STARKVILLE, Miss. -- I've now sat here at Scott Field, in this exact same seat, and watched both No. 1 Florida (in the BCS) and No. 2 Alabama (in the BCS) beat Mississippi State in different but similarly solid ways in a span of three weeks. Here's what I've learned:
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| Nick Saban's Tide must get through the Gators to be No. 1. (AP) |
2. Florida is awesome defensively.
3. Alabama is awesome defensively.
4. We're headed for an evenly matched/low-scoring SEC Championship Game.
That's the biggest development from Saturday night -- not that the Crimson Tide cruised to a 31-3 win that was never in question, but that the win pushed them to 10-0 and thus kept Nick Saban's team on track for a national championship-elimination game with Florida, which also improved to 10-0 Saturday courtesy of a 24-14 victory over South Carolina. Both Florida and Alabama will be heavy favorites in their final two tests; Florida gets FIU and Florida State while Alabama gets Tennessee-Chattanooga and Auburn. Assuming neither slips -- and at this point, why would they? -- we'll have the biggest SEC Championship Game in the history of SEC Championship Games on Dec. 5.
So, coach Mullen, who wins it?
"It should be a great game," Mullen answered, declining to pick a winner. "I guess we'll find out."
Indeed, we will. But with the drama all but sucked from this regular season -- yes, I've been over that before -- the only thing left is to work ourselves into a frenzy about what's to come, which is why I approached the postgame press conferences with a clear purpose. I didn't care that Mississippi State remained tied with Alabama into the second quarter, wasn't interested in whether the Bulldogs' Chad Bumphis really stepped out of bounds on that kickoff return. Old and irrelevant news, all of it, far as I was concerned. My only desire was to look ahead. So that's what I did, but only after I scanned the schedules to learn that Florida and Alabama now have six common opponents -- specifically South Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State -- and insanely similar average scores against them.
• Alabama 31, Mississippi State 3
Check it out:
Florida is 6-0 against the aforementioned teams.
Obviously, Alabama is too.
But would you believe the average scores of the games against those common opponents are within a field goal of each other? It's true. Florida's average score in those six games is 25.5 to 12.7 while Alabama's average score in those six games is 26.6 to 10.2. So Alabama has scored a little more (an average of 1.1 more points against common opponents) and allowed slightly fewer points (an average of 2.5 fewer points against common opponents), but it's still remarkably close.
So, MSU defensive back Jamar Chaney, who wins the SEC Championship Game?
"They're both pretty good teams; I don't know who will win," Chaney answered. "It depends on whose day it is. Both of them got good defenses, both of them got solid offenses. ... You never know."
Thanks for nothing, Jamar.
You never know?
You sound like your coach.
Anthony Dixon, it's on you.
Help, please.
Who wins?
"Alabama was good, Florida was good," Dixon answered after running for 81 yards against the Crimson Tide. "I don't know."
Come on, Anthony.
Pick a winner.
For the sake of the column, please pick a winner.
"I don't know," Dixon said with a smile. "I guess Florida."
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