NCAA Football Tournament of Champions Final: 01 Miami (FL) vs 09 Alabama

With the NFL in a state of flux and college football still a few months away, Whatifsports.com wanted to provide a fix for fans craving football. We've teamed up with FOXSports.com and created "The Champs are Here: NCAA Football Tournament of Champions 1996-2010."

Using our college football simulation engine, we simulated each matchup 2,001 times. The team with the higher winning percentage advanced in our bracket. We'll unveil the simulation results round-by-round over the next four weeks until a champion is crowned.

For more information about our tournament simulation, be sure to check out this Beyond the Boxscore article.

Tournament of Champions Finals

2001 Miami (FL) vs 2009 Alabama

Randy Shannon's 2001 Miami defense allowed 18.6 points per simulation game leading up to the Tournament of Champions title game. So, when it only took a quarter and a half for Alabama to torch the Hurricanes for 20 points, there was a cause for concern. The 20-0 hole placed more pressure on Ken Dorsey and the rest of the offense to pick up the pace and catch the Crimson Tide. 

With four minutes remaining before the half, the football rested on the Miami 37-yard line. Dorsey led a 10-play drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Ethenic Sands with a little less than a minute to go in the quarter. The score seemed to carry an offensive spark over to the third quarter. 

Clinton Portis cemented his game MVP honors on Miami's first two offensive possessions of the second half. The running back scored from 17 and 31 yards out in the span of 5-1/2 minutes as the Hurricanes took their first lead of the game, 21-20. The lead was short-lived. Leigh Tiffin kicked a field goal a few minutes later to hand the lead back to the Tide. 

Not to be outdone, Miami kicker Todd Sievers turned into Ray Allen in crunch time. He hung three triples on the scoreboard, and Alabama found itself down by seven. Portis delivered the knockout blow on a 25-yard touchdown run with a little more than a minute to go in the game. Alabama did score on the final play of the game, but fell seven points short. 

The 2001 Miami Hurricanes took the ultimate title in the NCAA Football Tournament of Champions. 

Winning Percentage of 2,001 Simulations: Miami-FL 68.2% - Alabama 31.8%

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