Tonight it is The Alabama Crimson Tide vs. The Clemson Tigers for the whole enchilada in Glendale, AZ.
The 14-0 Clemson Tigers face the 13-1 Alabama Crimson Tide for the 2016 NCAA National Championship tonight. The Tigers bring a high flying offense to do battle with Nick Saban's annual tradition of stifling defense.
One of the more interesting storylines of the game is that Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney played at Alabama, and played on the 1992 Championship team to boot.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
TALE OF THE TAPE:
Who is Favored? Alabama is a 7-point favorite
Where? Glendale, Arizona
When? Tonight, 8:32 PM on ESPN
Announcers? Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be in the booth and Heather Cox on the sidelines.
Alabama starting QB Jacob Coker is 13-0 as a starter, he did not start in the only loss for the Tide this season.
Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban have combined for 13 CONSECUTIVE 10-win seasons.
Alabama is #1 in America in sacks and #5 in Third Down Defense... Clemson is #2 in America in Third Down Defense and #1 in America in tackles for loss.
Nick Saban is going for an amazing FIFTH Championship, it would put him one behind Bear Bryant for the most ever. Is Saban on the Bear's heels historically if he wins?
ESPN is also offering a total of 14 different ways to take in the game as you can see detailed here.
Among those telecasts available:
ESPN - Regular broadcast
ESPN 2 - Film Room Review
ESPN Radio - standard broadcast with Mike Tirico
ESPNews - Voices: This is a bunch of random people watching the game and you can hear them discussing it
ESPNU - Homer Broadcast where former players will be actively rooting for their team
SEC Network - Finebaum Film Room, this is basically the SEC crew watching the game and discussing it
ESPN Classic - Sounds of The Game, this one is the game, but with no broadcasters, only the other sound.
ESPN Goal Line - Command Center, this is a geek's dream. Split screen of the game on one side, and drive charts, replays, and enhanced stats on the other
ESPN 3 Options - via the web you have options too, you can view Pylon Cam the whole time, or you can view it via the Spider Cam as it wanders above the action, you can also just view the Taco Bell cam which will focus on the most intense fans, the student section, band, and cheerleaders.
TWEETS OF THE WEEKEND
Avery Johnson: "I don’t want to see Ulis next year. Go to the pros."
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) January 10, 2016
What's the NCAA violation score in this Syracuse-UNC game?
— Joe Sonka (@joesonka) January 10, 2016
If Landon Young doesn't receive a 5th star after today's domination then in my opinion, Recruiting Services lose all credibility to evaluate
— Freddie Maggard (@FredMaggard) January 9, 2016
YOUR WILDCAT QUICKIES
Check out the highlights of Saturday night's big win, set to Tom Leach calling the action:
UK Commits and All-Americans Landon Young, Kash Daniel, and Drake Jackson contributed to the 37-9 win by the West squad during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and all were impressive in the win. Daniel recorded 3 tackles including one for loss and Young and Jackson more than held their own on the O-Line.
.@JoshHelmholdt says of @Landon_Young_67: "There may not be a better looking prospect on either team." pic.twitter.com/fV3Axnd6gv
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) January 5, 2016
Drake Jackson getting some early praise on broadcast after goal-line TD run for west.
— Jon Hale (@JonHale_CJ) January 9, 2016
Another UK recruit, but of the hardwood variety, showed out over the weekend. Bam Adebayo had 17 points and 19 rebounds plus one absolutely filthy cross over slam.
The January 23rd home game vs.Vanderbilt has been set for 4:00 that day.
The #10 UK Hoops team went down to Georgia and they came across a team looking to win and they were trying to get real hot. So Matthew Mitchell jumped up on a hickory stump and said 'Georgia, lemme tell ya what!' Mitchell and the lady came away victorious in a not so pretty game. The 'Cats won 64-53 without shooting well, but they did live at the Free Throw Line and rebounded very well to win. The 'Cats did have a balanced attack with Makayla Epps leading the way with 13, but Evelyn Akhator and Alexis Jennings both with a double double.
Anti-Cal and Big Blue Nation haters are squeezing all they can get out of UK self-reporting a minor violation. Drake took a picture with Tyler Ulis after one of his concerts in Chicago and of course it is a minor violation according to the NCAA. The truth is it is a joke of a violation and schools do this all the time due to the idiocy of the NCAA.
In the latest edition of 'here we go again', the Brooklyn Nets have fired their coach and reassigned their GM. The Nets CEO wants to offer John Calipari the job as coach and president. I cannot imagine it will be a threat, but this is tiresome to deal with every year.
YOUR NON-UK QUICKIES
The Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks squared off in absolutely miserable conditions yesterday. Below zero temperatures and a bone numbing wind chill. I can only imagine the turf felt like concrete and some fans probably urinated themselves to warm up. So, you can imagine the despair when an all-world Kicker lined up for the 27-yard winning field goal... only to see the laces out and a badly shanked attempt, leading to a loss. Of course the Ace Ventura references and other pop culture memes came fast and furious.
Finkle is Walsh... Walsh is Finkle? pic.twitter.com/a7xtvcs1F8
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) January 10, 2016
Newest Netflix Documentary on Vikings kicker Blair Walsh. pic.twitter.com/erszzBo1Hn
— Dan Worthington (@danWorthington) January 10, 2016
He did it again RT @NFL_Memes: It was only a matter of time.. pic.twitter.com/IRAGIzdOlb
— Kent Spencer (@WHAS11Kent) January 10, 2016
The Green Bay Packers played the Washington Redskins in their opening round of the playoffs. They started slow and got down 11-0 but ended up roaring back outscoring the 'Skins 35-7 to win the game 35-18. UK's very own Randall Cobb was a factor as well by catching one TD and 3 balls for 38 yards.
We all know about the Bengals meltdown on Saturday, and A LOT of people assumed Marvin Lewis would get the ax as a result. Lewis now 0-7 in the playoffs with Cincinnati. Yesterday, sources have said that the Bengals have no plans to make any changes.
DeAndre Hopkins was not a fan of Brian Hoyer during the Texans game Saturday, check out his reaction in a slo-mo lip reading... NSFW Warning.
During that Pittsburgh and Cincinnati game, Martavis Bryant made a ridiculous touchdown catch by pinning ball against his butt and back of his legs, then flipped over to move it to his chest, insane.
There's a reason Martavis Bryant's nickname is "Alien." This somersault TD catch is pure insanity. #PITvsCIN https://t.co/nswMny6nxq
— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2016
Tennessee Vols Football coach Butch Jones fired his defensive coordinator John Jancek recently. A move that was surprising considering the Vols were 36th in the Nation defensively and 15th in the nation in scoring Defense. The firing had more to do with internal strife than results and Jones has possibly upgraded by hiring Bob Shoop away from Penn State.
Lane Kiffin opened up recently and discussed his hopes for a Steve Sarkisian comeback.
The NFL has a new youngest head coach, 37-year old Adam Gase will take over as the head coach for the Miami Dolphins.
The Philadelphia Eagles are going to interview former Super Bowl winner and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. I think that could be a match made in heaven to be honest.
An anonymous coach has came out and said that Wisconsin 'got screwed' in the National Title game. When did Bo Ryan change his name to Anonymous?
Houston Texans former #1 pick Jadaveon Clowney was ruled inactive for yesterday's playoff game and reportedly stormed out of the locker room and left the stadium altogether.
After Bronson Koenig of Wisconsin hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60-60, Maryland's Melo Trimble took the game into his own hands and drilled about a 30 foot three of his own to win the game.
Former receiver Steve Smith Sr dropped a bomb on a Twitter troll asking him how his couch was:
YOUR RANDOM QUICKIES
Nobody won the Powerball this weekend, the estimated prize to win the whole thing is going to be 1.3 BILLION, with a B. The lottery is always an exercise in futility to play, but there is actually a time when it makes mathematical sense to buy a ticket. We have passed that threshold, so go buy a ticket for Wednesday without shame, lol.
Did you happen to have a show you liked and one of the characters were killed off the show mysteriously? Here are 17 instances of them for you to peruse. The most interesting to me was that Family Matters was NEVER supposed to be about Steve Urkel.
Justin Bieber got kicked out of some ancient Mexican ruins when he tried to climb them... he promptly mooned them after he got kicked out.
Netflix is set to debut 'Fuller House' in February with the entire cast returning minus the Olson Twins. Pictures have been released and it is weird to see them all grown up, and Uncle Jesse has not aged a day it seems. I will admit something, I had a big time crush on Candace Cameron when I was a kid.
If you are a Big Bang Theory fan, here is a good read by Mayim Bialik on her character and Sheldon consummating their relationship among other things.
If you have watched 'Making A Murderer', you likely came away with strong feelings about Steven Avery and even stronger feelings about his nephew. I will not spoil it for anyone yet to watch it, but there is going to be another series coming out on the case via Discovery Investigation. It will focus on the stuff that was not included in the Netflix version.
The new Game of Thrones season is set to debut on April 24th.