Traffic in South Florida delayed both schools team buses from arriving at the site of the BCS national title game on time as scheduled, a trivial tidbit to the season's final game you'd be excused for not knowing.
Oklahoma's record-setting offensive unit did eventually make it, but if you watched Florida's 24-14 win over the Sooners, you'd be excused for not knowing that either.
Because what took the field was trivial compared to the biblical 702-point offense that burned through the Big 12 and burned out scoreboards.
After a season in which they spent more time scoring in the 60s than Tiger Woods in his best week, Oklahoma's high-octane offense played like it had a pound of sugar in its gas tank, a herky-jerky rendering of a once prolific offense.
It was less like they were playing football and more like every member of the team had been simultaneously asked to recite the alphabet backwards. It was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100-meters only after twirling around enough to make himself dizzy.
And in the end it rendered 360 yards. Two interceptions. Fourteen measly points.
One awfully familiar feeling.
Another year, another bowl loss for Oklahoma. And it only seems to be getting worse.
Thursday night, Florida and Oklahoma will meet in Miami to play the BCS Championship Game. The winner of that game will be regarded as the national champion by their fans, by the BCS, and by the coaches who are forced to declare them as such. Nobody else has to acknowledge their legitimacy, and nobody else should.
The reasons why you, the fan, shouldn't let the BCS tell you who the national champion is are many, but they all center around the same problem. The polls, both human and computer, have far too much say in determining who gets to play for this bogus national title which usually proves to be about as legitimate as a politician's apology. Sometimes the polls get it right; more often, the poll voters whiff it.
This year the pollers sent the Gators and Sooners to the title game. A few weeks back that seemed like a reasonable conclusion. The Gators beat Alabama, the No. 1 team in the country, in the SEC championship game. The Sooners made a little less sense, given that they'd lost to Texas, a team which seemed to have a pretty strong claim themselves. But two horrible miscalculations screwed everything up, just like always.
Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the BCS Championship (Miami, Florida) which pits Oklahoma against Florida.
Overview/Matchup: With the successful destruction of evil defeat of Nick Saban and Alabama, Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow find themselves in position for another national title. Of course, before they can pull that off, they have to take care of business against the new incumbent Heisman winner Sam Bradford and a ridiculously stout Oklahoma offense. Florida will score too though, so the only question becomes is whether or not the Gators can stop the Sooners and push a large enough lead to take a title home.
Hotels: Bowl-travelers descending on Miami will be glad to know that the best spots in town are just a mile or two from the stadium. Many of the finest hotels, restaurants and clubs are in the bay-front area. The Mandarin Oriental Miami, with a design combining Asian simplicity with Miami flare, has world-class service, even if it is located almost 14 miles from Dolphin Stadium. Renovated and rebranded in June of 2008, the Hilton Miami Downtown offers better service and newer guestrooms than most other midrange hotels in the downtown area. Be sure to check out La Brisa Bistro, the hotel's restaurant serving Cuban-accented meals with international flare. If budget is your primary concern, the Rodeway Inn Miami Airport is the spot for you. Accommodations are limited, but the property is still within an easy cab ride to Dolphin Stadium, and offers rooms for less than US$100 per night.
Have you ever gone to a bowl game as a student, alumni or just general fan of a college? It's a ton of fun, but there are some initial problems with the actual travel: for instance, knowing where to stay. Or alternately, knowing where to eat. These aren't problems at normal football games, because you've been to that city a million times.
But when it comes to a totally strange city, sometimes you need help. And that's why Professional Travel Guide (the website that I call "day job") is teaming with FanHouse to bring you the world's first and most comprehensive travel guide in the history of the internet.
It's called Turkey Legs to Go and it's freaking awesome. Why? Well, because it features multiple options for hotel stays, restaurants and nightlife -- the first is a luxury, higher-end hotel because spending money is fun. The second option is the "price-point" and it's the best combination of stadium proximity and money value. And finally, because some people don't like spending money, we've got a "frugal" option for you as well.
So, when your team's matchup is announced you know where to go to find out all the crucial information on picking out what hotel to stay in, and where to eat, drink and be merry as you watch your favorite college team revel in postseason glory.
The thing that stinks about the BCS Selection Show is that, while it's always fun to see mysterious computer rankings unveiled to the public on national television, it's not like March Madness' seeding process, because we more or less already know who's going to end up where. To wit: most of what FOX had to offer in the way of entertainment involved fast-paced graphics, a little screaming, and ultimately the exact matchups we all thought we would see.
The Sooners and Gators were named as the pair of teams that will compete for the BCS championship and nearly unalienable right to almost absolutely proclaim themselves the best team in the nation. But, all skepticism aside, it's worth noting that this will be a pretty spectacular game to watch, provided you enjoy seeing lots of offense.
Talk about disappointing -- Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide went undefeated all season long until they finally lost a game to the Florida Gators ... in the pre-postseason SEC championship game. And, as a result of all their hard work, the Tide get to play Utah, who, as a non-BCS conference team, is back in the BCS mix again. This time they're without Urban Meyer, and pardon me for being a jerkstore, but an upset Alabama team (with only one loss and somehow unable to play for the championship) is going to throttle-job them.
Florida's victory Monday night over Ohio State was a shocker to most everyone, except those living in the nine Southeastern Conference states. For those of us below the Mason-Dixon line, it was validation. In an era where Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have way too much influence, Monday night was a match-up of our brand of football versus theirs. Speed versus Size. North versus South.
And it wasn't even close. It was hard to find anyone around Auburn, Alabama that wasn't pulling for the Gators on Monday. That's saying a lot. Florida was one of Auburn's biggest rivals for more than 80 years before conference realignment wrecked their annual meetings.
But Auburn fans, like most all other SEC fans, knew this game was more than Florida versus Ohio State. This game was for respect - national respect. All season we listened to the "experts" talk about Ohio State, Michigan, USC and even Notre Dame. Little national respect was given to Auburn, Florida, Georgia or LSU. They were good teams, but those northern schools had the entire package according to the writers and sportscasters.
Within minutes of Florida's complete annihilation of Ohio State, ESPN's Lee Corso was blaming the loss on the layoff the Buckeyes had between games. Fifty days was just too much he said. Never mind that Florida had 30 days off. What's the difference in a month off and a month and a half? It was a downright stupid comment. No, make that ignorant.
The BCS got lucky. Score one for mankind. When it was all said and done on Sunday night, the national championship game was decided by the voters. What a novelty. Those pesky computer polls found a way to deadlock Michigan and Florida and defer to real live breathing humans to decide who plays for the national championship. The polls made the final choice.
The BCS is still a joke. Using polls to determine who plays for the national championship is still really dumb. But fortunately, the two most deserving teams are headed to Glendale, Arizona to play for all the marbles.
Anyone who's a proponent of a playoff couldn't possibly support Michigan's effort for a rematch. They lost to Ohio State in the last round. It's time for the next one and Florida deserves to be there. Are the Gators dominating? No. Could they have stayed on the field with Auburn's 2004 team? No chance.
Expectations. If you've been following Auburn in the papers or online during the summer you know that's something that has concerned coaches and fans alike. Tiger coach Tommy Tuberville has gone out of his way to well, poor mouth.
Tuberville has taken a unique approach to handling the expectation game. Each day he brings in the headlines and shares them with the team. Once finished he begins to review practice film and shows them why they shouldn't believe the hype. It's a method that the coaching staff hopes will keep the Tigers grounded leading up to Saturday's opener with Washington State.
Why is there near paranoia over the expectations showered on Auburn by the national media? You have to go back no further than 2003. Auburn came into the season riding sky high, a media darling and a preseason national champion pick by the Sporting News. The season vanished in two weeks after embarrassing losses to Southern Cal and Georgia Tech. The results nearly costs Tuberville his job.
Fast forward to this year and Auburn seems more comfortable. Or at least the players and coaches are all saying the right things. They realize that this week's opener with Washington State is no cake walk. Auburn has lost three of its last four openers; so don't expect them to take this game for granted.
With that said, Auburn seems to be the new hot pick to make it to Arizona in January. This weekend, ESPN.comasked its college football personalities to pick it's conference champions and also who they believe will be playing on January 8th.
Seven of the 12 analysis picked Auburn to play for the national championship. All 12 picked the Tigers to win the SEC Championship. Wow! Talk about expectations. We'll see on Saturday night how Auburn responds.
Traffic in South Florida delayed both schools team buses from arriving at the site of the BCS national title game on time as scheduled, a trivial tidbit to the season's final game you'd be excused for not knowing.
Thursday night, Florida and Oklahoma will meet in Miami to play the 
Turkey Legs to Go
The thing that stinks about the BCS Selection Show is that, while it's always fun to see mysterious computer rankings unveiled to the public on national television, it's not like March Madness' seeding process, because we more or less already know who's going to end up where. To wit: most of what FOX had to offer in the way of entertainment involved fast-paced graphics, a little screaming, and ultimately the exact matchups we all thought we would see.
Florida's victory Monday night over Ohio State was a shocker to most everyone, except those living in the nine Southeastern Conference states. For those of us below the Mason-Dixon line, it was validation. In an era where Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have way too much influence, Monday night was a match-up of our brand of football versus theirs. Speed versus Size. North versus South.
The BCS got lucky. Score one for mankind. When it was all said and done on Sunday night, the national championship game was decided by the voters. What a novelty. Those pesky computer polls found a way to deadlock Michigan and Florida and defer to real live breathing humans to decide who plays for the national championship. The polls made the final choice.
Expectations
