The BCS Championship Game is one of the premier events every year, pitting two of the top teams in the country against each other. It is held at the end of the season, with the winner earning the right to call themselves the best in the country. In the 2016 edition, two of the powerhouse SEC football teams will meet when No. 1-ranked Alabama takes on No. 4-ranked Michigan State. While it may be an underdog story in some circles, the Crimson Tide are not quite as bad as many make them out to be.
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The victor in the 2016 edition of the BCS Championship Game will be the team that performs the best over the course of the entire season. Since the BCS Championship Game started in 2014, Alabama is 38-9 in non-conference action and 23-13 in conference play. In that time, they have also racked up an impeccable record of 8-0 against the spread. Their two losses came against Florida in 2015 and Ole Miss last year. In conference play, they have not lost a game since 2014.
Michigan State is the defending champion, having defeated Notre Dame in last year’s title game. However, the Spartans are hungry for a win after losing to rival Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game. Since that matchup, they’ve gone on a roll, winning their last five games by an average of 22.2 points per game. Like Alabama, they are also an expert at winning against the spread as they go 6-0 in those contests. Their two losses came at the hands of Big Ten runner-up Ohio State and ACC champion Clemson. In conference play, Michigan State is 15-1 and have not lost a game since 2015.
Both of these teams are in the top five of nearly every statistical category, so it will be no easy task for the other 31 teams to win just one game and earn a spot in the 2017 BCS Championship Game. While it is still very early in the season, these games are already shaping up to be classics. Michigan State is one of the favorites in this year’s championship game, and it’s not hard to see why. If they want to make the most of their season and become the best in the country again, they’ll need to keep playing the way they’ve been playing.