Alabama v. Washington (Peach Bowl)

Alabama and Washington have played only four times in history, with the Tide winning all four.  But the first time they played, on January 1, 1926, is probably the most important football game in the history of the South.  Alabama was the first Southern team to be invited to the Rose Bowl, and of course this was the first bowl game Alabama had ever played in.  The game took place only 61 years after the end of the Civil War, and during those six years Southerners had known countless humiliations.  They were generally poorer than people in the rest of the country, they had very little political power, they were generally less educated, and they were constantly mocked and ridiculed for their "backwardness" by the likes of H.L. Mencken.  So when an Alabama team had a chance to take on a Washington team that was the best team on the West Coast, Southern fans were excited about the chance to see how their boys would do up against the rest of the nation.

At the half, however, it didn't look so good for the Tide -- they trailed 12 to 0.  According to legend, Alabama Coach Wallace Wade merely told his players at the half that "they told me boys from the South would fight."  Inspired by such rhetoric, the Tide jumped all over Washington in the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns and taking a 20-12 lead.  Then they hung on for fifteen more minutes, winning the game 20 to 19.  For the first time since 1864, Southerners had beaten the rest of the country at something.  Alabama's star player, Johnny Mack Brown, went on to become a movie star.  Alabama was awarded its first mythical national title.  And the South, which had already begun to love football, became obsessed with it in a way that can still be felt to this day.  In a very real sense, all the drama and glory of SEC football -- everything that seems like such a permanent aspect of Southern culture -- can be traced back to this one critical football game.

Today, of course, the shoe is on the other foot.  No team from the West Coast has won the national title since USC turned the trick in 2004.  During that period, SEC teams won it all in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.  Alabama has four of those titles itself.  Vegas has Alabama as a 13-point favorite in a game where 51 points are expected.  That would be a 32-19 win for the Tide.  But we will see.  West Coast football is usually very good, and I think one of the main reasons West Coast teams haven't won any recent titles is that their talent is spread among so many good schools.  I think this will be quite a game.