Alabama

THIS JOURNEY began innocently enough, a curious foray into my family's history. But I find it has led me into an unexpected place of greed and betrayal, slavery and cruelty. For generations my father's family has passed down a legend. It is a story of an early white settler in northern Alabama named John Gunter who married a Cherokee "princess." My father's mother was a Gunter from Alabama, and as I grew up I was intrigued by the romantic tale. I always proudly added "Cherokee" to the list of otherwise European nations whose blood we believed moved in our veins.

Finding an outside linebacker wasn't necessarily viewed as the Ravens' top priority heading into this week's draft, but when they got set to make the 35 th overall selection Friday, they couldn't resist adding another potential impact defensive player and a pass-rushing complement to Terrell Suggs. Temporarily ignoring their needs on the offensive line, the Ravens made linebacker Courtney Upshaw, a defensive standout on an Alabama team that won the national championship last season, their first selection of the 2012 draft.

Two of college football's most storied programs vie for the Bowl Championship Series national title tonight at 8:38 on channels 2 and 7. For the No. 1 Crimson Tide, led by Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, right, it would be the first championship since 1992; the No. 2 Longhorns, led by two-time Heisman finalist Colt McCoy, last won in 2005. For matchups and X-factors, see PG 10

Update 9:52 p.m.: Here are a few quotes from The Castle on the Ravens' first two draft picks tonight. Here are a few highlights from tonight's news conference with Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta, general manager Ozzie Newsome and coach John Harbaugh. Newsome's overall thoughts: "Coming into today, you talk about the two guys that we got, they both were seniors so they bring a level of maturity to the locker room already. They are guys who made their way through two pretty good programs.

You illegal aliens that now will be outlawed from attending college in Alabama ("Alabama sets new standard," June 10) should move here. Our governor will entice you to attend Maryland colleges with taxpayer subsidized, reduced tuition. Move soon to avoid increased gas taxes and tolls that are necessary because he spent the highway "trust" fund. Dan Griffin, Perry Hall

LSU and Alabama remained on top of the Bowl Championship Series standings as they eye their showdown in two weeks, while Oklahoma and Wisconsin paid heavily for their first losses of the season. The Tigers and Crimson Tide, both 8-0 and each with a week off to prepare for their Nov. 5 meeting in Tuscaloosa, Ala., continued to sit 1-2 in Sunday's standings with BCS averages of .9702 and .9627, respectively. Losses by the Sooners and Badgers, though, scrambled the standings and created opportunities for others.

Alabama students and faculty won't have to worry about missing class to attend the national title football game. The university canceled classes from Jan. 6-8. The school said Tuesday that students will have to make up for the lost class time. They have two days of classes upon returning from the Christmas break before getting another respite. Alabama cited the number of students who have to be in Pasadena and those students and staff who want to attend the game.

Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram will miss Alabama's opener Saturday against San Jose State after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday morning. Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said the junior running back hurt his left knee in practice Monday. "It was a situation where everyone involved thought it would be better to take care of it now so he would not have any issues with it later," Saban said. Saban said Ingram will be monitored carefully on a week-to-week basis.

EVERY STATE in the union is facing difficult, if not disastrous, financial problems. But one of them, Alabama, has chosen to use the emergency as an opportunity. Other states, including Maryland, should pay close attention. Alabama Republican Gov. Bob Riley, at least as conservative as Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., has done more than raise income and property taxes. He's reformed a blatantly unfair system, relieving the poor of an unfair burden and assessing wealthy interests their fair share of the burden.

Cyrus Jones Jr. always strives to test his football skills against the best, from playing up an age group in Pop Warner to playing for No. 1 Gilman. It will be no different in college. Jones is headed to No. 2 Alabama, which has appeared in and won more bowl games than any other program. Jones announced his commitment to a national television audience at Thursday night's Under Armour All-America game in St. Petersburg, Fla., during which he returned an interception for a touchdown.

Update 9:48 p.m.: With the Jets picking North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples, it creates more of an opportunity for the Ravens to land either Alabama linebackers Courtney Upshaw or Dont'a Hightower. The Ravens also like South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram, who had 10 sacks in 2011. Ingram could also play outside linebacker.    Update 9:28 p.m.: Like most teams and fans around the NFL, the Ravens couldn't predict the amount of trades in the top 10 picks, but they at least have been able to match up the teams with the players they chose.

Each day this week leading up to Thursday's NFL draft, we will highlight one prospect whom the Ravens could draft with the 29th overall pick. Today's player is Alabama linebacker/defensive end Courtney Upshaw, who had 16.5 sacks for the Crimson Tide the past two seasons, including 9.5 as they won the 2011 NCAA title. Background: Upshaw was one of the top defensive end prospects of the country coming out of high school, and he lived up to the expectations in his home state.

Ozzie Newsome, you could make a lot of Ravens fans happy Thursday. As the team's general manager, you have a chance to do something in this NFL draft that people around here have talked about forever. That's right, you have the chance to draft the eventual successor to Ray Lewis. How long have we been talking about finding his heir apparent? At least six or seven years, right? But now you've got a shot at this kid Dont'a Hightower, the big, high-impact linebacker from Alabama.

After a wild first week in free agency that was punctuated with Peyton Manning signing with the Denver Broncos, we have a better idea of what needs teams will address in April's NFL draft. So now seems like a good time for our second mock draft of the offseason. (This mock draft does not account for potential trades.) And remember, these are called “mock” drafts for a reason. Try not to take them too seriously. 1. Colts: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford. Luck will be under tremendous pressure in replacing Peyton Manning, an all-time great.

For Maryland coach Mark Turgeon, the Puerto Rico Tip-Off was something of a benchmark. A low-water mark, you might say. When Turgeon thinks back to that November tournament, he doesn't focus on balmy weather or the team's beachfront hotel. Rather, he thinks about rushed shots and defensive lapses. He thinks about an inexperienced  team that had a long way to go. So when Turgeon alludes to Puerto Rico -- as he did after Maryland's season-worst, 71-44 loss at Virginia -- it's not an encouraging sign if you're a Maryland fan. What he's saying is that his team, for at least one game, has regressed to November levels.

What's that saying about leading a horse to water?  The latest effort to teach Maryland-bred whooping crane chicks to migrate to Florida for the winter has been called off because the endangered birds will no longer follow the ultralight aircraft leading them. Operation Migration , the nonprofit group that's been guiding captive-bred young cranes for a decade on their initial 1,300-mile flight from nesting grounds in Wisconsin, has called it quits this year in Alabama, 500 miles short of the destination.

Outplayed most of the game, No. 2 Alabama stayed unbeaten with a 26-21 victory over host Auburn (7-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference), taking the lead with a nearly perfect drive that was capped by Greg McElroy 's 4-yard touchdown pass to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 left. Alabama (12-0, 8-0) completed a second straight perfect regular season in the Iron Bowl but did it the hard way against its bitter rival. The Tide fell behind in the opening minutes but came out ahead to do its part to set up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with top-ranked Florida in the SEC championship game.

Starring Reese Witherspoon Directed by Andy Tennant Rated PG-13 (some language,sexual references) Released by Touchstone Pictures Time 102 minutes