A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
By the time you read this, the Super Bowl will be over, and the sports world will finally be able to turn more of its attention to college hoops.
A terrific Kansas-Missouri game on Saturday night provided a springboard into “Rivalry Week,” which features a number of intriguing matchups.
Before that tips off though, here are this week’s power rankings.
When the names “Ohio State” and “Florida” are included in the same bowl game, the stakes are usually quite large. This year, that is not so much the case as the 6-6 Buckeyes take on the 6-6 Gators in the Gator Bowl on Monday, January 2nd.
I learn something new each week from watching college basketball.
For instance, this week I learned Marquette coach Buzz Williams’ fashion sense is questionable at best.
I also learned that sometimes big games can actually live up to the hype (yeah, I’m talking to you Alabama and LSU).
And I learned that whenever there’s a game I’m really excited to watch, somehow Jimmy Dykes always ends up on the call trying to ruin it for me.
I also learned about some teams and conferences, which I’ll share in this week’s stock watch.
Perhaps no NFL player is as polarizing as Tim Tebow, and what he does between the lines of the football field isn’t the only contributing factor to the mixed feelings America possesses for the Denver Broncos’ quarterback.
Tebow causes hysteria among football traditionalists because of his unorthodox (read: bad) throwing mechanics and the Broncos’ need to create a simplified option offense for him to be successful. Conversely, his uncanny leadership abilities and penchant for performing at his absolute best in the most important moments has convinced many that he will be a success simply through hard work, will power, and a positive attitude.
By virtue of his devout Christianity, Tebow inspires intense conversations about the role of faith in sports, and that is a dividing factor amongst many fans. Right or wrong, many people’s judgements of Tim Tebow the football player, are forged from their opinions of Tim Tebow the person.
Plus, let’s face it – there are legions of people who want to dislike Tebow simply for the success he had experienced and his seemingly perfect life. And then there are people (me included, at times) who just like to go against the grain for the sake of staying off the bandwagons of the sports world.
Though we can argue for days about Tebow’s long-term prospects as an NFL quarterback and whether his overt displays of his faith should have a place in our sports experience, there is no doubt that Tebow is a very talented, very charismatic guy. He seems like a truly nice person who does his best to lead the best personal life he can. With that in mind, I decided to simultaneously poke a little fun and honor the character and football acumen of one Timothy Richard Tebow.
Here are the Top 10 Tebowest Moments of Tim Tebow:
While the college basketball season began in earnest over the weekend, there weren’t too many marquee games on the schedule, and the sport was forced to compete with college and pro football. That won’t be the case when ESPN’s fourth tip-off marathon begins. The event features 19 men’s games spanning roughly 25 hours, starting at 12:00 Tuesday morning.
I’m too old to stay up for the whole thing, but for those of you wishing to check it out, I can offer you two things: 1) a link to the complete schedule of the games and commentators and 2) my thoughts and predictions for each contest.
Saturday’s game of the week features two undefeated teams from the SEC and could be a preview of the conference championship. #3 Alabama heads to The Swamp to take on #12 Florida in a night game that has all the makings of another classic SEC battle.
The Crimson Tide has a defense that could carry them all the way the national title game and they will be tested in this game by the Gators’ high-powered offense. Florida’s defense is no slouch and they are going to have to stop the run if they want to pull off the upset.
Here is what to expect from this game. [Read more...]
Update: Prediction posted.
Way back when, in the year 2000, Butler announced itself on the national scene by coming within one shot of sending 5th seeded Florida home early. Only a Mike Miller buzzer-beater kept the Gators alive.
Seven years later, in 2007, the superb back-to-back title winning Gators had to go through Butler on their way to a title. Florida beat those AJ Graves-led Bulldogs 65-57.
And now here are in 2011, with Butler and Florida meeting up again, this time with a Final Four spot on the line. Will the third time be a charm for the ‘Dawgs? Or will Florida continue its tournament stranglehold on Butler? Let’s discuss.
In the aftermath of my Boilermakers’ stunning loss to VCU on Sunday, someone asked me, “Twitch, how would you build the perfect college basketball team?”
Usually, I love questions like this because it opens up the door for lots of argumentation and debate. Unfortunately, this one didn’t. Why? Because of my answer.
“It’s already been done. The 2006 and 2007 Florida Gators.”
Now, if you are a fan of UNC, Duke, Kansas, Connecticut, or any of the other recent NCAA Champions, don’t get offended. Every team that wins a championship is built for success in one way or the other. But the fact is, only one team has repeated as champion in the past 20 years, and it had nothing to do with lack of competition and everything to do with how perfectly constructed the Gators were as a team.
For most of this season, Purdue fans thought that our Boilermakers we constructed in a way that made a national title a real possibility. And we were, before…
Well before something unfortunate happened that robbed us all of a chance to see just how good this team could be.
In this post, I analyze Purdue’s 2010-11 team within the context of recent past champions to see just how much of a title contender they really were – and if it’s possible for a team that finished in such a disappointing way to actually be celebrated for overachieving, not underachieving.
Urban Meyer is a master of the spread offense and of the SEC; Tirico Suave is a master at creating hilarious videos.
Now the two have been brought together, and the result is sheer greatness (hat tip to Hot Clicks).
Most prominent laugh out loud moments for me: 1:30 mark and 2:09 mark.
Enjoy:
Wow, crazy scene in Lexington tonight involving Tim Tebow.
Already feeling the effects of a “respiratory condition” than many were speculating might be the H1N1 virus (aka swine flu), Tebow was knocked out of tonight’s Florida-Kentucky game and taken to the hospital with a possible concussion.
The hit occurred with 12:41 left in the game and he obviously did not return. Before being injured, Tebow threw for 103 yards and a TD, and he also ran for 123 yards plus two scores.
Here is the painful video of the hit by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham that knocked Tebow out:
Tonight, the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners will take to field to determine college football’s “national champion”. I put that in quotes, of course, because there has been a strong uprising of support over the past week for the national championship candidacy of Utah, the nation’s only undefeated team.
My take on that is that I think both Florida and Oklahoma would defeat Utah if they played — but why in the hell aren’t they? I also thought that Alabama would beat Utah, and we saw how that turned out. To have two one-loss teams playing in the BCS championship game to determine the “national champion”, while the only undefeated team in college football is left on the sidelines with no chance at a title, well it stinks.
And while I don’t begrudge any coach for stating the case for his team, I think Pete Carroll and Mack Brown should shut up about their own teams’ national championship arguments and get behind Utah. Both USC and Texas have lost; Utah has not. A much more compelling case for a playoff can be made by arguing the case of Utah. If coaches with the stature of Pete Carroll and Mack Brown got behind the Utes’ cause and helped to fan the flames of outrage, perhaps mountains could be moved a few more inches closer to a playoff.
Our friends over at Flash Sports Tonight do a nice job of ripping Pete Carroll and Mack Brown a new one in the newest FST Flash Report:
(And if for some reason the video isn’t displaying, head on over to Flash Sports Tonight and watch it there.)
Unfortunately, the plight of Utah is simply indicative of the greed and myopic thinking that defines college football. And until the conference commissioners and school presidents start thinking more with their heads and their hearts than with their wallets, it will always be that way.
Anyway, enough soapbox stuff. It is not the fault of Florida and Oklahoma that whichever team wins this game will have to deal with a certain amount of taint on their trophy. And it certainly does not mean that the two best teams in America are not, in fact, playing tonight. It is hard to argue with either Florida or Oklahoma as worthy national championship contenders. As we preview tonight’s game, I’ll be giving you lots of links to get you ready for tonight.
First, let’s get the particulars out of the way. Here is the pertinent time, place, lines, and announcer information you need to know:
BCS National Championship Game: Florida Gators v Oklahoma Sooners
(Point spreads and over-unders provided by the College Football Handicapping experts at DocSports.)
The next link comes from ESPN, where they have put together an informative “Tale of the Tape” comparison between Florida and Oklahoma:
BCS Championship Game Tale of the Tape – (ESPN)
SI.com has some nice stories previewing a few of the key positions for each team:
Florida finally has a good ground game – (Stewart Mandel)
Oklahoma’s O-Line is pretty damn good – (Andy Staples)
Brandon Spikes may want to stop talking trash about Big 12 defenses until after the game – (Stewart Mandel)
Well, it took me a little longer to get this post together than I’d anticipated and I’m about to be late for a work meeting. So I’ll give my prediction real quick before getting out of here.
I am rooting for Oklahoma to win tonight, but I think Florida will get it done. I think there is some truth to the notion that Big 12 defenses have not been that good, and when you combine that with the potential bowl game Heisman jinx for Sam Bradford and the motivation that Tim Tebow is carrying into this game, I think the Gators will get it done. It will be high scoring and I think it will be close. Other than the announcers, it should be a very enjoyable and entertaining game.
Florida 45 | Oklahoma 38
Who do you think will win it?
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