BCS National Champioship Game Preview

Thursday, 1-8-9

Florida Gators(12-1) vs Oklahoma Sooners(12-1) at 6 p.m. Mountain Time

Gators- SPEED, SPEED, S-P-E-E-D!! The Florida Gators are, without question, the fastest team in the country. They have six guys that can run "the 40" in 4.3 seconds or under, including their all american standout wide reciever Percy Harvin. Harvin has 595 receiving yards to go along with 7 touchdowns in just 11 games this season. The Florida Gators are ranked #2 in the BCS standings this year, but are still 4.5 point favorites against the #1 Sooners. The Gators have last seasons Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow, who again is having an amazing year, and it seems that nobody can stop him. He has lead the Gators to their 12-1 record, with their only loss being to Ole Miss 31-30. The Gators hopped from #3 to #2 in the standing after beating the then #1 Alabama squad. Florida managed to jump over Texas by just fractions of points to have a chance at the National Title this year. The Gators get lots of praise from the national media for their offense, but lets not forget about the Gators Defense. The Defense has played solid all year against the highly regarded South East Conference(SEC). Every team in the SEC is solid, and it seems that when the Gators need the big stop, they get it from their small, yet very fast defense. They will face a very high high powered offense on Thursday that can put up points in a hurry. This will most definitely be the biggest test for the Gators Defense all year. I done anticipate a low scoring game at all, but this game will come down to which defense is going to make the stops at the big moments, will the Gators be able to do so, or will the high powered Sooners offense control the game? Florida is solid everywhere, and have no weaknesses. They are amazing offensively, defensively, and even on special teams. The Gators will be tough to stop come tomorrow night.

Sooners- When you talk about the Oklahoma Sooners, the first thing you mention is their offense and their ability to put up a huge amount of points. Sam Bradford is the Heisman Trophy winner this year, and has lots of targets to throw to that can put the ball in the endzone. The Oklahoma Sooners have played five games in a row in which they have scored 60 or more points, that is insane. You're probably thinking that they must have played some cupcake teams but that is not the case at all. In the last three games Oklahoma scored 65 against the then #2 Texas Tech squad on November 22nd. The they scored 61 against the then #12 Oklahoma State Cowboys on November 29th. They followed that up with 62 points against the #20 Missouri Tigers. Hardly what I would call weak competition. The knock on Oklahoma is that they have a history in getting crushed in BCS games, they seem to not come to play for the big games. Bob Stoops and his Sooners aim to end that streak tonight against the Gators. Just as Florida's D will be the key to the game against the Sooners offense, the Oklahoma D will need to be huge against the Gators high powered offense. This game is by no means going to be a lowing scoring affair, which means that the defense that can step up to make the big play, will be the team that wins. Oklahoma think they have a plan to shut down Tebow and the Gators, well see if it comes true tonight to win the National Championship.

Prediction- Everybody and their grand-daddies are taking the Florida Gators to win the National Champioship tonight, the Gators started out as 3 point favorites, and now they have moved all the way to 6 point favorites in some sports books. Maybe I'm way off my rocker here, but why is the 12-1 Oklahoma Sooners not getting any respecct out of the Big 12 conference? Here are the arguments, Florida is in a better conference? No question about it, the SEC(Florida's conference) is very good with Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia, and South Carolina, which means that Florida played some great competition to get where they are, but where is the love for the Big 12? Oklahoma had to beat teams such as, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska to get here, with their one and only loss coming from the great Texas Longhorns. The SEC is certainly good, but is it better than the competition in the Big 12? I'm not totally convinced on that one. "Florida has a great offense," says the world, yes, but so does Oklahoma dont they? "Florida has a great defense," says the media, well Oklahoma's defense played some great teams too, and they handled their business, right? It seems that the Heisman Trophy winner doesnt always fair too well after winning because of the added pressure, but Bradford has been able to handle pressure so far this year, why not again? The whole world is picking against The Sooners, and I think that in it of itself is going to be a great motivation for the Sooners, and unless I've absolutley lost it, I dont see why there is so much love for the Gators and not for the Sooners. I'm going to go against the grain here and go with the underdogs. I'll take the Sooners in an absolute shootout, one of those games where the last team to have the ball is going to win. Bob Stoops wants this one more than he ever has wanted a championship because of the disrespect they are getting. Sooners in a high scoring affair 44-40.