It was the biggest game of college football regular season play, No. 1 and unbeaten Alabama (12-0) versus No. 2 Florida (11-1) at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the Southeastern Conference Championship and the right to play in the BCS National Championship Game.
When it mattered the most, the Florida Gators-led by junior quarterback and last year's Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow-showed up. Tebow was 0-5 in games when his Gators trailed in the second half, but he overcame that statistic Saturday (12-6-08) by throwing the last of his 3 touchdown passes with less than 3 minutes remaining to seal Florida's 31-20 victory.
Despite trailing in the second half, Florida did win the first half 17-10 and also won the second half 14-10. Tebow was 14-of-22 passing for 216 yards and led his team in rushing with another 57 yards. When Florida needed a play the most, Tebow played a big role in making it happen.
The win gave Florida another SEC title under coach Urban Meyer and its second trip in three years to the BCS National Championship Game. The Gators routed Ohio State for the national championship in 2006. Florida will now face No. 4 Oklahoma for the BCS national title in Miami (FL).
Oklahoma staked its claim to face Florida by dusting off No. 19 Missouri, 62-21, for the Big 12 Championship. All you need to know about this game is that it was 38-7 at the half.
The 4 teams in contention for the BCS game during the final two weeks of the season were Alabama, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. All had one loss except Alabama. Florida, which eventually prevailed over Alabama, had lost at home to Ole Miss 31-30 in its 4th game of the season, and then rattled off 8 wins in-a-row by huge margins before ruining Alabama's run for the national title.
Oklahoma had lost at home to Texas 45-35 in its 6th game, and then routed 6 teams before its big win over Missouri. The Sooners scored 60+ points in their last 5 wins.
The Texas Longhorns won 8 straight before losing on the road to Texas Tech, 39-33. After winning their last 3, they needed Oklahoma to lose to Missouri to have any chance at a title shot.
Elsewhere, No. 12 and unbeaten Ball State (12-0) joined Alabama by losing its first game in the Mid American Conference Championship as Turner Gill's 7-5 Buffalo team took down the Cardinals, 42-24, for the title. In just 3 years, coach Turner Gill has turned around a Buffalo program that was one of the worst in America.
East Carolina (8-4) hung on and hung tough in beating Tulsa (10-2) in the Conference USA Championship game, 27-24. Coach Skip Holtz won 3 games, including victories over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, lost 3 games and then won 5 of his last 6 before beating Tulsa for the title.
Virginia Tech (8-4) went on to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship by beating No. 18 Boston College (8-4), 30-12. Not to be outdone, Southern Cal kept UCLA at bay on the road, 28-7, to win its 7th straight Pac 10 Championship and 4th straight BCS bowl appearance.
With Alabama and Ball State losing their first game, only No. 7 Utah at 12-0 and No. 9 Boise State at 12-0 remained unbeaten among the 119 Division 1-A schools.
In other action, it was No. 19 Pittsburgh on the road over Connecticut 34-10, California at home horsewhipped the winless 0-12 Washington Huskies 48-7, Navy shut out Army 34-zip, Arizona ripped Arizona State 31-10, and No. 13 Cincinnati on the road outlasted Hawaii 29-24.
So it's Florida and Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship Game, and the other 4 BCS Bowl Games will find Penn State and Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State and Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, Utah and Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and Cincinnati and Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
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