Notre Dame & Alabama: a side-by-side analysis

BCS match-up: facts, stats, point spread

Side-by-Side Comparison

-Even though ND is ranked 1 ( and undefeated)- they are 10 pt underdogs vs #2 Alabama

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-No. 1 Notre Dame allows 10.3 points per game, best in the nation. No. 2 Alabama allows 10.7

-The Crimson Tide have 43 players from Alabama and just one west of the Rockies. The Irish, meanwhile, have players from 27 states, but only 10 from Indiana.

-From 1926-1969, Notre Dame did not play in a bowl game, citing an emphasis on academics. From 1926-1969, Alabama played in 23 bowl games and won 12.

-A Notre Dame win would break the SEC's six-year reign on the BCS championship.

Alabama Facts:

-The Tide has won two of the last three national titles

-It is said that Alabama's Million Dollar Band got its name when someone in the press box said "your football is not very good, but your band is worth a million bucks."

-Former coach Bear Bryant never really liked the elephant as a mascot. He thought they were slow and stupid. Because of this, it wasn't officially recognized as a mascot until 1978.

-Bear Bryant once said he'd "croak in a week" if he ever quit coaching. He died 27 days after his last game.

-The Crimson Tide was originally referred to as "The Thin Red Line," back when the University began its football program in 1892.

-Two years ago, Alabama fan Harvey Updyke — who named one child Crimson Tyde, another Bear (after Bryant) and his dog Nick (after Nick Saban) — poisoned sacred trees on Auburn's campus as a means of injuring 'Bama's chief rival.

 

Notre Dame facts:

-Notre Dame has participated in nine "#1 vs #2" match-ups since the AP poll began in 1936

-ND has 11 claimed national titles, but has not won a BCS national title since 1988

-Notre Dame played it's first season in 1887

-23.9-karat gold flakes are used to cover player's helmets.

-After the outcome of any game has long been decided --players and students participate in the singing of the "Alma Mater." Win or lose, a game is not finished until the players approach the student section, link arms, and sing "Notre Dame, Our Mother."

-Since 1931, the Fighting Irish have entered the field from the North Tunnel to the adulation of fans and ready for victory.

-Each football Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., fans are invited to walk through the North Tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium --