i know there's a 24 hour rule, but i'm still reeling from that loss.  i'm sure many of you still are too.  it definitely was a "heavyweight fight" as people would like to call it.  i, like many of you, believe that if we played UF 10 times, we would win 5 out 10.  but this whole thing reminds me so much of the giants and patriots last year.  if there was a playoff system in college football, i see it playing out like the NFL did last year.  i don't know how many of you watch the NFL, but last year, the giants lost to the patriots (who were favored by more than a touchdown) in the last game of the regular season.   pretty much the same way we lost to the gators in the last game of the regular season.  the giants had the lead through the 3rd quarter only to lose in the 4th quarter (new england's offense was simply too much to handle with only 1 week to prepare.  i think you could say the same about the gator's offense simply being too much to handle with only a week to prepare).  but as many of you know, they met again in the super bowl with the patriots again being favored by more than a touchdown.  however, this time, both teams got extra time to prepare.

the patriots were very much like the gators.  they were considered the best team by everyone and their mom.  they had arguably the most prolific offense (which was a spread offense) in NFL history.  they had an MVP in tom brady (remember him from the orange bowl back in 2000?  i still can't believe we lost that game against michigan.  i'm sure if Chris Samuels played, it would have been a different story), very much like the gators have a heisman winner in tebow.  they also had a solid coach in belichick (like the gators have meyer), a solid defense and solid special teams.  the giants on the other hand were very strong on both the o-line and d-line.  they had a maligned qb in eli manning (very much like JPW), a tough hard-nosed coach in coughlin (very much like CNS), a solid running game and solid defense.  they were very much like bama except their offense was probably a bit more explosive.

anyways, all this to say...i still believe that the big games are won in the trenches and that defense wins championships.  in the rematch at the super bowl, the game was won in the trenches with the giants dominating at the line of scrimmage on both sides.  with the giants having extra time to prepare, they held the patriots to only 17 points and pressured brady all day.  i have no doubt that if there was a playoff system in college football, bama would meet florida in a rematch in the title game.  and this time, with CNS and the staff having extra time to prepare, bama would win in very much the same way.  dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides and containing tebow and that gator offense.  which is why it's so painful that bama doesn't get a rematch.

the competitor in me, in CNS, in our players and i'm sure in many of you wants a rematch more than anything else.  it kills me that bama goes undefeated the entire regular season, only to lose a tightly contested SECCG, and gets stuck with a sugar bowl against utah (no offense to utah, but they should have lost that game to tcu who is a significantly better team.  the mountain west is arguably the best non-BCS conference this year, and tcu is the best team in that conference.  tcu should handle boise st in their bowl game.  and with extra time to prepare for an inferior team, not to mention being pissed, bama should roll over utah.  that would mean that there would be no more undefeated teams left in Div 1-A or the FBS).  meanwhile OU and big game (if it's not a BCS bowl) bob stoops get to be in the title game with their one loss because their loss was earlier in the season and because everyone is so enamored with their offense. 

people forget how pathetic their defense is.  they give up almost 400 yards a game (359.08 ypg to be exact, 65th in the country) and they surrender over 3 TD's a game (24.54 ppg to be exact, 57th in the country).  not to mention, their special teams is very shaky as well.  they've also lost their last 4 bcs bowls (stoops is no where near the level of saban and meyer).  bradford will probably win the heisman much like jason white did back in '03.  but just like in '03 when they ran into a great LSU defense (that was coached by CNS and was #1 in the country in scoring defense), their heisman trophy qb and their "prolific" offense will get shut down by a solid gators defense.   and just like in '04 when they ran into an SUC team that had just as good an offense but a much better defense, they'll get blown out.  i have no doubt in my mind that OU will get throttled by the gators.  the gators' offense is just as explosive, but their defense and special teams is a notch above OU.  i'm sad for the nation that they have to witness the sooners lose their 5th straight BCS bowl and get blown out in a title game, again, instead of a true championship game - a rematch of Bama and Florida. 

anyways, i'm thankful to this Bama team and CNS for a great year.  my heart is still torn and i probably won't get over it until next year, but i definitely have lots to look forward to with this year just being the beginning.  ROLL TIDE!