Florida Gators-Sooners matcup set for BCS title gameb

After his team blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost to Florida in the SEC championship game, Alabama coach Nick Saban said the Tide were “the only team that plays in a real BCS conference that went 12-0.”

He’ll face one of the teams he unintentionally slighted in New Orleans on Jan. 2.

Alabama’s consolation prize following last Saturday’s loss is a berth in the Sugar Bowl and a matchup against undefeated Utah, coached by Urban Meyer protégé Kyle Whittingham. Meyer’s Gators, 31-20 winners over Alabama in the SEC title game, will play Oklahoma in the national championship game. The Sooners are the first team to score 60 points or more in five straight games since 1919. Florida’s average score since losing to Ole Miss is 50-13.

Like Florida and Oklahoma, Alabama has just one loss. But the Tide lost their game at the end of the season, so they’ll settle for playing the Mountain West Conference champions. Whittingham, Meyer’s defensive coordinator during his stint at Utah, said he was going to call the Florida coach on his way home from the office Sunday night. And he’s not troubled by Saban’s post-game remark.

“We don’t let it bother us,” Whittingham said. “Our mantra this year is that we worry about what we can control, and that’s go out and play the best football we can week in and week out. Our fate was in the hands of the voters. We didn’t mention BCS not one time all season long. We’re used to this situation. And Coach Saban is an icon in college football. He’s as good as there is.”

Saban said he was not watched Utah play this season, but he’ll recognize the offense. Whittingham kept the spread offense when Meyer left for Florida and the Utes are still scoring in bunches, racking up 111 points in their last two games.

“Utah beat Michigan on the road, they beat Oregon State and Oregon State beat Southern Cal,” Saban said. “Wyoming beat Tennessee and Utah beat Wyoming. This is a really, really good football team. They may not have the marquee name, but they certainly have an outstanding team.”

Little controversy accompanied Sunday’s selections for the BCS title game. Oklahoma and Florida dominated the final half of the season, terrorizing defenses and sending opposing fans home early. The game might feature two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks if Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford claims the award over Florida’s Tim Tebow.

Texas protested last week when it didn’t get a chance to play for the Big 12 title, but the usual bickering subsided by Sunday’s announcement.

“One of the interesting aspects of where we are, looking at the standings, is that Florida and Oklahoma are one or two in the Harris poll, coaches’ poll and even the AP poll, which is not used in the BCS standings,” BCS chairman John Swofford said. “You have a consistency there with the human polls on those same two teams.

“This is a terrific culmination of what has been a very, very intriguing regular season.”

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is the former defensive coordinator at Florida and was once thought to be the replacement for Steve Spurrier. Stoops declined, Ron Zook got the job and now Meyer is leading Florida to its second national championship game berth in three years.

An angle involving former defensive coordinators is also at play in the Alabama-Utah game, since Meyer’s former defensive coordinator is now the coach.

“Kyle and I are very close,” Meyer said. “We talk weekly. He’s one of the best coaches in college football. The difference between Utah and Alabama are not the first-team players. It’s the depth. If Utah can stay healthy and get guys ready to go, I think it’ll be a very competitive game. Those are two strong defenses playing, and I look forward to watching it.”