Alabama - Utah

the Sugar Bowl Friday, January 2nd, 8:00pm New Orleans, Louisiana

Alabama (12-1)______SEC______395.07 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Clemson 131.25 W, 34-10 2 Tulane -316.49 W, 20-6 3 Western Kentucky -366.76 W, 41-7 4 Arkansas -38.58 W, 49-14 5 Georgia 232.43 W, 41-30 6 Kentucky -18.78 W, 17-14 8 Mississippi 183.12 W, 24-20 9 Tennessee -88.95 W, 29-9 10 Arkansas State -52.31 W, 35-0 11 LSU 61.99 W, 27-21 12 Mississippi State -140.39 W, 32-7 14 Auburn -69.61 W, 36-0 15 Florida 473.27 L, 20-31

Utah (12-0)______MtnWest_____423.50 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Michigan -204.93 W, 25-23 2 UNLV -100.68 W, 42-21 3 Utah State -186.16 W, 58-10 4 Air Force 131.54 W, 30-23 5 Weber State -441.13 W, 37-21 6 Oregon State 205.57 W, 31-28 7 Wyoming -165.37 W, 40-7 8 Colorado State 34.54 W, 49-16 10 New Mexico -128.09 W, 13-10 11 TCU 350.14 W, 13-10 12 San Diego State -316.46 W, 63-14 13 Brigham Young 209.37 W, 48-24 ____ ____ ____ ____

Can't argue with either one of these two's records - superb. But Alabama's SoS, while weak, was harder than Utah's.

Stats Matchup
Team	Alabama	Utah
Points (rank)	395.07 (#6)	423.50 (#4)
Record	12-1	12-0
Opp. Points (rank)	-36.83 (#57)	-791.78 (#102)
Opp. Record	78-79	63-71
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	31.2 (150%)	37.4 (141%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	13.0 (47%)	17.3 (73%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	196.5 (156%)	168.4 (109%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	78.8 (50%)	104.8 (72%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	170.7 (90%)	236.8 (115%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	178.1 (88%)	191.1 (104%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	367.2 (116%)	405.3 (112%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	256.9 (72%)	295.9 (83%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	123.3 (100%)	109.6 (93%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	152.9 (126%)	85.8 (75%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	3.8 / 34.8	6.7 / 60.5
TO's / TO Margin	1.2 / +8	1.4 / +11

How will Alabama do without their All-American offensive tackle? It might be harder going on offense than they think. Utah, fully aware of what happened to Hawaii in last year Sugar Bowl against Georgia, is going to do everything in their power to make sure they don't get the same treatment. Lucky for them the MtnWest was competitive this year - it might help them keep it close.

The Line: Alabama -9.5

The Call: Alabama wins, but Utah covers the spread

The Result: Utah 31-17

"Your Crimson Tide Ass - Let me hand it to you." You know, the non-BCS conferences lose 80% of their games with the BCS conferences - but they're 3-1 in BCS bowl games, having beaten the BigEast, Big12, and SEC. The Utes might get a smattering of #1 votes, as they probably should, for an undefeated season with some big wins. Tough, tough loss for Bama. I know, Andre Smith - but let's not make excuses. Truly great teams find a way to get it done, and tonight the Tide didn't. They'll be back next year though, and will definitely be a favorite to win the SEC.