Alabama and Penn State Football: Welcome Back

Get out your old cassette players. Go watch a rerun of Seinfeld or Friends. College football has gone retro.

The last time Penn State and Alabama were both ranked in the AP final top five was 1994; Penn State was No. 2, and Bama was No. 5.

While Penn State is technically not in the top five yet, they will be, and college football will have its normalcy returned, despite the BCS trying to muck it up.

It is time for some old-school football programs to get back in the thick of it and shove out those newer Johnny-come-lately programs, like South Florida, East Carolina, Kansas, and Boise State.

It is time for the re-emergence of some houndstooth hats and the scarlet letter "A." It is time for the classic plain white helmets or plain red helmets with some numbers on them. Yeah, and plain unis are back in style, too.

Throw-back college football is officially back.

It is old man versus newcomer. Old school versus new age. Multi-million-dollar versus half-million-dollar man. High-water pants versus sagging. Young and fresh versus old and corny.

It's perfect. A legend versus the future.

Nick Saban, the young, hired gun who has brought Alabama back to prominence at least a year earlier than expected, has the SEC scared.

To hell with Tennessee, to hell with Auburn. To hell with LSU and to hell with Florida. Saban ain't scared of ya'll.

Joe Paterno, on the other hand, has been fighting retirement every year for the past decade and has told all of his detractors to go to hell in the only way he knows how—by winning. He's crotchety, tough as nails, and still flexible—the spread is working at Penn State.

Go ahead and laugh at the old man who still mows his lawn—he'll kick your ass all over the field on Saturday.

Who would have thought that these two coaches might be the coaches meeting in Miami in January? Not Pete Carroll, and not Urban Meyer. Bob Stoops might have something to say about that, but when all is said and done, if these three teams are all tied, the pollsters will speak with their hearts.

Send the Tide and the Nits—two of college football's most legendary programs. Send the two football programs that tug at our hearts.

As much as we like Bob Stoops and his Sooners every year, he has not answered the last four BCS games very well, now has he?

It is time for some new blood and for the millenium's new odd couple.

It is time to hear some new fight songs, chants, or smack. Goodbye, "Fight On," hello "Roll Tide Roll." Sayonara "Boomer, Sooner," it's time for a white-out.

Ciao "Tiger Bait," "O-H, I-O," "Go Big Blue," "Chomp, Chomp," and "Rocky Top."

Feeling a little reflective, are you? Is it time to get out the family photo albums and look at some old pictures, instead of a DVD disk of your sister's wedding?  

Is it time to actually write out a thank you note instead of texting "TY"?

Is it time to drink some Fresca or Tab, instead of Red Bull or RockStar? Go to Sizzler and order the steak and Malibu chicken combo?

Did you notice that Notre Dame is now 3-1, the Buffalo Bills are undefeated, and the Patriots are not? That the Redskins beat the Cowboys?

Embrace it. Football the way it was supposed to be played is now officially en fuego.

And Bama has Penn State on its schedule in 2011.

Rejoice football nation. The game is back.