A year ago Alabama turned back LSU 21–0 in one of the more dominating defensive performances in a championship game ever recorded as the Tigers didn’t even reach mid-field until the fourth quarter. This year Alabama topped last year’s performance with a 42–14 win in a game that was over shortly after halftime. Where the dominating performance ranks among title games of the last 20 seasons is up for debate, but here we'll rank the top five. On to the list:
5. Jan. 8, 2007: Florida 41, Ohio State 14
Ohio State’s Ted Ginn Jr. actually started this one with a 93-yard touchdown return to put the Buckeyes up 7–0, just seconds into the game. An unfazed Gator squad though, led by a pair of quarterbacks in senior Chris Leak and freshman Tim Tebow, scored a pair of touchdowns before the first quarter ended and then put up two more in the next quarter, plus a pair of field goals, to take a nearly insurmountable 34–14 lead into halftime.
Meanwhile, an out-of-sync Buckeyes offense managed little against Urban Meyer’s defense. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith finished just 4/14 passing for 35 yards as the offense as a whole managed just 82 total yards in the loss.
Why here: The Florida defense, in terms of statistics anyway, was probably even more dominating than Alabama’s last year (10 fewer yards than the Tide gave up in 2012 in a 21-0 romp over LSU) though they allowed 14 points.
4. Jan. 7, 2013: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 14
Defending champion Alabama, which boasted the nation’s best offensive line, scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions against Notre Dame’s stout defense, led by All-American linebacker Manti Te'o, and led 28–0 at halftime. The 28 points was already a season’s worst by the Irish’s defense, which had allowed just 10.3 points per game heading into the contest.
Unfortunately for the Irish, the other side of the ball was controlled by Alabama as well. The offense mustered just 32 rushing yards (compared to Alabama’s 265) and didn’t get on the scoreboard until 4:08 was left in the third, with the Tide already ahead 35–0.
Why here: Though in terms of total yards Florida’s win over Ohio State was a little more lopsided, this game was essentially over when Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson was intercepted on the Irish’s first series after halftime.
3. Jan. 3, 2002: Miami 37, Nebraska 14
The Cornhuskers, fresh off a 62–36 loss to Colorado that knocked them out of their own conference title match, somehow (through a string of other losses) made it to the big game, where the Hurricanes quickly dispatched the unpopular notion that Nebraska belonged there in the first place.
Miami, with a roster stacked with future NFL stars Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Andre Johnson, and Jeremy Shockey (and that’s just on offense), quickly blitzed Nebraska with a 27-point second quarter to take a commanding 34–0 lead into halftime and were never threatened after.
Why here: The game was probably over by the second quarter, and had the Hurricanes stayed aggressive, this one could have been a lot worse.
2. Jan. 4, 2005: USC 55, Oklahoma 19
After USC was snubbed the year before in their bid for a BCS title-game berth (LSU beat Oklahoma instead), the Trojans came out with a vengeance and knocked the Sooners, with stars Adrian Peterson and Jason White, out of the game by the second quarter.
