schedule with the creamiest of cream puffs: Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech, all at Autzen Stadium. Following this cakewalk, the Ducks open Pac-12 play against three teams that just fired their coaches (Arizona, Washington State, Arizona State) and one team that finished dead last in the Pac-12, Colorado. Only an Oct. 6 date with Washington could possibly stand in their way.
USC’s road to an undefeated matchup with the Quack Attack is a little more difficult, but it’s hard to envision any opponent truly challenging the Trojans besides Stanford, who appears to be down on its luck following Andrew’s departure for the NFL (OK, no more Luck puns, I promise).
Assuming everything goes to plan, two 8-0 teams will take the field on Nov. 3 in a game that might just show the SEC that out West they score touchdowns, not field goals.
One team is the hardened school bully who got away with stealing the other kids’ lunch money for years; the other is the new kid in town who finally put the tyrant in his place by beating the crap out of him, but now has an eerie feeling that the bully underwent a Karate Kid training montage from Mr. Miyagi and is ready for revenge.
It’s a classic matchup of Tradition vs. Innovation, Size vs. Agility, and most importantly Speed vs. Speed.
USC returns nine starters on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, including Wunderkind quarterback, Matt Barkley, the best receiving duo in the country in Robert Woods and Marquise Lee, and all-American safety T.J. McDonald.
The Trojans only worry might be at left tackle and defensive end with the departure of Matt Kalil and Nick Perry, respectively.
Oregon has its own big shoes to fill, with Lamichael James’ retreat to the NFL. Luckily for Duck fans lighting-in-a-bottle is waiting in the wings with De’Anthony Thomas and most likely Kenjon Barner (who has yet to announce his decision to turn pro).
Overall Oregon returns six starters on both offense and defense, including veteran quarterback Darron Thomas and a much more experienced offensive and defensive line than last year.
The last time these two teams matched up USC eked out a 38-35 victory in thrilling fashion. You get the feeling that this time around, with actual national championship implications, the game could be even better.
The 2012 version of USC-Oregon is going to be a game that the college football world will remember for a long time to come and has to be the (way too) early season favorite for next year’s Game of the Century.
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