College Football: Chaos Saturday, One Year Later

I was talking with one of our interns earlier this week when she told me that after the Alabama football team lost to Texas A&M she canceled her hotel reservation in Miami.  While it will be tough to get to the national championship from the back seat, at least Alabama is still in the car.

I pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of each team’s schedule and pointed out the realistic games the top three teams:Kansas State, Oregon, and Notre Dame could lose. I brought up the fact that last year Alabama was in the same boat, then one crazy weekend late in November shook up the college football world.

Come to think about it; this weekend will mark the one year anniversary of Chaos Saturday.

Looking back on that weekend optimism was minimal.  I remembered catching the tail end of the first half in the Oklahoma State-Iowa State game. “Its over” I uttered to myself as I turned off the game. But it wasn't over.

In fact, the Cowboys were in the midst of an enormous collapse, eventually falling in overtime. The spark of hope was starting to ignite into the blaze of chaos that was only yet to come.

The next night Lane Kiffin turned into Bill Walsh picking apart the Oregon Ducks with one perfect play call after another, holding on in the waning moments.  Then the legend of RG3 added another chapter as Baylor came from behind to upset Oklahoma in the final minute of the game; Robert Griffin III connected on a deep ball usually reserved for the Madden video game franchise.

Celebrations not only went on in Waco,Texas(lets face it the likelihood of anyone getting too excited about a college football game in southern California is minimal), but in Tuscaloosa as well. The belief was back.

I soon learned that weekend when it comes to college football, I am not as smart as I think I am. As Alabama head coach Nick Saban once said: “the only thing predictable about college football is that it is unpredictable.”

Truer words have never been spoken; don't cancel those reservations just yet.