1.
2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
–
The 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the Crimson Tides 117th overall and 78th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference, the team was led by head coach Nick Saban, in his fifth year, and played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season with a record of wins and one loss. After the completion of the 2010 season, the Crimson Tide signed a highly rated recruiting class in February 2011, however, Alabama lost to the LSU Tigers in their regular season matchup, and as a result did not qualify for the 2011 SEC Championship Game. In the rematch against LSU, the Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 21–0 to capture their second BCS Championship in three years. At the conclusion of the season, the Alabama defense led the nation in every statistical category. Additionally, several players were recognized for the accomplishments on the field. Also, seven players were named to various All-America Teams with Donta Hightower being a selection and Mark Barron, Jones. In April 2012, eight members of the 2011 squad were selected in the NFL Draft, however, they finished with a 49–7 victory in the 2011 Capital One Bowl against Michigan State, and secured Alabamas third straight ten-win season and their third bowl win in four seasons. In February 2011, Alabama signed the No.1 recruiting class according to Rivals, Spring practice began on March 21 and concluded with the annual A-Day game on April 16. Televised live by ESPNU, the Crimson team of offensive starters defeated the White team of defensive starters by a score of 14–10 before 92,310 fans in Bryant–Denny Stadium. For their performances, Barrett Jones earned the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of the A-Day Game Award, in the weeks after the conclusion of spring practice, a pair of tragedies occurred that directly impacted the team. On April 27,2011, an EF4 rated tornado devastated Tuscaloosa, as a result of the storm, long snapper Carson Tinker suffered a broken wrist with his girlfriend being one of the 43 fatalities attributed to the storm in Tuscaloosa. On May 12,2011, offensive lineman Aaron Douglas was found dead in Fernandina Beach, the cause of death was subsequently ruled accidental as a result of multiple drug toxicity. After transferring to Alabama from Arizona Western College, Douglas struggled with issues including a DUI charge following a December 2010 arrest. He started his career as a freshman All-America at Tennessee, before the Volunteers new head coach Derek Dooley granted him a release from the program in Spring 2010, by August, Alabama had a combined 31 players on 12 different preseason award watch lists. Between the conclusion of the 2010 season and the beginning of practice in August 2011. Those who transferred included Robby Green, B. J. Scott, Demetrius Goode, Petey Smith, Brandon Moore, Corey Grant, Alabama head coach Nick Saban entered his fifth year as the Crimson Tides head coach for the 2011 season
2.
2011 LSU Tigers football team
–
The 2011 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by head coach Les Miles and played their home games at Tiger Stadium. They were a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference and they finished the season 13–1, 8–0 in SEC play to be Western Division champions. They represented the division in the SEC Championship Game where they defeated Eastern Division champion Georgia 42–10 be crowned SEC champions and they finished the season ranked #1 in the final BCS poll to earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game vs #2 Alabama. The Tigers, who had defeated Alabama 9–6 in the regular season and it was the first time a team was ever shutout in a BCS game. Schedule source, This is only the 4th meeting of two teams. The win expanded LSUs lead in the series to 3-1-0, the win expanded LSUs lead in the series to 11-0-0. The series began in 1896 and LSU has played the Bulldogs more often than any other opponent, the win expanded LSUs lead in the series to 69-33-3. The win expanded LSUs lead in the series to 39-16-1, LSU currently trails in the series, but with the win makes it 25-30-3. LSU currently trails in the series, but with the win makes it 9-20-3 and this was also the largest margin of victory by either team in the series. The win expanded LSUs lead in the series to 25-20-1 and this was also the largest margin of victory by either team in the series. LSU still trails in the series, but with the win makes it 25-45-5 and this was the first meeting between the two teams. At halftime, soccer player Mo Isom was named Homecoming Queen at halftime in Tiger Stadium, Isom was the first athlete in LSU history to be recognized as Homecoming Queen. In this, the 100th meeting between the two teams, the win extended LSUs lead in the series to 57-39-4. This was also the largest margin of victory by either team in the series, with the win, LSU extends their lead in the series to 35-20-2 as well as winning the SEC West Division and thus their spot in the conference championship game against Georgia. This was the 2nd largest audience in Tiger Stadium history, behind the 2009 game against Florida which featured 93,129 fans, the last time these two teams played, #13 Georgia won over #3 LSU in 2005 34-15. #8 Georgia went on to lose the Sugar Bowl to #13 West Virginia 35-38, with the win in this game, LSU extended their lead in the series to 16-12-1 as well as winning the SEC and thus their spot in the national championship game against Alabama. For the first time in the BCS-era, the two teams in the championship game are from the same conference and division
3.
Nick Saban
–
Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. His initial eight-year contract totaling US$32 million made him one of the football coaches, professional or collegiate. He appeared on the September 1,2008, cover of Forbes magazine as The Most Powerful Coach in Sports, Sabans career record as a college head coach is 205–61–1. He became the first coach in football history to win a national championship with two different Football Bowl Subdivision schools since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936. Saban and Bear Bryant are the coaches to win an SEC championship at two different schools. In May 2013, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Saban had not intended to enter coaching until Don James, his coach at Kent State, made him a graduate assistant while Saban waited for his wife to graduate. Saban was hired as coach at the University of Toledo on December 22,1989. Coming off of 6–5 seasons in both 1988 and 1989, the Rockets found quick success under Nick Saban, going 9–2, the two games the Rockets lost that season were by narrow margins, one point to Central Michigan and four points to Navy. With the 9–2 season, Toledo was co-champion of the Mid-American Conference, Saban resigned as Toledos head coach the following February after one season to become defensive coordinator of the National Football Leagues Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick. 1995–1997—Beginning in 1995, Saban moderately improved Michigan States fortunes, taking the Spartans to minor bowl games in each of his first three seasons, from 1995 to 1997, Michigan State finished 6–5–1, 6–6, and 7–5. In comparison, MSU had finished 5–6, 6–6 and 5–6 in 1992–1994, 1998—On November 7,1998, the Spartans upset the No.1 ranked Ohio State 28–24 at Ohio Stadium. 1999—Saban led the Spartans to a 9–2 season that included wins over Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, however, the two losses were routs at the hands of Purdue and Wisconsin. Following the final game against Penn State, Saban abruptly resigned to accept the head coaching position with LSU. Sabans assistant head coach and successor, Bobby Williams, then coached MSU to a Citrus Bowl victory over Florida and it would be the best season in terms of wins for the Spartans since 1965, and it would see the Spartans reach their highest ranking since the 1966 team. Future NFL head coach Josh McDaniels served as an assistant on Sabans 1999 coaching staff. In November 1999, LSU named Nick Saban as their 31st head football coach, 2000—In 2000, the Tigers went 8–4 and won the Peach Bowl. The season was marred by several lopsided losses, including a 34–17 loss to the Auburn Tigers, a 13–10 loss to the UAB Blazers. 2001—Saban led LSU to a 10–3 record, including an SEC Championship and it was the first outright SEC championship for LSU since 1986, and the first time the Tigers had won the Sugar Bowl since 1968
4.
Les Miles
–
Leslie Edwin Miles is an American football coach and former player. He served as coach at Louisiana State University from 2005 to 2016. Miles is nicknamed The Hat for his white cap, as well as The Mad Hatter for his eccentricities. Miles led the 2007 LSU Tigers football team to a win in the BCS National Championship Game against Ohio State, Miles was born the son of Bubba, a long-haul trucking broker, and Martha Miles. He earned all-state honors as a lineman in football as well as letters in baseball and wrestling at Elyria High School in Ohio and he attended the University of Michigan where he was a two-year letterman under Coach Bo Schembechler from 1974 to 75. In 1980, Miles returned to Michigan as an assistant coach to Schembechler and he left Michigan in 1982 to coach at the University of Colorado where fellow Michigan assistant Bill McCartney had just been named head coach. Coincidentally, one of his assistants on the Colorado staff was another future LSU head coach, Gerry DiNardo. In 1987, Miles returned to Michigan, which was still being coached by Schembechler, when Schembechler retired in 1990, Miles continued as OL coach under new head coach Gary Moeller. While Miles was an assistant at Michigan, the Wolverines had eight consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances. In 1995, Moeller was forced to resign for non-football related reasons, at the same time, Miles had a rift with the University of Michigan, forcing him to seek employment elsewhere. Miles then accepted a promotion to offensive coordinator on former Colorado assistant Bob Simmons staff at Oklahoma State, during the 1998 through 2000 seasons he was the tight ends coach for the NFLs Dallas Cowboys under head coaches Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. Miles returned to Oklahoma State in 2001 as head coach, in the three years prior to Miles arrival in Stillwater, the Cowboys finished 5–6, 5–6, and 3–8. Oklahoma State posted another losing record in Miles first season at the helm and his last three seasons at Oklahoma State ended in invitations to the Houston, Cotton, and Alamo Bowls, respectively. During the last game of Miles first season as coach, OSU faced Oklahoma. Despite the fact that OSU was facing Oklahoma on the road, during Miles second season, OSU again ended the regular season with a game against Oklahoma. This time Oklahoma was ranked the No.3 team in the country, and yet again, Miles led his team to a 38–28 upset victory over the Sooners. As a result of his teams performance during his second year, in September 2013, Sports Illustrated published a series of articles as part of an investigation of his tenure at Oklahoma State from 2001 to 2005. The series alleged Oklahoma State used a system for players, orchestrated by then-assistant coach Joe DeForest, along with direct payments
5.
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
–
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, often referred to simply as the Superdome, is a domed sports and exhibition venue located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It primarily serves as the venue for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. Plans were drawn up in 1967 by the New Orleans modernist architectural firm of Curtis and Davis and the building opened as the Louisiana Superdome in 1975. Its steel frame covers a 13-acre expanse and the 273-foot dome is made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet and it is adjacent to the Smoothie King Center. The Superdome gained international attention of a different type in 2005 when it housed thousands of people seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina, the building suffered extensive damage as a result of the storm, and was closed for many months afterward. It was eventually decided the building would be refurbished and reopened in time for the Saints 2006 home opener on September 25. On October 3,2011, it was announced that German automaker Mercedes-Benz purchased naming rights to the stadium, the new name took effect on October 23,2011. Atlantas Mercedes-Benz Stadium, set to open in 2017, will become the fifth stadium to bear the name of the German automaker, the Superdome is located on 70 acres of land, including the former Girod Street Cemetery. The dome has a space of 125,000,000 cubic feet, a height of 253 feet, a dome diameter of 680 feet. The Superdome has a listed seating capacity of 76,468 or 73,208. However, published figures from events such as the Sugar Bowl football game have exceeded 79,000. The basketball capacity does not reflect the NCAAs new policy on arranging the basketball court on the 50-yard line on the football field, in 2011,3,500 seats were added, increasing the Superdomes capacity to 76,468. The Superdomes capacity was 75,167 for WWE WrestleMania XXX, the actual capacity is 73,208 people. The team regularly draws capacity crowds, the NFL has hosted seven Super Bowls at the Superdome, most recently Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. The 1976 Pro Bowl was held at the Superdome on Monday and it was the NFLs 26th annual all-star game. Tulane University played their games at the stadium from 1975 to 2013 before moving to on-campus Yulman Stadium. The BCS National Championship Game was played at the Superdome four times, the College Football Playoff semifinal game is played every three years in the stadium. Two other bowl games are played there annually, the Sugar Bowl
6.
New Orleans
–
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the New Orleans metropolitan area had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, who reigned as Regent for Louis XV from 1715 to 1723, as it was established by French colonists and it is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music, and its celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is referred to as the most unique in the United States. New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, straddling the Mississippi River, the city and Orleans Parish are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which is included in the city limits, lies to the north, before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranks third in population, trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish, La Nouvelle-Orléans was founded May 7,1718, by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, on land inhabited by the Chitimacha. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time and his title came from the French city of Orléans. The French colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris, during the American Revolutionary War, New Orleans was an important port for smuggling aid to the rebels, transporting military equipment and supplies up the Mississippi River. Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez successfully launched a campaign against the British from the city in 1779. New Orleans remained under Spanish control until 1803, when it reverted briefly to French oversight, nearly all of the surviving 18th-century architecture of the Vieux Carré dates from the Spanish period, the most notable exception being the Old Ursuline Convent. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, thereafter, the city grew rapidly with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, and Africans. Later immigrants were Irish, Germans, and Italians, Major commodity crops of sugar and cotton were cultivated with slave labor on large plantations outside the city. The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804 and established the republic in the Western Hemisphere. It had occurred several years in what was then the French colony of Saint-Domingue
