Oct. 10 Alabama at Mississippi College Football Game Could Be Best Game of the Year

Nick Saban of Alabama Matches Coaching Wits with Mississippi's Houston Nutt

Darrin Atkins
Two of the top 25 college football programs in the country will collide on Oct. 10 when the Alabama Crimson Tide go on the road and play at the University of Mississippi. This matchup could likely determine one of the teams in the national college football championship game.

October 10 is coming up fast and this matchup for the Crimsn Tide will be very crucial to whether they can go undefeated. Any road game is tough and road games get even tougher as the season goes by.

Upcoming Scheduled Games before Oct. 10 Matchup

The Alabama Crimson Tide college football program is currently undefeated in 2009, having won their first four games of the season, including a season-opening win against a highly-regarded Virginia Tech team. The Tide are now 4-0 and have a road game against Kentucky on Oct. 3. If they win this game, the Crimson Tide will be 5-0 going into the Ole Miss game on Oct. 10.

The Mississippi Rebels, otherwise known as Ole Miss, have just one loss, on the road against South Carolina on Sept. 24. The Rebels next play on the road at Vanderbilt on Oct. 3 and they certainly need to win that game to stay in contention.

Coaching Strategies

Nick Saban and the Tide will likely rely heavily on their best running backs in the Oct.10 matchup, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. On the other side of the ball, Alabama currently is ranked #3 in the nation in total defense, allowing an average of 263 yards a game. The Tide will likely have a very strong edge in this regard which could help them get the win.

The Rebels and Houston Nutt will utilize Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis at the running back spots and Jevan Snead at quarterback.

Look for the winner of the Oct. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Mississippi Rebels game to be in the national title game at the end of the year. Alabama will be heavily favored to win but the Rebels always have a chance and could pull off the upset.

Current Rankings of Alabama and Mississippi

According to the ESPN college football rankings, the SEC conference, which includes Alabama and Mississippi, has some of the best college football programs in the country. The SEC East has defending national champion and #1 ranked Florida and #18 ranked Georgia. The SEC West may be even tougher, with Alabama, Mississippi, and LSU all currently ranked in the top 25 in the nation.

The Crimson Tide team is currently ranked #3 in the country, after Florida and Texas. Meanwhile, Mississippi dropped down to #21 after their first loss. Assuming that Alabama wins against Mississippi, it is possible that after this win, if it happens, the Crimson Tide could up to #2 in college football rankings.

Sources

Alabama Crimson Tide, ESPN.com

Mississippi Rebels, ESPN.com

Nick Saban, Wikipedia

Houston Nutt, Wikipedia

Published by Darrin Atkins

Darrin Atkins has worked for Premiere and Nevada magazines, The Record newspaper, and other publications. He has written more than 35 books.   View profile

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