Adams: Styles collide in SEC championship game

ATLANTA — Roy Kramer should be smiling as big as anyone today. In his grandest vision of divisional play and a conference championship game, this is what the former SEC commissioner must have imagined.

You don’t just have the two best teams in the SEC. You have the two highest ranked teams in college football.

You also have the toughest ticket in Georgia Dome history.

You want a good ticket at a reasonable price? Go to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

You want to see Alabama vs. Florida? Mortgage your house and apply for a government bailout.

You can hear a lot of “Got tickets?” in downtown Atlanta. But if you think you see someone holding up two tickets this afternoon, call a cab. You don’t need to be driving.

Some Alabama fans are treating this game like a NASCAR race. They began arriving early in the week.

Fans even arrived two hours early for Friday’s noon luncheon, featuring both team’s coaches, at a Hyatt Regency ballroom. Never mind that they already had tickets. They were positioning themselves for the best seats when the doors opened.

This is SEC football at its most passionate, but the interest isn’t just regional. It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the country. The winner will advance to the national championship game.

Not since the league went to divisional play has a championship game been so appealing. And it’s not only about rankings. It’s also about contrast.

Alabama allows the fewest points in the SEC. Florida scores the most.

Alabama’s offense grinds you down and runs the clock. Florida’s offense is a blur.

Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson has never made All-SEC. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow already has won the Heisman Trophy.

Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody is the hardest guy in the SEC to move. Tebow is the hardest guy to stop.

A trimmed-down Cody weighs about 360. Florida running backs Chris Rainey and Jeffrey Demps weigh about 360 combined.

Alabama is all about power. Florida is all about speed.

The team’s contrasting styles might get your attention. But the coaches have plenty in common.

Florida coach Urban Meyer and Alabama coach Nick Saban are not only two of the best coaches in college football; they’re two of the hardest working.

Saban’s idea of a good night’s sleep is a normal person’s nap. If Meyer’s plane were going down, he probably would spend his final seconds diagramming a punt-block scheme.

There’s a toughness and singled-mindedness about both guys.

Meyer reminds me of my platoon drill sergeant in basic training. Saban reminds me of my platoon sergeant after a fellow squad member dropped his M-16 on the pavement.

They both have a great knack for connecting with their players in the heat of battle. Meyer does it with a stare that would make Pat Summit proud. Saban throws the best sideline tirade in college football.

They’re also accomplished actors. How else could they have made it through 30-minute interview sessions with the media Friday afternoon?

Give the Oscar to Saban. He managed to freeze a smile for the photo shoot and thanked the media for acknowledging the accomplishments of his players. And all the while, he was probably wondering how he would take away the A gap from Florida’s speedy running backs.

Even good actors have their limitations. You don’t ask Eastwood to do Shakespeare, and you don’t ask Meyer a non-game-related question the day before the SEC championship game.

He waved off the question with a “not-24-hours-before-Alabama-Florida” explanation. But he did it with a slight smile.

Smiles will be hard to come by on the sidelines this afternoon. For Meyer and Saban, this is a day for staring and screaming.

The rest of the SEC can provide the smiles.

Florida 30, Alabama 24: Saban probably started scheming for this matchup a month ago. And surely, his defense will take away something from an offense that has embarrassed the rest of the league. But Florida can hunker down on defense, too.

And its special teams have outperformed Alabama’s all season long. That shouldn’t change this afternoon.

Top 25: Oklahoma 58, Missouri 34; Southern Cal 42, UCLA 0; Cincinnati 34, Hawaii 17; Boston College 23, Virginia Tech 20; Pittsburgh 24, UConn 23.

Record: 214-60 (.771) overall, 131-115 (.533) against the spread.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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