Thursday, January 08, 2009

Tailgate: What's On The Line For Florida

One of a series of posts written late last night about tonight's game.

So what's on the line for Florida tonight? Through my impossibly biased perspective, a lot. If Florida wins:

*Urban Meyer is confirmed as the best college football coach in the country, nudging just past Pete Carroll.

*Tim Tebow stakes his claim as one of the Top 10 (Top 5?) players in modern college football history -- that would be 2 titles (one as a starter, one as arguably team offensive MVP), a Heisman Trophy and a Heisman 3rd-place finish, all in 3 years.

If you love Tebow, read this.

If you hate Tebow, read this.

(But, seriously, how can you hate Tebow, beyond hating the IDEA of Tebow? Yes, I'm biased: He is my favorite college football player -- probably my favorite athlete -- of all time. But he really does seem to live up to his ideals; not to be too messianic about it, but he is a once-in-a-lifetime player. I hope he comes back to school, if only because he is the very ideal of a college football player. While he may or may not be an effective pro player on the field, he will continue to be the model pro player off the field.)

*Tebow likely turns pro: What more can he accomplish in college? His NFL stock (2nd-round) is unlikely to improve with another year of college football. Plus: Despite the recession, Tebow will clean up in endorsement contracts -- by far, the richest of anyone in the draft class.

It ain't bad for Oklahoma if they win, by the way:

*Oklahoma bookends the decade as the pre-eminent program, and we all forget about the mid-decade BCS bowl blunders.

*Sam Bradford would take his own place among the Top 5-10 QBs in modern CFB history AND would cement his status as the No. 1 overall player taken in the 2009 NFL Draft.

*Bob Stoops reasserts himself as arguably the best CFB coach in the country. Perhaps he even figures he has done all he can do in college and tests out life in the NFL as Broncos coach.

*OU O.C. Kevin Wilson gets his pick of open head-coaching jobs in '09 as THE best assistant coach in the country. (If Stoops leaves for the NFL, perhaps as Oklahoma H.C.?)

-- D.S.

Next hour: My wife disowns my Florida fandom?

2 comments:

Ted Hill said...

I have to disagree with the notion that Urban Meyer would be the #1 coach. I know he's the "sexiest" name and he is the "it" guy right now, but I believe Pete Carroll still has a better resume.

1. He has two MNC's, so would Urban
2. He has an undefeated season, Urban does not
3. He has appeared in seven straight BCS bowls and won six. Urban will have appeared in three, and won three.
4. Just last year Urban had a four loss season, the most Carroll has lost in a single season since 2002 is two.

derby said...

pete carroll has one bcs title and one ap title. so in '04 it was lsu/usc.