What We Learned From BCS National Championship Game

Three lessons from Alabama's 37-21 win over Texas.

1. The SEC still rules the college football universe. Make it four straight national championships for the conference as Alabama followed Florida in 2008 and '06 and LSU in '07. It's clearly an unprecedented dynasty, but the insane thing is that the Crimson Tide may just be getting started. Nick Saban will return nine starters on offense next season, including Heisman winner Mark Ingram, quarterback Greg McElroy and wide receiver Julio Jones. The defense does return just three starters in linebacker Dont'a Hightower and safeties Mark Barron and Robby Green, but considering Saban's reputation as a defensive guru and a string of impressive recruiting classes, don't expect much of a dropoff, even with the likes of Rolando McClain moving on to NFL riches.
2. This was a sad ending to Colt McCoy's Texas career. Nobody could have expected McCoy's Longhorns days would have ended like this, with him getting knocked out in the first quarter of the biggest game of his life and having to stand idely by, playing coach to true freshman Garrett Gilbert. We may ultimately remember McCoy for the things he couldn't do and not the fact that he stands as the winningest quarterback in FBS history. It's not McCoy's fault, it's just that fate consorted against him. In his best individual season he was beat out by Sam Bradford the Heisman and he never lived up to the level of his predecessor, Vince Young, in the eyes of Texas, no matter how many wins he racked up. McCoy will go down as the greatest bridesmaid in college football history.
3. The Tide's running game is deeper than Ingram. We all knew about the Heisman winner, who delivered the storied program's first stiff-armed trophy, but Trent Richardson showed there's serious depth at RB in Tuscaloosa. In running for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, Saban clearly has an embarrassment of riches on his hands and arguably the best 1-2 punch at the position next season.