We as sports appreciators love to see a significant battle, no matter the circumstances. Despite the often-negative opinions aimed at certain celebrated professional teams, games played between these teams are consistently the most viewed and talked

about.

Teams like the New York Yankees, the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Cowboys are regularly regarded as some of the most disliked professional teams throughout the country. They are, however, commonly seen at the playoff and championship levels of their respective sports. While these teams can have reputations for buying their way to the top of their league, the fact cannot be denied that they continually make it to that level nonetheless.

Let’s say, for example, that the 2012-13 NBA Championships were a matchup of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. Each team has a huge following of fans as well as an army cheering against them (although, in this hypothetical situation, I am unsure of which would be larger for each). Even though most fans would probably express their distaste for such a commonly seen setup, it would certainly attract a higher-than-average viewing audience due to each team’s level of stardom and celebrated history.

So, when it comes to this year’s Bowl Championship Series national championship matchup for college football, history and tradition will most likely draw one of the largest viewing audiences for a bowl game to date.

Two celebrated powerhouse football organizations will go head to head on Monday night and only one will walk away as the national champion. The 2013 BCS Discover Bowl will host the 12-0 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame University and the 12-1 Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama. Notre Dame finished the regular season with a No. 1 ranking, followed by Alabama at No. 2. The early buzz for the game is that it could break the record set during the 2006 Rose Bowl as the most-viewed bowl game in television history.

Each team has a deep winning history when it comes to the national championship. In fact, by the end of the 2013 Discover bowl, the record will be set by the winning team as the most national championships earned over all other college football programs. Each team leads the country with eight AP national titles individually.

Thus, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the viewing record were broken. Each team is not only competing for the highest ranking of the year, but competing, in a sense, for overall college football authority. This kind of a battle is sure to attract its share of spectators, and does so for good reason.

Alabama is currently sitting atop the possibility of winning its third national championship in four seasons — the first team to do so since Nebraska accomplished the feat from 1994-97. Although the Fighting Irish have a better overall record on the year, Alabama stands as the close favorite to come away with the victory and create a new legacy as a college football empire.

The Fighting Irish entered the season without an AP Top 25 ranking and now stand at the No. 1 spot with everything to fight for. Led by Heisman Award finalist (and a Utah favorite) Manti Te’o on defense, Notre Dame will have to capitalize its defense — one of the country’s best — to defeat the high-powered offense of the Crimson Tide and, in particular, its running game on the ground.

The game, set to begin at 6:30 p.m. from Miami, Fla., will almost certainly become one for the books. Two of the great college football programs will look to decide which may be crowned the most-decorated team in history.