NCAA BasketballNCAA Football

What Happened Last Night: SEC Champion Crowned And A College Basketball Legend Dies

We are now on the cusp of bowl season, people. And that means we are on the cusp of the biggest bowl of all: the National Championship Game. Notre Dame was already in, we were just waiting on their opponent – the winner of the SEC Championship. Alabama and Georgia squared off last night for their shot at ultimate glory, let’s find out how they fared.

Alabama sneaks past Georgia in game that goes down to final seconds

There you have it. Alabama is your new SEC Champions and will face Notre Dame in the National Championship Game. But it definitely wasn’t easy, as the Crimson Tide eked out a 32-28 victory over Georgia when Aaron Murray’s pass to Chris Conley with three seconds left and no timeouts left the Bulldogs five yards short of a touchdown as the clock ran out.

Alabama overcame a pedestrian game from quarterback A.J. McCarron (162 yards passing, one touchdown, one interception) by rushing for 350 yards, the bulk of which gained by Eddie Lacy (20 carries, 181 yards) and T.J. Yeldon (25 carries, 153 yards), allowing them to control the clock (to the tune of 37:35 to 22:25) and the game. Considering that time literally ran out on Georgia just five yards from a game-winning touchdown, that was likely the difference.

Alabama will face Notre Dame for the national title on January 7.

NCAA basketball coaching legend Rick Majerus dies of heart failure

Rick Majerus died of heart failure Saturday in a Los Angeles hospital he had been hospitalized at for several months. He was 64.

Majerus coached four teams over his 25-year coaching career, only having a losing record once along the way. Arguably, his greatest professional achievement was coaching a Utah team led by Andre Miller and Michael Doleac (just one year removed from Keith Van Horn graduating) to the National Championship Game, where they would fall just short to Kentucky.

Majerus finished his coaching career at Saint Louis, where he was 95-69 in five seasons with the team. Overall, he had a 25-year record of 517-216, with 15 20-win seasons and two 30-win seasons. He was most successful at Utah, going 323-95 from 1989-2004, plus the championship game appearance in ’98. He also coached Marquette from 1983-86 and Ball State from 1987-89.

Possibly the saddest part of the story is that if not for his health, Majerus would have still been coaching. He actually backed out of a commitment to coach Southern California this year due to the heart problems that eventually took his life.

Majerus is survived by sisters Jodi and Tracy.

[ESPN]

Follow @jnlevine