Mike

Bowl Picks: BCS Championship

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FedEx BCS National Championship Game: Florida vs Oklahoma, Thursday (Jan 8) 8pm
Mike: Really, I’m only interested to see Matt’s pick as everyone else has some sort of rooting interest. While my ties to a school are not as strong as Evan or Ahad’s, I have an appreciation for UF and a dislike of OU. My attempt at an objective prediction tells me that Tebow is going to blow up. Whatever he needs to do to win this game, he’s going to do. The UF D should be able to stop OU just enough times to win. If not, put your money on seeing Tebow on defense. Pick: Florida

Matt: Well, I am interested in seeing my own pick. I have gone back and forth on this game repeatedly. I was originally leaning towards Oklahoma, but I am having a hard time picking against Tebow. I don’t know if either defense will be able to stop the offenses. Florida’s defense is better statistically, but they haven’t faced Oklahoma’s offense. Stoops has faltered on the big stage while Mayer has shined. Florida has the advantage of playing in their home state. I think Tebow, Florida’s D, and the home state advantage gives Florida the edge. Pick: Florida

Evan: You all know who I’m going to pick. now let me tell you what specifically is going to happen:

Oklahoma will avoid kicking the ball to Brandon James at all costs. If he does get his hands on the ball, it will be because the kicker messed up.

Look for Florida to go with a lot of screens and dump passes early on to get several players the ball (not just percy)

I think Florida is going to try to make Oklahoma beat them on the ground. They’ve got a ton of athletic d-backs to try to contain Brandford, and Murray is out of the game. I think their defensive philosophy is going to be to make OU run the ball, in a type of bend but don’t break way that yields a lot of field goals.

Tebow will line up at linebacker on a goal-line stand with 5 seconds to go, stuffing the OU runner. UF wins 41-38

Ahad: I believe that I can still be objective despite my rooting interest. There is no doubt that Oklahoma has stumbled in their recent BCS bowl games while Florida shows up in the big games. This time will be different. I am anticipating this to be the best bowl game of the season, which probably means it will be a blowout. The matchup between the OU offense and Florida’s defense is what I am looking forward to watching. Murray being out is a big blow to the offense. They have capable backups, but Murray is a difference maker. The concerns for the Sooners will be on special teams, namely the kick coverage units as that is where they are most vulnerable and pass defense. After Reynolds got hurt, the Sooners struggled when teams spread them out and threw the ball over the middle. All signs are pointing in Florida’s favor, including the fact that Heisman winners have not had much success in bowl games. A lot of people are counting the Sooners out and they will rally around that and pull out a close victory. Pick: Sooners

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