Tournament of Champions Preview- Day 2

Let the games begin! The Scout.com/WhatIfSports.com Tournament of Champions pits 16 national championship teams from 1988 through 2005 in head to head battles to determine just which team from this exciting era of college football would be the best. Here is a look at Tuesday's matchups.

1992 ALABAMA VS. 1998 TENNESSEE

The 1992 Alabama national champions (13-0) were probably the best defensive team of the entire decade of the 1990s, while Tennessee’s unbeaten national champs of 1998 (13-0) were one of the most opportunistic teams of the same era.

Coach Gene Stallings had a simple formula for winning at Alabama: take care of the football and let the defense win games. Alabama allowed just 194.1 yards per game and only nine points per game. The Crimson Tide had bookend All-America defensive ends Eric Curry and John Copeland who both had 10.5 sacks to pace the defense while quarterback Jay Barker (35-1-1 career record as a starter) passed for 1,614 yards while rarely turning the ball over.

Tennessee wasn’t expected to win it all in 1998, particularly since Peyton Manning had graduated and Tee Martin was a first year starter at quarterback but the Volunteers of Coach Phillip Fulmer won one close game after another. Martin (2,164 yards, 19 touchdowns) found the perfect target in Peerless Price (61 receptions, 920 yards, 10 touchdowns) and Travis Henry (970 yards) was the horse on the ground. On defense, All-America middle linebacker Al Wilson was always there to make the big plays.

FIRST ROUND EDGE: Alabama’s ability to pressure the passer and stuff the running game is the difference.

1996 FLORIDA VS. 1999 FLORIDA STATE

Florida’s 1996 Gators (12-1) came back from the humiliating defeat in the Fiesta Bowl in 1995 to claim the national title in 1996 when they hammered Florida State, 52-20, in the Sugar Bowl, a rematch of a game that FSU had won a month earlier, 24-21.

Florida State (12-0) went wire to wire as the number one team in 1999 so this first round matchup of Coach Steve Spurrier vs. Bobby Bowden has the makings of a high-scoring affair.

Florida’s 1996 champs were led by Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel (3,625 yards, 39 touchdowns) and the dazzling all-star receiving trio of Reidel Anthony (72 catches, 1293 yards, 18 touchdowns ), Ike Hilliard (47, 900, 10) and Jacquez Green (33, 626, 9). The Gators averaged 503.9 yards and 46.6 points per game.

Florida State was led by junior Chris Weinke (3,103 yards, 25 touchdowns) and dynamic all-purpose wide receiver Peter Warrick (71 catches, 994 yards, 10 touchdowns) on offense and the defense was led by first team All-America nose tackle Corey Simon. The Seminoles averaged 34 points while giving up just 14.5 per game.

FIRST ROUND EDGE: The Gators had just too many offensive weapons in 1996 and Wuerffel was at his best in the big games.

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