Football has long been America’s most popular sport.

While baseball is the American pastime and holds a special place in the hearts of sports fans, it has yet to surpass football in terms of either broad appeal or revenues especially now with the 2010 NCAA college football season just around the corner.

Nor is the National Football League the only beneficiary of football’s enduring popularity. Indeed, in parts of the country with unsuccessful NFL teams (or no NFL teams), college football is just as popular – and just as lucrative. Likewise, an accomplished head coach at a prestigious college program can easily command several million dollars per year in salary, and the football teams themselves figure prominently in the entire cost structure of their universities.

So what are these teams you ask?

Let’s start with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Valued at $108 million and boasting profits of $38 million – the Fighting Irish have long been one of the most widely followed teams in NCAA football. Seven Heisman Trophy winners have played for Notre Dame, as well as 95 consensus All-Americans.

Furthermore, Notre Dame Stadium (where the team plays its home games) seats more people than some NFL stadiums do – 80,795 at last count. The team has also won eight national championships, and owes much of its current value to consistently being a contender year in and year out.

Another highly valued NCAA football team with a rich history is…

Yeah, it’s still Florida.

As expected, the Florida Gators remain atop the BCS standings after Week 12 of the 2009 NCAA college football season.

The Florida Gators, which had to fight for a 10-point win at South Carolina, remain first with a BCS average of .9833, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide at .9521 and the Texas Longhorns at .9261.

The nation’s three remaining unbeaten schools; TCU Horned Frogs, Cincinnati Bearcats and Boise State Broncos, are holding steady at fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

TCU, at no.4, is the highest ranked team that does not secure a BCS berth automatically by virtue of winning its league. This is the highest BCS ranking ever for any team without an automatic bid to any of the big money college bowl games.

There was no change in the top eight teams from Week 11 to Week 12.

Rounding out the BCS top 10 is Georgia Tech at No.7, followed by Louisiana State, Pittsburgh and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The top eight teams ranked in the 2009 BCS rankings in Week 11 did exactly what they needed to do to hold onto their positions as the week played out. Florida went on the road to Columbia S.C. and took care of business by defeating South Carolina.

The Alabama Crimson Tide ventured into hostile territory and manhandled Mississippi State while Texas stepped out of…

After 11 weeks of football, majority of the teams looking for a national title come January are still undefeated.

How about that huh? And as Week 12 of the 2009 NCAA college football season continues, these teams are hoping to stay undefeated. They know playing for a national title is as tough as nails and getting the invite to play for a national title is a tad tougher.

One team looking to remain undefeated is the Alabama Crimson Tide. They have the Chattanooga Mocs this Saturday. Can they remain undefeated? Head coach Nick Saban certainly hopes so.

Nick Saban seeks the best effort yet from the second ranked Crimson Tide on Saturday when they host the Chattanooga Mocs in their final non-conference matchup before bowl season. Alabama’s offense relies on their relentless ground game, which averages 216.9 yards, led by sophomore running back Mark Ingram, who already has numbers like 1,297 yards, 10 touchdowns and 6.7 yards per carry. Last week, though, junior quarterback Greg McElroy was also a big factor, throwing for TDs of 48 and 45 yards.

The Tide have put 127 points on the board in three wins outside…

Guys from SPORTSBETTING.com know it, that’s why they’re hyping this thing up as much as they can already.

The 2009 NCAA college football season hits Week 12 and already, attention is focused on the SEC championship game to be played a couple of weeks from now. It will, barring a complete disaster, be a matchup between the no.1 Florida Gators and no.2 Alabama Crimson Tide. Online sportsbooks currently have the Gators as the odds-on favorite to win the SEC at 5/9, with Alabama sporting odds of 7/5.

The BCS’ top 5 teams remain unchanged from the previous week with the Florida Gators still on top, the Alabama Crimson Tide second and then followed by the Texas Longhorns, the TCU Horned Frogs and the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Florida hasn’t deviated from top spot since the BCS rankings first came out a little over a month ago and with two more easy games before the conference championship, there is no reason why the Gators shouldn’t remain at the top of the 2009 BCS rankings heading into the big game.

This week, Florida has a tilt against the Florida International Golden Panthers. This should be a blowout. It is one of the biggest pointspread margins of the season, with sportsbooks listing the Gators as 43-point favorites.

Florida is currently riding an 11-game straight up winning streak. They have recorded a mark of 9-5-1 ATS the last 15 times they’ve been listed as a favorite of 8 points or more, but they’re only 2-5-1 ATS in the last eight in that spread range. Although 43 points is a wild spread to ask a team to cover.

Sports bettors are still enamored with the no.1…

It’s Week 11 and we have Florida trying to extend a nation-best 18-game winning streak.

Yep, it has been that crazy for the Florida Gators this 2009 NCAA college football season. Can they remain on top of the BCS after this weekend? They have the South Carolina Gamecocks next and I have a feeling the Gators will continue pounding on the rest of the field.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will be led by quarterback Stephen Garcia, who has thrown for 2,094 yards, including three 300-yard games. The 6-2, 219-pound sophomore has thrown 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. Garcia ranks 10th in the SEC in passing efficiency and yet he squandered chances for signature moments, such as the final offensive snap at Georgia.

Don’t expect these guys to stop the Florida Gators from winning their 19th straight game.

We also have some other games that should prove to be profitable for ya’ll, like this one between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Hawkeyes are looking to improve their current BCS standing, a win over Ohio State will do just that.

The 4th seeded Iowa Hawkeyes will continue to rely on the services of quarterback Ricky Stanzi, despite throwing five interceptions in their last win against Indiana.

Iowa remains fourth in the BCS for the second straight week, their highest ranking in school history. The Hawkeyes are also the highest-rated Big Ten team in the BCS. Iowa is 78-43 in this decade (.644), one of the best winning percentages in school history. The Hawkeyes were 77-40-4 (.652) during the 1980s.

But will you pick them over Ohio State..?

Week 10 of the 2009 NCAA college football season is history and the Florida Gators remain as the no.1 team in the nation.

You read it, the Florida Gators stay at the top of the BCS standings after Week 10. They preserved the number one spot with a 27-3 win over Vanderbilt. The biggest mover this week however was Texas.

That’s right, the Texas Longhorns jumped one place higher to grab the second spot from the Alabama Crimson Tide, who have now dropped to third in the rankings.

If both the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators remain undefeated, they will have to play each other in the Southeastern Conference title game. The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Cincinnati Bearcats round up the top five teams after Week 10 in the BCS Standings.

Teams looking in include the TCU Horned Frogs and the Boise State Broncos, all unbeaten and hoping for the Gators, the Crimson Tide or the Longhorns to slip up.

And since Alabama faces a stiff test Saturday when the LSU Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa, it’s only a matter of time before either of these teams break through the top five.

The TCU Horned Frogs hold a slim lead over the Boise State Broncos in the race to be this season’s BCS buster. Both teams had lopsided victories over the weekend.

Other movers include the Oregon Ducks moving up two…

Boy, talk about a huge game eh?

Week 10 of the 2009 NCAA college football season continues with a huge game between the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Alabama Crimson Tide, led by head coach Nick Saban, is yet to drop a single game this year. They are looking to play for the national title this season and anything less than that will be deemed a failure.

Is this the year that the Crimson Tide makes it? They will be tested by the LSU Tigers who may have found their running game back after blitzing Tulane 42-0 in their previous game.

The Tigers, who have been inconsistent throughout the year, ran for a season-high 267 yards, averaging 6.5 yards a carry against the Green Wave. Running back Charles Scott led the way with 18 carries for 112 yards, his first game over the 100-yard mark this season.

QB Jordan Jefferson was 11-of-17 passing for 163 yards and two touchdowns against Tulane, giving him 10 touchdown passes for the season. He was intercepted once and sacked twice. Trindon Holliday had 105 yards on three punt returns, including a pair of 50-yard runbacks. The senior sprinter now has 475 punt return yards in his career, no.10 on LSU’s all-time list.

For the Alabama Crimson Tide, they know that this…

Well, they have to win this weekend first.

Yes, the BCS rankings after Week 8 of the 2009 NCAA college football season was released and Boise State is right there with the Gators and the Crimson Tides of the world.

This could be the year that the Boise State Broncos get the invite to play for the national championship. With their solid play, the Broncos have finally reached the level of respectability only reserved for the likes of Florida and USC. The question now is, can they keep it?

The Boise State Broncos, ranked No.4 in the nation, will look to stay undefeated and keep the respect they have right now as far as ranking them this concerned. They take on the San Jose State Spartans this Saturday.

Boise State, despite being listed fourth in the current BCS rankings, still has a lot to work on as seen in their past two games against UC Davis and Tulsa. Boise State’s struggles? Five of the Broncos’ eight turnovers have come on unforced fumbles, thirteen times the offense has reached the red zone but has not found the end zone, six of those trips the Broncos haven’t scored at all.

On defense, they are as bad as five of the 12 touchdowns they have allowed this season have covered at least 50 yards and since the Broncos haven’t forced a turnover in two straight games, this could be the perfect opportunity for the San Jose State Spartans to steal a win.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, they are also struggling…

Will we see some movers in the BCS rankings this week?

You know it, Week 9 of the 2009 NCAA college football season continues with more than a few huge games that could have an impact on the BCS standings after the weekend.

First, we have this game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the team on top of the BCS food chain, the Florida Gators. The annual showdown in Jacksonville will give the Bulldogs a chance to prove that they still belong in the mix with the top teams in the nation as they play the Gators.

The Georgia Bulldogs, who lost at home to LSU and Tennessee, gained some rhythm with a huge 34-10 win at Vanderbilt as they look to close the month with an upset over the defending BCS champions.

For Florida, all eyes will be on Tim Tebow and his sore shoulder. If he is able to play all out with no effects from the bruised non-throwing shoulder he suffered at Kentucky, Florida should put up a lot of points. The Gators are averaging more than 40 points per game, and Tebow accounts for…

Seriously, do you really have to know?

We’re asking you that because the way the Florida Gators have been tearing it up this 2009 NCAA college football season, it’s clear who’ll be staying on top of the food chain until the BCS bowl games of January get here.

Yes, the BCS rankings after Week 8 are out and as expected the Florida Gators are still kings. Tim Tebow and the rest of the Gators are 7-0 and first in the SEC. Florida’s latest victim was Mississippi State, winning 29-19 to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 17.

Breathing down their necks are still the Alabama Crimson Tide. These guys have not allowed a touchdown in eight quarters, ranking fourth overall in defense, allowing just 11.6 points per game. In their last game, they got a huge lift from Terrence Cody as he blocked a 44-yard field-goal attempt on the final play, his second block of the fourth quarter, as ‘Bama escaped with a 12-10 victory over rival Tennessee.

Following at third are the Texas Longhorns with a 7-0 record. The third-ranked Longhorns, with three new starters, began strong, maintained their concentration and cruised to a 41-7 victory to spoil the Tigers’ homecoming in front of a sellout crowd of 71,004 at Faurot Field.

They’ll meet No.15 Oklahoma State in Stillwater next Saturday, a game that probably will decide which team represents the south division in the league championship.

The Boise State Broncos are now ranked at No.4 overall, meaning the Broncos haven’t been…