Championship Saturday

What a Saturday this is going to be!

The Auburn Tigers and Oregon Ducks face their final tests, before the bowl season starts! Both teams are a joy to watch, explosive offences that play in permanent hurry-up mode. Both teams have a tendency to fall behind, and then explode in the 2nd half, coming back from large deficits....if they both win, they'll play each other in the BCS championship game! I'm crossing my fingers for such an event - I think it would be spectacular!

Cam Newton plays for Auburn, and is the clear cut Heisman favourite....he can run over defenders, or run past them, and he has a lethal throwing arm, too. And although the Tiger secondary gives up big plays, the front seven is solid, led by a dominant Nick Fairley that creates havoc on opposing offences. They have gone undefeated in the toughest conference in NCAA football, and need one more victory in the SEC championship against the ever-improving and SEC East champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

LaMichael James and Darron Thomas lead the Oregon Duck offence, which averages about 50 points per game! The zone-read offence is really tuned as well as it can be at Oregon, and Jeff Maehl is a solid, reliable and underrated receiver that puts up big years on play-action, when defences sell-out to stop the running plays of the Ducks. Their hurdle is their in-state long rival: the Oregon St. Beavers in the Civil War. Although the Beavers have had a disappointing season, they always show up for the Civil War, and have a history of being giant-killers....

So....here are my predictions (I hope they're not a jinx)....I think both the Tigers and Ducks will prevail, but the games will be very close:

The Civil War: Ducks 48 - Beavers 38

SEC Championship: Tigers 34 - Gamecocks 28