Thursday, January 8, 2009

Bowl Prediction: National Championship

Prediction record so far: 5-5

Florida vs. Oklahoma

My experience with college football streaks is that those streaks tend to disappear in bowl games. Oklahoma has scored 60+ points in six straight games to end the season. That won't happen again. While I don't think Florida will shut down Oklahoma completely, I've been impressed by SEC defenses so far this bowl season, particularly Ole Miss' defense. Ole Miss largely shut down another Big 12 offensive juggernaut in Texas Tech.

Even without running back Demarco Murray, Oklahoma has plenty of offensive weapons. Chris Brown ran for over 1,100 yards. Quarterback Sam Bradford passed for 48 TD's and only 6 INT's. Six Oklahoma receivers had over 395 yards.

But Florida has plenty of weapons itself. Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Louis Murphy. Oh yeah, and Tim Tebow. Oklahoma has a record-setting offense, but the difference will be Florida's defense. The Gators have more speed than anyone Oklahoma has played so far this year, and this will be defensive coordinator Charlie Strong's stepping stone up to a college head coaching position.

Prediction: Florida 38, Oklahoma 31

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