Who are you rooting for (against) in the National Championship?
I have come around on Georgia.
At first I wanted to see them get crushed, after they humiliated us on the national stage in dismissive fashion. Give them a taste of their own medicine. But I've changed my mind for the following 5 reasons:
1) They just got crushed themselves on the national stage in humiliating, dismissive fashion by Alabama. There is no smugness in their fanbase at this juncture.
2) How is what they did to us any different than what we did to Iowa? The much better talent won. What are you going to do? As they say in soccer: "Fair result".
3) By almost all accounts, Georgia fans were friendly and gracious to Michigan fans. And they empathize with us in having a rival that has dominated them that they have struggled futilely to get past.
4) Holy cow, their coaching was phenomenal. They could have gotten by on talent alone, but they did their homework. They knew all of our tendencies. They knew all of our counters to our tendencies. They knew all of our counters to their tendencies. When JJ came in, Kirby Smart yelled from the sidelines to his team to watch for the pop pass off of a QB run, even though we did not show that all year. His staff knew that was a likely counter we might run against a fast pursuing defense like theirs. They were extremely well prepared.
5) Finally, look who they are playing for the championship. It's not like they are playing Slippery Rock. They are playing the evil empire Alabama. Every time Alabama wins a football game, a fluffy bunny gets eaten by a snake. Alabama losing the National Championship after just losing their birthright recruiting title would be kind of delicious. Some Alabama fanbase (and Nick Saban) angst is good for the soul.
So, even though it's not the matchup I wanted, these are indeed the two best teams, and Georgia would make a worthy National Champion.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:30 AM ^
I'm honestly torn and quite frankly won't be watching. That's not a protest or a "I'm better than to watch two sec foes" but for some reason I've found the entire thing so dull unless it's Michigan playing.
I digress...that is not what you asked nor do you care if I'm tuning in. I'm actually leaning towards Alabama and it's not because GA crushed us, it's that I don't want to see a "new" team rise up unless it's michigan. I know...that's an odd way of thinking.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:39 AM ^
I hope you get your wish, but none of us may be alive when it happens.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
One can dream
January 10th, 2022 at 8:13 AM ^
I also won’t be watching. Without a stake in the game I can’t justify watching a Monday night game that’s not kicking off until 8:20ish and won’t finish until after midnight.
So it’s petty hard to even pick a team in this game. I just hope both teams have fun and someone wins 28-24 *shrugs*
January 17th, 2022 at 4:33 AM ^
Agree
January 10th, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
I honestly think Bama post-Saban will be interesting. It’s been a machine because of Saban but without Saban, I wouldn’t say it’s inherently a better job than Georgia, LSU, Texas, OSU (the only program that’s apparently never going to have an extended down period), and maybe even Florida when it comes to recruiting footprint, resources, etc. The pressure on that next coach will be a lot worse than what Ryan Day’s dealing with where he’s beginning to feel some heat after just one 10-2 season in third season. Will be super interesting to see
January 10th, 2022 at 7:35 AM ^
NOBODY!!!
Edit: No ESPN-won't be watching. Usually I root for the team that beats "us"...won't be rooting for GA for reasons along the line given by FlexUM.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:38 AM ^
I'll be rooting for a meteor to hit Lucas Oil Stadium at 8:00 EST.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:43 AM ^
Same here
I just hope that somehow Urban Meyer is at the game too.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:47 AM ^
Shit, if we're taking names . . . I have a list.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:28 AM ^
Looks like that would wipe out most of humanity, which is probably a merciful end compared to what is inevitably coming
January 10th, 2022 at 9:18 AM ^
Ooooh instead of a national championship game thread tonight can we just have a collapse thread?
As a doomer I have lot and lots of thoughts on what's coming next.
Hold onto your butts
And snap into a slim jim
January 10th, 2022 at 8:38 AM ^
Don’t look up
January 10th, 2022 at 9:05 AM ^
I’m still holding out hope that both teams can’t compete and UM is crowned Champion on the strength having scored a TD in their semifinal game while UC did not.
I didn’t say it was realistic, but this the result for which I am cheering.
Side note: I won’t be watching because the result doesn’t effect UM in any meaningful way, so I have no real rooting interest, and therefore would rather sleep than stay up for no reason.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:42 AM ^
I'm rooting for the SEC. Hope they can pull it out. I know it means so much to them.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:47 AM ^
I hear they have a mathematical chance.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
Rooting? Rooting for neither team as I only root for the good guys. But I will watch what is, hopefully, a good game. It's college ball, the last game for too many months.
I think the Dawgs win it but the outcome means nothing to me.
I'm just standing by waiting for "Harbaugh news".
January 10th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
A few thoughts:
- I mostly agree with what the OP wrote about Georgia.
- With all that talent and (at least for the semifinal) good coaching, where have they been the past few years? I would've expected more playoff appearances.
- If Georgia wins, the S-E-C will be able to tout another championship team. An Alabama win wouldn't add to their total. FWIW ...
January 10th, 2022 at 7:52 AM ^
Mark Richt had a lot of Lloyd Carr in him. Too honorable to get his hands dirty and play the "SEC" game.
Not Kirby Smart. They had "Ole Miss" surprise recruiting bonanzas the moment he showed up. Since then, they have been in the playoffs repeatedly.
Kirby Smart was under the table NIL before NIL.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:07 AM ^
I guess it depends on what your definition of repeatedly is. Smart has been at Georgia 6 years and this is their second playoff appearance. The first was after the 2017 season.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:13 AM ^
has anyone said NIL stands for now it's legal? if not, i claim it
January 10th, 2022 at 9:07 AM ^
Brilliant. Use it.
Print screen this post.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:37 AM ^
Mark Richt!? Dude, he hasn't coached Georgia in several years. :) Kirby took over in 2016. I'm Kirby-focused here.
Since Kirby started doing ... whatever Georgia has been doing to yoink guys like Isaiah Wilson, here are their 247 recruiting class rankings. (2022 obviously had no bearing on what happened New Year's Eve but is thrown in for good measure.)
- 2022: 3rd
- 2021: 4th (Hello, Brock Bowers. Remember him?)
- 2020: 1st
- 2019: 2nd
- 2018: 1st
- 2017: 3rd
- 2016: 6th (Kirby arrives around here.)
- 2015: 6th
- 2014: 8th
- 2013: 12th
Here are Georgia's CFP appearances prior to this year: 2017 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Football_Playoff ) Respectfully, an additional appearance in 2021 doesn't quite meet standards for "repeatedly." I'm suggesting that they've underperformed a little bit the past few years.
January 10th, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
Didn't Georgia under Richt take the "Fulmer title" one year (most arrests during the off season)?
Never saw him as especially honorable.
I am pulling for Georgia based on a concern that Cincy might be voted 3rd ahead of us if Alabama wins and I do want to finish 3rd.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
When they had Bama leapfrog us to avoid an SEC rematch I decided I wouldn't watch if the championship game was a rematch. So mehhhhhh.
January 10th, 2022 at 9:44 AM ^
They avoided an SEC rematch in the semifinals to smash head on into an SEC rematch in the final. Dumb.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:49 AM ^
Definitely rooting for Georgia. First because who wants to see another Bama championship? Second, because if we have to lose, I’d rather have lost to the eventual champs. Third, because Georgia is a pretty likable team and fanbase - even while they were killing us I wasn’t feeling hate for any of their players. Nothing dirty, no over the top taunting, etc. - they were just clearly the better team. Easy for me to root for them.
I will say this - the one reason to root for Bama would be that it’s the better story to fight against the SEC narrative. Whenever a team other than Bama wins from the SEC, that helps their argument of overall SEC superiority vs it just being Bama that is dominant. That being said, I’m still rooting for Georgia based on the three things I mentioned above.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:04 AM ^
Yeah, if there was a non-SEC option I would definitely root for it.
And "root" is too strong a word here. It's more a matter of preferring to see one less bad outcome over the other more evil one.
And who am I kidding anyway? I'll probably fall asleep during the commercials in the 4th quarter. I did this during the Ohio State - Miami National Championship game after a long day of work, but I did wake up in time to see the fraud PI that decided the game. Should have stayed asleep.
January 10th, 2022 at 2:57 PM ^
because if we have to lose, I’d rather have lost to the eventual champs.
I looked up how many times Michigan has lost to the eventual national champion, using this wikipedia page as my records source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS
By my counting, Michigan has lost to an eventual NC listed above in 39 seasons.
In 9 of those seasons, Michigan's loss to the eventual NC was in its last game of the season. In five other seasons, Michigan's only loss was to the eventual national champion.
January 10th, 2022 at 3:49 PM ^
Recent basketball looks a lot like this too.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:57 AM ^
I’d prefer Alabama. I hate post-season rematches in college football. They won against Georgia a month ago in a championship game. They shouldn’t need to prove it again.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:58 AM ^
This. Plus, what the SEC/ESPN alliance wants -- others have noted this -- is for the championship to be passed around inside the SEC bubble. An Alabama win is the opposite of this. An Alabama win produces a collective yawn. "Oh, Alabama again? Big effin' deal."
Therefore, whatever is against the interests of the SEC/ESPN alliance, I'm for.
January 10th, 2022 at 7:59 AM ^
I just hope that this is the lowest watched game per network ratings. I will not be watching. I don't want to see a SEC vs SEC. I hope Georgia wins just for the fact that they didn't win their conference and are playing their conference winner.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:16 AM ^
When Alabama played LSU in the national championship in an SEC rematch, the ratings were so bad that they came up with the CFP to mitigate it from happening again.
But here we are again. We'll see what the ratings will do. I don't think they will be great.
January 10th, 2022 at 12:47 PM ^
I bet the ratings will be in the crapper.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:00 AM ^
Not interested this game was already played a month ago
January 10th, 2022 at 8:02 AM ^
Neither
January 10th, 2022 at 8:05 AM ^
I came into this thread rooting for the meteor. But M-Dog made some salient points in favor of Georgia. I dislike UGA because of Kirby Smart - I have no doubts whatsoever that he was paying 'croots under the table way more than Hugh Freeze ever did at Ole Miss. He did it smarter, though - no pun intended.
So, after the OP, I'll root for neither team, but also not for the meteor. Not sure if I'll watch the game, although I'll turn it on to check scores throughout. Will probably end up watching a fair amount of the second half, especially if its close. Maybe they'll show more of the Georgia cheerleaders? Although college cheerleaders are looking a little young, these days... Getting old sucks!
January 10th, 2022 at 8:09 AM ^
Wow, I saved some lives today.
My work is done, I'm going back to bed.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:46 AM ^
I am sure Georgia was paying croots before Kirby.
January 10th, 2022 at 9:01 AM ^
The general consensus is that Richt kept his hands fairly clean. They certainly weren't the crootin' juggernaut they are now! Even back then, I felt he ran Georgia a lot like Michigan - some benefits were set up on the side (car dealerships and whatnot), but nothing like a coordinated booster payment program that I have no doubt that Smart setup on Day 1. I mean, Jeremy Pruitt also started getting high end 'croots at Tennessee on Day 1 (but he's not as good a coach as Smart).
Both Smart and Pruitt came from the Saban school of football management. Just saying...
January 10th, 2022 at 9:13 AM ^
Yes, they learned what to do at Alabama. And Jimbo Fisher as well.
C'mon Gattis, help us out.
January 10th, 2022 at 12:05 PM ^
Yeah, about those cheerleaders? They get younger every year, but one can always admire fine examples of physical excellence. Looking is fine but you just know that the conversation would be awkward as hell. Think Hey Nineteen from Steely Dan's Gaucho. BTW, that album is now more than 40 years old. And yes, even Aretha is now dead.
Aging, I have found, requires a very dry sense of humor, without which you're just a grumpy old phuck. Also, aging beats the alternative so there's that positive thought for us...
January 10th, 2022 at 8:13 AM ^
I will be honest - my motivation to even bother to tune in is not high at all. As a consequence of that, I don't particularly care who wins this game. I may have it on in the background as work on putting together some items (we are in the preliminary stages of a partial remodel), but beyond that, I plan to focus on other things this evening.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:14 AM ^
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:15 AM ^
I’m rooting for really bad ratings; whatever might incentivize NCAA to do more about the hyper-concentrated disparity & only top-2 to -4 matter that is ruining CFB for rest of us
January 10th, 2022 at 8:17 AM ^
Soooo done w Bama. Let's go Dawgs
January 10th, 2022 at 8:19 AM ^
I'm happy with the season as is and will find something else to do tonight.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:21 AM ^
I won't be watching because I'm not interested in either team. I suspect ratings will be down for what it's worth.
January 10th, 2022 at 8:23 AM ^
Is that today?