Say what you want, but the two best teams made it to the BCS Championship game.

Notre Dame may have gotten a bit lucky against Stanford, Pittsburgh and Purdue. Alabama may have struggled against Texas A&M, LSU and Georgia, all recent games. But Notre Dame has Manti Te’o and a superb defense, while Alabama has an amazing defense and running game.

Eddie Lacy and T.J Yeldon ate up Georgia and allowed Alabama to win the SEC Championship, but they will have trouble running into Te’o, a Heisman candidate. But Everett Golson will have a tough time against Alabama’s defense, which has been absolutely phenomenal.

The two quarterbacks don’t get tons of attention, but they are good. AJ McCarron has made some big plays for Alabama, and he threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the SEC Championship and the LSU game. He has big-game experience, while Golson has helped Notre Dame win some close games.

Oh, and Theo Riddick has been pretty good for Notre Dame, too.