Wild Card Weekend is over in the NFL and football fans will now turn their attention to the BCS National Championship game.
All the bowl games that don’t matter and the ones that barely matter have already been played and there’s only one game left in the college football season for 2010/11: the BCS National Championship.
Last year we saw the Alabama Crimson Tide take it to the Texas Longhorns as Colt McCoy suffered an injury in the early going of the game for the Longhorns and left the helm to a freshman QB.
This year neither of those teams came close to making the final but the the national title could stay in the SEC as the Auburn Tigers face the Oregon Ducks Monday night, January 10th, at 8:30pm ET (ESPN).
Both teams enter the championship game following undefeated seasons as Oregon, out of the PAC 10, are 12-0 on the year while Auburn, out of the tougher SEC, went a perfect 13-0 on the year.
The Auburn Tigers are considered the favorite (Stan James) due to their tougher schedule for the regular season however the game appears as though it will competitive – as a national championship game should be.
Both teams have survived tests this season although Auburn have faced the tougher schedule. Oregon defeated Stanford and the Ducks remain the only team to accomplish that feat in 2010/11 as the Cardinal won the Orange Bowl. However Oregon vs Stanford game was a game from Eugene, home turf for Oregon, and Auburn beating Alabama, at Alabama, was far more impressive especially since the Tigers came back from a double digit deficit in the game.
Cameron Newton, the star quarterback of Auburn, has been central to a controversy surrounding NCAA violations during parts of the regular season. However the Tigers stayed focused through the allegations, they won their games despite the off-field distractions, and in doing so they have proven that they possess impressive headstrength.
Auburn are not huge favorites but they do appear to be slightly better than the Ducks heading into the national championship and the NCAA title might be staying in the SEC for another season as a result.
