'Bama bashes Notre Dame 42-14 in BCS title game

e against Notre Dame Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in …more
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Barely taking time to celebrate their latest national championship, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are ready to get back to work.
That's how they make it look so easy.
In what must be an increasingly frustrating scene for the rest of college football, another season ended with Saban and his players frolicking in the middle of a confetti-strewn field. Eddie Lacy ran all over Notre Dame, AJ McCarron turned in another dazzling performance through the air, and the Tide defense shut down the Fighting Irish until it was no longer in doubt.
The result was a 42-14 blowout in the BCS title game Monday night, not only making Alabama a back-to-back champion, but a full-fledged dynasty with three crowns in four years.
This one was especially satisfying to Saban.
"People talk about how the most difficult thing is to win your first championship," he said. "Really, the most difficult one to win is the next one, because there's always a feeling of entitlement."
Rest assured, that feeling won't last long in Tuscaloosa.
While Saban insisted he was "happy as hell" and "has never been prouder of a group of young men," it was hard to tell. He was already talking about reporting to the office Wednesday morning and getting started on next season.
"One of these days, when I'm sitting on the side of the hill watching the stream go by, I'll probably figure it out even more," Saban said. "But what about next year's team? You've got to think about that, too."
So, in short order, he'll be talking with underclassmen about entering the NFL draft, making sure everyone goes back to class on schedule, and getting started on that next depth chart.
"The Process," as he calls it, never stops.
"We're going to enjoy it for 24 hours or so," Saban said.
No. 2 Alabama quieted the top-ranked Irish on the very first drive — so much for waking up the echoes — and could've started the celebration at halftime, heading to the locker room with a commanding 28-0 lead.
The Tide (13-1) pushed it out to 35-0 midway through the third quarter on the third of McCarron's four touchdown passes, a 34-yarder to Amari Cooper with a defender nowhere in sight.
At that point, Alabama was on a 69-0 blitz in national title games, having scored the last 13 points in its 2010 triumph over Texas and blanked LSU 21-0 for last year's BCS crown.
When Everett Golson finally scored for Notre Dame (12-1) with about 4 minutes remaining in the third, it snapped a scoreless stretch of nearly two full games — 108 minutes and 7 seconds — by the Tide.
"It was just a complete game by the offense, defense and special teams," said Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley, the defensive MVP with eight tackles, one of them behind the line.
Despite the dazzling numbers by McCarron — 20 of 28 for 264 yards — he was denied a second straight offensive MVP award in the title game. That went to Lacy, who finished with 140 yards rushing on 20 carries and scored two TDs. Not a bad finish for the junior, who surely helped his status in the NFL draft should he decide to turn pro.
Lacy also was MVP of the Southeastern Conference championship game, rushing for a career-best 181 yards in the thrilling victory over Georgia that gave Alabama a chance to repeat as champion.
The Tide will have some big holes to fill, no matter who decides to leave school early, with offensive tackle D.J. Fluker and cornerback Dee Milliner also pondering their draft prospects. There's not a lot of seniors on the roster, but All-America linemen Barrett Jones and Chance Warmack and safety Robert Lester are among those who definitely won't be back.
But Alabama had some huge holes to fill a year ago, too, with five players drafted in the first 35 picks.
That worked out just fine.
The Crimson Tide wrapped up its ninth Associated Press national title, breaking a tie with Notre Dame for the most by any school and gaining a measure of redemption for a bitter loss to the Irish almost four decades ago: the epic 1973 Sugar Bowl in which Ara Parseghian's team edged Bear Bryant's powerhouse 24-23.
"The process is ongoing," said Saban, tightlipped as ever and showing little emotion after the fourth BCS national title of his coaching career. "We have a 24-hour rule around here. We enjoy everything for 24 hours."
Notre Dame went from unranked in the preseason to the top spot in the rankings by the end of the regular season, winning two games in overtime and three other times by seven points or less.
But the long wait for a championship — the Irish haven't finished No. 1 since 1988 — will have to wait at least one more year.
"They just did what Alabama does," moaned Manti Te'o, Notre Dame's star linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist, trying to digest an embarrassing loss in his final college game.
Golson will be back.
He completed his first season as the starter by going 21 of 36 for 270 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. But the young quarterback got no help from the running game, which was held to 32 yards — 170 below its season average.
"We've got to get physically stronger, continue close the gap there," said Brian Kelly, the Irish's third-year coach. "Just overall, we need to see what it looks like. Our guys clearly know what it looks like now — a championship football team. That's back-to-back national champions. That's what it looks like. That's what you measure yourself against there. It's pretty clear across the board what we have to do."
Kelly vowed this was only beginning, insisting the bar has been raised in South Bend no matter what the outcome.
"We made incredible strides to get to this point," he said. "Now it's pretty clear what we've got to do to get over the top."
Alabama is already there but still longing for more, not content even after the second-biggest rout of the BCS era that began in 1999. The only title game that was more of a blowout was USC's 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl, a title that was later vacated because of NCAA violations.
You could almost hear television sets around the country flipping to other channels as Alabama poured it on, a hugely anticipated matchup between two of the nation's most storied programs reduced to a laugher when the Tide scored on its first three possessions.
"We're going for it next year again," said offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo, only a sophomore and already the owner of two rings. "And again. And again. And again. I love to win. That's why I came here.

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Te'o sees career end with BCS title-game loss

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — One of the last things Manti Te'o remembers Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly telling his team before the BCS title game was about the importance of four particular segments of play.
—The first two minutes of the game.
—The last two minutes of the first half.
—The first two minutes of the second half.
—The last two minutes of the game.
Of those, only one was not wrought with disaster for the Fighting Irish — and by then Te'o had left the field for the last time as a Notre Dame player.
Overmatched from the very start, Notre Dame's hopes of going from unranked to undisputed this season ended in a crimson-and-white display of precise football. The Irish were beaten by Alabama 42-14 in the title matchup on Monday night, the only loss in 13 games for a Notre Dame team that few thought would be a championship hopeful when the season began.
"I'm obviously disappointed, not necessarily all that we lost, but just we didn't represent our school, our team, our families the way that we could have," Te'o said. "So in that aspect it's just disappointing. But at the same time I'm proud to be a part of this team. What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger."
Cliche, sure.
But if anyone can live by those words, it's Te'o, particularly after what he endured over the course of his final college season.
Alabama set the tone in the first two minutes, starting the game with an 82-yard march in only five plays to take a 7-0 lead on Eddie Lacy's touchdown run, the first of his many highlights on this night. With 31 seconds left in the half, Lacy caught a touchdown pass for his second score — one that made it 28-0 and had Kelly cracking a joke at his own expense in a televised halftime interview.
"All Alabama," Kelly said at the time. "I mean, we can't tackle them right now. And who knows why? They're big and physical — I guess I do know why."
Anyone who was watching knew why.
So the first two minutes were all 'Bama, the last two minutes of the half went the Tide's way as well, and the first two minutes of the third quarter ended with Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson throwing an interception near the goal line, a sensational play made by Alabama's HaHa Clinton-Dix to come up with that turnover.
Alabama scored on the ensuing drive, and Te'o stood perfectly still as he took a long look at one of the giant video screens in Sun Life Stadium, studying the replay of that touchdown.
It was a pose that Notre Dame repeated way, way too often.
"We just needed to execute better," safety Zeke Motta said. "It was just a matter of execution and playing the right way."
Missed chances on offense, missed tackles on defense. Kelly didn't pinpoint reasons why for either — months of agonizing over film will tell that story — but some in the Notre Dame locker room insisted that the final score didn't accurately show how far the Irish have come this season.
"They didn't dominate us," Notre Dame nose guard Louis Nix said. "We missed tackles."
The numbers sure suggested domination.
By halftime, the Irish had already given up more points than they had in any game this season, the previous high being 26 in a triple-overtime win over Pittsburgh.
The most yards Notre Dame gave up this season was 379; Alabama cracked the 500 mark early in the fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide finished with 529 yards, converted 8 of 13 third downs, got five touchdowns in five trips to the red zone and became the first team since Stanford in 2009 to score at least 42 points against the Irish.
"Pretty darn good football team, but not good enough," Kelly said, assessing his team as Alabama's victory celebration was wrapping up on the field. "So it's clear what we need to do in the offseason."
What they do next will come without Te'o, the senior linebacker who was widely considered the nation's top defensive player this season.
He was a nonfactor early with a couple of missed tackles — rare for him — and that foreshadowed how the rest of the night would go for the Fighting Irish.
"The best thing about this experience is it creates fire, it creates fuel, for both the guys staying here and the guys leaving," Te'o said. "Everybody here tonight will be better because of it."
Te'o leaves as an absolute surefire Notre Dame fan favorite, for both what he did on the field and how he handled things away from the game.
He's a Mormon from Hawaii who spurned USC to sign with Notre Dame. He was one of the biggest sparkplugs for this current revitalization of Irish football, and saw his personal story become one of the more compelling parts of this Notre Dame season — when he mourned the deaths of both his girlfriend and his grandmother by playing perhaps his best game, a 12-tackle show against Michigan State.
He wound up finishing second in the Heisman Trophy race.
The Irish wound up finishing second in the national title chase.
And when it was all over, Te'o showed absolutely no regrets. He was subbed out of the game with about 2:15 remaining, shook some hands and started saying his farewell to the college game.
"Obviously we wish the night could have ended in a different way," Te'o said, "but the season, the year, my career here, I've been truly blessed to be at Notre Dame.
"And I'll forever be proud to say that I'm a Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

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BCS title game's TV rating hurt by rout

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The BCS title game's television rating was up from last season, but the lopsided score kept viewership down.
Alabama's 42-14 rout over Notre Dame drew a 15.1 fast national rating Monday on ESPN, the network said Tuesday. The 26.4 million viewers were up 9 percent from last year's game, another blowout Crimson Tide victory, 21-0 over LSU.
But that's down from the 27.3 million for ESPN's first BCS championship two years ago, Auburn's win over Oregon that was decided in the final seconds. This year's game posted the second-largest audience in cable history behind the 2011 championship.
The matchup between traditional powerhouses in Alabama and Notre Dame created the potential for a record-setting audience. But once the Crimson Tide went up 28-0 by halftime, viewers had reason to skip the second half. Ten previous BCS title games drew a higher rating.
Ratings represent the percentage of U.S. homes with televisions tuned into a program. The game was on in 17.5 percent of homes that get ESPN.
The first half was watched by 20.4 percent, significantly higher than 17.9 for Auburn-Oregon. Typically viewership increases throughout a game if it is competitive. But on Monday, the rating peaked between 9 and 9:30 p.m. EST — midway through the first half — and decreased from there as Alabama pulled away.
ESPN executives were hopeful of a massive audience but warned that it probably wouldn't happen without a close game. CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves acknowledged that reality at a media day Tuesday about the network's upcoming Super Bowl coverage.
"Hopefully we don't have a game like they had last night," he said.

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Seven Big East basketball teams leaving conference

(The Sports Xchange) The seven Catholic schools in the Big East that do not have Football Bowl Subdivision teams unanimously voted Saturday to take their men's basketball teams out of the conference, ESPN reported.
St. John's president Rev. Donald J. Harrington scheduled a news conference for 4:30 p.m. ET.
DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova will leave the Big East on June 30, 2015. They will pursue another framework for their basketball teams.
The conference future of remaining Big East members Connecticut, Cincinnati and South Florida -- which have FBS programs -- is uncertain.
"Earlier today we voted unanimously to pursue an orderly evolution to a foundation of basketball schools that honors the history and tradition on which the Big East was established," the seven presidents said in a joint statement. "Under the current context of conference realignment, we believe pursuing a new basketball framework that builds on this tradition of excellence and competition is the best way forward."
The Big East will have 12 teams in its conference for football starting next season. Boise State and San Diego State join the Big East in football only next season. Rutgers and Louisville are leaving the conference after next season.

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Pennsylvania suit against NCAA a long shot: experts

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett faces serious obstacles to winning his antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over the harsh sanctions it imposed on Penn State in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, legal experts said on Wednesday.
While targeting the National Collegiate Athletic Association may be popular politically in a state where Penn State football is widely loved, the federal court handling the case might rule that the state lacks standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place, experts said.
Moreover, the state of Pennsylvania must demonstrate the NCAA penalties harmed consumers and constituted a breakdown in the competitive marketplace.
"It's not a frivolous lawsuit - there are real arguments to make - but, boy, is it weak," said Max Kennerly, a lawyer with the Beasley Firm in Philadelphia who has been following the case closely.
The sanctions the NCAA imposed on Penn State in July included an unprecedented $60 million fine and the voiding of all of the football team's victories over the past 14 seasons.
Corbett's lawsuit was distinct in that, unlike the university, the state of Pennsylvania was not a party directly affected by the sanctions. Instead, Corbett brought the suit on behalf of third parties such as stadium workers, shopkeepers, hoteliers and others whose businesses were disturbed because of the NCAA's penalties.
The obstacle Corbett faced was "converting what may be real and perhaps significant harm" to Penn State students and athletes and local businesses into an antitrust violation, said Gabriel Feldman, a professor at Tulane University Law School.
"This is an extremely uphill battle for Pennsylvania," Feldman said.
The NCAA has been sued on antitrust grounds fewer than 10 times over the past five years, estimated Matt Millen, a professor at Marquette University Law School and director of the National Sports Law Institute. Most of those cases were settled or dismissed because courts often defer to the NCAA when it comes to matters of rules and enforcement actions, Millen said.
Past antitrust suits against the NCAA that have been successful tend to involve operations such as marketing and licensing because the body has "a stranglehold" over those spheres, Kennerly said.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1984 case of NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that the NCAA's policies on television broadcast rights to college football games violated federal antitrust laws. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon led a class-action suit against the NCAA in 2009 that is still pending over the use of student-athletes' images and likenesses without compensation.
In contrast, antitrust lawsuits over NCAA sanctions have been less successful in court. In the 1988 case of NCAA v. Tarkanian, the Supreme Court ruled the NCAA was a private entity not obligated to abide by due process considerations when it hands down sanctions, Kennerly said.

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Pennsylvania suit against NCAA a long shot, experts say

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett faces serious obstacles to winning his antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over the harsh sanctions it imposed on Penn State in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, legal experts said on Wednesday.
While targeting the National Collegiate Athletic Association may be popular politically in a state where Penn State football is widely loved, the federal court handling the case might rule that the state lacks standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place, experts said.
Moreover, the state of Pennsylvania must demonstrate the NCAA penalties harmed consumers and constituted a breakdown in the competitive marketplace.
"It's not a frivolous lawsuit - there are real arguments to make - but, boy, is it weak," said Max Kennerly, a lawyer with the Beasley Firm in Philadelphia who has been following the case closely.
The sanctions the NCAA imposed on Penn State in July included an unprecedented $60 million fine and the voiding of all of the football team's victories over the past 14 seasons.
Corbett's lawsuit was distinct in that, unlike the university, the state of Pennsylvania was not a party directly affected by the sanctions. Instead, Corbett brought the suit on behalf of third parties such as stadium workers, shopkeepers, hoteliers and others whose businesses were disturbed because of the NCAA's penalties.
The obstacle Corbett faced was "converting what may be real and perhaps significant harm" to Penn State students and athletes and local businesses into an antitrust violation, said Gabriel Feldman, a professor at Tulane University Law School.
"This is an extremely uphill battle for Pennsylvania," Feldman said.
The NCAA has been sued on antitrust grounds fewer than 10 times over the past five years, estimated Matt Mitten, a professor at Marquette University Law School and director of the National Sports Law Institute. Most of those cases were settled or dismissed because courts often defer to the NCAA when it comes to matters of rules and enforcement actions, Mitten said.
Past antitrust suits against the NCAA that have been successful tend to involve operations such as marketing and licensing because the body has "a stranglehold" over those spheres, Kennerly said.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1984 case of NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that the NCAA's policies on television broadcast rights to college football games violated federal antitrust laws. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon led a class-action suit against the NCAA in 2009 that is still pending over the use of student-athletes' images and likenesses without compensation.
In contrast, antitrust lawsuits over NCAA sanctions have been less successful in court. In the 1988 case of NCAA v. Tarkanian, the Supreme Court ruled the NCAA was a private entity not obligated to abide by due process considerations when it hands down sanctions, Kennerly said.

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Serena wins Brisbane title, Murray into final

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams proved the break between seasons hasn't hurt her momentum, capturing her 47th career title with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday in the Brisbane International final.
Williams has won 35 of her past 36 matches, including titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics, the U.S. Open, the season-ending WTA championships and now the first event of 2013.
She already has won the Australian Open five times, and with the season's first major a little more than a week away, she's in good shape to add another title in Melbourne.
The Brisbane final was all over in 50 minutes with Williams dictating terms from the first break of serve in the sixth game.
"I always feel like I don't know how to play tennis when I play against you," Pavlyuchenkova told Williams at the trophy presentation.
The pair had traveled together on a training trip to Mauritius in the offseason but didn't really hit against each other at the time.
"But this was true what I said," the No. 36-ranked Pavlyuchenkova, who has won three WTA titles and more than $2.8 million in prize money, later said of her post-match assessment. "When she's on fire, well, I feel like there is not much I can do. I mean, she's a great player and she deserves to win."
Williams said she's been concentrating on being calm and composed, and has started to feel "serene" when she's in her zone on court. She's been feeling that way a lot in her comeback since a first-round loss at the French Open, her earliest exit from a Grand Slam.
"I was looking at a lot of old matches on YouTube, and I feel like right now I'm playing some of my best tennis," the 15-time major winner said. "I feel like I want to do better and play better still."
Pavlyuchenkova's post-match comment, she said, was "a great compliment and a great honor for someone of her caliber to feel that way."
In a tournament featuring eight of the world's top 10 female players, not one match in Brisbane featured two seeded players due to a series of injuries and upsets. Second-ranked Maria Sharapova withdrew due to an injured collarbone, and Pavlyuchenkova ousted a pair of top-10 players: 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the second round and fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.
Williams missed a chance to extend her 11-1 record against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka when the 23-year-old Belarusian withdrew a half hour before their scheduled semifinal Friday night due to an infected toe on her right foot. Azarenka was more concerned about being ready for the Australian Open.
The night off obviously didn't bother Williams, who went on a roll during a seven-game run from the middle of the first set until Pavlyuchenkova finally held serve in the fourth game of the second.
The 31-year-old Williams can regain the No. 1 ranking if she wins the Australian Open. If she does, she'll be the oldest woman to hold the top spot on the WTA tour. Chris Evert set the mark in November 1985, aged 30 years, 11 months and three days.
Williams' surge up the rankings started after the French Open, and also coincided with her starting to work with Patrick Mauratoglou's academy in Paris.
She attributes her comeback to "spending a lot more time on the tennis court, I think, and doing a lot of things I love."
"Everything just came together with the right timing with me wanting to do better, with me wanting to work hard, (Mauratoglou) being there and having everything to work hard, and having the same mind frame of playing matches for the way I like to play," Williams said. "So I think life is about timing, and it was just good timing."
In the men's draw, defending champion Andy Murray advanced to the final when fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori retired with an injured left knee while trailing 6-4, 2-0 in their semifinal earlier Saturday.
The Olympic and U.S. Open champion will next meet 21-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, who is starting to live up to his billing as a star-in-the-making by reaching his first ATP Tour final with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5) victory over Marcos Baghdatis.

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Tennis-Kvitova thrashed in final Australian Open warmup

Jan 6 (Reuters) - World number eight Petra Kvitova's preparations for the Australian Open suffered another setback when she was thrashed by Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the Sydney International on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Czech, who had lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the Brisbane International last week, was thumped 6-1 6-1 by her Slovak opponent at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
"I played really badly and I wish I knew what I could say but I don't know," Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion and a semi-finalist at last year's Australian Open, told reporters.
"I'm not feeling very well right now in my confidence but I'm always looking forward to playing grand slams and I hope everything will be better there than here."
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki got her preparations for the first grand slam of the season, which starts Jan. 14 in Melbourne, back on track with a confident 6-1 6-2 win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska.
After suffering a shock first-round loss to qualifier Ksenia Pervak in Brisbane, the Dane rediscovered her touch to record a first victory of 2013.
Wozniacki has spent 67 weeks at the top of the rankings in her career but the 22-year-old slipped to number 10 after a poor season in which she suffered first-round exits at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
With boyfriend and world number one golfer Rory McIlroy cheering her on from the stands, the Dane said she believed she could climb her way back to the top.
"Within myself, I believe I can get back there," Wozniacki said. "But it's a lot of hard work and there are a lot of great players so you never know what's going to happen.
"The most important thing is that you're healthy and I'm going to play as best I can and win as many tournaments as I can and the ranking will come if you play well."
Australian Olivia Rogowska was overwhelmed in a 7-5 6-2 loss to Russian Maria Kirilenko in another first round match while home favourite Samantha Stosur will begin her campaign on Monday against China's world number 26 Zheng Jie.

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Kvitova thrashed in final Australian Open warmup

 World number eight Petra Kvitova's preparations for the Australian Open suffered another setback when she was thrashed by Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the Sydney International on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Czech, who had lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the Brisbane International last week, was thumped 6-1 6-1 by her Slovak opponent at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
"I played really badly and I wish I knew what I could say but I don't know," Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion and a semi-finalist at last year's Australian Open, told reporters.
"I'm not feeling very well right now in my confidence but I'm always looking forward to playing grand slams and I hope everything will be better there than here."
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki got her preparations for the first grand slam of the season, which starts January 14 in Melbourne, back on track with a confident 6-1 6-2 win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska.
After suffering a shock first-round loss to qualifier Ksenia Pervak in Brisbane, the Dane rediscovered her touch to record a first victory of 2013.
Wozniacki has spent 67 weeks at the top of the rankings in her career but the 22-year-old slipped to number 10 after a poor season in which she suffered first-round exits at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
With boyfriend and world number one golfer Rory McIlroy cheering her on from the stands, the Dane said she believed she could climb her way back to the top.
"Within myself, I believe I can get back there," Wozniacki said. "But it's a lot of hard work and there are a lot of great players so you never know what's going to happen.
"The most important thing is that you're healthy and I'm going to play as best I can and win as many tournaments as I can and the ranking will come if you play well."
Australian Olivia Rogowska was overwhelmed in a 7-5 6-2 loss to Russian Maria Kirilenko in another first round match while home favorite Samantha Stosur will begin her campaign on Monday against China's world number 26 Zheng Jie.

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