#2 – 2012 BCS National Championship – 10 Most Important Games of the Saban Era

Welcome back to our edition of throwback Thursday as we countdown the top 10 games of the Nick Saban Era at the University of Alabama. We continue this week with our #2 selection, the 2012 BCS National Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers.

Earlier in the season they played “The Game of the Century” as tens of thousands flocked to Tuscaloosa just to be part of the atmosphere. Celebrities and pas players alike flooded the University with ticket requests as the drama was built- 1 vs. 2 under the lights of Bryant Denny Stadium.

The tension was high throughout the game, neither team wanting to make the first mistake. Neither team found the endzone, either, only exchanging field goals. Then as Alabama missed their opportunity in overtime the Tigers chipped their final chance through the uprights as the stadium fell silent.

You see, there was more than a ranking riding on that game. The April prior a tornado devastated the city, and sports as it often does, becomes the distraction, the lift those who have lost, needed to go forward. However, just as the city marched on after the tornado, as did the Crimson Tide.

And then it happened. Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State, Southern Cal beat Oregon and Baylor beat Oklahoma the following weekend.

Alabama was back in it.

The Crimson Tide got a second chance, but on the Mercedes Benz Dome field they would play second fiddle to no one, dominating the team some thought could be college football’s greatest to the point of not allowing LSU to cross the 50 yard line for 3 and ½ quarters.

As Trent Richardson raced down the sidelines for the game’s final score, the screams rained from the seats, and from those watching on television-part in jubilation from the school’s 14^th national championship, part in release of emotion after the year they had endured.

To many watching at home, it was just a game, but to the Crimson Tide family, and the city of Tuscaloosa it was so much more. Watch and remember below