Sports

Gators Win the National Championship

Before the game, I thought that the Gators would win. After the second quarter, I wasn’t sure anymore. Oklahoma ran the ball at will on Florida, and it looked like the Sooner offense was going to roll over the Gators for the rest of the game. After the half, however, Florida made adjustments and made the plays they needed to make. It was a great game.

Notable points about the championship game:

1. Tim Tebow is a rare player and leader. He is surrounded by talented teammates (not the least of which is Percy Harvin), but he literally willed his team into this game and on to victory. Tebow is a rare talent, and we won’t soon see the likes of him again in college football.

2. Oklahoma averaged 54 points a game this year, yet Florida held them to 14 tonight. While the Florida defense played great, they were helped along by a few untimely chokes by Oklahoma.

3. Oklahoma could have scored 28 points in the first half, but instead only scored 7. They had two failed attempts in the red zone, and a pass that went to the 5 yard line that was called back because of a holding penalty. The game would have been entirely different if they would have capitalized on those opportunities to score.

4. The debate goes on as to who should be the national champion. USC, Utah, and Texas all have an argument to make. At the end of the day, however, it’s a shame that it comes down to computers and arguments. Division 1A College Football needs a playoff. Who wouldn’t want to see Florida versus USC at this point? That being said, Florida is the BCS national champion, and I think they deserve the title.

Of course, we have to acknowledge Florida’s loss to Ole Miss and Tim Tebow’s post-game speech. That speech defined the remainder of Florida’s season, and it was the renewal of their championship aspirations. Here it is one more time.

Here’s ESPN’s video recap of the game:

109 Comments

  • Barry

    Florida Defense. They stopped OU in the red zone over and over. What a game. Tebow was fantastic. Sorry to all of the OU fans, but . . . SEC SEC SEC.

    Barry

  • Barry

    I will add that OU’s offense was great to watch. But, as the headline reads, “Florida Makes Heisman Winner Look Ordinary.”

  • Chris

    The only question left to ask is which conference is going to make the mistake of assuming they are better than the SEC next year?

  • Darius T

    Denny, one correction to your post. OU averaged 35 points per first half, averaging 55 per game. It makes Florida’s defense (or OU’s choking, as you said) look that much more impressive.

  • Kyle Barrett

    OU did not choke. They moved the ball when they had it. But it came down to the #1 redzone offense vs. the #1 redzone defense and the defense won out. I’m sorry but Stoops made 2 huge mistakes in going for the TD rather than kicking it. If OU gets 6 out of those drives it’s a different game.

  • Kyle Barrett

    Darius…

    Mistakes are part of the game. You try to limit mistakes but great teams force mistakes. OU forced some UF mistakes and UF forced some OU mistakes. That’s different than choking though. To me choking is not lining up right. Making huge mental mistakes that are not forced by the other team. Going for it is not choking. I’m not saying that his choice to go for it wasn’t calculated. Going for it knowing you have a great QB/offense and not getting is not choking. It’s getting beat.

  • Daniel

    Utah beat Alabama just as convincingly as Florida did so I guess that means that the Mountain West is the best conference. 🙂

    Seriously, Utah deserves the national title. They had the best season and an impressive bowl win.

  • Kyle Barrett

    Utah deserves a shot at the national title. Not necessarily the title. UF beat two #1’s and played 10 bowl eligible teams. Are they any less deserving?

  • Nathan

    Congrats to Florida. It was a good game. I agree with Darius, OU was outcoached by Meyer. You have to take the points when you get a chance.

    Stoops has choked in his coaching in the postseason for quite a few years now.

    It was a great game and I think the BCS was justified by the quality of play by both teams, espeically the defenses.

  • Nathan

    Another Stoops rant…

    Had he taken the field goal instead of fast-pacing an attempt at fourth and goal it would have only been a 7 point diff with 2 minutes left.

    I’m not saying OU would have won, but it would have made for a great finish. That is where a coaching blunder comes back to haunt.

  • Darius T

    Yeah, I don’t think it was unwise to go for the TD in both of those cases. Stoops is like Carroll and all the other great coaches, they go for the jugular when they see it. If they make that one yard and Bradford doesn’t throw a bad pass at the end of the half, OU is up 21-7 and are pretty much guaranteed a national title. Imagine what would happen if Tebow had to play from behind… his passing was very inconsistent and he would have had another couple interceptions if he didn’t have the luxury of playing with the lead or tied the whole game. OU knew that they had to get the lead early or Florida would wear them down eventually.

  • Darius T

    More on Tebow… the announcers actually made me want to hate the guy, even though he is such a great player and great person. How many times did they call him Superman??? I wish we had the ABC crew covering that game…

    As for Tebow’s pro prospects, last night proved that it will be very hard for him to succeed at the next level (not that that’s the end of the world or anything). He’s slow and can’t outrun anyone even at this level. His size advantage will be gone at the next level. His two interceptions told us a lot. The first Harris baited him into, but it was still a throw he should have been able to make but he didn’t have the arm strength to get it there. In the NFL, you have to put some zip on your passes. On his second interception, he assumed that no one was sitting down in the middle of the field… rookie mistake. While he is one incredible competitor and knows how to win, that won’t do much for him at the next level. Hopefully, he stays in college and enjoys that as long as he can, cause he’s doomed to a Ken Dorsey existence in the NFL.

  • Darius T

    Yeah.. they made some good adjustments at half after getting run out of the building in the first half. OU didn’t make good adjustments or learn from the first half (seriously, how do you abandon a running game that is gashing the supposedly best defense in the country?)

  • D.J. Williams

    Darius said…
    “While he is one incredible competitor and knows how to win, that won’t do much for him at the next level.”

    Tell that to Jake Delhomme. Don’t write this guy off as an NFL QB so fast.

  • Darius T

    Because of his drive, he might be able to do something. But I doubt it… and considering Tebow, he probably would prefer to do mission work or something else anyway. He’ll try his hand at the NFL, but if it doesn’t work out right away, he’ll probably just cut his losses and move on.

  • Micah Carter

    Hey Denny, thanks for mentioning that the Gators lost to Ole Miss! Go Rebs! I am thrilled that Florida won, especially for Tebow.

  • Nathan

    Tebow made himself a legitimate NFL QB last night. He will need to work on his delivery, but the guy simply doesn’t know how to lose. He reminds me of Steve McNair in many ways; tough, tenacious, and simply a hatred of losing.

    Any NFL team that plays defense and runs the ball has to be drooling about this guy.

    Forget Stafford and even forget Bradford should he declare, any team that doesn’t play vertical 75+ percent of the time would kill to have a leader like Tebow.

  • Laz

    Texas might not have helped their case during the Fiesta Bowl, but then again, we’ll never know how the Horns would have played against Florida.

    Going into the OU game, most had Oklahoma blowing them out and well, UT won by 10.

  • Matt Svoboda

    Yeah it makes since… LSU lost 5 games this year. No 5 loss team deserves to be ranked.

    Bradford still looked better than Tebow. Both of Bradfords picks were his receivers fault. Tebow threw 2 passes right to OU players. The Heisman winner played the better game. I thought the Big 12 had weak D’s? If thats true why did OU hold Florida to less points than EVERY SEC team this year?

    Florida one, not because they were better but because OU has mastered ‘the choke.’

  • Matt Svoboda

    ‘Tebow simply doesn’t know how to lose.’ Thats hilarious. Tebow has a ton of talent around him. If it wasnt for Harvin he would of lost last night. Tebow can’t rely on a ‘will to win’ in the pros. He will get beat and then we have to watch him cry in front of the camera again.

  • Kyle Barrett

    Matt…

    First, Tebow and Bradford had similar numbers. Bradford completed 65%, Tebow 60%. Bradford had 20ish yards more passing. Based on stats, he didn’t have a significantly better game.

    Second, his interception in the first half was thrown to a receiver with 4 defenders around him. His interception in the second half was thrown into double coverage and the safety made a great play on the ball. How then do you get that Bradford’s interceptions were not his fault? He even said in the press conference he should have thrown the first one away. Based on interceptions, again, a wash.

    The difference in this game was that UF was the more balanced team and used that balance to make plays down the stretch. So who had the better game? Tebow. Hands down. He made the runs and the throws when the game was on the line. He lead his team with his decision making and his play making. Was he perfect, no. Was he still great, yes.

    As for the Tebow love fest – I’m a Gator alum and found it pretty over the top. There’s a way to praise a guy who is the caliber of player Tebow is and there is a way not to praise him. Wish ESPN/Fox Sports could find that balance.

    As for the who’ll be the better pro QB talk – it’s irrelevant. Absolutely has no bearing on this game. All that chatter is simply sour grapes. It’s Big 12 guys grasping at any glimmer of hope for a season that ended on a low note. Give credit where credit is due. And eat crow when necessary.

    ps. “Tebow will amount to nothing in the pros.” WHO CARES?! I hope the guys gets paid and then goes to the 10/40 window or makes it possible for others to go. Football ain’t all there is. Be glad Tebow knows that.

  • Darius T

    All four of those defenders were behind the receiver… hardly quadruple coverage. It was single coverage with 3 other players in the near vicinity.

    Harvin had like 120 yards rushing on a bum ankle. It’s not even close, Harvin was the MVP of that game and Florida would not have won without him.

  • Darius T

    Tebow had 110 yards rushing, but 30 of that was on the last drive when OU had given up. He had 68 yards rushing on the four Florida scoring drives. Harvin 75 yards on those same four drives. Tebow was 100% healthy, Harvin was much worse than the 90% reported.

  • Nathan

    Hey, I’m a Big 12 guy through and through, but lets be real, Tebow was the best player on the field last night. Harvin was his sidekick. Don’t forget Brown’s value to the OU offense either.

    Whether Stoops didn’t trust Bradford or he just seems to choke lately in the bowl games, Meyer put the game in Tebow’s hands in the 2nd half.

    If Stoops had as much confidence in Bradford, then OU should have went for it on 4th and 5 or 6 on the Florida 35 instead of trying a 49 yd field goal when your kicker had never gone farther than 42.

    Instead it gets blocked. We have discussed Stoops’ other stupid calls, but I guarantee Meyer would have let Tebow try to get the 1st down.

    Harvin had 2 runs; Tebow owned the 2nd half.

  • Matt Svoboda

    Kyle,

    Its not horrendous when you can thread the needle between 4 defenders. It is horredous when your receiver pops it up and doesnt make a play, which happened on both of Bradfords picks. Tebows picks mistakes Bradford hasnt made in his entire career. There is a reason people expect Bradford t have a good NFL career and Tebow to not even play QB.

  • Kyle Barrett

    Matt…

    It is “horrendous” (not my word) because it is a mental error that is very un-Bradford like. Bradford pulled a Stafford. He tried to take more from the defense than they would allow. I have a lot of respect for Sam Bradford’s game. I honestly thought he was going to drive the field on us late in the game to go ahead by 4. He’s a great qb. Factoring in stats and playmaking though I don’t think he was the best qb last night.

    And again, the NFL talk is irrelevant. Who was the better COLLEGE quarterback last night is germaine. Who may or may not be the better NFL qb is not. I’m not arguing that Tebow is the better pro prospect. Frankly, I don’t care. If Bradford and Tebow can get paid, great. I hope they are able to secure a good financial future for them and their families. But that has absolutely nothing to do with last night’s game. We might as well talk about how much pulp we like in our OJ if we’re gonna talk pro prospects.

    kb

  • Ryan McBride

    Darius and Matt, where did you guys go to school? OU? Just wondering because you sure are passionate about defending them, and letting everyone know that they let Florida win…

  • Matt Svoboda

    Nope, OU is most certainly not a team I cheer for. They are already beating us in National Championships, but we have them beat in total wins.. 25 straight years of 9+win seasons under the same coach… Thats a record for those of you who don’t know. I sure love Tom Osborne and soon Pelini will make us have the best defense in the country! The Blackshirts are back!

  • Denny Burk

    Kyle,

    I’m with you. I am a big fan of Tebow, but the adulation on the part of the commentators was over the top:

    “All the great things you’ve heard about Tim Tebow pale in comparison to meeting him in person. Just spend five minutes with the guy, and it will change your life.”

    The funniest part of the over-the-top commentary was at the end of the game after Tebow committed the personal foul. The commentators were incredulous. They said:

    “Well, that must be the first thing Tebow has ever done wrong… He must have been responding to offensive remarks from the other guy that we couldn’t see on camera.”

    The commentators started arguing deductively from the premise of Tebow’s inability to commit a personal foul. It sounded more like theology than commentary. Unbelievable.

    Did anybody else pick up on that?

    Denny

  • Darius T

    I turned the TV off after OU’s final drive. So “Superman” made a boo boo? The commentators were so annoying… and the spin they put on the pregame stuff about Tebow so that any and all mention of God was deleted was disgusting. The closest they got to mentioning that Tebow is a Christian is when they referred to his “faith.” They even edited the interviews with the prisoners to make it sound like Tebow himself had brought hope to them, as opposed to Jesus (Tebow being merely the messenger). Very sad. They have a championship game where both starting QBs and the head coaches are all devout Christians, and they can’t bring themselves to once say the C word.

  • Denny Burk

    Here’s an SAT analogy for you:

    Sports reporters are to Tebow as Political reporters are to _______________.

    a) George Bush
    b) Richard Nixon
    c) Herbert Hoover
    d) Barack Obama

    If you chose answer “d,” you would be correct.

  • Benjamin A

    Until two teams play head to head who can say who would win? It’s all speculation.

    So no need to bring Utah, Texas or any other team (say USC) into this discussion. We will never know what might have been had there been a playoff system.

    Under the BcS system FU gets the glory and every other team that deserved a shot at that game gets the shaft.

    So congrats SEC fans and Gator Nation for being awarded/given the National Title even with a lost on the record to an unranked team on your home turf.

  • Kyle Barrett

    Benjamin must be an FSU or Miami fan. 🙂

    Darius – I appreciate your concern for Tebow’s sanctification. Sounds like you really want the guy to fall flat on his face.

    I’m glad his out there and vocal with his love for Jesus. The guy is 21 and already thinking strategically about how best to use his gifts, abilities, and circumstances to influence people for Jesus. The last thing we need to do is throw him under the bus because folks don’t seem to have a vocabulary for him.

    Not only that, but maybe herbstreit and others really have had there lives changed. We can sit here and judge from a distance. That’s easy. The hard part is setting aside our school pride and saying, ‘Jesus, spend that guy for your glory.’

  • Kyle Barrett

    Okay. Should have given you the benefit of the doubt. I just read comment #45 in light of the “boo boo” comment in #44.

    It’s hard for me to blame the media even though it is a bit much. Tebow is special. He’s different than Pacman Jones or Mike Vick or Jose Canseco or etc, etc, etc. Pat Forde had a good article on ESPN.com right before the game that speaks to alot of this. No link but go find it. It’s worth the time.

  • Darius T

    My “boo boo” comment was more of a rip on the media than on Tebow (though it does show that he isn’t perfect like they want to pretend him to be, since even he can’t apparently win with class). I’m fed up with the media coverage of him, especially when they won’t give any credit to his Lord, which is the only reason Tebow is anything particularly special.

  • Darius T

    Ha, you pin one player’s antics on the whole school? Please, now you’re just showing your bias for Tebow. Tebow’s actions are his responsibility, just as are Nic Harris’. Stoops is probably THE classiest coach in college football, and the evidence is overwhelming. He (or his brother Mike at Arizona) didn’t vote in the final coaches’ poll so that there was no conflict of interest in that controversy. He has routinely taken his players aside during the game and berated them for classless celebration, even when it didn’t result in a penalty. He has mentored many of his players in their faith or brought them to faith in Christ in his time at OU.

  • Kyle Barrett

    Hey Darius…

    Did you know I’m a Gator fan? I’ve laid my bias on the table numerous times here. What about you? You make snide ad hominem’s about Tebow and expect it not to be responded to? Seriously? Do you think that Tebow just all of a sudden and unprovoked decided to do the chomp (which is what he was flagged for) as he walked away from the OU player? Come on man.

    I’m not trying to defend Tebow to the death. The chomp directed at the OU player was a poor decision in the heat of the moment. But there’s no need to constantly go after the guy. If you want to talk X’s and O’s, fine. If you want to talk about classless winning/losing, bring up both sides.

    By the way, I never said that Stoops wasn’t classy. I have tremendous respect for him. From a coaching standpoint he was the difference between UF ’95 and UF ’96. UF ’95 = throttled by Nebraska. UF ’96 throttles FSU. From a personal standpoint I’ve watched OU from a distance and been proud of the kind of coach Stoops is and the kind of program OU is under him (far cry from Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth).

    Moving on.

    kb

  • Kyle Barrett

    Going back to OU abandoning the run…

    I thought the reason they did it was because UF started moving the ball on longer time consuming drives. At that point OU put all its eggs in the passing attack. They weren’t going to have the time to run the ball so they threw it more.

    Fair?

  • Darius T

    The run was working more consistently than the pass… plus, the run sets up the pass. So it was in their best interest to continue running it. Like I mentioned before, they made the same mistake Bama did. Alabama had one nice drive where they ran it down the Gators’ throat, then they abandoned the run. Very odd to see both Stoops and Saban make those kind of coaching mistakes.

  • Matt Svoboda

    I pin the loss on the coaching staff. The OC did not do well calling plays, at all. His redzone play calling was the worst I have seen in a long time. OU nation only has there coaching staff to blame. With that said, Stoops and Venables did amazing on defense. OU’s D played better than every SEC team that played Florida this year.

  • Ryan McBride

    Nice to see the supposedly “best conference,” Little 12 fall on their faces in bowl games. The teams of the Little 12 play a schedule that does not get them ready for the big stage.

  • kris

    Putting yourself in the position to play for 4 Championships in 9 years is pretty good.

    Winning more than 1 out 4 would be alot better.

    I give it up to the Gators. But I love my Sooners

    Hope everyone has a blessed new year coming.

    Kris

  • Darius T

    “The teams of the Little 12 play a schedule that does not get them ready for the big stage.”

    Do you even pay attention to college football or was Thursday your first contact with the sport? Texas played Arkansas this year (and destroyed them) and OU played Miami twice in the last 3 or so years. Texas also played Ohio State as a non-conference game. Meanwhile, Florida was playing the likes of The Citadel. The Big 12 has won two national championship games in the last decade and played in three other ones. If you wanna pick on a conference, pick on the Big 10… that would be much more appropriate and you would sound informed.

  • Daniel

    The Big 12 and SEC are comparable. Both are tough conferences. You can’t say based on one game which one’s better.

    Alabama was utterly embarrassed by a Mountain West school. Saban had resort to the “we’re rebuilding” excuse.

    If a couple of plays had gone, the other way OU would have won. It was a close game between two good teams.

    BTW, ’95 Huskers were the best team ever. Go Huskers!

  • volfan007

    Florida won the national championship over the darling of the sports media…Oklahoma. The SEC went 6-2 in the bowl games, while our lower tier teams were matched against the other conferences best…example: Vandy beat Boston College; LSU beat GT; Ole Miss beat Texas Tech; etc.

    The SEC is the best conference in the land….hands down…no doubt about it. In reality, whoever wins the SEC is really the national champion…or, at least, that’s the way we look at it down here in the South.

    I will give Utah thier props, though. They looked good. Of course, they hadnt played the schedule that Alabama played in the SEC…resulting in injuries to players. The SEC teams come out of conference play all banged up from hammering on each other. If SEC teams played the cupcake schedule of Utah, then maybe they’d all be healthy come bowl time, too.

    Also, Tebow caused quite a stir with his John 3:16 on the black stuff under his eyes. Have yall seen this?

    David

  • Darius T

    “Florida won the national championship over the darling of the sports media…Oklahoma.”

    Are you serious??? Florida was getting all the publicity before the game… the media heavily favored Florida to win it. Get your facts straight.

  • Darius T

    Utah crushed Alabama… the one injured offensive linemen wouldn’t have played defense for the Tide, but their unit got wiped out.

    Utah wishes they could have had Arkansas, Tulane, Western Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas State, and Tennessee on their schedule. They beat the team that had just beaten USC.

    The SEC homers on here are hilariously detached from reality. Daniel seems to be the most level-headed of the commenters… basically, the two conferences are even. Florida is the SEC’s only top tier team (Bama is a year away) while the Big 12 has OU and Texas, either of whom would beat Florida on a regular basis if they played each other ten times (lest you forget how OU dominated Florida in the first half). The SEC has average middle tier teams compared to the Big 12, but much better lower tier teams to make up for it.

  • Ryan McBride

    “Do you even pay attention to college football or was Thursday your first contact with the sport?”
    Lol…
    I forgot that you, Darius T, are the all mighty authority when it comes to College Football.
    The only two match-ups of SEC vs Big 12 in bowl games the SEC won. It did look like the Big 12 was the better conference this year, BUT then came the bowls…
    Did you attend a Big 12 school Darius?

  • Darius T

    Nope, never did. I spent all but my college years in Big 10 country and am a Gopher fan as well as a Sooner fan, but I am also realistic. The Big 10 is awful, and has been overrated for a good decade.

    Your comment indicated that you may be new to the sport (or just extremely biased). 🙂 Obviously, if one honestly looks at the Big 12’s schedule, they will recognize that the Big 12 is more welcoming to hard non-conference schedules than the SEC.

  • Chris Garner

    “Texas played Arkansas this year (and destroyed them) and OU played Miami twice in the last 3 or so years. Texas also played Ohio State as a non-conference game.”

    So a lower tier team in the SEC, a team that hasn’t been good in the last, I don’t know, 4 years, and a consistently over-rated team consist of a tough non-conference schedule? You must be joking.

  • Darius T

    Chris, Ohio State is overrated and Arkansas hasn’t been good in 4 years? Hmm, you should probably sit this debate out since it is apparent you don’t know college football. Arkansas was quite good until this year (not Texas’ fault that they were bad this year).

  • Darius T

    Ryan,

    Nope, I’ve followed the Sooners since I was a little kid, through thick and thin. In fact, I met Jamelle Holieway when I was 8 years old at halftime of an OU-Iowa State game. I would read their media guides from front to back. My dad followed them during the 70’s when they won a couple national championships and passed that Boomer Sooner love onto me. No bandwagon fan here.

  • Darius T

    One more thing Chris… assuming you’re a SEC homer, could you please defend Alabama’s choice of schedule? I mean, my point was that the Big 12 doesn’t try for cupcake schedules like the SEC does. And your retort is Arkansas sucks??? For your information, the schedules are made like 2-4 years ahead of time, so when Texas planned on playing Arkansas this year, the Razorbacks were good and coached by Houston Nutt. Similarly, OU had to take on Chattanooga (an FCS division team) because a DI opponent backed out at the last minute. Otherwise, they played Cincinatti, TCU, and Washington. Cincinnati played in the Orange Bowl, TCU beat the undefeated Boise State in their bowl game and only lost one other game (to #2 Utah by 3 points), and Washington wasn’t that bad when the schedule was originally made.

    Meanwhile, what again is Bama’s excuse for scheduling Arkansas State, Tulane, and Western Kentucky? Or Florida’s for playing The Citadel?

  • Chris Garner

    Well, should I respond or sit this debate out, as you suggested?

    I never said Arkansas sucks, I said they were a lower tier SEC team. , and if you try to argue they’re not then I truly will sit this debate out. The team I was saying hasn’t been good in 3 years was Miami. But as for Bama, let’s look at the rest of their schedule. Georgia, always a top ten contender, Tennessee, they had a disappointing year but they are typically in the top 15, LSU, defending National Champs, and Auburn, a heated rivalry. Would you have them playing a top ten team every week? Give me a break. Mizzou doesn’t help your argument. Southeast Missouri? Nevada? Buffalo? There are examples on both sides of coin.

  • Chris Garner

    Oh, and Ohio State is overrated, their past two trips to the Natl Championship game proves my point. What do you have that says differently?

  • Matt Svoboda

    People need to remember that OU had 2 top 15 teams on there non-conference schedule. Ou and and Texas had the most difficult schedules by far. Utah had a more difficult schedule than Florida… At least they played more ranked teams.

  • Denny Burk

    Someone just sent me this “news” story. I thought you all might be interested:

    January 09, 2009

    Tebow Skips Senior Season, Ascends Directly Into Heaven

    MIAMI (SP) — Shortly after leading the Florida Gators to a national championship with a 24-14 win over Oklahoma, junior quarterback Tim Tebow announced that he would skip his senior season and ascend directly into heaven.

    Tebow entered the press room to wild applause. A reporter for a 24-hour cable sports network burst into tears when the 2007 Heisman winner entered the room. Another threw a pair of boxer shorts on the podium. Tebow smiled at the gesture and several sports reporters fainted.”Sorry I’m late,” Tebow began. “There was a six-year-old boy with cancer in row 54 and I had to make my way through the crowd to heal him.”

    “I want to start by saying that playing quarterback for the University of Florida, winning two national championships, has been a great honor. There has been some speculation about my future and I want to c lear that up right now,” he continued. “Don’t go, Tim!” a reporter shouted from the back of the room.

    “After much consideration, I have decided to skip my senior season at the University of Florida and ascend directly into Heaven,” Tebow announced. Upon making the announcement, Tebow was bathed in a blinding white light and vanished.

    In response to the news, ESPN announced they will have a month-long tribute to Tebow. ESPN2 will now be known as ESPN-TEBOW and will feature Tebow highlights (including home videos of Tebow’s childhood), re-airings of past interviews, Tebow-centric analysis by ESPN air personalities, a Tebow quiz show and a reality show to find the “most Tebow-like” person in America.

    “He wasn’t just the greatest player in college football history,” said a college football writer at the press conference, tears streaming down his face. “He might have been the greatest person to ever walk on earth.”

  • volfan007

    SEC teams need to schedule cupcake teams in the non conference part of thier schedules, because they play EACH OTHER during conference play. A good example of this is all the SEC teams that were ranked very high during the first few weeks…then, they started playing each other…beating each other. They then began to fall in the polls….because they were beating each other. And, this happens every single year in the SEC. Also, numerous injuries began to pile up on a lot of the SEC teams…which also happens every single year in the SEC, and Georgia had a ton of injuries, or else they’d have probably been playing in the championship game.

    Also, SEC vs. Big 12 in bowls. Florida beat Oooooooklahoma and Ole Miss beat Texas Tech!!!! 2-0 against the Big 12!

    David

    PS. The SEC rules!

  • Darius T

    “Also, numerous injuries began to pile up on a lot of the SEC teams…which also happens every single year in the SEC, and Georgia had a ton of injuries, or else they’d have probably been playing in the championship game.”

    OU was hurt more by injuries than anyone else. If they had Ryan Reynolds playing at middle linebacker against Florida, guaranteed they would have won. They also wouldn’t have lost to Texas… once he got hurt, McCoy picked apart the middle of the field and they came back to win. Please don’t use that bogus argument.

    The highly ranked SEC teams didn’t fall in ranking because they were losing to each other, but because they were getting blown out (LSU, Georgia, Auburn).

  • Kyle Barrett

    “OU was hurt more by injuries than anyone else.”

    UF was down a tight end all season and 2 d-line man in the title game. Goes both ways Darius.

    “The highly ranked SEC teams didn’t fall in ranking because they were losing to each other, but because they were getting blown out (LSU, Georgia, Auburn).’

    Again, it goes both ways. Whose point are you arguing?

  • Darius T

    Not true… Reynolds was one of the top 5 linebackers in the nation and controlled the middle of the field. Tebow and Harvin wouldn’t have run for half the yards they did if he was in there.

  • Kyle Barrett

    But Reynolds would not have been able to hang with Cornelius Ingram (our injured TE). It’s a mismatch. We can go back and forth on this point Darius. If you want to guarantee an OU victory based on Reynolds, then your argument doesn’t work.

  • volfan007

    In fact, the “high powered” offense of the Sooners could not score! Florida shut them down.

    Also, Ole Miss did a pretty good job on the Texas Tech “high powered” offense as well.

    I guess those offenses were “high powered” against the Big 12 and teams from other conferences. But, the SEC shut down the “high powered” offenses of the Big 12.

    David

    PS. The truth hurts sometimes, fellas. Go ahead and admit that the SEC rules college football. You’ll feel better.

    🙂

  • Chris Garner

    “If they had Ryan Reynolds playing at middle linebacker against Florida, guaranteed they would have won.”

    And if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his butt when he hops. It’s a moot point. The bottom line is when all the talk about players, coaching, schedules, and whatever factor you want to bring up is over is that the Big 12 went 0 for 2 versus SEC teams, didn’t win as many bowl games as the SEC, and lost more than the SEC. Better luck next year.

  • Chris Garner

    Matt,

    No one is arguing that point. I’m just saying “what if” arguments are pointless. We can go around all day, but the bottom line is all we have to look at are the wins and losses. Sure there are variables, but a good team is able to work through those (that’s not a crack at OU, they still had a great season). Florida came out on top, along with the SEC as they had the better bowl record compared to the the Big 12. Now would I be saying the same thing if the Big 12 came out on top? Eh…probably not, but you would be flaunting the wins and losses as I am. But that would never happen as the SEC is the best 🙂

  • Darius T

    Wow, the SEC finally figures out what college football is in the last decade and they act like they’ve been on top for the decades prior. Pop quiz: what conference(s) won 10 national titles in the 30 years prior to Florida’s FIRST in 1996 while the SEC won only one that didn’t belong to Alabama?

  • Kyle Barrett

    Actually, now that I think about it, Darius’ pop quiz sounds more like Uncle Rico! “Back then I could throw the ball a quarter mile. If coach puts me in we win state!” 🙂

  • Matt Svoboda

    Darius is right. SEC has been on top for less than a decade and you guys act like the SEC has dominated college football from the beginning… It shows that you are young and you dont know your history.

  • volfan007

    The SEC has dominated college football for decades.

    When you think back at some of the TN Vol teams under Gen. Neyland and Doug Dickey. The Alabama teams under Bear Bryant. The Ole Miss teams under Vaught. The LSU teams of the past have been very good from time to time. Georgia and Auburn both have storied pasts. Great teams. Let’s not forget Hershel Walker and Bo Jackson. Why, if you go back far enough…even Vandy had some great teams.

    The SEC is not a “Johnny come lately” conference. And, if anyone thinks that they are, then they must be babes in diapers who dont know much about history.

    BTW, I’m 47 yrs old. I’ve been around for a while.

    David

  • Chris Garner

    Matt,

    I’m not quite sure what happened here. We can’t debate the present so we start going back 30 years with Darius, which I will remind you no one except David is debating. I’ll give it to the Big 12 in some of the years past. But give the SEC credit, currently they are the best conference in college football. And seriously, making ad hominem statements about age when both Kyle and I are older than you? You’re just showing yours. C’mon man, you’re better than that.

  • Darius T

    I wasn’t debating the past until you, Chris, implied that the Big 12 could never be the best conference or when volfan made the absurd assertion that the SEC has always been great (it still makes me chuckle). I will admit that in the last decade, the SEC has ruled the nest.

  • volfan007

    Darius,

    Ask the teams that played the Vols under Gen. Neyland and Doug Dickey how good the SEC was back then. Ask the teams that played Alabama under Bear Bryant how good the SEC was back then. Ask the teams that played the Georgia teams that had Hershel Walker and the Junkyard Dogs how good the SEC was decades ago. Ask the teams that played some of the great Auburn teams…especially when Bo Jackson was there…how good the SEC was at that time. Ask the teams that played the great Ole Miss teams under Vaught with Archie Manning how good the SEC was back in decades past. Ask the teams that played Florida under Steve Spurrier how good the SEC was while Darth Visor roamed the sidelines. Ask the teams that played the Dawg Defenses of MS State under Jackie Sherrell. Ask the teams that have played some of the great LSU teams of the past. They had some great teams besides the ones they’ve had under Saban and Miles.

    And, KY even had a good team back when Bear Bryant coached them. And, if you want to go back to the 1920’s or so, Vandy had some tremendous teams.

    Those are the facts, my young Darius T. Those are facts.

    David

  • Chris Garner

    Darius,

    Any comment that I made that suggested that the SEC will always be the best was a biased, “SEC homered” as you call, remark showing where my loyalties lie. It appears obvious to me that no one can guarantee continued dominance, take for instance my team the Vols. They are typically a top 15 contender but some of the past seasons have been hard on the Orange Nation. I’m glad we can agree that the past ten years belong to the SEC. All I asked was for credit where credit is due.

Leave a Reply to Kyle BarrettCancel reply