Really?

The number two.

If we are talking about how many million you have in the bank...or how many supermodels that you have dated...or how many terms that you have served as President, "two" stands to be a rather large number. In college football, if we are talking about the number of ranked opponents you have beaten, not so much.

The University of Florida currently sits atop the AP poll, after receiving 50 of 65 first-place votes. Vegas opened the betting lines by positioning the Gators as seven-point favorites. Just about everyone involved in college football believes that Florida outclasses the rest of the field. I'm just not sure why.

Is Florida a really good football team? Absolutely.
Is Tim Tebow one of the best quarterbacks in college football? Yep.
Has Florida proven that they are the best team in the nation by consistently beating quality teams? No, at least not in my opinion.

In recent years, suffering only one loss while running through the SEC gauntlet would be very impressive. In 2008, it simply is not. Right now, three SEC teams sport a top-20 ranking. Florida (#1), Alabama (#4) and Georgia (#16). The Gators beat Georgia in early November and Alabama in early December. In other words, Florida had plenty of time to prepare for each big game because the "filler" teams in between did not require much additional attention.

LSU, Arkansas and Tennessee are usually high-end programs. This year, they just haven't been good. It's much easier to play well against tough teams when you have the ability to circle them on the calendar and sleepwalk through the rest of your schedule. But if Florida had just been able to do that, you really could justify their ranking and the national perception that they are undoubtedly the best team in the country. Unfortunately for Gator fans, they did not do that.

Florida lost at home to an unranked (at the time) Mississippi. Despite playing poor competition throughout the year, Florida still found a way to stumble during conference play. Again, I am not suggesting that Florida is not one of the top teams in the nation. I am suggesting that Florida continues to benefit from the perception that the SEC is a really strong conference, when in fact, it's not. Again, Florida is the unanimous #1 team in the nation despite a very weak schedule and a loss to an average Mississippi team.

Oklahoma, on the other hand, presents one of the most impressive resumes in the country. They have beaten four teams currently ranked in the Top 25 and their only loss came at the hands of the #3 ranked Texas Longhorns, on a neutral field. Florida beat two teams currently ranked in the Top 25, and lost at home to #25 Mississippi.

In actuality, the Gators got a significant boost by beating Alabama, another team benefitting from playing in the weak SEC. Alabama didn't beat a Top 10 team all season. They needed overtime to beat a 5-loss LSU team. Still, a Florida victory over the Crimson Tide impressed voters enough to propel the Gators into the BCS Championship. Crazy stuff.

Look, Tim Tebow and company are really good. They are absolutely a top 5 team. But they haven't faced the type of competition that Oklahoma has faced week in, week out. Florida had weeks to focus on Alabama, maybe even months. Oklahoma had to play ranked teams in each of their last three games. During those games, the Sooners avoided emotional letdowns to dominate each ranked team by a combined 105 points.

Consistently playing high-level competition provides Oklahoma with more big-game experience than their counterpart. Florida's puff cake schedule, something that helped them get into the BCS Championship, might be the thing that prevents them from winning it.

Worse Than The Madden Cover Jinx?

On Saturday evening, Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy. On Sunday, he should have given it back! Throughout the last twenty years, nothing has damned a college quarterback like the Heisman Trophy.

Each of these signal-callers won the illustrious college award within the last two decades:

• Andre Ware
• Ty Detmer
• Gino Torretta
• Charlie Ward
• Danny Wuerfel
• Chris Weinke
• Eric Crouch
• Carson Palmer
• Jason White
• Matt Leinart
• Troy Smith

Ugh! Seriously, that's a gross list.

Within that group, only Carson Palmer has overcome the Heisman curse to become a good NFL quarterback, and you could argue that even Palmer could not escape the trophy's grasp...seeing that he has been forced to "play" in Cincinnati! His teammates include Odell Thurman, Chris Henry and AJ Nicholson...so in a way, being drafted was more of a prison sentence than a reward!

Matt Leinart went from future NFL star to hanging out with Paris Hilton...and actually thinking she was cool! He tried to throw the award away, but he missed the trash can.

Jason White won the award just five years ago. His NFL career was over...five years ago.

It looked like Troy Smith had beaten the curse: in August of this year, he held the starting role for the Baltimore Ravens. Within two weeks, "the wrath" infected him with a mysterious tonsil infection...sidelining him indefinitely. C'mon, you can downplay it all you want, but guys don't just come down with a tonsil infection. That just doesn't happen!

Outside of Palmer, Ty Detmer has probably achieved more than any other name on that list. And if Ty Detmer is at the top of the list, you know that you are in trouble!

Sam, you need to give it up...it's for your own good. Give it to Colt, he needs a little pick-me-up after being screwed out of the National Championship Game! Or give it to Tebow, we all know that a QB who threw for more than 300 yards once all season deserves it!

If you decide to keep it, that's understandable. At least I will know who to get car insurance from four years from now!

Mack Brown should start playing Madden!

I am not a huge video game aficionado; however, I have played Madden consistently over the last decade. With the progression of Playstation and the internet, I began to play online. After replacing several controls that "slipped" out of my hand, I quickly learned two things:

• I am not nearly as good as I thought I was
• Clock management can decide a game

If only Mack Brown had learned those lessons before the Longhorns traveled to Lubbock. While I feel like I have seen that Crabtree catch more times than the Subway "Five dollar foot-long" commercials (that song really makes me want to shoot myself...or someone else). As great as it was, it should have never happened. Not just the catch...but the entire play.

You can actually argue that Texas Tech's entire final drive shouldn't have happened. The final four Texas offensive plays are listed below:

Down and Distance.........Play-Clock..........Result

1st & 10 at Texas Tech 20 3:04......:29......Pass to Shipley

2nd & 2 at Texas Tech 12 2:34.......:17......McCoy runs

1st & Goal at Texas Tech 6 2:08......:07......Whittaker runs

Texas Tech player (Dixon) injured at 1:53 on the clock

2nd & Goal at Texas Tech 5 1:34.....:21......McGee runs: TD

1:29 remaining in game

A total of 74 seconds were left on the play clock...just during the last four plays!! Texas left 1:14 on the play clock for no apparent reason. Seriously, what the hell, Mack??!!

If Colt and Company had played it right, and ran the play clock under five before each snap, only 10-15 seconds would have remained on the clock after the touchdown. Harrell probably throws a couple desperation tosses, the game ends, Colt wins the Heisman, Texas goes to the National Championship, etc...

Instead, this happens...and you know the rest.

My buddies have attempted to provide a couple of suggestions as to why Mack chose not to drain the clock:

Reason 1) Texas scored with 1:29...they didn't want to risk letting the clock run out prior to scoring

Response) Texas had two timeouts, so there should have been no reason to worry about running "too much" clock. If the clock dipped below 30 seconds, Texas simply would have taken a timeout and then run the next play.


Reason 2) McCoy running out of bounds cost them the ability to run clock.

Response) Nope...simply not true. Colt did indeed run out of bounds...but he did so with 2:27 left on the clock. With college football's new clock rules, running out of bounds ONLY stops the clock if less than two minutes remain. After Colt's run, the officials spotted the ball and started the clock.

Texas left 20 seconds on the clock with their final snap alone! Harrell threw the winning touchdown with 12 seconds on the clock. Weird.

Madden gamers simply would never allow this to happen. Never! And this exemplifies why each college and professional football team should employ an experienced gamer as their "Clock Manager." If a fancier title is needed, go with "Director of Time Operation" or "Continuum Chronometer Coordinator." But just think about how many times teams lose games by a "second here" or a "few seconds there." Think about coaches who can barely determine the best time to call their timeouts in conjunction with the two-minute warning. If it can happen to Texas, one of the largest and most successful football programs in the history of college football, it can happen to anyone!

Mack, I can be available as soon as you need me!

Al Gore 2.0

In 2000, Al Gore won the Presidential popular vote against George Bush. Unfortunately for Gore, Bush won more Electoral Votes leading to his Presidency. Gore was mad...and still remains bitter.

Mac Brown and the Longhorns find themselves in a similar situation. On Sunday, a day after Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, despite giving up 41 points, college football voters chose Texas as their 2nd best team in the country. Just like the 2000 Presidential Election, the popular vote wasn't enough.

And just as Al Gore helplessly flailed away at the "flawed" system in 2000, I assume that the rest of 2008 will be filled with constant grumblings from Longhorn fans, players, coaches and anyone else that dislikes the current BCS system. The arguments have already begun: "Texas beat OU head-to-head on a neutral field...Human voters voted Texas ahead of the Sooners in the human polls...This system isn't fair!"

The problem for the Longhorns, as it was for Gore, is that we ALL knew the specifics of each system before the season started. The United States has never elected a President based on the popular vote...and the BCS has never elected a champion based on the human polls. It's nothing new.

Whining about the BCS at the end of the season is like going to see High School Musical 3...and then complaining that it sucked!! Yeah, who would have known that 2 hours of teenagers singing and dancing would force you to consider taking your own life?! In other words, you knew what you were in for before it started.

Oklahoma vaulted above Texas in the computer polls because they played two top 15 teams in the non-conference (#11 TCU and #13 Cincinnati)...and Texas didn't. Pretty simple. The BCS isn't perfect, but we all understood that prior to the beginning of the season.

So while Mac and Company sit at home this weekend while Oklahoma plays for the Big 12 Championship, he would be wise to follow the insightful lead of former Vice President Dan Quayle:

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."

UT Fans: Smallest Brains in the World?

If watching Michael Crabtree spin away from the hapless Longhorn secondary wasn't torturous enough for UT followers, Oklahoma's beat-down of the Red Raiders on Saturday night should have done the trick.

For some reason, throughout last week I constantly heard Texas fans claim that they were going to put down their "Oklahoma girls are fat" t-shirts and root for the Sooners. Well, the Sooners obliged and absolutely destroyed Texas Tech...65-21. The Red Raiders, the only team to defeat the Longhorns, were authoritatively dismantled by a superior team.

If you are going to go all Nick Saban on us and flip to the other side, at least do it when it matters! Oklahoma winning didn't help Texas in any way...Texas needed a Rocky type of game...where both competitors duked it out until the end and neither looked dominant in doing so.

This was more along the lines of Mike Tyson destroying Peter McNeeley: lots of hype and watching parties ending after about 2 minutes leaving everyone asking, "what the hell just happened?"

So the Longhorn fans got what they wanted: an OU victory. Unfortunately for the Austinites, the resounding victory jettisoned Oklahoma over Texas in both human polls. Texas still holds the 2nd spot within the BCS standings...but only by the slimmest of margins.

And while Texas rolls over a hideous A&M team on Thanksgiving Day, the Stoops Crew will have an opportunity to continue their BCS rise by playing #12 Oklahoma State this Saturday. A victory over another top 25 team, on the road, will almost certainly catapult Oklahoma ahead of the Longhorns in the BCS standings, propelling the Sooners into the Big 12 Championship and, with a win, the National Championship.

And just like the guy who wished that he had the largest brain in the world, UT fans soon realized that they should have been careful what they wished for.

Longhorn Fans: Just Face It

I admit, I am a UT grad. Trust me, I can put on the rose-colored glasses like everyone else, but regarding the Big 12 Championship, us Longhorns need to get real.

Brace yourself: Texas won't be playing for the Big 12 Championship this season.

I know...I know. If Oklahoma beats Tech and all three teams win out, there will be a three-way tie. Unfortunately for Bevo, Texas won't win that tiebreaker. Here's why:

#1: If two teams tie for a division title, the head-to-head matchup will determine the winner.
This scenario only applies if the Sooners beat Texas Tech this weekend...and then loses to Oklahoma State next week. After Tech beats Baylor, that will leave Texas and Texas Tech with one conference loss each...but the Red Raiders beat Texas head-to-head, so Tech prevails.

#2: If three teams tie for the Division Lead, the highest ranked BCS team gets the nod.
If Oklahoma beats the Leach Pirates this weekend and Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma all win out, there will be a three-way tie for the Big 12 South Champion. In that case, the highest ranked BCS team will become the Division Champ. Unfortunately for Texas Tech and Texas, Oklahoma will prevail.

Think about it: Tech, Texas and Oklahoma all have common conference opponents...so nothing will be gained/lost there. The true difference will lie within the timing of the losses and each team's non-conference schedule.

Timing:
Oklahoma lost first...and as we all know, losing early is much better than losing late.
Texas lost next...less than two weeks ago.
Tech, again...assuming that they lose on Saturday, will have lost last.

Advantage: Oklahoma

Non-Conference Schedule:
Texas and Texas Tech have a total of ZERO Top 25 non-conference victories.
Oklahoma has two Top 25 non-conference victories (TCU, Cincinnati)

Advantage: Oklahoma

Sorry guys, but:

• if there is a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South, Oklahoma will be the representative
• if there is a two-way tie between Texas Tech and Texas, Texas Tech will be the representative

Texas will not be playing in the Big 12 Championship this year, but it might be a good thing. I will explain more tomorrow.