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…

Will Tim Tebow be drafted within the first five picks of the first round?

Arguably the biggest story line heading into the 2010 NFL Draft involves a quarterback who won’t even be the first, second or possibly third player taken at his own position.

Of course we refer to former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida, as his status remains very unpredictable with the draft set to begin Thursday night in New York. And Tebow’s draft position is one of many draft props available on Bodog’s NFL odds.

Tebow is one of the most decorated college football players ever and there is no more marketable player in this year’s draft, but you won’t find a consensus on whether he can play quarterback in the NFL.

The lefty already has changed his throwing mechanics in an effort to fix one major flaw that NFL scouts have harped on. Tebow’s bruising running style simply won’t work in the NFL, and he rarely took a snap under center with the Florida Gators. So who will take a chance on him and when?

Bodog lists Tebow going between picks 30 and 50 as the -200 betting favorite. The Jacksonville Jaguars have long been rumored as a destination, as Jacksonville is Tebow’s hometown and the franchise has had trouble selling tickets. Tebow would help fix that.

Meanwhile, there is little doubt how the top three picks will play out beginning Thursday night as the draft moves to primetime TV and over three days for the first time. Former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is expected to go No.1 overall, but will it be to St. Louis or possibly Cleveland?

Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy should…

And by ”they” we mean those NFL folks watching Colt McCoy take himself out of the BCS championship game with a broken shoulder.

Suffering an injury in a championship game is a frightening experience for any athlete but things like that do happen and in this year’s BCS national championship game, we saw exactly that as Texas Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy suffered a shoulder injury during his final game for the ‘Horns against eventual BCS champs, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In case you missed it, it was just four minutes into the game when the unfortunate injury happened. Texas Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy ran the ball on a keeper, only to get stuffed.

Before the play was over, Marcell Dareus of Alabama had slammed into McCoy’s shoulder, causing a pinched nerve and knocking McCoy out of the game, the final one of McCoy’s college career.

Many experts see McCoy as a first round pick in the upcoming 2010 NFL Draft but with this injury, McCoy’s stock might go down a bit. McCoy would have to convince the rest of the NFL that his arm would be strong and healthy enough to throw the types of passes that work best at the pro level, both in terms of bullet passes over the middle or deep balls.

Perhaps the worst part about McCoy’s injury, assuming that he recovers fully, is the fact that it denied him a chance to play the bulk of the minutes in college football’s showcase game, a game in which many NFL types were likely watching.

A good performance on the big stage could have boosted…

You read it, we’ll see more of Tim Tebow soon.

In case you didn’t know, Tim Tebow will be in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida even before he officially gets drafted to the NFL.

Confused? Don’t be. It’s just about this little 30-second TV spot for Tim Tebow during the CBS broadcast of the Super Bowl. And since Florida will host the Super Bowl this year, you shouldn’t be surprised to see only one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever come from Florida in the state’s take on the NFL’s annual extravaganza.

The 30-second TV ad will feature the former Florida Gators quarterback and his mother Pam. Tebow and his mother will share one of their many personal family – affirming stories, one of which could be her decision to carry him to term despite a life-threatening pregnancy in the Philippines where she and her husband Bob were serving as Christian missionaries.

You read it, doctors advised Pam to have an abortion or risk a life-threatening pregnancy. Pam chose the latter and nine months later, she gave birth to Tim Tebow who later became a Heisman Trophy winner, a BCS national champion and one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play college football.

The TV ad is produced by the Colorado Springs – based ministry, Focus on the Family.

Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said Tebow agreed to appear in the ad because the issue of life is one he and his family feel so strongly about. Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, is known for being home – schooled…

We do too.

And that’s despite the fact that Alabama is coming to the 2010 BCS national championship game without any experience whatsoever playing in a game this big with the freaking national title at stake.

Yep, the Alabama Crimson Tide is coming to their first ever BCS national championship game facing the Texas Longhorns who have already won it five years ago on the same field that they’ll be in this Thursday night. We still like the Tide though, here’s why.

Third year head coach Nick Saban has engineered a quick turnaround in Tuscaloosa as he led the Alabama Crimson Tide to two undefeated seasons in the last two years. This season, the Crimson Tide dominated the defending national champions Florida Gators to win the SEC title, earning a bid for the Crystal Trophy for the first time.

Alabama enjoyed a significantly improved season on offense. Behind the rushing of Mark Ingram and the steady play of quarterback Greg McElroy, the Tide scored an average of 31.7 points per game, finishing 27th nationally.

Their running game was dominant, finishing 8th in the country and earning starting tailback Mark Ingram an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Their passing offense was efficient but it only finished 67th nationally, showing their commitment to running the football. With the way Ingram has been running with the football, nobody is complaining.

As good as their offense already is, the Crimson Tide’s…

As expected, Alabama and Texas will play for the BCS national title.

So much for Tim Tebow’s last hurrah this 2009 NCAA college football season eh? In case you missed it, Tebow’s Gators lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide last weekend, 32-13, while the Texas Longhorns BARELY edged the Cornhuskers, 13-12, as the Tide and the Longhorns earned the invite to play for the BCS title.

It was a fitting end to what has been another awesome season. And after 14 weeks of college football, it’s going to be the Alabama Crimson Tide playing the Texas Longhorns on January 7 for the 2010 BCS national championship in a game between two Heisman trophy hopefuls, Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy.

Of course, like every other year the BCS selects its two championship teams, we have quite a few snubs again with each of ‘em worthy of playing for the title game as well.

This year, we have the No.3 TCU Horned Frogs, the No.4 Cincinnati Bearcats and the No.6 Boise State Broncos (again…) who have all finished the season undefeated just like Alabama and Texas. And the debate about college football’s way of choosing the two best teams to play for the title once again rears its ugly head and just like every other year, those folks from the BCS are standing by their decision.

”It’s a fair question,” said BCS executive director Bill Hancock…

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Arguably the biggest game of the weekend, the top two teams of the nation, both still yet to taste defeat this 2009 NCAA college football season, collide as No.1 Florida Gators take on No.2 Alabama Crimson Tide for the SEC title.

That’s right, the SEC championship game will pit two undefeated teams against each other in order to decide who wins the conference this season. The 2009 SEC championship game will also most likely decide who will play for the national title come January.

This title game between the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide is dubbed as the most anticipated matchup in college football since Florida and Oklahoma played in the BCS title game last year. It’s the game people started talking about in the preseason and have been pointing to ever since and now it’s finally here.

The Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide are in a battle between two high-profile coaches; Florida’s Urban Meyer and Alabama’s Nick Saban. This contest will also be about two Heisman trophy hopefuls Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram, not to mention a war between two of the nation’s best defenses with a spot in the national championship game on the line. The winner advances to…

Bradford’s back. That’s everything you need to know this week.

Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and the rest of the Oklahoma Sooners are ready to face the Texas Longhorns this Saturday as the 2009 NCAA college football season continues with Week 7.

Sam Bradford had 49 throws in a 33-7 for the Oklahoma Sooners over Baylor. Bradford threw for 389 yards and a touchdown after missing the last month with a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder. It was the 14th 300-yard passing game of his career, matching the school record set by 2000 Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel.

If there’s still any questions on Bradford’s health, he sure answered those in emphatic fashion.

”I think that’s something that we were all curious around here is how I would react to 3 1/2-4 hours in my pads, on and off, not throwing the whole time, kind of sitting on the bench, coming back and making some throws,” Sam Bradford said. ”I felt like my arm responded great, and I felt good out there.”

”To have been off as much as he has and go out there in his first go at it to play as well as he did, I thought he played great,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. ”He stays away from the poor, the negative plays or the bad plays and he had a great night.”

The undefeated Texas Longhorns, on the other hand, look to…

And mind you, it’s not how one would expect.

Prior to the start of the 2009 NCAA college football season, the world was the Florida Gators’ oyster.

Coming off a BCS championship the season before, the preseason NCAA football odds unanimously declared Florida the No.1 team in the nation and the Gators were favored to repeat the feat this year, as online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.COM had them as the odds-on favorite with odds set at +200 in late summer.

Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow was the golden boy of college football heading into the 2009 campaign. Already boasting a Heisman Trophy, won in 2007, he was the big favorite heading in, listed at +200 to add another award to his trophy case.

The Florida Gators have also looked potent this season, jumping out to a 4-0 start (4-0 SU and 2-1 ATS on lined games) and is still the consensus No.1 team in college football, but things are looking murky in the swamp, so to speak, lately.

Florida managed to cover the big line in a 41-7 victory over Kentucky two weekends ago, but Tebow suffered a concussion during the third quarter when he took a shot to the head. He left the field on a cart, was taken to hospital and was released the following day.

The Gators didn’t have a game last week, which means Tebow had more time to recuperate, and it’s a good thing too as their next game is against conference rival and the current consensus No.4 LSU Tigers.

SPORTSBETTING.COM has kept a close eye on the…

Let’s just put it this way, how important is Superman to Metropolis?

You can just imagine how worried the Florida Gators have been after watching their prized quarterback get carried off the field. And since we are only in the first few weeks of the still young 2009 NCAA college football season, what happens from here will dictate if they can still compete for the national title come January.

In case you didn’t know, Tim Tebow was taken out of their game against the Kentucky Wildcats after he was sacked hard by defensive end Taylor Wyndham. Tebow’s head hit his teammate Marcus Gilbert on the leg, bending his neck violently.

Of course, since the Florida Gators are looking to defend their national championship, this is a huge blow to their campaign this season. Tebow is the focal point of the Gators offense. He is a quarterback who can run with the football as good as he can throw it. He is arguably the best college football player to ever play for Florida and with him out, the SEC becomes a free for all for teams like the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide who are both looking to take advantage of a Tebow – less conference.

Tebow began his college career as a role player, getting on the field in goal-line and short-yardage situations. But it didn’t take a while for him to become team captain, a Heisman Trophy winner and a two-time national champion.

He set records, made history and picked up enough…