The Crimson Tide unspectacularly crushed Notre Dame in the college football championship, but at least we learned a few things along the way.
Suppose you sit down for what's supposed to be a classic battle between Alabama and Notre Dame. Instead it's a massive blowout. All of a sudden, watching the premiere of The Bachelor on another channel might not seem like such a bad idea. At least Sean Lowe had a chance of scoring. Notre Dame was down 28-0 at halftime, and eventually blown out 42-14—the second-largest margin of victory ever in a BCS title game. Here's what anyone who avoided reaching for their remote control last night learned.
1. Alabama head coach Nick Saban might be the best college football coach ever.
Publicly, at least, he seems joyless, often described as "not happy" even after big wins. When he jokes with reporters, it's forced and sarcastic. If not quite sleazy, Saban has slithered a time or two in his career.
But he also just won his second straight BCS trophy and third in four years, with a good chance to make it three consecutive next season. Throw in the title he won at LSU—and forget his weak record in the NFL—and Saban has just jumped up a class. Like him or not, he has gone from being one of his era's best to the king. He has also at least entered the conversation for best of all-time, along with legends like Tom Osborne, Knute Rockne, Fielding Yost, and Alabama's own Bear Bryant.