The question of Florida

Like the recount of 2000, the Disney World state is the eye of controversy. Once again, my stance remains that the B(C)S is total and utter crap. That being said, I don't have a major problem with Florida playing Ohio State for the national title (by the way, it'll have been 51 days between games for OSU when they take the field in Glendale. Tell there's nothing stupid about that!). Why Florida is worthy:

1. Tougher strength of schedule than Michigan. And not by only a little bit either. The Gators faced 10 (!!!) bowl-eligible teams this year and beat them all except for Auburn. Sure, Florida did play Western Carolina, but Michigan played in the Big Ten which, aside from Ohio State and Wisconsin, was unforgivably pedestrian this season. Florida's wins over LSU and Arkansas, to me, outweigh Michigan's victories over Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

2. SEC champions. In my oh so humble opinion, it should be a prerequisite that in order to play for the national title, you must at the very least win your conference. The B(C)S has earned many an enemy because of this oversight (Nebraska '01, Oklahoma '03) and still, I'm not about to credit them, now, but Florida should definitely be rewarded for winning what was by far the toughest football conference in America this season. Not only did Michigan fail to win the Big Ten, their competition wasn't nearly as stiff as the SEC.

3. Michigan had their shot and lost. Cry all you want about a rematch, but we've already seen it. Does Michigan undoubtedly deserve a second chance more than Florida deserves their only chance? No. It doesn't make sense (which makes it somewhat of an upset, given that this is college football we're talking about -- where the system is perpetually broken).

These are three infallible points that justify Florida's selection to the title game. All that said, however, on a neutral field, head-to-head, I strongly believe that Michigan would beat Florida. But this is a subjective view that will always (should always) yield to objective data. So what's to be done? And if it's really a matter of who is the best 1-loss team in the land, who is to say that Louisville didn't simply have the misfortune of playing in the Big East or that unbeaten Boise State couldn't have their day in the sun or that Wisconsin -- who never played Ohio State during the regular season -- couldn't beat the Buckeyes? The whole things stinks and that, folks, is chapter 307 on why college football is a disaster.

A couple more Gator notes...

First off, seems to me like the Florida basketball team have come out looking like the regular season version of themselves from a season ago. How quickly we forget that they were a 3-seed in last year's tournament and far far far far from a lock for the Final Four. Last night's upset loss to Florida State was a bit of a hiccup and reports are that the Noles are pretty decent this year, but I wonder if Florida is saving it all for the final stretch. Then again, their two defeats this year have been against Kansas in de facto Lawrence and away to an in-state rival. Maybe I'm being a little harsh. Then again, we're talking about a dominant defending national champion that returned their entire starting lineup.

Secondly, Florida alum and Chicago Bear quarterback, Rex Grossman's numbers from yesterday: 6/19 passing, 34 yards, 0 touchdowns, 3 interceptions. This was against Minnesota, so Chicago still managed to win, BUT, this was against Minnesota. Grossman is awful and the Bears will without question fall in the playoffs if this keeps up.