Paul's Picks National Championship Game

Welcome Back!

I ended up going 13-12 in the bowls, for a pretty dismal 52%.  For the year, I finished 407-160, which means I was accurate 71.8% of the time, way below where I wanted to be.  My goal every year is to finish at or above 80%, though I've never actually achieved that, but I almost always finish above 75%, so this year was a down year for me.  Last year I finished at 76.5% for the regular season, and 76.2% overall, which isn't too shabby.  

I want to point out that my predictions come simply from 45+ years of watching and following college football.  I do not have the time (or staff!) to do massive research into depth charts, injuries, transfers, etc, and so, if I were you, I certainly wouldn't take my picks to Vegas (or wherever) and bet the mortgage with them!  My brothers and I have been predicting the games among ourselves off and on for many years, and I should point out that I haven't "won" in a while, but I also haven't finished last, either, so there's that.  And that holds true for this year, too.

So now it all comes down to the: 

National Championship Game- Miami Gardens, FL

Ohio State vs Alabama- The Crimson Tide come in undefeated (12-0) and on a 13-game winning streak.  The Buckeyes are 7-0, and have a 7-game winning streak.  This will be their 5th meeting ever, and 3 of the previous 4 were in bowl games.  In 1978, Alabama won 35-6 in the Sugar Bowl.  In 1986, these 2 teams met in the Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, NJ, with the Tide winning again, this time by a score of 16-10.  In 1995, they met in the Florida Citrus Bowl, with Bama prevailing 24-17.  Finally, they met in the 2015 Sugar Bowl, which was a semifinal for the CFP.  In this game, the Buckeyes finally defeated the Tide 42-35.  This means Alabama has won 3 of the 4 games played so far, with OSU winning the most recent one.  I expect this to be a fantastic game!  With the way Alabama has played all year, my 1st inclination, before the bowls even started, was that no one would truly challenge them.  But OSU looked mighty impressive in their rout of Clemson, so I began to sway toward the Buckeyes.  But I've found that my 1st thoughts are generally right, and I'm almost always wrong when I switch my picks, so I'm going with the Crimson Tide in a close one over the Buckeyes!  

That's all for today!  Feel free to leave a comment, follow me on Twitter (@pbanderson), or subscribe to this blog.  I will have my review of this game in my TWIF Notes sometime after the game.  If the game is postponed, look for it after, whenever the game is played.

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!