Five Reasons Why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Win the Discover BCS National Championship

Five Reasons the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Win Tonight's BCS Title

Well...

It’s finally arrived...

The big day every College Football has been waiting for...

The No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide.

It’s everything that any fan would want right?

Two grand old powers fighting it out in a brand new game...

And two teams, despite what Las Vegas are very similar.

“They’ve got some big dudes on that (Notre Dame) defensive line, “Bama OT D.J. Fluker said.. “But I kind of laugh when everyone says that. Because, you know, we’ve got some pretty big dudes on our offensive line, too.”

And that is exactly where this game will be decided...

The unstoppable force versus the immovable object...

But why does Vegas still have the Crimson Tide as such heavy favorites in the final hours before the game?

It’s because after eight straight BCS National Titles for the SEC, fans have simply learned to not bet against this conference.

And quite frankly, who would blame anyone for putting a $100 on Bama and the SEC once again this year.

But something just feels different...

Just one of those things that i hard to explain but you know you have it right...

Call it a hunch or what you will...

This Fighting Irish team has everything to end the supremacy of the SEC.

And here are the Top Five Reasons Why Notre Dame will Win the Discover BCS National Championship.

The Schedule

No other team in the past eight seasons have put together as complete and SEC-esque schedule as did the Notre Dame Fighting Irish did in 2012.

Team for Team, you can argue that the Fighting Irish have played tougher teams.

For every Wake Forest Demon Deacons there is an Auburn Tigers...

And it is actually Notre Dame who faced the best defense in the country in the Stanford Cardinal...

Not the Tide in one of its critical SEC matchups.

In fact, against Top 30 opponents this season, Alabama was 3-1 while Notre Dame was 5-0.

So when Bama brings that signature right cross, the Irish can take it with ease because they have faced it multiple times and have been punched harder earlier in the season.

The Players

Yes, the Alabama Crimson Tide have A.J. McCarron and Eddie Lacy...

But Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a few legends of their own led by one Manti-T’eo.

Everyone knows about his and what he means to this SEC caliber defense the Irish has in 2013.

But the game is ultimately going to be won with just how well the offensive stars of the Irish rise to the occasion.

And that is exactly what QB Everett Golson and TE Tyler Eifert will do this evening.

When was the last time a TE decided the outcome of a BCS National Championship?

Tonight you will see that happen...

The Glass Slipper

Listen up folks...

The No. 1 team in this Discover BCS National Championship Game is a 10.5 point underdog...

Let that sink in for a minute...

Yes, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the top team in the land, yet no one believes in them.

The line at 10.5 obviously is still high because all the money is on the Alabama Crimson Tide so you can’t fully fault Vegas for this crowning of Cinderella dressed in the finest leprechaun suit money can buy.

But in just about every big game played this season, the Irish were the underdog and that played right into their hands.

Motivation is an easy thing when you are talented and you know it only to have everyone who meets tells you basically you are a joke.

This played well for Notre Dame against the Oklahoma Sooners and Michigan State Spartans just to name a few.

And tonight will be much of the same as the Irish are ready to prove they are equals and they do belong with the mighty SEC.

The Streak

Eight wins in a row...

That is how many BCS National Championships the SEC has won entering tonight.

Pretty hard to believe, right?

But the SEC has figured this whole BCS thing out and who better to get the ninth-win in a row than Nick Saban...

Sounds like an easy task...

But think about what the Alabama Crimson Tide and Saban are trying to accomplish tonight for its program and the SEC.

A win will be nine-in-a-row for the conference, it will be the Tide’s second-in-a-row and it will basically put the SEC in an area of supremacy no other conference in any collegiate sport has ever been able to accomplish.

But history constantly tells everyone that all dynasties come to an end at some point.

Usually, it is pride and lack of preparation that leads to one’s downfall...

Saban will have his team prepared, so that will not be the case.

But a dynasty also comes to an end when it squares off against its equal who has the greater motivation to prove its worth to the world.

All streaks come to an end at some point...

And the eagerness and motivation of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will find a way to stop the rule of the SEC.

The Luck of the Irish

To win a BCS National Championship a team has to be both immensely talented and extremely lucky.

Both the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Alabama Crimson Tide have experienced both of these traits this season in multiple games.

Bama’s luck ran out against the Texas A&M Aggies and Johnny Football only to have it resurface in the SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs.

But the Irish have rode the rollercoaster of emotions and their namesake seemingly in every game in the 2013 campaign.

And why should that luck run out now...

Afterall, when Touchdown Jesus has your back and you have the talent to beat anyone in the world what could stop you!

This will be the most important and the final key to tonight’s game...

If the ball bounces the right way for Notre Dame early, it will be a long night for the Tide...

The Luck of the Irish will shine bright thanks to the Grace of God...

Notre Dame 23...

Alabama 17...

-------------------------------------------

M Shannon Smallwood is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the US Basketball Writers Association.

Follow him @woodysmalls.