Saturday, December 06, 2008

Florida Beats Bama for SEC Championship! How Could They NOT Go to BCS Title Game?

Wow: That was an impressive, gritty win by Florida over the No. 1 team in the country.

Without Percy Harvin, the Gators hung 31 points on arguably the best defense in the country.

In an otherwise even slugfest, they absolutely dominated the Tide in the 4th quarter. (How about that 10-point Vegas line? And the Gators won by 11. Amazing.)

I know it's possible that Texas could stay ahead of Florida in the BCS ranking, but I cannot imagine it at this point. It would seem so ludicrous -- even more ludicrous than Texas being ranked behind Oklahoma.

I think there's a very good case to be made that Florida is not only one of two BCS teams, but the No. 1 team in the country, period. We'll see what the voters do, I guess.

As for the Heisman, I'm not sure how Tebow stacks up against Bradford and McCoy, but I know that while he isn't the passer either of the other two are, he makes the passes he needs to -- and on the ground, he's simply a quantum leap ahead of either. And I think his performance in this game was as impressive as any he has had in his career, considering the competition.

Make no mistake: This was the best team Tebow has faced in his 3-year Florida career -- including Ohio State in the national title game in 2006, when Tebow was a part-time player. And he led -- emphasis on "led" -- the team to 31 points and a sound beating.

Before the season, I really didn't think Tebow had a shot at the Heisman, mainly because he had such great weapons around him... like Percy Harvin.

In the absence of Harvin tonight, Tebow showed precisely why he is the best/most valuable/whatever-criteria-you-use-for-Heisman player in the country.

Now, either Oklahoma or Texas -- I predict it won't matter -- can look forward to a healthy Harvin and a Gators team with 4 weeks to prepare.

That is: If the BCS voters -- and computers -- recognize the decisive way Florida beat the No. 1 team in the country and won the SEC championship, a double-feat worthy of a spot and shot in the national title game.

More tomorrow. Hope non-SEC and non-Florida fans enjoyed that one simply as a taut, well-played game by both teams. I'm going to book my flight to Miami.

-- D.S.

UPDATE: I'm torn over who to root for right now. On the one hand, I think that Texas, by beating Oklahoma head-to-head, is the most worthy BCS team in the Big 12. On the other hand, Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp owns Florida, and even that typically soft Big 12 defense might, under Muschamp, be able to stop Florida. They will certainly be able to stop Florida more than Oklahoma, which surpasses even Ohio State in BCS bowl-chokery. So I guess if I want to see a sure-fire NCG win for Florida, I'd want Oklahoma to win. If I want to play the most worthy title-game opponent -- even if it meant a tougher game, even a loss -- it would be rooting against Oklahoma and for Texas to get in.

9 comments:

A.P. Boynton said...

Dan, I applaud your restraint from being too much of a fanboy and for not using too much hyperbole! Congrats the the Gators though I still loathe them.

Unknown said...

you have to admit though that it is obnoxious watching florida games. "Oh my god, Tim Tebow just handed off the ball, I am not sure anybody in the history of college football has ever handed off the ball that great." Stacked up wise when you compare texas vs florida other than the conference championship, I would say they match up in favor of texas. One loss to the top ten team on the last second compared to a loss to a ?average ole miss team. Both teams beat the then #1 ranked team as their biggest win.

Unknown said...

Dan,

You sound like Limbaugh going nuts over the fairness doctrine returning. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. There is no way Florida won't be in the title game. If you want to manufacture outrage, find a cause that might actually happen.

Mike said...

A sound beating? This is why people don't like you..If not for the facemask penalty that bailed Florida out and led to a touchdown instead of a punt, they probably lose that game.

Precourt said...

Grow up dude. First, that was only decisive in the last 6 minutes of the game.... Second, Tebow is not a "quantum leap" ahead of McCoy in running...Third, nobody Alabama played before UF was worth a damn thing. Don't give me Bama beating the third best team in the SEC(UGA)who got beat by the, at best, third best team in the ACC, which is a terrible football conference.

Unknown said...

You are an idiot. How would Texas's jumping Florida be MORE ridiculous? Florida lost to Ole' Miss... AT HOME...

TEX v. OU rematch is what SHOULD happen. Idiots like you are why they got computers involved in the first place...

psm said...

Tebow represents a "quantum leap" over McCoy in terms of rushing? How can you possibly justify that statement?

Michael W said...

I'm curious in one hypothetical: if OK had lost, would you have wanted Texas to be in the national championship? It's not that far removed from you writing that a team that doesn't win its own conference shouldn't even get a shot. Of course, you said that back when USC had a chance of missing the Rose Bowl, so maybe that was just more Pac-10 hate.

Anyway, my real point in posting is this: how ridiculous are college rankings, anyway? Why on Earth did people, week after week, rank 12-0 Alabama above 11-1 Florida when everyone, and I mean everyone, had Alabama as the underdogs on a neutral field? Doesn't that mean Florida was thought to be better going into the game? Doesn't that mean Florida should have been #1 going in?

I'm curious to see how the national championship goes, assuming it is Flordia/Oklahoma. Unlike a lot of years past, these are both teams on the good side of momentum at the end of the season. I don't mean that their losses were early-ish; I mean that both are looking way, way better than they did in October. I don't think either of these teams want to wait to play.

Married Bull said...

How could they NOT go? Look back at who beat them and then look at 'Bama. Florida is good but NOT that good. They only won by 11 points not a victory to garner much in 'style points.' Florida will be playing in a nice bowl but NOT the Championship Bowl.