2012 BCS National Championship Game: Alabama At Historical Disadvantage With Longer Layoff

There are plenty of reasons why the postseason in FBS college football is arguably the weirdest in all of sports, not the least of which is the nearly two month layoff for some teams between the end of the regular season and the bowl game. The Alabama Crimson Tide will have gone 44 days between games when they play in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 2, one week longer than the LSU Tigers. Unfortunately for the Tide, history is not on their side in that regard. As the Birmingham News points out, the team with the longer layoff has lost five of seven championship games.

The 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes and the 1999 Florida State Seminoles are the only exceptions. The Seminoles had an extra six days to rest before taking out the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Buckeyes waited an extra two weeks before downing the Miami Hurricanes in what was a classic final. Five years later, Ohio State lost to LSU after waiting 51 days to play in the title game.

The Tide will have the fourth-longest layoff ever by a National Champion should they beat the Tigers in New Orleans. The aforementioned Seminoles (45 days), the 1990 Colorado Buffaloes (45 days), and the 1983 Hurricanes (51 days) all had to wait longer.