COOLER TALK - BCS Championship Sound-off

#2 Florida Gators vs. #1 Oklahoma Sooners. Last season's Heisman trophy winner - Tim Tebow vs. this season's Heisman Trophy winner - Sam Bradford. Urban Meyer vs. Bob Stoops. The match-up has been set for weeks, and finally the two teams will take the field tonight in South Florida for the BCS National Championship game. With the other 31 bowl games over and done with, all eyes are completely focused on South Florida.

One thing leading up to the FedEx BCS National Championship game that you don't want to do if you are Oklahoma is give Tim Tebow extra bulletin board material. The guy is motivated enough to be the best of the best. Remember the press conference after the Gators lost? Tebow vowed to never let it happen again. So far so good for him and the Gators. So when you add to the board you are only digging yourself a deeper hole. I guess for Dominique Franks, an OU defensive back, that doesn't matter. Franks has further fueled that fire, this week, by ranking Tebow below three other Big 12 QB's. Feeding Tebow with extra motivation is a horrible idea, which is like trying to wrestle a sandwich away from Shaquille O'Neal at lunch time. Good luck Franks, I have just one piece of advice for you when you are on the field. When you see Mr. Tim Tebow heading in your direction, dodge him at all costs like Vince Vaughn in Dodgeball, because if you don't he will run over and threw you - NOT around. 

A big part of the game to watch tonight will be whether or not the Sooners can get that 600-pound gorilla off their back? This giant gorilla has prevented Oklahoma from from winning the big game the past couple of years. Oklahoma last won the National Championship in 2000, and since then the Sooners have struggled to win marquee game. They lost back-to-back championship games in 2003-04 and 2004-05, losing to LSU in 2004 and USC in 2005. And then there was the game nobody thought they would lose, but everyone saw. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl against Boise State, which became an instant classic, witnesses saw the Broncos trick play their way to a program building win over the Sooners. 

Prediction: For Oklahoma this game is much more than just a National Championship game. This is a game that they must win to prove to themselves that they are still the best. More importantly they must win, to erase the ugly memory of losing to Boise State just a few seasons ago. With that said, I am not sure the Sooners have enough on defense to stop the Tim Tebow-led Florida Gator offense. Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford will lead Oklahoma's offense and put up a ton of points, but the question is: can they stop the Gators? Even without Percy Harvin, the Gators have Superman-Tim Tebow to do it all for them on offense. For me, the difference in this game with be special teams - I know cliche, but the truth. Oklahoma has allowed four kick-off returns for touchdowns this season and Urban Meyer is a special team specialist. Florida special teams has shined this season, and when it counts the most, it will shine the brightest. Given all the extra practice time, they will get a big return or a big blocked kick, and that will be the difference in the game. Florida Gators 38 - Oklahoma Sooners 31.