Sports Thread #1 for 1/8/09: The Preview For Florida-Oklahoma

Once again, the proclaimed National Championship of top flight college football finally arrives after another lengthy, ridiculous layoff.

And sadly, even with the end result possibly being a comprehensive beatdown for one side over the other, there still will be more questions than answers at the end of another season.

This misguided scenario, thanks in all part to college presidents and NCAA big wigs who care more about profits than the absolute good of sport. Or, as Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News labeled these avarice driven fools (and one of the few times where I agree 100% with him), "a cartel."

Whether Tim Tebrow and Florida's overall speed overwhelms the Sooners, or if Sam Bradford's efficiency takes the full chop out of the larger Gator crowd tonight at Dolphins Stadium, there still will be those after the game left with those questions.

You know what those questions are?

Isn't Utah deserving of a real shot of the title if they went 13-0 and defeated Alabama in SEC country (regardless of Nick Saban's side clearly missing star tackle Andre Smith)? If Texas beat Oklahoma, then why do they get shafted out of this comprehensive mess? USC's defense was the best in the country, and the fastest in the country with studs like Fili Moala, Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga, and Taylor Mays, so why would you automatically say that Florida is a better team then them?

As a sports writer who sees the bigger picture, I really hate when sports analogies get placed into politics. And hell, with all the problems currently in this country, it seems tasteless for any politician to focus on sports as an issue.

But sports matter to a lot of people, and sports can change lives. Sports can have that type of impact, and even those who loathe sports would be highly remiss to not believe this. That's why it is pretty cool to see Barack Obama talk about how there needs to be a change in this corrupt system.

And for one of the rare times, there was something that was comprehensively intelligent coming from Morning Joe this morning. It came from Chuck Todd, and he presented a hell of an idea, where Obama could really ruffle the feathers of these shameful college presidents if he decided to not only invite the winner of tonight's game to the White House, but also Utah, USC, and Texas (and would it even be more of a spectacle if you had both Bob Stoops and Mack Brown's teams up there at the White House).

Only a wish. A great wish indeed.

Prediction: With the track legion of Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps, Chris Ramney, Brandon James to go along with a hungry defense lead by Brandon Spikes (and oh, that Tebow fella), I regretfully can't see Florida not winning this game tonight. I say regretfully but I have documented how much of a jerk Urban Meyer is, but Brandon Franks and the Oklahoma defensive backfield just aren't that capable of being a big time defense to stop this seemingly unstoppable offense.

Of course, with Bradford, the slick Joaquin Igieslas, Malcolm Johnson and the physical specimen that is tight end Jermaine Grisham, Oklahoma's record setting offense is the better attack on paper. But it is just not as versatile as their opponents. Plus, the loss of the stellar DeMarco Murray will hurt Oklahoma tonight, as Florida will get their second national championship in three years.

Final score: Florida 42, Oklahoma 17