Washington could be the toughest test for Alabama’s defense

Congratulations Chris Petersen. “I can’t say enough about our team, Petersen told ESPN”. The other finished with Alabama hoisting the trophy last January. Chalk is not very compelling. The Buckeyes nearly certainly get left out of the CFP if we replace their 21-point road win over Oklahoma with a 60-point home win over Florida A&M. The Belk Bowl is a lower-tier postseason contest that will host two teams with mediocre records. In each area, the Huskies match up better with Alabama than one might expect.

The 103rd edition of the Granddaddy of Them All will match two venerable football programs that have emerged from bad times since their last trip to this postseason showcase.

Yet all anyone was talking about Sunday was the battle between No. 4 Washington, No. 5 Penn State and No. 6 MI for the final semifinal spot.

Petersen was even more pronounced in his praise of Alabama. Whatever we were dealt we deal with it and we do a great job and move forward. And perhaps most tellingly, NFL teams drafted 48 Bama players during that stretch; for comparison, a comparatively meager 13 Husky alums heard their names called at the NFL Draft throughout that span.

Petersen, the former Boise State coach in his third season with Washington, has never faced Saban and said he does not know him well. “And I mean that”, Petersen said.

“I do know that we did it better one year than we did it the other”, Saban said. “Looks like they play tremendous defense, so I don’t think there is anybody that you can play at this point in the season in the playoffs that wouldn’t be an outstanding football team”.

“I think it’s hard to carry the momentum from the end of the season to the game, (so) I think it’s nearly like a new season, and you nearly have to sort of approach it that way, or at least that’s what we’ve tried to do”, Saban said. “They always play a lot earlier than us”.

Seeing how Vanderbilt’s Zach Cunningham blocked Lou Groza finalist Daniel Carlson’s field goal attempt at Auburn by leaping over the line makes you wonder if Washington will spend a decent amount of time on that before facing Alabama. But in the course of winning the final three games of the 2015 season were sewn the seeds of success that blossomed this year; not that Petersen ever acknowledged that the preseason hype – since justified tenfold – was anything more than that unwelcome noise. “Maybe they’ll scrimmage us to get us ready for (Alabama)”.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be careful what you wish for”, Petersen told ESPN, laughing. “I didn’t hold up that sign”.

Alabama: Seeking a second straight national title and fifth in eight years.

“We’ll prepare hard, and fortunately the Seahawks are here in town”.

Despite having a nonconference schedule ranked 127 out of 128, Pac-12 champion Washington earned its way into the College Football Playoff championship.

Alabama so dominated the Southeastern Conference and the Football Bowl Subdivision as a whole that the Crimson Tide are almost the overwhelming favorite to repeat as national champions. “I don’t think anybody would dispute that”.