Alabama vs. LSU: Defense Wins Championships but Does It Win Ratings?

There’s an age-old saying that says, “defense wins championships, offense sells tickets.”

In this day and age, the words "tickets" and "ratings" are virtually interchangeable with the rise of high-definition television, social media and the Internet.

People aren’t going to games as much anymore because they are able to sit comfortably on a couch with food and drink that isn’t obnoxiously priced and enjoy within the confines of their own home.

That said, the saying still applies and defense is still going to win you championships, but is it going to keep butts on couches and fans tuned in?

The answer is: it doesn’t really matter.  

Generally, people want to watch the fireworks and that means watching Brandon Weeden face off against Andrew Luck, or a high-flying Robert Griffin III put up 67 points against Washington.

That kind of stuff excites us as football fans. On the other hand, defense is boring and just seems to drag on to the common fan.

But National Championship games are National Championship games, and people are going to watch regardless.

Tradition also plays a factor into fan viewership in college football because bowl games like the Rose Bowl and yes, the national championship, are going to draw viewers simply because of the legacy of the game.

On January 2nd, we saw both points hold truth in the Rose Bowl presented by Vizio and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

In the Fiesta Bowl that matched No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Stanford, we knew exactly what we were going to get. Offense, offense and more offense was on the menu for the BCS nightcap, and we went into the game knowing that.

Ratings for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl were huge, as it drew a 9.0 overnight rating according to the Nielsen Ratings, which was a huge increase from 2010 when Oklahoma and Connecticut only drew a 6.7 rating.

Fans tuned in their televisions expecting a high-scoring affair between Andrew Luck and Brandon Weeden, and that’s exactly what they received.

The Rose Bowl, on the other hand, garners its rating simply because it’s the Rose Bowl and people tune in for everything it has to offer.

The tradition, the parade, great football and halftime shows are just some of the things that the Rose Bowl presents us every year, and fans truly appreciate that.

This season, the Rose Bowl garnered a 9.9 rating, which was the highest on ESPN College Football since the BCS National Championship game from a year ago.

Further showing that regardless of the teams that are playing, people are going to watch because of what the title of the game is.

The BCS National Championship won’t fulfill the same want for offensive fireworks, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to watch.

When Alabama and LSU faced off in early November in what was dubbed as, “The Game of the Century,” the ratings were astronomical.

The CBS broadcast absolutely dominated nightly viewership, sending signals into an estimated 18.86 million homes that evening and became the second-highest CBS regular season game in the last 24 years.

There’s no question that the game didn’t live up to the hype it received and frankly, that will turn some people off to watching it a second time, but enough people that it’s going to drastically drop ratings?

Absolutely not.

The BCS National Championship is going to be a great game between two highly-competitive teams, and we as fans appreciate that.

We can knock the BCS system all we want, but we’re still going to watch, and we’re still going to pay attention because in the end, football is football.

Alabama is football, LSU is football. And they both represent the greatest college football conference in the nation.

That’s what we care about. Good football, not ratings.