For as much as college football evolves and its postseason format changes, this is still a sport ruled by tradition and exclusivity. Over the past 75 years, only 30 different schools have claimed at least a share of the national title.
In that span of time, two programs have won it all more often than anyone else, combining for 17 championships: Alabama and Notre Dame. On Jan. 7, they'll meet at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., for the BCS national title.
"It's a real historic game, two historic teams, great traditions," Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley said. "We have to make sure we play our type of football and try to block out all the clutter."
And there will be plenty of clutter between now and then, given the myriad storylines at play. Among the most prominent: Alabama coach Nick Saban trying to solidify a dynasty with three championships in the last four years (and fourth overall, which would put him just two behind Bear Bryant), the Southeastern Conference aiming for its seventh consecutive BCS title and Notre Dame roaring back from a slump that consumed most of the last two decades.
"The tradition of Alabama and Notre Dame bring a special attention to it but we're just trying to be the best team on Monday, Jan. 7," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. "All of that tradition, what happened in the past, isn't going to help us,"
Though numerous BCS controversies over the years helped build momentum for a four-team playoff, which will begin in 2014, the only uproar this year involved the inclusion of Northern Illinois. By finishing 15th in the BCS standings (comfortably above the top-16 cutoff) and ahead of the Big East (Louisville) and Big Ten (Wisconsin) champions, Northern Illinois earned the Mid-American Conference's first-ever BCS bid and will face Florida State in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.
That development knocked Oklahoma, which won a share of the Big 12 title with Kansas State but lost the head-to-head tiebreaker, out of the BCS and into the Cotton Bowl. It also moved Louisville from the Orange Bowl to the Sugar Bowl, where it will play Florida.
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And though Northern Illinois' presence won't sit well with the power conference set, given the Huskies lost their season opener to an Iowa team that finished 4-8, it was a momentous occasion for the school in DeKalb, Ill. When it won the MAC last year, Northern Illinois earned a trip to the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
"All of us have known since the inception of the BCS, this is the framework we all work through and it's a great story," Orange Bowl executive director Eric Poms said. "As we saw in 2007 when Boise State played Oklahoma (in the Fiesta Bowl), those matchups bring out the theatrics."
source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2012/12/02/bcs-alabama-notre-dame/1741157/
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