What will the Florida St vs Ohio St National Championship game line be?

This Alabama team is better than the 2012 team in almost every facet of the game except offensive line and pass coverage.  To say that they aren't nearly as good because they had a lot of close conference games is completely without merit.

In 2012 Mississippi, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Auburn were terrible.  Auburn was 3 & 9 on the season and 0 & 8 in the conference.  Now 3 out of 4 of those teams are top-10 caliber, and the remaining three 3 teams in the division are top 25-caliber teams.

To assert that Ohio State's schedule (who played in probably the weakest major conference in college football history) is on par with Alabama's schedule (who played in what many pundits described as the greatest division in college football history) is so patently absurd I can't believe I'm taking the time to type out a response.  Ohio State played one good team the entire season - Michigan State - and Michigan State would battle Arkansas for last place in the SEC West.  The only two teams Michigan State would have much of a shot of beating in the SEC West is Texas A&M and Arkansas.

I suppose we could really stretch credulity and call Cincinnati and Wisconsin "good teams," but neither team would beat anyone in the SEC West.

Despite Ohio State's completely laughable schedule, I do agree that they are better than the 2012 Notre Dame team, but because of the vast disparity in schedules, Ohio State will still experience the same culture shock that Notre Dame did in 2012.  Alabama has faced 3 or 4 teams that are as good or better than Ohio State.  Conversely, Ohio State hasn't faced a team this season that is even in the same universe as Alabama.  Ohio State has not played against it, and can't practice against it.  The first time they will experience it is when the game kicks off, and that will be way too late.

As I said two years ago about Notre Dame, and the same dynamic applies to Ohio State this season, unless they are scrimmaging the Chicago Bears in their practices leading up to the bowl game, they won't be prepared for Alabama's size, speed, athleticism and intensity.

So unless Alabama implodes, there really isn't much reason to believe this will be a very competitive game.

This season's Big 10 might be the worst conference in college football history.  They were the butt of jokes all season until the media had to sell the public on Ohio State being the 4th best team in the country.

The Big 10 has two good teams in the entire conference: Ohio State and Michigan State.  The rest of the conference is abysmal.

This Alabama team is better than the 2012 team in almost every facet of the game except offensive line and pass coverage.  To say that they aren't nearly as good because they had a lot of close conference games is completely without merit.

In 2012 Mississippi, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Auburn were terrible.  Auburn was 3 & 9 on the season and 0 & 8 in the conference.  Now 3 out of 4 of those teams are top-10 caliber, and the remaining three 3 teams in the division are top 25-caliber teams.

To assert that Ohio State's schedule (who played in probably the weakest major conference in college football history) is on par with Alabama's schedule (who played in what many pundits described as the greatest division in college football history) is so patently absurd I can't believe I'm taking the time to type out a response.  Ohio State played one good team the entire season - Michigan State - and Michigan State would battle Arkansas for last place in the SEC West.  The only two teams Michigan State would have much of a shot of beating in the SEC West is Texas A&M and Arkansas.

I suppose we could really stretch credulity and call Cincinnati and Wisconsin "good teams," but neither team would beat anyone in the SEC West.

Despite Ohio State's completely laughable schedule, I do agree that they are better than the 2012 Notre Dame team, but because of the vast disparity in schedules, Ohio State will still experience the same culture shock that Notre Dame did in 2012.  Alabama has faced 3 or 4 teams that are as good or better than Ohio State.  Conversely, Ohio State hasn't faced a team this season that is even in the same universe as Alabama.  Ohio State has not played against it, and can't practice against it.  The first time they will experience it is when the game kicks off, and that will be way too late.

As I said two years ago about Notre Dame, and the same dynamic applies to Ohio State this season, unless they are scrimmaging the Chicago Bears in their practices leading up to the bowl game, they won't be prepared for Alabama's size, speed, athleticism and intensity.

So unless Alabama implodes, there really isn't much reason to believe this will be a very competitive game.

 DePriest is Alabama's 2014 starting Mike linebacker.

First of all I never said Sims is better than McCarron, but because you raise the issue, I'll address it.

This is really more of an offensive coordinator issue than a QB issue.  I have been saying for several years now that Alabama has some of the best and deepest offensive talent in the country and, accordingly, should be one of the best offenses in the nation.  Prior to last season I said that I expected Alabama's offense to be the best in school history.

At no time during the Saban era has Alabama's offense ever lived up to expectations which has led me to lament on more than one occasion that no one in the country gets less out of their talent than Alabama offensive coordinators (Jim McElwain & Doug Nussmeier).  I was ecstatic when both left the program.  Lane Kiffin is the first Alabama offensive coordinator under Nick Saban that has effectively utilized all the weapons at his disposal.

AJ McCarron is a better pure QB than Blake Sims.  He's taller, more experienced, and more accurate on intermediate throws.  He also had a much better ability to read defenses and go through his progressions.  The knocks on McCarron are he is arrogant so most of his teammates didn't care for him much, he doesn't know how to step up in the pocket, he's slow, he's un-athletic, and if you flush him out of the pocket, the play is dead because he has zero playmaking ability.

Sims is very athletic and is almost impossible to sack, but really struggles with the intermediate passing game.  He is also not very good at reading defenses and going through his progressions.  Kiffin has masked some of Sims' deficiencies by essentially reading defenses for him from the sideline.

So the question is which offense is better.  A Doug Nussmeier offense with AJ McCarron under center, or a Lane Kiffin offense with Blake Sims under center.  And the answer is it's really not very close.  The Kiffin/Sims offense is much better and far more explosive.  It is also much more multiple and much more difficult for defensive coordinators to prepare for.

The Kiffin offense is so much more difficult to prepare for because Kiffin is a formation genius.  For example, in the first 15 plays of  the Florida game, Kiffin used 13 different formations, and almost as many personnel packages.  That is an almost impossible task for a Mike linebacker who has to set the defense properly before the snap.

So yes, Kiffin/Sims > Nussmeier/McCarron

Here is how the position groups grade out:

Although they are really two different animals because one was a built for power and the other more for agility, the 2012 offensive line is still better than the 2014 offensive line.

Had Alabama not lost Kenyon Drake early in the Ole Miss game, I would rate the 2014 running backs ahead of the 2012 group.  Without Drake I would say they are essentially equal.

Wide receivers is not close.  The 2014 group is vastly superior to the 2012 group.

The 2014 defensive line is vastly superior to the 2012 group in every possible way.  There is not a player in the DL 3-deep that won't be playing on Sunday's, and there may be up to 3 first round selections in the group.

Linebackers is a split.  The 2014 linebacking crew is better against power running teams like Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State and Ohio State.  And although the 2012 group didn't really play against many pass-happy teams, I would still rate them as being better in pass-coverage.

Again the 2012 team did not face many pass-happy teams, but I would still have to rank the 2012 cornerbacks ahead of the 2014 unit because there is no Dee Milliner in the 2014 group.  Both are about equal against the run, but the 2012 unit was better at defending the pass.

Most of the safeties that were on the 2012 team are still on the 2014 team.  The 2014 unit is more experienced and has Landon Collins.  It's a close call, but I would definitely give the edge to the 2014 safeties

Overall, if I had to choose between going into the playoffs with the 2012 team or the 2014 team, I would definitely choose the 2014 team against Ohio State and Florida State.  I would have to think seriously about taking the 2012 team in matchup against Oregon however.

"This Alabama team is better than the 2012 team in almost every facet of the game except offensive line and pass coverage"

the offensive line and pass coverage are half the game