By Matt Schulz
FANSonly.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Minnesota fans had the right to have big hopes entering the Virtual Championship Series. They won eight games this season and went 5-3 in the brutal Big Ten, including a win over Penn State.

However, those dreams were killed brutally on Friday, run over by a Southern freight train named Shaun Alexander.

Alexander -- whose Heisman hopes were dashed by nagging late-season injuries -- ran like a man possessed in the Tide's 39-3 win over Minnesota. He scored four TDs, ran for 139 yards and simply couldn't be stopped all day.

The Tide put the game away with a 24-point third quarter, capped off by two TD runs (four yards and six yards) by Alexander. That explosion turned a still-in-question 15-3 ballgame at the half into a full-fledged rout.

And the Gophers just couldn't get anything going all day. QB Billy Cockerham was ineffective (7-of-19, 100 yards, 0 TDs and 3 INTs) and struggled particularly on third downs, converting only 5-of-14 attempts.