ESPN brought out a stellar cast of color commentators for the final BCS Championship Game on January 6th in Pasadena.
Tim Tebow got an excellent kick start to his upcoming broadcasting career with the new SEC Network when he sat in with Lee Corso and the ESPN College GameDay team for a bit of color commentary before kickoff of the BCS Championship game between the Seminoles of Florida State and the Tigers of Auburn.
Tebow also managed to predict the winner and final score of the championship game within one point. If broadcasting doesn’t work out for him he could try his hand at handicapping.
Nick Saban would have preferred to be down on the field getting ready to play for the national championship, but, the Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach lent significant weight to the panel of commentators and his halftime critic was concise and cut right to the quick.
Johnny Manziel continued to impress making an appearance with the professional sports commentators and sounding very much at home behind the microphone. As Manziel was leaving the stage Nick Saban commented that, in his forty years of coaching, Johnny Manziel was one of the fiercest competitors he has ever faced. High praise from one of the finest and most competitive coaches working in NCAA athletics today.
The stage was set in Pasadena with perfect weather and a sellout crowd with all the pomp and pageantry associated with the Rose Bowl and the BCS Title game.
Florida State went into the game as 10 points favorites on the shoulders of Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and Head Coach Jimbo Fisher.
Auburn beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl and went on the win the SEC Championship by defeating Missouri 59-42. Speculation abounds about the amount of luck involved in the Tigers victory over Alabama but Auburns season stats cannot be denied. Their only loss on the year came at the hands of SEC rival LSU back on September 21.
Although most of the publicity went to Jameis Winston, Auburn quarterback Nick Marshal and stellar running back Tre Mason were warming up on the field thinking ‘upset’. Marshall has been impressive all season long and Tre Mason on stage in New York with Winston as a Heisman Trophy nominee.
So, after 16 years of existence, the final BCS Championship game got underway between the number one ranked Florida State Seminoles and the number two ranked Auburn Tigers and although the BCS setup has been much maligned throughout its history, it’s final game was set up to be a doozy… and it was!
