It's Gonna Be A Gator Nation...Again

The Gators will be your 2009 BCS National Champions. Mark it down.

Yes I know they have to play the games, but if you look at the facts its plain as day. A friend recently told me you have to give insight you can't just make predictions so here you go.

The best team in the nation is the Florida Gators. They will beat the Alabama Crimson Tide by three touchdowns in the SEC Title game and jump to #2 in the BCS to face the Big 12 winners the Oklahoma Sooners in the BCS National Championship game. They will emerge victorious over the Sooners to capture their second BCS title in the last 3 years.

The Gators are led by last year's Heisman winning QB Tim Tebow. Tebow can throw and run during any play and out of any formation. He is a QB with the body of a big, bruising fullback. If a play breaks down he can repair it with his legs. Opponents tend to be so worried about him taking off that they blow coverages and led the dangerous RBs and TEs that the Gators have roam free and allow Tebow to hit them for a long gain or a TD.

It isn't only Tebow opponents have to worry about though. The Gators have 3 super-speedsters who can turn any play into a touchdown in RBs Demps and Rainey and WR Percy Harvin. Looking at Demps and Rainey's statisitics alone is misleading because they have to split time with each other, Harvin and Tebow for carries and touches and neither is what you would call an every-down back. However, if they get the ball in the open field they can burn any defender on any team in the nation and you might as well cue up the Gator fight song, "Orange and Blue."

Harvin may not play against 'Bama because he suffered an injury in the Florida State game, but if that's the case someone will step up in his place. Depth is another strength of the Gators. After Harvin went down last weekend TE Aaron Hernandez became Tebow's go-to-receiver with 4 receptions for 61 yards and 2 TDs.

If the Gators were just an offensive juggernaut I wouldn't be so confident in them, but they also play defense. News flash Big 12 fans defense wins chamionships.

The Gators have only allowed more than 20 points twice the entire season. Once against then No. 4 LSU and the other time int heir inexplicable choke job in The Swamp against Ole Miss.

They held the preseason #1 Georgia Bulldogs to a measly 10 points and then#25 team South Carolina to 6. They also held Vanderbilt to 14, Florida State to 15. They slipped a little on defense to FCS opponent Citadel allowing 19 but they scored 70 so Citadel had a lot of opportunites and the backups were in the game by the 2nd half. All other opponents were held to 10 or less.

To show the sharpest example of Florida being better than #1 and unbeaten 'Bama I look the the UGA and LSU games. I know LSU was a rivalry game and it was on the road but Florida destroyed the evidently overrated Tigers and blew the Bulldogs off the field as well. 'Bama was decimating the 'Dawgs early but then their lack of defense allowed UGA to fight back and only lose by 11 points.

The Gators kept their foot on the pedal and left no doubt they were better than Georgia. 'Bama however did not do this and let the 'Dawgs have some hope.

Against LSU, Florida pulled away early and again used their lightning quick offense and stout defense to keep the Tigers down and show them who the better team was. 'Bama had to gut out an overtime victory to pull this one out.

'Bama is living off of the first half against Georgia right now and the fact that they are undefeated, which I credit them for.

They didn't slip up at all against teams that they were better than them as some of the other 1 loss teams did, but when they play the best the SEC and probably country has to offer this weekend they will be exposed and Florida will be top dogs.

Florida will have a tougher time against Oklahoma's defense in the National Championship game who shut down the explosive Red Raiders of Texas Tech, but in the end Tebow will make enough plays as will the Florida defense for the Gators to pull it out and raise the crystal trophy as BCS Champions again.

Who will take the reigns in Seattle?

With the long-overdue tenure of Ty Willingham as the head football coach at Universiy of Washington coming to a conclusion at the end of this season, questions abound as to who will be the next coach of this once storied program.

The list of candidates will likely include coaches of current non-BCS success stories such as Boise State's Chris Pedersen, BYU's Bronco Mendenhall, Utah's Kyle Wittingham, and Fresno State's Pat Hill, because their names are often mentioned when a BCS head coaching position becomes available.

In an ideal world the candidates list would also include other successful Pac-10 coaches such Jeff Tedford at Cal, Mike Bellotti at Oregon and Mike Riley at Oregon State. It is unlikely however that these coaches would be willing to give up already successful programs to start from scratch with the Huskies.

There is also the possibility of some of the top coordinators from other conferences such as the SEC or Big 12 taking the job following in the footsteps of coaches like Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops. Stoops had never had a head coaching job prior to Oklahoma taking a chance on him and has since went on to become the highest paid coach in college football history and led the Sooners to an Orange Bowl victory and a National Championship.

Recently fired and current NFL head coaches and assistants could also be in the mix, as long as their name is not Jim Mora.

All of those are possibilities but I have the solution.

If Washington is serious about getting back into Pac-10 contention there is only one choice they should make. That choice would strengthen the Huskies and also the most successful Pac-10 team of the last decade. Their #1 choice should be none other than USC’s Steve Sarkisian.

“Sark” as he’s called has had the opportunity to coach under and learn from one of the most brilliant offensive minds in college football, Norm Chow. He also played for Chow at BYU and currently coaches under Pete Carroll.

He is ready to make the jump from coordinator to head coach. There is a slim chance his departure from USC could weaken the team, so that is a possible added benefit. Although more than likely as long as Coach Carroll is still calling the shots for the Trojans it will take more than Sark to topple the Trojans. The Huskies hiring him away would be a step in the right direction though.

With Sark the Huskies would get a young, energetic and dynamic coach with ties to the Los Angeles recruiting base. Recruits who decide not to go to USC but want to stay in the Pac-1o might be convinced by Sark to join him in Seattle. It would also be interesting to see what Sark could do with Jake Locker back healthly next season.

I haven't heard Sark's name mentioned often when the UW head coaching position comes up, but I think that it should.

If they can't get Sarkisian the Huskies could do worse than Lane Kiffin, but Sark should be target #1 if the Huskies want to return to their old selves, winning Rose Bowls or at the very least a game or two.