The University of Utah won its second BCS bowl game in 2009, becoming the first non-BCS conference team to do so.  Despite this accomplishment, the people of Utah are sad . . . very sad.  In fact Mark Shurtleff, the Utah attorney general is preparing a lawsuit against the BCS.  Apparently the ongoing probe against famed Utah Fundamentalist Church leader Warren Jeffs, the rise of violent crime in some Utah school districts increasing anywhere from 40 to over 100% in the past few years and a growing illegal immigration problem are minor issues compared to the real problem confronting the citizens of Utah . . . the Bowl Championship Series.

Mark Shurtleff, the Utah attorney general, is gathering contracts, statistics, economic data and experts, and expects to be able to file suit against the BCS in June.

“From the very first kickoff of the college football season, the BCS uses its monopoly powers to put more than half of the schools at a disadvantage,” Shurtleff said. His investigation comes after an undefeated University of Utah team was relegated to the Sugar Bowl in January with no chance to play for a national championship.  (ESPN)

Despite the fact that Utah has gone to more BCS bowls in the past 5 years than Auburn, UCLA, Michigan, Alabama, Florida State and several dozen other top historic football powers, Shurtleff feels “cheated” and “jilted” by the current system.  It’s as if the Attorney General’s constituents fancied a girl who ended up choosing another and, in reference to the famous Beatles song of 1968, has gone “Rocky Racoon” and wishes to shoot out the legs of their rival.

And apparently the Utah AG isn’t the only government official that feels they can clean up collegiate sports.  Orrin Hatch, a long time senator from the state of Utah who sits on a number of important legislative committees has decided to throw his hat into the ring.

Hatch has added the BCS to the agenda of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, and he intends to hold an investigatory hearing and to introduce legislation.

“I’m not sure now what the legislation will provide, but anything would be better than what we have now,” Hatch said. “I agree with President Obama that a playoff system would be a significant improvement.”

Hatch, a Republican stalwart, will have support from a number of Democrats on his BCS legislation. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, also wants action on the BCS, suggesting it “is a racket, it is white-collar crime. It’s clearly, clearly antitrust.”  (ESPN)

Oh my, what a shock here.  Hatch, who clearly announced his animosity against the BCS following Utah’s inability to get into the National Championship Game is joined by Representative Abercrombie, who announced his opposition to the BCS after his state school, the University of Hawaii, was not allowed to play for the National Championship after THEIR undefeated season. (more…)

Tim Tebow will return. Told ya so! Check FanHouse for details.

YESSSSS.

Initial thoughts:

1) This means pre-season #1 for Florida.
2) Maybe Spikes will come back?
3) Georgia is down a QB and RB. Guaranteed W next November for Florida, continuing (essentially) the ’streak’.
4) FSU returns Bobby Bowden. Oh, joy.
5) The nucleus of a great offensive line returns.
6) Almost the entire defense returns.
7) At minimum we get Demps, Rainey, Moody, Nelson, Cooper, Thompson, James, and Hernandez back… just an embarrassment of riches on offense.
8) Tell me why we shouldn’t expect to win back-to-back BCS national championships?

To summarize, “HELLLLL YEAH!”

Well, goldarn, those boys weren’t easy to beat.

I was present in Dolphin Stadium for the glorious victory.

Oklahoma was a worthy foe. Still, it’s shocking that they expected to score 60 on an SEC defense, much less a great one.

UF’s defense provided miracle after miracle in the first half. And in the second, Tim Tebow took over.

Timmy will go down as the greatest UF quarterback of all time.

More ASAP. In the meantime, discuss implications of two national titles in three years. I don’t think it’s sunk in for me yet.

From political stumping for your own team a popular new trend has emerged: claiming your team is deserves to be post-season No. 1.

Pete Carroll, Mack Brown and Kyle Whittingham, all victors of BCS bowl games, say they intend to vote their respective teams to the top of the AP rankings. The goal, of course, is to perhaps claim a ’share’ of the national championship, ala Southern Cal and LSU in 2003.

This is unusual and disturbing for several reasons, but the one most overlooked so far is the level of disrespect it has shown to the two teams which did successfully navigate the BCS maze and found their way to Miami. It’s also hard to enter a discussion about ‘deserving national champions’ without becoming quagmired in playoff vs. BCS talk or to start debating the finer nuances of whether there really is such a thing as a ‘national championship.’

I will not be going in that direction, particularly the latter. This is college football, not a courtroom, and I posit that anyone who gets worked up over those issues isn’t drinking nearly enough beer during the games.

Let’s look at their claims.
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Give it up for the Utes of Utah, who stormed the Superdome and whipped Alabama, 31-17. It was an amazing performance from a double-digit ‘dog, playing the games of their lives.

The Utes looked faster, better prepared, and more physical. They were also sky-high for a game that the Crimson Tide viewed as meager consolation for the big prize.

The anti-SEC proponents are using the loss as ammunition for their relentless case against college football’s finest conference. A Mountain West team beat one of the SEC’s elite, they say. And via the transitive property, Florida — who beat the Tide by a similar-but-not-quite-as-impressive tally of 31-20 — must be overrated as well.

It’s just the familiar drumbeat of fans who are jealous and envious of the brand of football which is played perenially in the Southeastern Conference. Make no mistake about it, the loss was embarrassing. As good as Utah looked, a 12-1 SEC squad — even in a down year for the conference — should have found a way to win. And how can a squad which barely posted a winning season in ‘07 find themselves unmotivated to win a BCS bowl?

But if you’re going to tell me that Utah really is that good, and that Bama really was that bad, I’m going to fight you. Hard. Some facts:
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We’ve accepted the gracious invite of SBNation’s Crimson and Cream Machine to exchange some inside info on our respective teams during the Holiday lull. C&C’s interview with us can be found here.

Orange and Blue Hue: Let’s start with injuries. For some reason, guys whose name starts with “Demarc” are getting injured left and right on your team. Talk about the loss of Murray and Granger and how it will impact this game.

Crimson and Cream Machine: The loss of DeMarco Murray will hurt the team a lot worse than DeMarcus Granger. Oklahoma is fairly deep along the defensive line and rotates all of their linemen. Grander was in the second wave of defensive tackles to come into the game. He’s good but not one of the best two on the team and the Sooners will just break into their depth to replace him. His loss will be significant but not nearly as significant as DeMarco Murray.

Murray is the team leader in all-purpose yards. He is a lightning fast runner, a dangerous kick returner and an excellent safety valve for Sam Bradford on passing downs. He is irreplaceable but Mossis Madu will do his best. He had an excellent Big 12 Championship Game but still has me worried just based on experience or lack of.
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DeMarco Murray won’t play in the BCS Title Game. Surgery. Hamstring tendon. Boo-yah.

Our official stance is that we never want to see a player hurt, we always want our opponent at full strength, yadda-yadda. But truth be told, this is actually pretty good news for the Gators, because Murray’s greatest strength is his ability to start the Sooners at their own 40. And if the Gators have one weakness this season, it’s kickoff coverage. So, yeah, this is good, insofar as “surgery” and “good” can go together. Hey, it’s not like he was injured in our game.

The Sooners have two other backs which should be able to pound out the tough yardage. Despite being his team’s second-leading rusher, Murray has been described as the ‘big play’ back, the guy who explodes for big gains on a regular basis. However, Florida certainly can’t count out Chris Brown and Mossis Madu, who have combined for 1600 yards and 26 touchdowns.

The other news — is it good or bad? — is that Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen will take time out of his busy schedule to call the plays in the title game.

“I think he’s going to coach. I talked to him yesterday and right now the plan is he’s going to come back right after Christmas,” Meyer said after practice Tuesday. “We’ve talked about it. And the goal is to win the game. I think right now, unless something changes, that’s what’s going to happen. He’s going to coach.”

Asked if Mullen should be able to do all the preparation for the national title contest, Meyer said if he wasn’t he wouldn’t be coaching in the game.

Mullen, we know you can’t wait to start ringing some cowbells, but don’t screw this up.

It will be Florida versus Oklahoma in Miami.

Competing for a national championship twice in three years represents a new level of elite at the University of Florida. Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin make this stuff look easy — but it’s not. Florida has surpassed “top 1% of the 1%” and have achieved Dynasty status.

It seems so long ago now, but during the Zook years, Gator Nation pined for the heady Spurrier glory days. But Urban Meyer is writing a new championship legacy which will relegate the Spurrier years to the opening act for the Big Show.

This is not the last time Florida will play for the title under Urban Meyer. Congratulations to the players, the coaching staff, the University Athletic Association and everyone associated with Florida football for writing new chapters in the fantastic history of the Gators.

Some notes:

1) Texas has absolutely no right to complain about missing the boat. The Big 12 conference tie-breaker rules, like them or not, clearly identified Oklahoma as the Big 12 South champ, and the Sooners went on to win the Big 12 title. Texas failed to win their division, much less their conference. It’s a shame that a one-loss team can lose so much, being literally seconds away from a BCS title bid — but that’s Big Boy college football for you. Alabama is in a similar position, having played a near perfect season at an extremely high level, to be left with little more than a SEC division ‘title’ and a chance to smash Utah in the Sugar Bowl. This is how the system works. Don’t go the sour grapes route, Horn fans — it is entirely unbefitting of you.

2) USC vs. Penn State? Ought to be a USC victory, but I don’t expect to see a beat-down. Southern Cal has to be tired of playing in the Rose Bowl, which is just a regular venue for them at this point. I’ll be pulling for Joe Pa, but the Big 10 sucks and I have no confidence that any team from that conference can beat a BCS opponent.

3) Fedex has to be rethinking their Orange Bowl sponsorship now that Virginia Tech has been slated to play Cincinnati. Cue the empty stands and screaming local merchants. Boooorrrring. Did you happen to catch the ACC championship game? Did you know that Virginia Tech beat BC in that game? Did you care? Me neither.

4) Texas vs. Ohio State is an interesting matchup, but Texas is a significantly better team than the Bucks and we’ll probably get another blowout victory for our trouble. I encourage Texas to take their frustration out on the Buckeyes, who really deserve the full hell-bent fury of a great football team.

5) Overall, the BCS has managed, by the skin of its teeth, to get the best two teams in the country matched up for the national championship. That being said, it also set up a pretty dull slate of bowl games leading up to the Big One. Sure, it might be interesting if Utah can compete with Bama, but I fully expect to see a 28-3 style victory for the Tide in that game. And as mentioned above, it’ll be fun to watch Texas pound the Buckeyes again. Other than that — 2 thumbs down. These conference tie-ins are making for uncompelling matchups. How about USC vs. Alabama? How about Texas Tech vs. Penn State? How about Ohio State vs. Utah? These are games I’d much rather see as the matchups are more unique and compelling. But it’s just not going to happen.

6) Tim Tebow is 60 minutes of football away from becoming the Greatest Gator in Florida football History. And he fully deserves the Heisman. Sorry, Sam Bradford, you’re a great player…. but you are no Tim Tebow.

From BCS Guru:

“With the release of the USA Today Coaches Poll, it’s become a near certainty that Florida will be in the BCS title game, against Oklahoma, whose place was never in doubt.

The latest poll, with the No. 2-ranked Gators earning 26 first-place votes, puts them 73 points ahead of No. 3 Texas. That was more than the 50-point lead that the Guru forecast the Gators would need. Since Florida was already No. 2 in the Harris poll last week and poised to assume the top ranking, its advantages in the human polls should be insurmountable for Texas to overcome.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in.

When it comes to Saturday night’s epic matchup, the only logical place to start is Alabama.

I felt going in that Florida would win by multiple touchdowns. I nursed the opinion that Florida might embarrass the Tide based on common opponents and overall body of work.

I was wrong. The Crimson Tide under Nick Saban deserved their No. 1 ranking. Alabama was easily — easily — the best team Florida has played this season. We fans were treated to two of the best teams in the country playing great ball and slugging it out to determine who’s tougher, who’s better. There was no dirty play, ala FSU. There was no underhandedness, nothing close to resembling unsportsmanlike behavior. It came down to two teams, both tough as nails, both “old school” in so many ways. Both are honorable squads who fought clean, fought hard. And at the end, one clear victor emerged.

Ladies and gentlemen, there should be no argument: the Florida Gators are the best team in the SEC, and among the best in the nation. And they had to go through the second-best team to get there.
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