Vizio BCS National Championship Game
(1) Florida State (13-0) vs. (2) Auburn (12-1)
Jan. 6, 8:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN
I’m sure everyone has heard all sorts of information about the national championship game from all sorts of media outlets, so I’m going to get it nice and short for you all. I just want to give you a few quick notes. You should be watching the game anyways, not reading my blog.
In the last 10 seasons, there have been three BCS championship matchups between an undefeated team and a one-loss team. All three times, the one-loss team won the game, each time by at least 20 points.
- 2013: Alabama 42 Notre Dame 14
- 2012: Alabama 21 LSU 0
- 2007: Florida 41 Ohio State 14
According to ESPN Stats & Information’s strength of schedule metric, Florida State’s strength (66) is the worst among any team in the BCS title game in the last ten seasons. The three teams with the next-worst S.O.S. ranks (2006 Ohio State, 2007 Ohio State, and 2009 Texas) all lost to SEC opponents in the title game.
- 2006 Ohio State (61) lost by 27 to Florida
- 2007 Ohio State (56) lost by 14 to LSU
- 2009 Texas (54) lost by 16 to Alabama
Jameis Winston is going to be extra hype today. It so happens that his birthday is January 6th, 1994. Winston will turn 20 on the day of the game he’s been dreaming of since a child.
Out of all the BCS bowls this year, every single was has been an upset according to ESPN’s Stats & Info.
- Stanford had an 82.8% probability of winning. Lost 24-20 to Michigan State
- Baylor had an 89% probability of winning. Lost 52-42 to UCF.
- Ohio State had a 64% probability of winning. Lost 40-35 to Clemson.
- Alabama had an 80.3% probability of winning. Lost 45-31 to Oklahoma.
Florida State has beaten conference opponents by an average of 43.9 points and have beaten the four ranked opponents they’ve played by an average of 41.25 points. Auburn on the other hand has beaten ranked opponents by only an average of 13.4 points. Auburn has played six ranked teams and lost to one, the average win margin of those games were only 4.3 points per game.
If Auburn wins head coach Gus Malzahn would become the first head coach to win a national championship in his first year head coaching at the school since Larry Coker won at Miami in 2001.
If Auburn wins it will be the first team in poll era to defeat two AP No.1 teams in the same season.
Florida State is going for its third national championship game, first since 1999. Auburn is also going for its national championship, first since 2010.
Tiago- Auburn
Matt- Florida State
Tom- Auburn
MTsports 