The following article will be published in the latest issue of Campus Talk, a magazine distributed in Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee.  If you're a local, pick one up and increase their circulation.  They also have lots of pictures of pretty girls for extra motivation.

While most college students would rather spend the remainder of summer avoiding the prospect of returning to class, they can at least take solace that while fall semester brings textbooks, exams and sleep-inducing lectures, it also brings about the most glorious time of year:  college football season.

2008’s national title contenders will feature a number of familiar faces looking to punch their ticket to the BCS Championship game in Miami on January 8, 2009.  Lining up for that opportunity will be several traditional powerhouses such as Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida and USC, while other programs such as Missouri, Kansas, Virginia Tech, LSU, Wisconsin, Auburn, Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Clemson and BYU will not go down without a fight.

With each new season, college football becomes increasingly more competitive and entertaining.  Smaller conference teams have shown they can play on the same field as the bigger schools, while the power conferences such as the PAC-10, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC continue to beat each other up all season long until only one conference champ is left standing.  Last year, LSU became the first school to ever win a national title with more than one loss.  Regardless of whether the BCS eventually decides to switch to a playoff system or keep their current format, with such stiff competition, a multiple-loss championship team may now be the norm rather than the exception.

As usual, key games highlight this year’s college schedule, with rarely a boring Saturday on the schedule.  Many of these contests will have a direct effect on the national championship picture.

The season starts out in the very first week with NC State traveling to South Carolina, USC going to Virginia, Alabama facing Clemson and Tennessee going to UCLA.  However, no early game will have quite the hype and anticipation of the September 13 match-up between Ohio State and USC.  Go ahead and mark it on your calendar now.  Both schools will likely be ranked in the top five and despite this being a non-conference game, the winner will be on the inside track to a BCS Championship.  After that game, the Buckeyes will have to face conference rivals Wisconsin and Illinois on the road, as well as their traditional season-ending contest against Michigan.  If Ohio State can make it through the Big Ten schedule relatively unscathed, they’ll have an excellent chance to play in their third consecutive championship game.  They may just have the talent to do so.  USC, for the first time in a long time, seemed somewhat vulnerable last year, losing to both Stanford and Oregon.  Long gone are the days of Bush and Leinart.  Even John David Booty has left for the NFL.  But just because USC doesn’t have those familiar faces doesn’t mean they won’t compete at an extremely high level.  Year after year, Coach Pete Carroll reloads his program with all-Americans at nearly every position.  With such talent, it should come as no surprise that USC and Ohio State are the favorites to win their respective conferences.

Only one week after that mammoth contest, the bulk of conference play begins, with huge match-ups including LSU at Auburn and Florida at Tennessee.  The winner of these games, as is the case every year, will become the front-runners in their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference.  After winning last year’s national championship, LSU will have a difficult time repeating with road games at Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas.  They also have Georgia on their schedule.  Auburn travels to play Alabama at the end of the year, but most of their difficult conference games will be played at home, including games against Tennessee and Georgia.  As usual, SEC teams will beat each other up all season long.  As that conference remains one of the elite in college football from top to bottom, it is becoming increasingly rare for any team to walk away undefeated, or with even one loss.

Georgia is also another serious title contender.  After destroying Hawaii in their bowl game last year, Georgia finished the nation ranked second.  Since they return most of their talent, including Heisman candidates Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford, they could finish this season higher than that.  The only thing standing in their way of a return to glory is their schedule, easily one of the toughest in the nation.  UGA plays at South Carolina, Arizona State, LSU and Auburn as well as hosting both Alabama and Tennessee.   This year’s Florida-Georgia game could be one for the ages and should put that rivalry back on the map as one of the nation’s finest.

The Big 12 must be included in any national championship conversation.  Oklahoma is loaded with talent, but the two surprise teams in the conference last year were Kansas and Missouri.  While Kansas and Mizzou should battle for the Big 12 North title, Texas will do their best to keep Oklahoma honest in the South.   The ACC also boasts national title contenders in Virginia Tech, Clemson and even a pesky Wake Forest team.  And several Big East teams were major players last year, although Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia all lost talent to the NFL.

Few other areas in the south have as many quality programs as the sunshine state.  Florida, Florida State, UCF and USF all had bright points last season and should carry that success into 2008.  The four schools all play in different divisions, and with a clean slate for 2008, all have a chance to be competitive, and possibly figure into the national championship landscape.

Florida Gators:  Returning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow has vowed to improve upon the Gators’ 2007 9-4 record, even though few of last year’s losses can be attributed to his performance.  He will have a slew of offensive weapons at his disposal to keep that promise.  Chris Rainey, Percy Harvin and USC transfer Emmanuel Moody will shore up the backfield, while Tebow will have targets to throw to in Louis Murphy and Cornelius Ingram.  Florida’s inexperienced defense, particularly in the secondary, kept the 2007 Gators on the outside looking in at a conference championship.  Even with another year under their belt, and an offense that promises to dazzle fans nationwide, the pre-season favorite in many polls still faces an uphill battle in their quest for an SEC crown.  Florida welcomes in-state rival University of Miami back into the mix on Sept 6.  Although the Gators should be favored going into this game, UF hasn’t beaten UM since the 1980s.  After that, things don’t get any easier as conference play begins.  Their road schedule, however, is favorable.  The Gators travel to Tennessee, Arkansas and Vanderbilt while having the luxury of hosting Mississippi, LSU, Kentucky and South Carolina.  The biggest game, not only in conference, but perhaps of the entire year, may be the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville.  Many have projected Florida and Georgia to be ranked #1 and #2 by late October.  And while the Gators have owned the Bulldogs in recent years, one gets the impression that with their victory last year, Georgia is ready to turn the tide.

Florida State Seminoles: The garnet and gold remain a shell of their former selves.  The program that struck fear into its opponents and dominated the 1990s has fallen upon hard times.  Nobody would ever have expected the Seminoles to tally back-to-back 7-6 seasons.  Years ago, such mediocrity would be unheard of, but now, in Tallahassee it’s the norm.  The rest of the ACC have caught up with the joneses and Virginia Tech and Clemson should yield championship contenders.  Fortunately for Bobby Bowden, both of these games will be hosted in the stadium that bears his name.  The ‘Noles ACC road schedule includes game at Miami, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and Maryland.  Their schedule is favorable and lines up nicely for them to rebound from their recent woes.  QB Drew Weatherford will no longer have to look over his shoulder at Xavier Lee, which may help his confidence, but Coach Bowden has two sophomore sensations, Christian Ponder and D’Vontrey Richardson, waiting in the wings if the senior can’t get the job done.  Weatherford has the tools on offense in RB Antone Smith and an experienced wide receiving corps to keep the ball moving.  Whether their defense can return to championship form, however, will determine whether we’ll be hearing a healthy tomahawk chop late in the season.

South Florida:  The Bulls will be hard-pressed to equal the success they had last season, which was arguably the greatest in the history of the program.  USF was ranked as high as number two nationally.  Three consecutive mid-season losses, however, brought USF back to the middle of the pack of the Big East conference standings.  They were also humiliated by Oregon in the Sun Bowl, outscored by five touchdowns.  The Bulls return junior QB Matt Grothe who led last year’s team in both passing and rushing.  Someone else in the backfield will have to relieve him of this offensive burden if the Bulls want to seriously contend for a conference title.  The Bulls 2008 out-of-conference schedule features some respectable opponents in North Carolina State and UCF on the road and Kansas at home.  The contest against the Jayhawks may serve as a litmus test for the rest of their season.  Their conference road schedule is not any easier as they’ll have to travel to Louisville, Cincinnati and West Virginia.  With many Big East teams losing key players to the NFL draft, the Bulls might be able to take advantage of their returning experience and finish atop the conference standings.

Central Florida: Like Jim Leavitt in Tampa, UCF head coach George O’Leary continues to build a strong program in a state traditionally dominated by Florida, Florida State and Miami football.  Competing for athletes against the big three is no easy task, but O’Leary continues to bring in young talent.  For the Knights to repeat as Conference USA champs, they’ll have to do so without the services of stud running back Kevin Smith, who left early for the NFL draft.  Also departing was senior quarterback Kyle Israel, which means UCF will essentially be starting anew from the offensive end.  Mike Greco or Joe Weatherford will likely compete for snaps as Israel’s replacement.  Their defense which ranked near the top of the conference in most statistics may have to hold down the fort until the offense can get their feet wet.  UCF has scheduled two difficult out-of conference road games against Big East opponents, Boston College and Miami.  The conference road schedule includes games at UTEP, Tulsa, Marshall and Memphis while they host SMU, Memphis, Southern Miss and UAB.

April in Gainesville, Florida means three things:  beautiful weather, co-eds in sundresses and spring football.  With a relatively forgettable college basketball campaign distancing itself from view, Gator fans now turn their attention to football with the promise of a return to greatness.

Sunday, the Swamp hosted its annual Orange-and-Blue game as seen nationally on ESPN.  Over 60,000 fans, including yours truly, piled into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to see what Urban Meyer and his highly touted recruits would showcase in the way of talent.  Fans did not leave disappointed.

Prior to the game, Coach Meyer pitted his fastest athletes against their fellow students and offered a tryout opportunity to anyone who could outpace them.  When sophomore tailback Chris Rainey clocked a 4.24 forty-yard dash, participants soon discovered why they weren’t the ones offered a football scholarship.  Rumor has it that one Ohio State fan phoned another and jealously asked “Did you see that kid Rainey?”

Although quarterback Tim Tebow was bed-ridden with a stomach virus and fever the night before, Superman still donned his cape and led his Blue team to victory, 28-14, passing for 200 yards in 13 of 21 attempts.  Tebow has never lost a spring game.  He only carried the ball four times.  While this may have been partially due to his recent illness, Meyer has vowed the 2008 Gators would feature much less of Tebow’s ground attack.  With incoming quarterback John Brantley injured, Cam Newton led the orange team in a loss.  While Newton looked impressive in spurts, Brantley is expected to challenge him for the back up QB position.

After smoking fellow students in the pre-game festivities, Chris Rainey carried that speed onto the field, rushing for 75 yards and gaining another 65 on a touchdown reception from Tebow.  Meyer expects Rainey to play a major role in Florida’s offense next season.  With Percy Harvin out until late summer with a heel injury, Rainey, Brandon James, Mon Williams, Kestahn Moore and USC transfer Emmanuel Moody are all competing for carries.  And despite Moody’s 111 yards on 14 carries, the one play coaches remember is his fumble in the end zone.  Coach Meyer’s post-game criticisms of Moody were direct, stating simply that Moody would not play in the fall if he continued to put the ball on the ground.  With that assortment of tailback talent, Meyer should be able to pick and choose his weapons.   Moody should get looks as long as he can become more comfortable in Urban’s schemes.

With the departure of Dallas Baker two years ago and Andre Caldwell last year, the Gators will  look to Riley Cooper and TE Aaron Hernandez for receptions, however with Meyer’s spread offense, catches can come from just about anywhere.

The defensive line looked strong, led by Carlos Dunlap’s four sacks, an orange-and-blue game record.  Lorenzo Edwards also intercepted a Tebow pass and ran it back fifty yards for a touchdown.  Both Dunlap and Edwards are freshmen.  The Gators still have some questions in their secondary, but anything would be an improvement from last season.

The Bright Side:  It’s doubtful that any defense will be able to shut down the multi-talented Gator attack.  Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow should be in full form and understands that 9-4 does not live up to his standards, or Gator Nation’s.  Florida’s schedule sets up favorably for a successful season with the most difficult contests coming in Knoxville, in Fayetteville, at home to LSU, in Jacksonville against Georgia and in Tallahassee against Florida State.  The Florida-Georgia game will once again mean something this year and could very well pit two top five teams against one another in this rivalry for the first time in decades.  The Gators will feature a deadly combination of speed and power as Urban Meyer continues to reload with top notch recruits at all positions.

The Concerns:  Despite their high-octane offense, the Gator D was porous last year.  The defensive line and secondary are talented, but young and relatively inexperienced.  The secondary will need to return the defense to its expected form or opponents will continue to pass over the top of them as they did last year.  On offense, the Gators still do not feature a pound-the-ball type running back.  And although Harvin is expected to return from heel surgery by July or August, only time will tell if he can be the multi-purpose threat he’s been his freshman and sophomore seasons.  The Gators also lack experience at the wide receiver position.

Prediction:  10-2, which should be good enough to get them a BCS bid.  I fear Mark Richt and Georgia may have finally figured out how to put their Gator woes behind them.  It’s been a long time since Gator fans have feared that game, but with Georgia likely ranked pre-season top three, whoever wins that contest will have not only a stranglehold on the Southeastern Conference, but also a shot at a national title.  Tennessee is also always an X-factor in the difficult SEC Eastern Division.  Although the schedule is favorable, Florida could easily drop another unsuspecting game, such as on the road at Tallahassee, which could potentially be Bobby Bowden’s last game ever.

The good news for Gator fans everywhere is that they may have uncovered the next great Gator Heisman trophy winner.

I thought I'd take a day off yesterday to see if any pretenders could close the gap in the Foxbloggers bowl contest.  Harry Balzac appears to be keeping me honest.  With plenty of possible confidence points remaining, he's proven that the boys from Gainesville know their football.  Also happen to be involved in the ESPN pool with this guy and he's in second place there, better than 98.6% of the nation.  Guess all that breaking down game film has finally paid off.

A few more shout outs...

Meechigan is representing the Big Ten in this thing better than his conference is on the field.

Sleepless proudly representing her gender, proving that most women know more about football than Pete_Nice (You've been gas-faced!)

TSI and Socal kissing their sisters in a tie for 6th.  Plenty of possible points remaining.  Hope they've chosen wisely in the games that matter.

A special shoutout to Petey, who prior to the Miami-Nevada game had only picked three bowl games correctly.  Remind me not to go to Vegas with this guy.

And half-baked, dog.... lay off the regs, man.  7 consecutive games missed?

There's been lots of great football so far.  Thanks to the bowl selection committee for providing us with some competitive football, with eight games so far being decided by 8 points or less.

Congratulations to Chiefs and Jets fans on making the NFL post-season, and for those Broncos and Bengals fans out there, way to underachieve. 

I wish the best of health, wealth and happiness to you and all of yours in 2007.

Happy New Year!!!

As we sat in Atlanta and paced..... and paced.... and paced some more, waiting impatiently for the announcement, I objectively tried to find ONE legitimate argument that would give Michigan the nod over Florida in the Championship Game.  And I couldn't do it.

Certainly, Michigan had a (slightly) higher ranking than Florida going into the weekend, but when USC lost to UCLA, those remaining votes had to go somewhere, and the Southeastern Conference champion was given the nod.  And rightfully so.

In the end, two main factors gave the Gators their shot at the national title.  First, they played a more difficult schedule, including ten bowl teams on their schedule (as opposed to seven for Michigan) and a brutal stretch of six consecutive games against bowl teams in September and October.  Secondly, and this cannot be argued.  They won their conference championship in what's arguably considered the college football's best conference this year.

Let's now dispell some of the rather flimsy arguments that I've read supporting Michigan....

1. Common opponent: Vanderbilt.  While Michigan did beat Vanderbilt by a wider margin than the Gators, Vandy had to travel to Michigan on the first game of the season, while Florida had to travel to Vanderbilt, a division rival, after playing a stretch against Georgia, Auburn, LSU and Bama.

2. Michigan's LOSS was more impressive.  If you watched both of these games, you'll know that Ohio State essentially controlled the contest, even though the final margin was a three point victory.  Michigan had the good fortune to play the Buckeyes after three consecutive weeks of tune-up games against lowly Northwestern, Ball State and Indiana.  The Florida-Auburn game came after Florida had just played LSU.  Auburn had been ranked number three in the nation the week before, and was knocked down to number 11 after losing to SEC runner-up Arkansas.  Florida was essentially in control of the Auburn game, until they beat themselves, and a certainly questionable call robbed them of the opportunity to take the lead late in the game.  It was a three-point game, until Chris Leak threw a late interception making it a ten-point final outcome.

3. Nobody wanted to see a rematch.  While this may be true, this certainly does not discount the fact that voters went with who they felt was a better match-up:  The Big Ten champion against the SEC Champion, instead of the top two teams in the Big Ten.  Voters rewarded the team who won their conference, not the team that couldn't.

4. Meyer's late lobbying got them in.  Is a university president or head coach NOT supposed to lobby for his team to get into the championship game, with not only millions of dollars on the line, but also to fight for the opportunity to give his kids what they came to school for?  If Lloyd Carr were more media savvy, perhaps more voters would have given Michigan consideration, but that's still unlikely.  You can't give a team that didn't win it's conference and that lost it's final game of the season the nod over a team that did win it's conference.  Late season losses weigh heavier, we know that going in.  There are no mulligans in college football.  And yes, while Florida was fortunate enough to get a rematch in 1996 to a team it had lost to earlier that seaon, that was pre-B.C.S., the Gators still played an extra game, their conference championship game against Alabama, that year, and two teams ahead of them in the polls that year had to lose.  Michigan lost their final game of the season.

5. Auburn's exclusion from the title game years ago affected voters decions.  Possible, but unlikely.  Again, if you listen to soundbites from each voter explaining why they gave Florida the nod, they'll cite two factors, their tougher schedule and their conference championship.  Many have gone so far as to claim they don't think Michigan would finish 12-1 with Florida's schedule.

6. Michigan is the second best team in the nation.  How do you know this? How can you back that up?  Are saying it's because you barely lost to the top team in the nation?  Is it because you were ranked number two after that loss?  Who's to say you shouldn't have been knocked down to three or four in the polls after that game.  Is it because Las Vegas says the point spread would be less than 8.5 points in a Michigan rematch with Ohio State?  With all due respect to the experts in Sin City, since when do they get a vote in the polls?  If that's the case, why don't we just have a Vegas poll and factor that into the BCS.  What if Michigan got another shot and lost that game?  Would you want a third shot or would you finally admit OSU was the better team?

Michigan fans, don't blame Florida for being granted a shot at the title.  Blame your conference for being stubborn and not modernizing.  And don't arbitrarily root for Ohio State in the championship game out of spite.  They're you're arch-rival, you hate them, remember?  Give us a shot, you never know, we just might take them down.  Then you guys truly will be the second best team in the nation.

I wrote last night that the hardest thing to do in professional sports is to hit a major league fastball.  I think I'm starting to change my mind.

In the last three playoff games I've watched, which coincidentally also happen to be the last three games TNT has aired, I've witnessed three separate, errant inbound passes that either cost or could have cost their team the game.

Dateline Monday night...  Spurs led the Mavericks by a point with possession of the basketball and thirty seconds remaining on the game clock.  Brent Barry was slated to safely inbound the ball to a teammate, who would most likely be fouled and sent to the free throw line to give the Spurs a three-point lead.  Instead, Barry's errant pass bounced off Michael Finley's fingers allowing the Mavericks to eventually win the game.

Once again, on Tuesday night, the New Jersey Nets placed the ball in the hands of point guard Jason Kidd, who was unable to complete the pass to Vince Carter, allowing Dwayne Wade to sneak in and knock the ball away.

In Tuesday's late game, the Clippers had an opportunity to win the game by inbounding the ball deep into Elton Brand.  Instead, the pass sailed out of bounds, ensuring that the clock did not start and allowing the Suns one last look at an open basket.

Now certainly it's not only the inbounder's responsibilty to make a good pass.  Inbounding the basketball also requires the player receiving the pass to establish position, as he would in the post, thus keeping the defender away from the ball.  Vince Carter failed to do this.  Elton Brand never had a chance.  And the only thing defending Michal Finley was the sideline, and we all know the sideline never misses a tackle.

So instead of NBA head coaches forcing their roster to shoot jumpers and free throws until nightfall, perhaps they should look at the lost art of inbounding the basketball.  It just might come in handy one day.