Into Thin Air: Alabama and Texas Still Climbing For National Title.

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns have moved "into thin air." They are well beyond base camp and have bypassed all other climbers. Like scaling Everest, supplemental oxygen and a veteran guide are helpful the complete a journey to the peak.

There is no turning back. The only problem for both teams; there is only room for one team at the Summit.

Coaches Mack Brown and Nick Saban, along with their many assistants, have done and continue to do what they can to prepare their team for the climb past "Hillary's Step." But the path to the apex at the top of the world is single file.

As Saban told his troops in the meeting that followed the SEC Championship, "there are 32 days between the SEC Championship victory and the National Championship game. How you manage yourself during the period in-between will determine how you perform on that day."

That day has nearly arrived. In 96 hours, players from both teams will try to arrive at the summit, first. It is the top of the college football world.

Mack Brown has enjoyed playing the role as underdog and has used the media to fortify this position and motivate his players. Truth be known, there is no underdog in a game of this magnitude. None of the players on either team have played for a national title.

Unless you've been to the top, you cannot know what it is like to be a national champion. Just being on a team that won a title doesn't qualify you as an experienced player.

Having said this, there is one more step. Both coaches have guided teams to the mountain top. Brown has done it with a team that remained undefeated thorough out the year. Nick Saban has never been this far into a college season with an undefeated team.

Both teams have left past national champions in their wake. Texas overcame challenges from the Oklahoma Sooners and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Alabama defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators. As many readers know, the Florida Gators reached the pinnacle just last year.

While the Huskers and Vols haven't claimed a national championship in many, many years, they have been there and historically, their fan bases know what it takes to make the climb. The administrations and boosters at these institutions have made a commitment to get their programs back on track.

Getting past these fallen opponents does not complete the journey. There is one fight left. The fight is against an undefeated conference champion from a region without intersecting rivalries. No common opponents. No way to measure how well you can compete with the future challenger.

No matter who tells you that you can win the game, no matter how much confidence you gain by practice, the story will unfold in a way you did not imagine. The adversity that your team will face in taking down the competitor is uncharted.

You do not know how tough that opponent is until you hit him as hard as you can and see how he responds to the blow. Both of these teams are composed of talent that goes at least two and sometimes three deep at each position.

This match up is as good as it gets. For now, as fans, lets just drink that in and savor it for what it is worth. There has already been enough said through the media from both sides that will have no effect on the outcome of the game.

No need to boast over how much better you think your team will be on that day. You really have no idea. If you have watched the prognosticators before each of the bowl games during the past 10 days, you have surely realized no one knows the heart of the college player. Not one game has unfolded as expected from the blueprints laid out by the analysts. This game will be no different.

As for me, I can only hope that the Alabama Crimson Tide finish the journey to the summit, unimpeded by the advesary. I know the Texas fans hope the same for their team.

I will pray the same for both, that there is a good, fair fight. That the players compete to the best of their ability and that they receive the respect they deserve from their fan base. How you present yourself as a champion and fan of a champion says even more about who you really are, as does how your respond to a defeat.

I pray that the teams are able to compete without interference by the officials and that the calls on the field are fair to both teams. I will pray that no player suffers a career ending injury and that once the game is over, they show dignity and respect to each other.

There should be no excuses. I hope there is no excessive boasting. Neither team deserves to lose. Yet only one will take in the "rare air" just to realize how rich and nourishing it is for the team and the entire fan base.

If you are a person of faith, I hope you will join me in prayer over the next few days. If you have other considerations, leave them in the comments below.

Roll Tide and Hook 'em. No better place to be than Pasadena on January 7, 2010.