The 2010-11 college football postseason has reached the city of its final destination: Glendale, Arizona. Degenerate gamblers, start your engines. Now playing: No. 1 Auburn versus No. 2 Oregon in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game.
The line: Has been swinging tightly between favoring Oregon by a field goal and Auburn by the same ever since this matchup was announces. Right now, the Tigers hold sway in Vegas, by an average margin of a field goal or less.
Notable Tigers units: Start with the bad, because there's so much less of it: Auburn's pass defense ranks 106th nationally, dead last in the SEC, bad enough to drag their total defense ranking down to No. 55. The passing offense ranks 67th nationally, largely because they don't use it; same applies to the punting unit (No. 91).
Notable Ducks units: A similar overlay on the opposite side of the ball can be applied here, with pass defense trailing other units at No. 51 nationally, although the Ducks fare better with special teams. The nation's top-ranked offense is, to coin the popular interview term this week, a drawer of knives. The No. 4 rushing offense, it's safe to assume, will run into some problems facing the Tigers' stout ground defenses, making the obvious matchup of interest the arm of Darron Thomas versus the oft-beleagured secondary of the Plains.
The pick: Call us crazy, but we like Oregon here, in defiance of the line, based on that last matchup delineated above.
The 2011 BCS National Championship Game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPN. Browse our 2010-11 college football postseason hub for a complete list of bowl scores and highlights.
2011 BCS Championship Game, Auburn Vs. Oregon: Odds & Predictions
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