Not so fast my friends. Compare and contrast top opponents: For UF: Team / Rank at time of game / USA Today rank at end of regular season / Record / Drop/Climb Tennessee No. 13 -> No. 18 (9-3) Dropped 5 places LSU No. 9 -> No. 4 (10-2) Moved up 5 places Auburn No. 11 -> No. 10 (10-2) Moved up 1 place Arkansas No. 8 -> No. 13 (10-3) Dropped 5 places For Ohio State: Team / Rank at time of game / USA Today rank at end of regular season / Record / Drop/Climb Texas No. 2 -> No. 16 (9-3) Dropped 14 places Penn State No. 24 -> Unranked (8-4) Dropped out Iowa No. 13 -> Unranked (6-6) Dropped out Michigan No. 2 -> No. 3 (11-1) Dropped 1 place If you have a few minutes...read this: http://www.gatorsportsforum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=165047 You can get all excited about the Big 10 and you can dismiss Florida and their SEC schedule all you want but the above comparison should make Bucs fans sit up and take notice just a little.
None of that will matter when they tee it up and kick it off. The Bucks are the more experienced team, they have just as much speed, they have been to the Fiesta Bowl 4 times in a row, they know the drill and they will not be in awe of just being there. Gators may beat them, anything can happen, but if there is a blowout it will be the Buckeyes blowing out the Gators. If the Gators win it will be a close game. Terry
With all that Florida has done in the last 16 years I don't think this team will be in awe or inexperienced. These guys have done what needed to be done especially in the last two weeks and USC proved on Sat. how hard that can be.
8) Michigan would have been a 6 point favorite against Florida. I think the Buckeyes will crush them. They have a better team...
Let's see.....Michigan by 6 over Fla and OSU by 21... or a "crush" if you will. No doubt on a neutral field then by using that math that OSU would have been a 15 point favorite over a team they struggled to beat at home. You guys have to look at the tougher teams on OSU's schedule and see they were not that dominant. This is not '95 Nebraska nor '95 Florida on either side of the ball. Florida is the only team on OSU's schedule that approaches the talent of Michigan and last I heard Glendale, Az is a neutral field. Does OSU have a secret felon they are waiting to spring on Florida for this one game? Is Clarett in shape and suddenly eligible?
"Jim Walden, a former head coach at Washington State and Iowa State, was the only voter in either college football poll that matters to pick Florida No. 1 Sunday. Why'd he do it? Let the Harris Interactive voter explain: "No. 1, I've been eating Alka-Seltzer every hour since I did it. I spent four years coaching at Miami and if you think I like voting for that damn team to be No. 1, you're crazy. They are the least liked team out there. I can't stand them. "But when I look at it and when you look at who should be No. 1, look at their schedule they are the best team. Hell, I don't care about the No. 2 team. Everybody is talking about Michigan and Florida as the No. 2. I looked at it and then looked at Ohio State and said, 'Wait a minute, Florida is the best team. How can we even be debating Florida and Michigan? Michigan was the No. 2 team in a three-team conference.' "Even though the SEC is full of people with inflated egos and they constantly think they are getting screwed over, Florida deserves to be the No. 1 team. Ohio State is one of the weakest No. 1 teams in 25 years. Look at who they played. They played one of the softest schedules of any No. 1 team in memory. They had all summer to get ready for Texas. Then they had 11 weeks to get ready for Michigan. "I'll give you nine reasons why Florida is No. 1 – Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Southern Mississippi [and Arkansas]. Then you add Florida State to that and 11 out of 13 weeks you had to play as a good as you could play. "When I signed on for this poll, the instructions were to vote for the team that is the best team that week. I'm supposed to say Ohio State is better than Florida? Forget it. Those schedules don't compare. Nicely said Jimbo.....the Jimster....Jimmy cracked corn and I...... :lol:
Another Gator fan's perspective on Walden's comments: "Somebody PLEASE get this guy a job at ESPN!!! Get him his own show...The Voice of Reason with Jim Walden. or The No Bull$hit Show hosted by Jim Walden. How great would it be to hear people on ESPN saying "You know what, I cannot stand this team, but dammit they are good"
I guess it's a good thing we get to play the game on the field... The guy is a moron...he may be right about Fla. having a better schedule and he may be right about Fla. being better...don't know yet...don't care...get to find out on the field... But we beat the #2 ranked team twice...get to play the #2 ranked team three times...and all of a sudden we're one of the weakest #1 teams in 25 years??? Played the softest schedule in memory??? Brilliant...keep quoting such well thought out analysis. :roll: :roll: :roll:
WTF is up with that? Is this how you want this discussion to go? I would suggest that we would have plenty of ammo more recent than a player who has not been in uniform for 4 years to send back your way? What complete bullsh!t! Bill, this game has plenty of opportunity for engaging discussion without either side resorting to that kind of unadulterated, adolescent crap. Can we rein in your wayward child?
Well as I said earlier if there is a blowout type score then I do think it's likely to favor Ohio State, but really and truly Tressel doesn't often play the kind of game that leads to blowouts. He seems to me to be a conservative big game coach who focuses on getting the lead and shortening the game rather than scoring a lot of points. John Cooper was the opposite, he wanted to score a lot of points and if you gave him the opportunity he was going to do it. Tressel will take his shots deep for sure to keep you honest, but my observation is that he mainly wants to control the clock and win. Or as my buddy Stu observed during the Texas/OSU game in Columbus....Welcome to Tressel Ball! Terry
BT...you obviously don't get my tongue in cheek reference. If any should be offended it should be AJ....but then again...it is he who is being a little brash if not offensive with his "prediction".
Another thing...what's this with "that team would be favored by 6 so they must be better" nonsense. Florida was a 7 point favorite over Nebraska in the 1995 title game. Need I say anything else?
I certainly don't expect the Bucks to crush the Gators. Quite the opposite in fact. I expect a very hard fought game that unless the Gators somehow implode - will likely come down to the wire. Kicking game - as it so often is - could indeed be the deciding factor. hmmmm, that's completely irrelevant. 16 years ago most of these kids hadn't yet started Kindergarten. I think this is a big advantage to the Buckeyes and their coaching staff. They do in fact have more big game experience....our 5th year seniors experienced the National Championship game in 02. They experienced the M game prior to decide the trip to challenge Miami. They experienced the M game the following year in Ann Arbor that would have sent them back to the Championship game to defend their title. They've experienced the hype and media madness of the Texas game in Columbus and the 2 #1 -v #2 games this year. This is their 4th trip to Phoenix for a big bowl game in 5 years and they've not yet been defeated. As it relates to bowl experience, the Gator kids have been to Tampa 3 times for the Outback and the Peach in Atlanta once with a record of 1 and 3 - losing once to Miami in Atlanta and once each to Big 10 foes - M and Iowa. The lone victory coming last year against a 7-5 Iowa team by a touchdown. Meyer's experience is limited to trips to the Outback and the Liberty Bowl. His biggest bowl experiences were the Cotton Bowl while a grad assistant at Ohio State and the Fiesta while he was an assistant with the Irish. This will be an altogether quite a different experience on a whole different level for these kids AND staff. You can argue that this experience advantage will not be a factor in the game, but imho you can't argue that there is no experience advantage. As for me, I would rather have the benefit of the advantage and hope that it is a factor versus not having the advantage and praying that it is not....in any event, it can't be a negative and it can only help. BTW, MCG, I get your reference...it's still bush, imo.
:x Holy cow, what the he!! is so wrong with just saying the Gators are fortunate and thrilled to play in the championship game?! Spouting off about how we must be so much better than USC and Michigan isn't enough, now we have making a case for being that much better than OSU?? No wonder folks on this board hate the Gators and their fans more and more each day. With still over a month until the game, it's a long time to wait, but lets just see who's better then. Both teams have a chance to win -- OSU is a more logical pick to win, but UF has been making key big plays at the right moments to pull out close wins, so you never know. I agree that OSU's recent experience in NC-hunt games over the past few years puts UF's recent experience to shame. Course playing 3 huge rivarly games, plus facing off with Spurrier, plus the SEC champ game, gives UF some experience in big "must-win" games also (and Meyer has been to a BCS bowl just before coming to UF). So round and round we go. Until the +1 game is a final between the #1 &4 from one bowl and #2&3 from another, all we're going to get from going round and round is sick. Wendy Go Gators!!