Alabama 31 - 45 Oklahoma (Final)

Alabama got the ball on its own 11 yard line with about a minute to go and a chance to win the game.  But once again, the Crimson Tide line could not protect McCarron.  He was sacked, he fumbled the ball, and Oklahoma scooped it up for another touchdown.  So in the end, the Sooner fans had a pretty easy time of it tonight.

Oklahoma fans have suffered a lot of disappointment since they won the National Championship after the 2000 season.  In the 2003 season, they lost the Sugar Bowl -- and the National Championship -- to LSU.  In the 2004 season, they lost the Orange Bowl -- and the National Championship -- to USC.  In the 2008 season, they lost the National Championship to Florida.  Along the line, they also lost a Fiesta Bowl to Boise State, they had to watch Texas win the National Title in the 2005 season, and they had to watch the SEC win seven national championships in a row.  These are hard tidings for a proud and noble fan base that believes, in its heart of hearts, that it has the best college football program in the country.

This has not been a banner year by OU standards.  The Sooners were blown out by Texas, and they lost the Big XII title to Baylor.  But they rallied in the last game of the season for a huge win against Oklahoma State, and that gave them a chance to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  The Crimson Tide won national titles in the 2009, 2011, and 2012 seasons.  Their fans have led the charge of SEC fans who insist their conference plays the best football.  In other words, Alabama was where Oklahoma thinks it should be.

So this Sugar Bowl was a glorious opportunity for the Sooners to re-assert themselves, and to regain what they regard as their rightful place in the pecking order of college football.  To add insult to injury, Alabama was installed as a 17-point favorite.  But Oklahoma made the oddsmakers look foolish, as they dominated Alabama -- humiliating the Tide on both sides of the ball and leaving their fans with no alternative but to admit that Oklahoma was the better team.

Alabama fans will have many reasons to complain about the performance of their heroes tonight.  They will claim that the team wasn't motivated -- that the heartbreaking loss to Auburn took the wind out of their sails -- that their coaches foolishly got away from the running game that was Alabama's only advantage.  But if they are fair, the Alabama fans will admit that their team committed the unforgivable sin of Southern football -- they didn't play with as much intensity, passion, and intelligence as their opponents.  And, as a result, they will not be taking the Unofficial College Football Championship back to Tuscaloosa.  Instead, their all-time record in UCFC games falls to 29-14 -- and their record against OU falls to 1-3-1.

As for the Sooners, they have imitated Baylor's performance from last year -- taking the UCFC late in the season and then keeping it with a thumping bowl victory over a big-name opponent.  The Sooners' UCFC record improves to 28-16-1, and Sooner fans can enjoy seeing this page in their colors for a long time to come.  We will have to wait to see if Oklahoma can keep the title as long as Baylor did.  In the meantime, we honor them for one of the best Sugar Bowl performances we have ever seen.

The Sooners will open the 2014 season on August 30 in Norman against Louisiana Tech.  If the Good Lord is willing and the creeks don't rise, we will be watching.