Two teams who have enjoyed Cinderella runs in 2008 will look to do the same in 2009.

With the 2009 NCAA college football season just around the corner, everybody will be gunning for the Florida Gators looking to stop their quest to give the graduating Tim Tebow another title in his final year.

Two of those teams are the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Iowa Hawkeyes. These two teams had amazing runs nobody saw coming back in 2008. While they won’t be catching anybody off guard this season, both of these teams have more than enough reason to really put the rest of the field on notice.

Take the Pittsburgh Panthers for example. 2008 was very successful for the Panthers and head coach Dave Wannstedt, winning nine games in dominant fashion. But still, they lost to Oregon State in their bowl appearance, ending their campaign in disappointing fashion. That bowl game was pretty unusual by the way. The final score was 3-0. Pittsburgh hadn’t been shut out all year, and it’s lowest scoring total prior to that was 17. Go figure.

The keys for the Panthers to have more success in ‘09 and compete for the Big East championship? Their offense has to get going, and stay going all year long.

Now that their go to guy, LeSean McCoy is gone to the…

Read More » Can these guys repeat the success they had in 2008 in the coming 2009 NCAA College Football Season?

Well, at least their quarterback is coming back.

The 2009 NCAA college football season is just around the corner and it promises to be exciting as ever. And as far as the Florida State Seminoles are concerned, they’re hoping this year could be the year they finally win the big one.

And as stated, one thing that could make this a special year for the Florida State Seminoles is the fact that they have a returning quarterback. Christian Ponder was certainly not a great signal caller last year. He threw 13 interceptions and 14 touchdowns and only completed 55.7 percent of his passes. Those are not good numbers, but at least the Seminoles now have an experienced quarterback who they should be able to rely on during the 2009 campaign.

The extremely young offensive line is now a year older and that experience should be a huge plus to Ponder and running back Jermaine Thomas. Thomas rushed for 482 yards a year ago backing up the now departed Antone Smith. Thomas is a big play rusher and averaged seven yards per carry in a reserve role last year. If he can keep that up, the FSU offense could be surprisingly effective.

The big question now is how long will it take for the defense to turn into the same unit that ranked 15th in the nation in total defense last year?

Linebacker Dekoda Watson will be a star and…

Read More » Will the 2009 NCAA College Football Season be a special one for the Florida State Seminoles?

No team in football has gone through a season undefeated the last few years, both in the professional arena and on the college gridiron.

Other than, of course, the Utah Utes. These guys have accomplished what the New England Patriots last season, the Tennessee Titans this season, the Oklahoma Sooners every season and even the newly crowned 2009 BCS national champions Florida Gators failed and that’s run through everybody without remorse.

Yes, the Utah Utes simply wiped out the competition this season, finishing with an incredible 13-0 record to put them at the very top of college football, stat-wise. Of course, it was questionable why Utah didn’t get the invite for the BCS national title game but as far as true football fans are concerned, they are the champs. Period.

You read it, the Utah Utes ARE the true champions. And not even the Oklahoma Sooners or the Florida Gators can argue the fact that the Utes had a far better run than they have other than of course, the fact that Florida was awarded with the national title.

The Utes defeated FOUR ranked teams before beating the Alabama Crimson Tide for the Sugar Bowl, the same Alabama team that went through the regular season undefeated before running into Utah.

Oh yeah, this was also the same Alabama team that the Gators had to beat to…

Read More » Is Florida really the BCS champions? Ask Utah.

After winning the Gators what they wanted a few weeks ago, he spoke the very words the rest of Florida wanted to hear.

‘’Oh, by the way, let’s do it again. I’m coming back.'’ Those were the words Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow let out at the school’s national championship celebration.

After some speculations that claim he’ll be declaring himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft, he thrilled more than 40,000 Gator fans in attendance during the celebration of their BCS title win by announcing his plans to return for his Senior year.

‘’Overall, I just felt loyal to this place,'’ Tim Tebow said. ‘’I feel like I’m a role model, and a lot of times people start things and don’t finish them. I didn’t want to be like that. I wanted to be loyal to the university. I wanted to finish what I started and play another year.'’

Oh yeah, that’s not the only thing he’ll be aiming for next season. Tebow also hopes he’ll be able to lead the Florida Gators to their first undefeated season, INCLUDING a fourth BCS national championship. How’s that to brighten things up a bit in Florida eh?

Tim Tebow threw 32 touchdowns in 2007 and scoring 23 more through the ground t become the first sophomore to…

Read More » Tim Tebow to stay with Florida Gators for Senior Year

The Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners, which team will be your pick?

Yes, the biggest game in college football is on as the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners play in the 2009 BCS national championship game on January 8 in Miami, Florida.

There were seven other teams with one loss at the top of the rankings, just like the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators, both at 12-1. Two more finished the season a perfect 12-0, that’s the Boise State Broncos and the Utah Utes. But since nobody dominated the last two months of the season like Oklahoma and Florida did, they got the go to play in the national title game despite having a loss each.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators, after dominating the rest of the field during the last few weeks, were ranked No.1 and No.2 respectively in the somewhat controversial BCS standings to end the regular season. And although some people may argue if Florida and Oklahoma were the right choices to play for the national title, both teams are still two of the best programs on the college gridiron and we’re still in for a treat in Miami.

Besides, the two quarterbacks playing for the two competing teams on January 8 were the top two candidates for the 2008 Heisman trophy. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford won it while Tim Tebow of Florida had to settle for runner-up honors…

Read More » The 2009 BCS National Championship Game is ON!

The biggest college football game of the year is this Thursday and SportsBetting.com is on top of it.

Since everything in college football all boils down to the 2009 BCS national championship game this Thursday, it was only fitting for our friends from SportsBetting.com (you know, those guys badgering us to bombard you with links every now and then…) to have quite some interesting propositions for you to bet on before the big game.

Dolphin Stadium in Miami will be the place for the BCS title game where two high-octane teams will collide as the Florida Gators take on the Oklahoma Sooners. It’s going to be a good one since the Sooners have already ran their mouths before facing their rivals from Florida, claiming that Gators quarterback Tim Tebow is probably the fourth best QB… in the Big 12. He he…

The two teams earned their spots in the title game by dominating college football over the final two months. The second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners (12-1) scored at least 58 points in each of its last six games, winning by an average of 33.3 points. The Sooners, winners of seven in a row overall, pounded then-unbeaten Texas Tech 65-21 on Nov. 22, and followed that with blowouts of then-No.11 Oklahoma State and then-No.19 Missouri in the Big 12 title game.

The top-ranked Florida Gators (12-1), meanwhile, won their final nine games and knocked off then-No.1 Alabama in the SEC championship game to earn a…

Read More » SportsBetting.com has some interesting betting props for the Florida Gators - Oklahoma Sooners face-off

And it’s on January 6, at the Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.

The 2009 GMAC Bowl will mark the second straight year the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will play in this BCS bowl game. Last season, Tulsa handily beat Bowling Green, 63-7, to win that year’s GMAC Bowl.

It was the largest margin of victory in BCS bowl history, as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane erased the record set by the Alabama Crimson Tide back in 1953 when they dominated Syracuse, 61-6, to win the Orange Bowl.

Tulsa is going back to the GMAC Bowl and will face a team that won its first 12 games this season, the Ball State Cardinals. Although Ball State ended the regular season with a disappointing 42-24 loss to Buffalo, the Cardinals still got the invite for the GMAC bowl.

The question now is, are they mentally prepared for the Golden Hurricanes, a team going for their second straight GMAC bowl win.

Ball State started this season 12-0 before losing 42-24 against Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference championship game. Ball State was ranked No.12 in the Associated Press top 25 poll. But after losing to the Bulls, the Cardinals dropped to No.23 in the rankings.Ironically, Tulsa also…

Read More » Ball State plays Tulsa in the 2009 GMAC Bowl

Because the Sooners probably figured pissing off the Gators, more specifically, Tim Tebow, will give them a better shot of beating Florida.

After all, the Sooners need all the help they can get coming to the 2009 BCS national championship game. This is the biggest college football game of the season and the Sooners certainly don’t want to end up losing out on the opportunity to bag the big one.

However, the Oklahoma Sooners calling Florida quarterback Tim Tebow the ‘’fourth-best quarterback in the Big 12′’ was a HUGE mistake. I mean, Tebow has strong legs to go with his rocket of an arm, meaning, he can beat you as bad on the ground game as well as in the air, like he usually does, and pissing him off was a bad judgment call on Oklahoma’s part.

So who made that mistake for the Oklahoma Sooners? Dominique Franks. Franks started stirring things up for the BCS title game over the weekend when he had the audacity to call Tebow a distant no.4 among quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Dominique Franks said Tebow ranks behind their Oklahoma Sooners quarterback AND 2008 Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford, (figures…) Texas Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy and Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Graham Harrell.

‘’I think our quarterbacks are better,'’ Dominique Franks said. ‘’Just the way they conduct themselves and how they play on the field. I just think, playing against those guys, it’s a lot harder to…'’

Read More » The Oklahoma Sooners run their mouths coming into the 2009 BCS National Title Game against the Florida Gators

Too bad the Longhorns didn’t make it to the big dance eh?

Still, earning the invite to the Fiesta Bowl makes the Longhorns’ run in the 2008 NCAA college football season a successful one. And although they’re probably still reeling over the lost opportunity to play in the national championship game, winning the Fiesta Bowl will definitely fix that.

Yes, the two teams that will play in the 2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl are finally determined. The No.3 Texas Longhorns will play the No.10 Ohio State Buckeyes and since the Buckeyes did play for the national title last year, the Longhorns are in for a tough battle.

The Texas Longhorns had the best shot to earn the spot for the national title game among teams like the USC Trojans, the Penn State Nittany Lions and even the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Unfortunately for them, they finished in a three-way tie in the nation’s toughest division, the Big 12 South, with the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Tech Red Raiders, denying themselves of a national title game bid because of the tiebreaker. The Sooners advanced to the title game while the Longhorns could only settle for a Fiesta Bow invite.

Still, the Ohio State Buckeyes are no pushovers and if…

Read More » Texas and Ohio State to play in the Fiesta Bowl

In what would be the only BCS bowl game outside the United States, let’s hope these guys will be putting up a show.

The Buffalo Bulls and the Connecticut Huskies will be playing against each other in the 2009 International Bowl at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Two bowl newbies located not too far from Canada’s border, yes, Canadian college football fans (if they have some…) should like this one.

The Connecticut Huskies have achieved their first back-to-back bowl seasons since moving up to Division I-A in 2002. However, finishing the regular season with a 34-10 loss to then-No.23 Pittsburgh, dropping their record to 7-5 and 3-4 in the Big East, should be reason enough to be worried, especially if you are scheduled to play a very tough Buffalo Bulls unit.

The 2009 International Bowl will be UConn’s second consecutive bowl. The Huskies played in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last season, losing to Wake Forest, making this BCS bowl game an opportunity to redeem themselves.

The Connecticut Huskies have made three BCS bowl trips in the past five seasons, including the 2004 Motor City Bowl, so bouncing back up in Toronto shouldn’t be a problem.

‘’We are very excited to be playing in the International Bowl in the beautiful city of Toronto,'’ UConn head coach Randy Edsall said…

Read More » Buffalo V Connecticut in 2009 International Bowl