Alabama Coach Nick Saban should have bought a Powerball ticket Monday.
The $1.5 billion estimated jackpot would have been all his tonight when he held the winning numbers.
But Saban probably never has owned a lottery ticket. Or bet on a horse. Or doubled down at a blackjack table.
He's not a gambler.
He's a high percentage, methodical coach who is incredibly organized and prepared.
That is until Monday night, when he went, "Why not try an onside kick with most of America watching, the score tied in the national championship game and 10:34 to play?"
Hey, the Tide practice that pop kick once a week, every week, and it was unused until the final quarter of the 15th game of the season, and he did it even though the last time they practiced it, Adam Griffith made the perfect kick but freshman defensive back Marlon Humphrey dropped it.
On Monday night, though, it was a perfect over-the-shoulder catch to give the Tide the ball at midfield. After a 1-yard loss on a run, Alabama's Jake Coker passed 51 yards to tight end O.J. Howard for a touchdown and a 31-24 lead.
Howard was like Saban's good luck charm.
Going into the championship game, the junior tight end had 33 receptions for just 394 yards and not a single touchdown for the season, and suddenly he becomes the Dallas Cowboys' Jason Witten in his prime.
Howard had 5 catches for 208 yards (the other four receivers combined for 11 catches for 127 yards) and 2 touchdowns -- the 51-yarder and his first was for 53 yards.
The Tide also had a 50-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry and a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kenyan Drake after a Clemson field goal had pulled the Tigers to within 31-27.
Big plays and an onside kick allowed the Tide to win the most important statistic of any game -- points scored.
Other than the 45-40 score, the Tigers won almost every offensive statistic, but it was a great game between two great teams.
While the first round of the playoffs were more like controlled scrimmages with Alabama blanking Michigan State 38-0 and Clemson pounding Oklahoma 37-17, the championship game was exciting almost to the end, and the Tigers late touchdown beat the point spread.
ESPN, which succumbed to pressure and allowed those playoff games to be played on New Year's Eve and paid for it with poor ratings, won in the end.
It covered the game with every channel it had, including the SEC Network, where Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema and former LSU standout Booger McFarland did a great job of looking inside the game. Paul Finebaum and Greg McElroy were on the air, too.
And no one could say enough about Clemson's sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson, who put himself on the early Heisman Trophy watch list for next season.
The guy was quicker than a cricket on a hot greased skillet. He ran for 73 yards and passed for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns.
In the end, the Tide had the luck -- most of which they made -- although they turned the game's only turnover, an interception thrown by Watson, into a touchdown.
Alabama made the fourth quarter magical, at one time scoring 17 points in just over three minutes and a total of 24 points while the Tigers scored 16 points in the closing quarter.
It was a great game, one that left no doubt for the second consecutive year the NCAA Playoff Selection Committee really did get it right.
Thank goodness Saban didn't buy a Powerball ticket, leaving folks one more shot at their dream.
Sports on 01/13/2016