**National Champ Pick and looking back at a great season- 88-49 (64%)**

• 2-3 through the first 5 bowl games!
• Poinsettia Bowl 1-0
• Sheraton Bowl 0-1
• 9-4 12/26-1/1
• Weekend Games 2-1
• Last 3 games- 3-0!

Florida -3.5 (4u to win 3.6u)

Got this at 3.5 a few days I was going to buy off the number if I felt that Oklahoma could win... but I just don't feel like it is a possibility.. don't get me wrong.. I think Oklahoma could cover... and I wouldn't call this the strongest of bets... but after a solid bowl season! I can risk a little more money to make the game interesting.. I say Florida wins by 7!

write up to follow!

The National Championship Game

What should be a very very exciting game between two high flying offenses will be taking place tonight in Florida.  Both Florida and Oklahoma have really kicked it up a notch after losing their 1^st games of the seasons.  We know the stories, but here are the facts.  Gators have averaged 49.4 points during their nine game win streak and the Sooners have scored 61 or more points in their past five games.  So is this really as simple as it seems? Will this game go over the Total of 72?  Will Florida cover as favorites or will Oklahoma’s offense continue to dominate?

The biggest difference in this game I feel is defense and special teams.  Both advantages go to Florida in my opinion.  Florida which comes from the SEC conference has a defense unlike any of the teams Oklahoma has faced all year.  The closest resemblance is Texas.  In that game Bradford played well enough to win despite throwing for 2 interceptions and was sacked twice.  The point here is that was their loss of the season and they scored just 35 points.  Florida has a better defense than Texas and a similar offense with more speed.  Florida has the better defense compared to Oklahoma by far.  Some may argue that Oklahoma has never had to play defense since their offense is so great.  I beg to differ, they had to play defense against Texas and Oklahoma State.  They gave up an average of 42.5 points to both teams.  Too bad for Oklahoma St who has one of the worst Defenses (big surprise from a Big 12 team) they gave up 61 points to Oklahoma.

So let’s crack the numbers then.  Florida scoring defense ranks much higher at fifth 12.8ppg compared to Oklahoma’s 57^th at 24.5ppg.  These numbers can be impressive either way.  You can say that Oklahoma has faced better offenses from the Big 12 and you can say Florida is just so far ahead.  I think Florida’s Defense is much better and I think it will be the best defense that Oklahoma faces all year.  There are several Big 12 teams ranked in the top 30 in Total Yards allowed on Defense.  The Big 12 does not have any. In fact the Big 12’s average ranking on defense for total yards is 87^th. The average rank on Defense for the SEC is 25^th in total yards.  The worst Defense is 72^nd in Arkansas ironically the only SEC team Oklahoma faced.  Oklahoma won 52-10 but in Arkansas defense they really struggled early in the year and came into their own down the stretch.  After Arkansas the next worst Defense is 40^th which is better than the best Defense in the Big 12 at 51.  SEC has 8 top 30 defenses and 3 Top 10 defenses.  What does it all mean?  If you are used to playing tough defenses and still winning at will like Florida was don’t you think that playing Oklahoma may come a little easy?  

Don’t get me wrong I believe Oklahoma will come to play tonight on defense, but I truly feel Florida will have enough to get the victory by a TD. Oklahoma won’t have enough on defense they have struggled all year with mobile QB’s.  Colt McCoy, Baylor’s Griffin rushed for 102 yards and 2TDs, and Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson had 90 yards on 17 attempts.

Special Teams: Opponents have scored four kickoffs for touchdowns which is extremely high for elite teams.  To be honest Oklahoma’s Defensive ranks are high for an elite team, but hey they are here.  Florida’s Brandon James will be licking his chops for a chance to return anything tonight and I think Florida will win the field position battle big time all night with special teams and defense!