The University of Florida won its third national championship on Thursday night by beating Oklahoma 24-14 in Miami. With the win, they claimed the BCS title and were also voted champions by the AP the following day, but still the debate remains: Are they the best team in the country.
A few teams had gripes about UF's coronation- namely Utah, USC and Texas.
Texas was left out of the Big 12 and BCS title games in favor of Oklahoma, who both they and UF beat. They each beat OU on a neutral field by 10 points. Texas' lone loss came at Texas Tech on a last second TD.
You don't win your division or your conference, and you cannot be in the conversation. Find a Georgia fan and commiserate with him.
Were they wronged? A case can certainly be made, but in my opinion, OU was still a better team than Texas. They were not better on that particular day in Dallas, but they were at the end of the season. UT fans may scream foul, but I also feel that the Longhorns were a better team than Texas Tech, even though they lost to them in Lubbock.
How does that make sense?
I will tell you a little secret that makes college football really exciting: Sometimes the best team doesn't win. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Occasionally, there are upsets (like the one OSU almost pulled on you in Glendale).
OU was a better team who got upset by an inferior Texas squad. The voters agreed. Deal with it, Longhorns. You'll have your shot next year.
So what about USC?
They began the year as they always do: unbeatable, and applying to become the 5th member of the AFC West. They were already making plans for the title game in Florida. They beat down an outclassed OSU team, and were basicly crowned Greatest Team of All Time by every sportswriter in America.
But then a funny thing happened on the way to Miami.... they got shredded by Oregon State and Jaquizz Rodgers in Corvallis. This is the same Oregon State team that were later beaten by Utah.
Of course, USC fans will point out that they lost their game on the road, while UF lost at home to Ole Miss, but who would you rather play- the Ole Miss Team that smoked Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, or the Oregon State team that eeked out a 3-0 win against Pitt?
USC's resume for games that it DID win is also far inferior to UF. USC beat #5 OSU*, #23 Oregon, #21 Cal, and #8 PSU. 4 ranked teams, 1 top 5 team. A good season, but not as good as UF.
The Gators beat #4 LSU, #6 UGA, #25 South Carolina, #20 FSU, #1 Alabama, #1 Oklahoma. 6 ranked teams, 3 top 5, and beat #1 two games in a row.
I think the resumes speak for themselves.
*I used the rankings at the time of the game because it is reflective of how good that team was deemed at the given time. Whether a team was dubbed "overrated" can sometimes be attributed to the fact that they got housed by a really good team and later lost their confidence... ala South Carolina and LSU.
Utah has the strongest case out of anyone. They went undefeated. They beat the team that beat USC (Oregon St), and also beat Alabama. Rick Reilly likes them.
They had a great season, no doubt about it- but their case can be dismissed quite simply:
If Florida played their schedule, UF would also be undefeated. I don't think that there is a person on earth who could argue with that.
Now flip the tables- Do you really think that Utah would be undefeated if they played UF's schedule?
Not a chance.
Yes, they beat an unmotivated Alabama team who was without their best player. Don't get me wrong.... they beat them soundly, but anyone who watched that game saw how lethargic the Tide were. That was not the same team that UF slugged it out with in Atlanta in December.
Let's be realistic: OU would smoke Utah. So would FSU, LSU, UGA, and probably Miami. It is easy to get up for one game and slug it out with the big boys, but it is another thing to do it week after week for a whole year. The MWC is a good up and coming conference, but don't pretend that it is the gauntlet that is the SEC.
I would love to see a plus-one system that could put an end to some of this speculation. I would LOVE to see UF line up against one of these squads next week to prove their mettle, but that is not the system we play under. Everyone agreed to the rules before a single game was played, and UF came out on top.
Now quit yer whining, and start building momentum for next year. The Gators will be waiting for you in Pasadena :)
Alison Preston
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Back in Time: November 23
Comments (8) Add A Comment
Facing 'SC is a match up Florida neither wanted, nor could handle. The number of matchup problems, in terms of speed and athleticism, the 'SC defense would present for Meyer, Tebow and the Florida offense would make such a contest decidedly one-sided.
Gator fans can crow all they would like about 'SC's loss to Oregon State but the bottom line is the Gators lost to Ole Miss AT HOME, and the voters, planted firmly in the pocket of the SEC and any school in the eastern time zone, dropped them just far enough in the polls so as to make a national championship a real possibility. 'SC's loss to OSU, eliminated 'SC from consideration in September. And leave out the argument re: Ole Miss and OSU's bowl performances. How these two performed in their respective bowl games has absolutely nothing to do with how Florida was "chosen" for the National Championship game early in the season, and 'SC (the BEST team in the nation) was never to be invited to this popularity contest.
If Florida is really THAT good, why have we not seen them burning the phone lines to Southern California in order to schedule a home and home with the Trojans. If they are THAT good, and the program is THAT solid, why not a home and home with 'SC? Arkansas has done it. Aurburn has done it. Even Bobby Bowden has done it. What is it about the Gators that, as the best program of the modern era and the current mythical national champion, they can't play 'SC in the regular season. Perhaps, it's because they know that a regular season loss to 'SC, can't be so easily discounted as a loss to Ole Miss.
Enjoy your mythical National Championship, and I strongly suggest you hope for anyone other than 'SC waiting for you in Pasadena.
back*slide2
Total Comments (26)
Pac ten is weak, and usc always loses to one of those sucker no-defense teams. The Gators played the 2nd toughest sched in the country, including #1 twice and still won it all. Of course usc can look good against weak pac-10 and big ten chump in bowl game. Play a real sched and quit whining!!! ALL of usc's titles are mythical AT BEST, won prior to 1974 when bowl games did not count toward the title and without ever playing the one of the two top scheds in the country. Gators won in 96 and 06 with top sched and #2 sched this year!!! The ONLY REAL TITLES in college football history since there is no playoff!!
Liti-Gator
Orlando , FL
Total Comments (3)
1. The athletes at USC and UF are pretty much on par, except UF is younger.
2. The bowl performances DO matter, because it clearly shows who is the better team. Of course you want to throw that evidence out, because it proves you wrong.
3. Who did USC beat that makes them more worthy than UF? Answer me that, and I will shut my mouth.
4. As I said in my post: I would LOVE for UF and USC to match up, but I am sure you guys will blow a game to some crap school and screw that up.
Small Town Gator
Chicago , IL
Total Comments (40)
So let me get this straight... 1978, 2003 and 2004 all came AFTER 1974? Interesting. So does 2+2 now equal -301?
1. Florida's Offense is NOT on par with 'SC's athletes defensively. Too big. Too fast. Too athletic. In a word, better
2. Bowl performances only matter if you are trying to make an argument for SEC/Florida superiority relative to 'SC. But let's have some fun with this. Relatively speaking, 'SC looked far superior against Penn State than Florida did against OU. It's interesting that the Ole Miss/TT bowl result would be used as "evidence" that the early season HOME loss did not matter as much as 'SC's AT OSU. And speaking of bowl performances, I notice we don't talk much about Alabama getting their SEC ****** handed to them by Utah... Did Utah just score again? Anymore evidence you'd like to throw out?
3. This one got me to chuckle a bit... To whom and under what circumstances did Florida lose that they should not have been excluded from consideration for the 2008 National Championship game? (Red herrings are fun, aren't they?)
4. This, by far, was the best of the 4 questions. Let me say this. If I was offered a night with Meghan Fox, I would turn it down because I love my wife. You see how easy that was? Of course, it's pretty easy for me to take this position because we all know this is never going to happen, but it makes me seem like a great guy to say I wouldn't accept this non-existent invitation. Kind of like you Gator Fans. Of course you'd love for 'SC and Florida to match up because you know it's never going to happen. The Gators and their fans want nothing to to with 'SC. Not in the regular season, and certainly not in the bowl season.
back*slide2
Total Comments (26)
USC was awarded titles in 78/03/ & 04 without playing an elite schedule though, unlike the Gators have done with their 3 REAL titles. Without a playoff, if you do not win with an elite schedule, like the Gators have done, your "title" is just MYTHICAL at best!! This is basic logic. If you can't understand it, no one can help you.
PS-U$C's loss to the beavers really has the Gators worried about ever playing U$C!! Not!! We would smoke you like the last time we played when Wilber Marshall destroyed you!!
Liti-Gator
Orlando , FL
Total Comments (3)
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/110272-why-usc-has-no-argument-for-a-na tional-championship/poll_results#poll
Liti-Gator
Orlando , FL
Total Comments (3)
Thanks for clearing that up Liti-Gator. For a brief minute I thought you didn't understand how a calendar works. Now I know it's just that you have no clue what you are talking about.
This will all be settled next year should the Gators successfully maneuver through the oh so tough SEC and make their way to Pasadena. I'm sure Taylor Mays will be more than happy to show Tebow and the rest of Florida's "athlete's" just how soft the Trojans truly are.
back*slide2
Total Comments (26)
Whether you want to measure the resumes on "who they beat" or "who they lost to", UF's was more impressive than USC, hands down. Ole Miss was a better team than Oregon State, ask anyone in the country. The rankings speak for themselves.
I think that the Gators' O more than matches up with USC. You haven't played anyone with our kind of speed (Harvin, Demps, Rainey, Murphy- All Sub 4.3), including your own offense.
Our D held OU to 14 points- we might have shut your pathetic offense out.
So yes, I really do wish we could have met you guys so that we could shut yer yappers.
PS- maybe the media has an SEC bias because we back it up EVERY year. We aren't one good team with 9 whipping boys to prop us up all year long.
Small Town Gator
Chicago , IL
Total Comments (40)
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