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2B Daily News – Saturday, January 7, 2012 National Championship a rematch NEW ORLEANS (AP) — From Florida State's Sugar Bowl melt- down 16 years ago to New England's stunning Super Bowl loss, history suggests that it's tough to beat an opponent the second time around. Top-ranked LSU is looking to write a new chapter in its Big Easy do-over with Alabama. ''The opportunity to play them again is some- thing we're going to embrace,'' Tigers star Tyrann Mathieu insisted Friday. Not that they have much of a choice. The Tigers (13-0) already beat the Crimson Tide once this season — on Alabama's home field, no less. But they'll have to do it all over again to claim the national cham- pionship, even if that seems a bit unfair. Bobby Bowden can certainly sympathize with LSU. Back in 1996, Bow- den was coaching Flori- da State when the Semi- noles knocked off Flori- da 24-21 in the regular- season finale and took over the No. 1 spot in the rankings. Then, through an unexpected turn of events in the conference championship games, the teams wound up paired again in the Sugar Bowl. The rematch was all Florida. The Gators romped 52-20 to take their first national crown. ''I didn't like it,'' Bowden said. ''The team that lost, I would think they love it. The team that won, it's just hard to get your boys as inspired as the other team can get inspired.'' New England ran up against the same thing in the NFL four seasons ago. The Patriots fin- ished off a perfect 16-0 regular season with a Falcons Atlanta New York Giants ATLANTA (10-6) At NEW YORK GIANTS (9-7) OPENING LINE — Giants by 3 1/2 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Atlanta 8-7-1; New York 8-8 SERIES RECORD — Series tied 10-10 LAST MEETING — Giants beat Falcons 34-31 OT, Nov. 22, 2009 LAST WEEK — Falcons beat Buccaneers 45-24; Giants beat Cowboys 31-14 FALCONS OFFENSE — OVERALL (10), RUSH (17), PASS (8) FALCONS DEFENSE — OVERALL (12), RUSH (6), PASS (20) (32), PASS (5) GIANTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH GIANTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH (19), PASS (29) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — First playoff game between the teams. ... Giants have won last three games, but Falcons have won five of last six in New Jer- sey. ... First time Atlanta qualifies for playoffs in con- secutive seasons. ... Falcons have made playoffs three of last four seasons under Mike Smith, and posted four consecutive winning seasons for first time. ... Atlanta had franchise-record 6,026 yards in total offense. ...QB Matt Ryan had team-record 4,177 yards passing. ... RB Michael Turner rushed for 1,340 yards and 11 touch- downs. He has run for 50 TDs since 2008, second most in league. ... WR Roddy White led NFC with 100 catch- es, his second consecutive 100-catch season. His 471 catches since 2007 are most in NFC. ... TE Tony Gon- zalez had 80 catches in posting 13th consecutive season with 60-plus catches. WR Julio Jones led NFL rookies with eight TD catches. ... DE John Abraham had 9 1/2 sacks, his eighth season with at least 9 1/2 sacks. ...LB Curtis Lofton had 167 tackles to lead team for third straight year. ... S Thomas De Coud led team with career-high four interceptions. ... Giants making NFL- leading 31st postseason appearance, first since 2008. ... Coach Tom Coughlin has led team to five postseason appearances, tying Bill Parcells for most in team histo- ry. ... QB Eli Manning had franchise-record 4,933 yards passing and eight 300-yard games. His 22 career 300- yard games are most in team history, one more than Phil Simms. Manning has had seven consecutive seasons with 3,000-plus yards passing and 20-plus touchdown passes. He also set NFL-record with 15 fourth-quarter TD passes, passing Johnny Unitas and older brother Peyton Manning. ... Giants running game is last in league. ... WR Victor Cruz had team-record 1,536 yards receiving and nine touchdowns, including five of 65 yards or more, second most in league history, one less than Elroy ''Crazylegs'' Hirsch in 1951. ... WR Hakeem Nicks ranks second with 76 catches for 1,192 yards and seven touchdowns. ... DE Jason Pierre-Paul's 16 1/2 sacks were fourth in league. ...In last 22 games, DE Osi Umenyiora has 19 1/2 sacks and 11 forced fumbles. ... LB Michael Boley spent first four seasons (2005-08) with Atlanta. ... New York had 20 interceptions, its high- est total since 2000. CB Corey Webster led team with career-high six ''It's weird how that works out. The two weeks leading up to the last one felt more tense than this one does. We have played before. We feel comfortable, and not only that, but not being in school, being able to relax a little more, and get off our feet." thrilling 38-35 win over the Giants in New York. Lo and behold, the Giants still made the playoffs and stunningly won three straight post- season games on the road, earning another shot at heavily favored New England — now 18- 0 — in the Super Bowl. Well, we all know what happened in the Arizona desert. Actually emboldened by that ear- lier loss to the Patriots — ''it did give us a sense of confidence that we could play with New Eng- land,'' Giants guard Chris Snee remembered Friday — New York pulled off an epic upset, knocking off Tom Brady and the seemingly unbeatable Patriots 17- 14. ''Obviously there was some stuff that year that we used in the Super Bowl that we had seen we could take advantage of in the first game,'' said another Giants play- er, defensive lineman Dave Tollefson. Now, the Tigers face the same predicament as Florida State and New England. They've already put together a winning game plan against the second- ranked Crimson Tide (11-1), pulling out a 9-6 overtime victory in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 5. Now, the onus is on the Tigers to counter all the new wrinkles they'll surely see in the rematch, changes that will undoubtedly be embraced by a Crimson Tide team still stinging from its only defeat. Sunday 10 a.m. ''It may give us a little edge in our minds of what's got to happen, what we've got to do,'' Alabama linebacker Nico Johnson said. On the other side, LSU coach Les Miles and his staff must deal with an inevitable human trait: It's tougher to get players to recognize their mistakes — and be willing to go along with any necessary tweaks — when they're coming off a win. The losing coach has no such issues. Bowden remembers Florida coach Steve Spurrier changing up his offensive plan after the Seminoles pounded Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel in their initial meeting. ''They made a big adjustment,'' Bowden said. ''They went to the shotgun.'' Alabama's changes aren't likely to be that dramatic, but there's lit- tle doubt that losing to LSU a couple of months ago provided the Tide with a needed wake-up call. Coach Nick Saban's team went into that game ranked No. 1, boasting a bruising runner in Trent Richardson and a defense that was being called one of the greatest in college football histo- ry. The Tide certainly didn't look at LSU as a pushover — heck, the Tigers had already beat- en the teams that would go on to win the Rose Bowl (Oregon) and Orange Bowl (West Vir- ginia) — but Alabama Pittsburgh Steelers Denver Broncos PITTSBURGH (12-4) At DENVER (8-8) OPENING LINE — Steelers by 8 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Pittsburgh 7-9; Denver 7-9 SERIES RECORD — Broncos lead 16-10-1 LAST MEETING — Steelers beat Broncos 28-10, Nov. 9, 2009 LAST WEEK — Steelers beat Browns 13-9; Bron- cos lost to Chiefs 7-3 (14), PASS (10) STEELERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (12), RUSH STEELERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (1), RUSH (8), PASS (1) BRONCOS OFFENSE — OVERALL (23), RUSH (1), PASS (31) BRONCOS DEFENSE — OVERALL (20), RUSH (22), PASS (18) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Teams split six playoff games, last one coming in AFC champi- onship Jan. 22, 2006, when Steelers prevailed 34-17. ... Nobody playing in this game had more than two inter- ceptions all season. ... Steelers can break tie with Cow- boys for most playoff wins with their 34th Sunday. ... QB Ben Roethlisberger 10-3 lifetime in playoffs. In only playoff appearance against Broncos, he completed 21 of 29 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and no inter- ceptions for a 124.9 passer rating. ... Steelers without top tailback Rashard Mendenhall but backup Isaac Redman had career-best 92 yards last week against Browns. ... WR Mike Wallace (1,193) topped 1,000 yards receiving for second straight season, and WR Hines Ward became eighth NFL player to catch 1,000 passes. He also has 88 catches in playoffs for 1,181 yards and 10 TDs. ... WR Antonio Brown is first player in league history to top 1,000 yards in both receiving (1,108) and returning (1,062) in same season. ... Steelers defense allowed NFL lows in points per game (14.2), yards per game (271.8) and yards passing per game (171.9). ... Broncos coach John Fox 0-3 against Pittsburgh, where he first broke into NFL as secondary coach in 1989. ... LB Von Miller leads Broncos with 11 1/2 sacks but has just one in last month while playing with cumbersome cast on right hand. ... PR Eddie Royal averaged 16.2 yards but deal- ing with toe injury that could limit effectiveness. ... Broncos coming off just their third loss in 89 games in which they held opponent to 7 points or fewer. ... Bron- cos making first playoff appearance since 2005. ... Den- ver 3-0 in overtime this season. ... QB Tim Tebow is 7- 4 as starter but has lost career-high three straight after six-game winning streak that included four straight fourth-quarter comebacks. ... Broncos led league with 164.5 yards rushing a game and set franchise mark with 2,632 yards, including 1,199 by RB Willis McGahee, who joined Ricky Watters as only players in NFL histo- ry to top 1,000 yards for three teams. His seven 100-yard games tied Arian Foster for NFL lead. ... In last five games, WR Demaryius Thomas averaged 89.6 yards per game with three TD catches. ... WR Eric Decker had eight TD catches, and TE Daniel Fells tied career high with three TD grabs. ... DE Elvis Dumervil has 3 1/2 sacks in three games against Steelers. didn't react well when faced with an opponent that was willing to go toe-to-toe in perhaps the most bruising game of the year. Throw in an abysmal performance by the spe- cial teams (the Tide missed four field goal attempts) and a trick play gone awry (an end- around pass was picked off at the goal line), and it was the Tigers cele- brating at the end. ''We learned a lot from that game,'' Alaba- ma nose guard Josh Chapman said. ''That game kind of made our season. We didn't finish in that game. We didn't capitalize. Those guys capitalized on our mis- takes. They finished stronger than we did. We learned a lot from that. The coaches showed us: When we're doing things right, it's hard to beat us.'' If anything, LSU may be looking to pick up a motivational edge from a common theme coming from the Alabama side, most bluntly expressed by receiver Marquis Maze: ''They didn't beat us. We beat ourselves.'' Rest assured, the Tigers are listening to every word. ''When people get in front of the cameras, they're going to say what they want to say,'' Math- ieu scoffed. ''When you step between those lines, no one can hear you but the team you're playing against. We're going to let our play do the talk- ing and hopefully come out with the W.'' Sunday 1:30 p.m. — LSU lineman T-Bob Hebert Asked if Maze's com- ments would spur on the Tigers, Mathieu glared back, ''Definitely.'' In the end, the rematch may be decided by which team has the best case of amnesia. While tendencies and play-calling can be charted on film, both teams must recognize this isn't early Novem- ber. There will be differ- ent situations, different moments of adversity. The team that copes best will likely be hoisting the championship trophy Monday night at the Superdome. ''Learn from the mis- takes that you make the last time and know there are going to be adjust- ments made the second time around,'' On the tube Saturday COLLEGE FOOTBALL • 10 a.m., ESPN — BBVA Compass Bowl, SMU vs. Pittsburgh, at Birmingham, Ala. • 10 a.m., ESPN2 — NCAA, FCS, play- offs, championship game, Sam Houston St. vs. N. Dakota St., at Frisco, Texas GOLF •6 a.m., TGC — European PGA Tour, Africa Open, third round, at East London, South Africa (same-day tape) • 2:30 p.m., TGC — PGA Tour, Tourna- ment of Champions, second round, at Kapalua, Hawaii MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL •8 a.m., ESPN2 — Florida at Tennessee • 11 a.m., CSNB — Washington at Utah •1 p.m., ESPN2 — Florida St. at Clem- son •1 p.m., CSNB — Washington St. at Col- orado •3 p.m., CSNC—Fresno State at Idaho NBA •4 p.m., NBATV—Charlotte at Indiana • 7:30 p.m., CSNB — Utah at Golden State • 7:30 p.m., NBATV—Milwaukee at L.A. Clippers NFL PLAYOFFS • 1:30 p.m., NBC — Cincinnati at Hous- ton •5 p.m.m NBC — Detroit at New Orleans NHL • 10 a.m., NHL NETWORK—Vancouver at Boston •4 p.m., NHL NETWORK—Detroit at Toronto • 7:30 p.m., CSNC—Washington at San Jose PREP BASKETBALL •5 p.m., ESPN2 — Simeon (Ill.) vs. Miller Grove (Ga.), at Wheeling, W.Va. PREP FOOTBALL • 10 a.m., NBC — All-Star game, All- American Bowl, at San Antonio SOCCER •7 a.m., FOX SOCCER — FA Cup, 3rd Round, Bolton at Macclesfield • 9:30 a.m., FOX SOCCER — FA Cup, 3rd Round, Aston Villa at Bristol Rovers • 11:30 a.m., FOX SOCCER—Serie A, Parma at Inter Milan •9 p.m., FOX SOCCER — A-League, Central Coast Mariners at Sydney FC WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL the Giants' Snee advised. ''They (Alabama) obvi- ously are not going to sit there and get beat by the same thing they got beat by before in this game. There will be adjust- ments and then obvious- ly if something works for them defensively, they are going to come back to it.'' If anything, LSU line- man T-Bob Hebert expects both teams to much looser than they were the first time — even though much more is on the line in the BCS championship game. ''It's weird how that works out,'' he said. ''The two weeks leading up to the last one felt more tense than this one does. We have played before. We feel comfort- able, and not only that, but not being in school, being able to relax a lit- tle more, and get off our feet. ''I expect to see more scoring,'' he added. ''It's mathematics. How many games have no touch- downs scored? If you play the odds, it's going to be higher scoring than 9-6. I don't think it'll be crazy, but it'll be more than 9-6. Somebody is going to get into the end zone.'' NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 22 11 4 48 107 87 Kings 20 14 7 47 88 92 Dallas 22 16 1 45 108 113 Phoenix 19 17 5 43 103 108 Ducks 10 22 6 26 88 127 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 24 13 4 52 132 120 Detroit 25 13 1 51 128 88 St. Louis 23 12 5 51 103 89 Nashville 21 15 4 46 106 112 Columbus 10 24 5 25 94 130 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 25 13 3 53 134 99 Minnesota 21 14 6 48 95 98 Colorado 23 18 1 47 114 116 Calgary 18 19 5 41 100 123 Edmonton 16 21 3 35 110 115 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA N.Y.Rangers 26 9 4 56 116 82 Philadelphia23 11 4 50 130 113 Pittsburgh 21 14 4 46 122 103 New Jersey 22 16 2 46 111 116 N.Y. Islanders14 17 6 34 88 116 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 26 10 1 53 138 69 Ottawa 21 15 5 47 127 136 Toronto 20 15 5 45 129 128 Buffalo 18 18 4 40 106 119 Montreal 15 18 7 37 106 113 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 20 13 8 48 107 115 Washington 21 15 2 44 114 110 Winnipeg 19 16 5 43 107 118 Tampa Bay 17 19 3 37 108 133 Carolina 14 21 7 35 110 141 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Friday's results Carolina 4, Buffalo 2 Colorado 4, Chicago 0 New Jersey 5, Florida 2 N.Y. Rangers 3, Pittsburgh 1 N.Y. Islanders at Anaheim, late Saturday's games Washington at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Ottawa at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Vancouver at Boston, 10 a.m. Edmonton at Dallas, 11 a.m. Columbus at Los Angeles, 1 p.m. Detroit at Toronto, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Montreal, 4 p.m. Winnipeg at Buffalo, 4 p.m. Carolina at Nashville, 5 p.m. Colorado at St. Louis, 5 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Phoenix, 5 p.m. Minnesota at Calgary, 7 p.m. Sunday's games Philadelphia at Ottawa, 2 p.m. Detroit at Chicago, 4:30 p.m. Columbus at Anaheim, 5 p.m. • 11 a.m., CBS — Michigan St. at Penn St. •1 p.m., CBS — UConn at Notre Dame •3 p.m., CSNB — UCLA at Arizona St. Sunday COLLEGE FOOTBALL •6 p.m., ESPN — GoDaddy.com Bowl, Arkansas St. vs. N. Illinois, at Mobile, Ala. GOLF •6 a.m., TGC — European PGA Tour, Africa Open, final round, at East London, South Africa (same-day tape) • 2:30 p.m., TGC — PGA Tour, Tourna- ment of Champions, third round, at Kapalua, Hawaii MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL • 10:30 a.m., CBS — Wisconsin at Michi- gan • 2:30 p.m., CSNB — Arizona at South- ern Cal • 4:30 p.m., CSNB — California at Ore- gon NBA •4 p.m., NBATV—San Antonio at Okla- homa City NFL PLAYOFFS • 10 a.m., FOX — Atlanta at N.Y. Giants • 1:30 p.m., CBS— Pittsburgh at Denver NHL • 4:30 p.m., NBCSP — Detroit at Chicago RODEO • 11:30 a.m., NBC — PBR, Madison Square Garden Invitational, at New York (same-day tape) SOCCER •7 a.m., FOX SOCCER — FA Cup, 3rd Round, Manchester United at Manchester City • 11:30 a.m., FOX SOCCER—Serie A, Napoli at Palermo WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL • 10 a.m., CSNB — Memphis at UTEP • Noon, CSNB — Oklahoma at Texas A&M Monday COLLEGE FOOTBALL • 5:30 p.m., ESPN — BCS National Championship Game, LSU vs. Alabama, at New Orleans GOLF •1 p.m., TGC — PGA Tour, Tournament of Champions, final round, at Kapalua, Hawaii MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL •4 p.m., ESPN2 — West Virginia at UConn (Hartford, Conn.) •7 p.m., CSNC—San Francisco at Saint Mary's NBA • 4:30 p.m., NBATV —Charlotte at New York SOCCER • 11:30 a.m., FOX SOCCER — FA Cup, 3rd Round, Leeds United at Arsenal NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Clippers Lakers KINGS Phoenix WL Pct GB 3 2 .600 — 4 4 .500 .5 35 .375 1.5 2 4 .333 1.5 WARRIORS 24 .333 1.5 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 5 2 .714 — Memphis Dallas Houston Portland Denver 3 4 .429 2 3 5 .375 2.5 2 5 .286 3 New Orleans 2 5 .286 3 Northwest Division WL Pct GB 5 1 .833 — 6 2 .750 — Oklahoma City 6 2 .750 — Utah Minnesota 4 3 .571 1.5 2 5 .286 3.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Philadelphia 4 2 .667 — Boston Toronto New York Miami WL Pct GB 4 4 .500 1 3 4 .429 1.5 3 4 .429 1.5 New Jersey 2 6 .250 3 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 7 1 .875 — 5 3 .625 2 5 3 .625 2 2 5 .286 4.5 Orlando Atlanta Charlotte Washington 0 7 .000 6.5 Central Division Chicago Indiana Cleveland WL Pct GB 7 1 .875 — 5 2 .714 1.5 4 3 .571 2.5 Milwaukee 2 4 .333 4 Detroit 2 5 .286 4.5 —————————————————— Friday's results Golden State at L.A. Lakers, late Atlanta 102, Charlotte 96, OT Chicago 97, Orlando 83 Cleveland 98, Minnesota 87 Denver 96, New Orleans 88 Indiana 87, Boston 74 New Jersey 97, Toronto 85 New York 99, Washington 96 Oklahoma City 109, Houston 94 Philadelphia 96, Detroit 73 Utah 94, Memphis 85 Portland at Phoenix, late Saturday's games Utah at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. Charlotte at Indiana, 4 p.m. Chicago at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Miami at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m. New York at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at Houston, 5 p.m. Toronto at Philadelphia, 5 p.m. Denver at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. New Orleans at Dallas, 6 p.m. Milwaukee at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Sunday's games Orlando at Sacramento, 3 p.m. Minnesota at Washington, 10 a.m. San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Phoenix, 5 p.m. Cleveland at Portland, 6 p.m. Memphis at L.A. Lakers, 6:30 p.m. F O X F O X