MADELEINE BRAND, Host:
Hi, John.
JOHN FEINSTEIN: Good morning, Madeleine. How are you?
BRAND: Fine, thank you. Well, both of these teams are 13-0 coming into this game. And so do you have any predictions? Can you look into your crystal ball and tell us who you think is going to win?
FEINSTEIN: I know Texas fans are pointing to the upset that they pulled over Southern Cal in the championship game four years ago. And there's no doubt that that was a huge upset, and they won the national championship. But I would be very surprised if Nick Saban, Alabama's coach, lets this opportunity get away when he's got such a good team.
BRAND: This game, though, is not without its critics or its controversy. And why is that? What is so controversial about it?
FEINSTEIN: And yet those three teams had no chance to compete for the BCS national title. In every other sport, if you're undefeated, you keep playing until someone beats you. Only in college football at this level does that not occur.
BRAND: Now, I understand that the voters in at least one of the polls are not required to vote for tonight's winner.
FEINSTEIN: Defenders of the system will say, well, Alabama and Texas play in tougher conferences. Maybe, maybe not. But unless the teams play on the field, who among us knows who would win? So I think as a protest and out of respect for what Boise State accomplished this year, vote for Boise State. Make them the national champions in at least one poll.
BRAND: Well, let's talk about the coaches in tonight's game. Tell us about them.
FEINSTEIN: Very accomplished coaches. As I said, Nick Saban won a national championship while coaching at LSU. Mack Brown won that title, I mentioned, four years ago at Texas. Each is trying to become a two-time national champion, which is very rare in a coach's career. Pretty much guarantees you a spot in the hall of fame. And neither one of them's particularly old. They're both relatively young men, not like Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, who are both over 80. And I think they'll be in coaching for a long time and will have many other opportunities to win this title.
BRAND: You, John, watched every single bowl game, 33 of them.
FEINSTEIN: There were some wonderful games. Navy played superbly in beating a team from the Big 12, the same conference as Texas, Missouri. Air Force won, beating Houston. And there were some unbelievably endings. It's a great time of year for college football. I just wish we could end it with a definitive national champion.
BRAND: Thank you, John.
FEINSTEIN: Thanks, Madeleine.
BRAND: Comments of John Feinstein. He's the author of, "A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy." His blog can be found at Feinsteinonthebrink.com.
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