One of the more interesting debates on the Gator roundtable is whether Tim Tebow can join Ohio State legend Archie Griffin in the Multiple Heisman club.

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With the NFL draft just nine days away, it’s time to pay homage to the junior DE’s career.

As one of the last recruits of the Ron Zook era, Harvey was one of the most highly touted prospects at the front four in ‘04. Four years later, not much has changed. With one redshirt season, SEC title, national championship, and defensive MVP on his belt, he’s projected to go high in the first round.

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There has been much ado (at least by me) regarding the ratings drop for the NCAA Tournament this year. My curiosity on the subject caused me to dig a little deeper into the issue. There were initial attempts by some to declare the first week’s rating decline as simply a function of Easter Weekend (because of all the avid catholic roundball fans I guess). However when the trend continued into week two that seemed a bit of a stretch (a weeklong Easter Hangover?). But then in the face of those lukewarm first two weekends the 2008 NCAA Tournament revealed to us a dream Final Four . . . a compilation where all four number one seeds had reached the final weekend. But that was not all as it also included three of the most storied college basketball programs in UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas. I mean what could be better than that, right?

Well, I’ll tell you something that could have been better – CLOSE, WATCHABLE games. It’s true, I fell into the trap thinking that this compelling matchup of titans (which also included recent power Memphis who had held the #1 spot in the polls for most of the season) would make for some exciting and dynamic games. Unfortunately nothing could have been further from the truth. The results of last weekends contests between UCLA and Memphis and North Carolina and Kansas were two truly ANTI-CLIMATIC blowouts of 15 and 18 points respectively. Oooooh, what gripping television . . . is that going to boost ratings?

According to the overnight ratings - apparently not. Last weekend’s overnight showed that while the marquee evening matchup of Kansas and North Carolina approximated last years UCLA vs Florida late semifinal game (at least it probably will after the ratings are expanded in the next few days), the preceding game (UCLA vs Memphis) was down almost 14% from last years matchup of Ohio State and Georgetown. Okay so what gives? Why is it that this tournament could end up becoming the second lowest rated Tournament in the past 3 decades? Only the 2003 Tournament will have lower ratings than 2008 and that tournament has the excuse of being played at the beginning of the Iraqi War. (more…)

Even Corey Brewer has experienced his share of losing.

He was a McDonald’s High School All-American, but chose Florida when he was shunned by at least one other program. After being drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, his childhood idol, Kevin Garnett, was traded to the Boston Celtics in the biggest superstar deal in NBA history. With his team standing at 12-48, only the Miami Heat can claim a worse NBA record. The worst part: nobody cares about his two national championships anymore.

So the Gators, who appear to be unfortunate souls after their heartbreaking loss to Tennessee, have actually had it better than at least one of their predecessors. All of which raises important questions.

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Fine job, men. Fine job indeed.

Wish you hadn’t allowed that garbage TD to make it a semi-respectable score there at the end, but thank you for defending SEC pride.

SEC bowl record: 7-2. (Can’t believe Florida made up 50% of the ‘2′. Horrifying. But at least the crystal football came back to the right conference.)

I do take some small measure of satisfaction in the fact that Ohio State is now 0-9 against SEC teams in bowl games. Ouch!

Thanks to Urban Meyer, the University of Florida coaching staff, and our outstanding football team, the Swamp has undergone some recent renovations in the “scorekeeping” category.

The first image shows the south endzone. Note the new signs that replace the old painted block lettering. I’m not sure I really like this; the painted version looked timeless while this will clearly look dated at some point in the future. Nevertheless, it’s growing on me.

A byproduct of football’s recent success is that the old “1st in the SEC” banners have been deleted. The teams of ‘84, ‘85, and ‘90 no longer receive any glory for their accomplishments. Still, there’s only so much physical room to go around, so this seems like a good problem to have.

The second photo shows Spurrier’s Heisman jersey, also once painted, now 3D-ified. I can only assume Danny Wuerffel’s jersey on the opposite side of the south endzone looks the same.

Th third photo shows where my father and I sit in the Swamp… we’re the north end zone nosebleeding crew. We’re more or less smack dab in the middle, halfway between the balcony and the scoreboard. Actually, the seats are great; sort of like a coach’s cam view of the proceedings. It’s easy to watch plays develop (especially downfield with receivers working against the secondary) when your view is vertically oriented. Anyway, whenever CBS or Sun Sports pans up to show the Ring of Honor, you’ll see our sweaty mugs.

Not too sure about this one either. Although I could never see them personally, I liked the “old” (one year) location for the Ring of Honor. They’re going to be hard to see perched above the upper reaches of the stadium, but it does leave room for future expansion on the south side.

Finally, the Stephen C. O’Connell center has been updated to honor our ‘06 and ‘07 champions.

Hopefully the stadium will need yet another upgrade at the conclusion of this year’s football season.  Let’s keep those painters/signbuilders busy…

Much has been made of the recent dominance of Florida over Ohio State. What is being lost in this cavalcade of gloating and smack talking (some friendly, some obnoxious) is a peculiar development in college athletics. Which has the less statistical probability: that one school would win both the football and basketball championships in the same year, or that the same two schools would play for both the football and basketball championships in the same year? I’d have to guess that the latter is the far more unlikely.

For one school to dominate the landscape of major college sports in a year is surely a remarkable achievement; but the two-year run of both schools is quite startling. What happens if we look at these schools together? In basketball the two schools have a combined record of 129 wins to 11 losses, 3 regular season conference Championships, 3 conference tournament championships, 3 Final Four appearances and two national championships. In football they combine for a record of 45 wins to 7 losses, 3 conference championships, 3 BCS bowl appearances, 2 BCS Bowl wins and a National Championship.

The accepted belief is that in the modern era it is much more difficult for a program to exist at the highest level and that any dynasty will be short lived. The University of Miami and University of Southern California both had a great three year run with a BCS championship sandwiched between being just left out of the game the year before and losing the game the year after. With approximately twice as many basketball programs as football the closest to a mini dynasty seems to be making two Final Fours in a row (Michigan State in 1999, 2000, Kansas in 2002, 2003, Florida and UCLA in 2006, 2007). Given the cyclical nature of even the top athletic programs can there be a reversal to this trend? Can a handful of mega-programs begin dominate across the athletic spectrum?

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History has been made by Florida’s twin teams of destiny: 3 national championships in 12 months. It is the greatest 12 month period in the history of Gator athletics.

Another reason it’s great to be a Florida Gator: that’s 2 straight championships won at the expense of Ohio State, a school upon whom Florida can now buckle up the collar, attach the leash, and take for walks whenever they like.

In victory, let us sign off with:

The journey is over, the Epic saga of the Gators can now be written.  Will Florida add their name to the list of legendary college basketball teams or will they fall short on their march to the history books?  The only thing we know is out of 65 teams, only one team still stands in their way.  For Florida fans it’s a very familiar team the Gators are facing in Ohio State.  This is the third big matchup between the Buckeyes and Gators in the past 4 month, two of them with National Championships on the line.
 
Everyone remembers Ohio State’s 86-60 beating back in Gainesville back in December.  What people might forget are the specifics.  Florida controlled most of the game taking a 38-29 lead into halftime.  But instead of giving up Ohio State roared back by opening the half with a 9-0 run to tie the game.  From that point however it was all Gators.  Florida dominated a game headlined by two future NBA players hobbled with a sore wrist (Oden) and bum ankle (Horford).  Luckily this time each team comes into the game with a healthy compliment of stars.  In the end though . . . it won’t make any difference.
 
On paper this game could be close and Ohio State has a definite chance.  Out of 5 positions Ohio State has the edge at two of them (point guard and center).  Mike Conley is a great offensive player and perhaps the best point guard in the country.  He has the speed and quickness of UNC’s Ty Lawson and UCLA’s Darren Collison but is a better scorer than each due to his deadly jumper.  Green will have his hands full this game and Florida will be forced to keep Conley from open looks from three point range while at the same time prevent him from penetrating into the lane where he can either dish to the open man or bury the jumper.  Florida will likely defend Conley by committee, switching defenders after picks.  Donovan might decide to place Brewer on Conley at times and will definitely try to wear Conley out on the defensive end.  Expect Green to drive on Conley whenever he sees the opportunity.
 
There are some fans who claim that Oden is overrated and the Buckeyes have won despite him rather than because of him.  This is ridiculous, Oden is the most dominant interior defensive player in the game.  Just ask Horford and Noah, both of whom had shots slapped back in their faces in the first contest.  While Oden is playing expect him to alter the shots of Florida.  Other teams have attempted to draw Oden out of the paint with their big men but neither of Florida’s big men have the ability to hit the three pointer (as oposed to Xavier and Tennessee).  Ohio State has played a lot of zone against their last two opponents and done so effectively.  Expect to see some zone to confuse the Gators but Matta is smart enough to know that too much zone will open up too many threes for the Gator guards.
 
The key to this game will be one of depth.  First off, outside of Oden the Buckeyes do not have a good post player.  A hardworking 6′8″ power forward who could bang the boards, deny post position and block the occasional shot would so greatly improve the Buckeyes it’s scary to contemplate.  But they don’t have anyone outside of Othelo Hunter who is a decent backup center but can’t even compare with the likes of Chris Richard let alone Noah or Horford.  Imagine how Shaq’s presence benefits Udonis Haslem with the Heat.  Shaq draws much of the opposing team’s attention while Udonis, a hard working, determined and strong but undersized power forward, can put up great numbers from the shadows.  Alas Oden has nothing beside him and very little on the bench to spell him which leads to the other problem for Ohio State.
 
Florida will run Oden into the ground.  It wasn’t foul trouble that destroyed Oden’s presence in the game, it was the Gator big men running down the court wearing him out.  Florida has two of the fastest big men in the country in Noah and Horford when running the break.  Now only was Oden still sore he wasn’t in shape to compete in Florida’s first meeting.  OSU was buoyed early in the second half with a rejuvenated Oden but once the halftime rest had dissipated he was back bent over with his hands on his thighs.  A tired Oden is much more likely to pick up cheap fouls and much less able to keep up with the rested Gator big men.
 
Florida will attach Ohio State much the same way they did earlier in the year.  Key on Conley and Oden and wear them out by forcing them to exert both offensively and defensively.  The Gators will use their superior depth as an asset and expect the Buckeyes to wither midway in the second half.  Until Florida runs Ohio State out of steam I certainly expect Conley and company to go on several runs to keep the game competitive.  In fact this could be a game of runs before OSU succumbs to fatigue.
 
Winner = Florida

Does the dream ever end?

Florida advances to the championship game in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in two years. The Gators are on a 17-game post-season winning streak over the past two seasons. The Gators are the only team in the Final Four which never trailed by double digits in any of their games, and Florida again owns the largest victory margin in the NCAA Tournament.

Better yet? Florida gets to face Ohio State for all the marbles… again.

As strange as it sounds, it still feels like we have unfinished business with the Buckeyes, doesn’t it, Gator Nation? Even after whipping them in basketball last December, 86-60, and then demolishing them in the BCS National Championship in football, our lust for revenge for simply doubting the Gators still runs red hot.

Perhaps I’m only speaking for myself here, but my interaction with Ohio State’s fanbase was the most negative, by far, of any inter-fan discourse I’ve ever had. I wrote for AOL’s NCAA FanHouse covering the Gators, and leading up to the game, it seemed like I was the only person in the universe picking the Gators to win. I wrote a long, relatively well researched (for me, anyway) article called “The Gators Can and Will Beat Ohio State.” The full power of AOL’s readership bore down on me as the article generated 321 comments and hundreds of thousands of page views. The majority of those comments were from Ohio State fans, who were convinced that we Gators would be watching the championship game with the doors closed and the blinds drawn. They didn’t believe we even belonged to be in the game.

Well, no one’s doubting now, are they?

I’ll be brutally honest: I despise Ohio State. I believe 90%+ of their fans are total douchebags. I am still pissed at the treatment the Gator Nation received at the hands of Ohio State fans in Glendale, as well as the media. In my view 41-14 was simply a good start. If Meyer wasn’t such a classy guy, I’d have beseeched him to score on those last two possessions, something Florida could easily have done.

So in my view, this chance to beat Ohio State a third time will be a chance to help salve some old wounds. It will be almost as joyful to inflict some additional pain to the embarassed Buckeye nation as it will to win a second national championship in basketball, back-to-back, sandwiching a football championship.

Pride goeth before a fall, so far be it from me to predict an easy victory. No, the Bucks are an improved team from the version we saw in December. They’re a legitimate title contender. But by the same token, so is Florida. Will it be easy? Unless Florida locks down Conley and Cook on the perimeter, it will be a tough match. I think Horford and Noah can handle Oden, so it might come down to a guard-vs.-guard contest.

Keep the dream alive, Gators. Beat Ohio State. I’m grinning ear to ear in anticipation.