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Bradford, Oklahoma take on Tebow, Florida for national title

Jan 8, 2009 - 11:30 AM (2) Florida (12-1) vs. (1) Oklahoma (12-1), 8:00 pm EST

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Oklahoma and Florida, two of college football's most successful programs in recent years, will meet for the first time - with a national championship on the line.

After dominating their respective conferences over the last two months of the regular season, Sam Bradford and the top-ranked Sooners will square off with Tim Tebow and the second-ranked Gators in Thursday night's BCS championship game at Miami's Dolphin Stadium.

Oklahoma (12-1) climbed to No. 1 in the rankings following a 62-21 thrashing of Missouri in the Big 12 Conference championship game. It was the third consecutive Big 12 title for the Sooners, who set an NCAA record by scoring at least 60 points in five consecutive games.

Florida (12-1) vaulted to second by virtue of a 31-20 victory over then-No. 1 Alabama in the SEC title game.

The Gators, who rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit against the previously undefeated Crimson Tide, will play in the BCS championship game for the second time in three years.

"We have not faced a team quite like Oklahoma this year," Florida head coach Urban Meyer said. "We have great respect for Oklahoma, but the Gators are pretty good, too."

To say that the Sooners and the Gators have been "pretty good" over the last two decades would be a drastic understatement.

Oklahoma has won a national championship and six conference titles since Bob Stoops, a former Florida assistant, arrived in Norman 10 years ago. The Gators also have been a national powerhouse, winning two national titles and eight SEC crowns since 1991.

But these two programs have never played each other - a coincidental occurrence that will end Thursday night.

In typical fashion, the BCS title matchup did not come without a bit of controversy.

Oklahoma earned a berth in the Big 12 title game by virtue of its superior rankings in the penultimate BCS standings, which allowed the Sooners to win a three-way tiebreaker with Texas and Texas Tech for the conference's South Division crown.

BCS bashers bemoaned the Sooners' No. 2 ranking, pointing to Oklahoma's 45-35 loss against Texas on a neutral field earlier this season.

But Stoops believes that the hottest team in the country right now is Oklahoma, which broke a Football Bowl Subdivision record by piling up 702 overall points this season.

"We beat five ranked teams and three ranked teams as the last three games of the year," Stoops said. "That decided (the BCS rankings)."

Stoops also has downplayed the importance of Oklahoma's loss to Texas, arguing that head-to-head records became insignificant when the Longhorns were upset by Texas Tech on November 1.

"Some people in the media want you to believe that head-to-head is all that matters," Stoops said. "But in the end, head-to-head didn't matter because Texas lost to Texas Tech."

Since their loss to the Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry game, the Sooners been dominant thanks to the outstanding play of Bradford, who passed for a school-record 4,635 yards and 48 touchdowns en route to winning the Heisman Trophy.

Despite playing with torn thumb ligaments in his non-throwing hand, Bradford passed for 384 yards and two TDs against Missouri, punctuating a phenomenal season that ended with the redshirt sophomore winning the Heisman.

The Gators also have been led by an outstanding quarterback in Tebow, last year's Heisman winner. The junior threw three scoring passes in the SEC title game to cap a season in which he passed for 28 TDs against only two interceptions.

Although he delivered his second consecutive stellar season, Tebow clearly has not impressed Oklahoma defensive back Dominique Franks, who made headlines earlier this week when he claimed that the southpaw would only be the fourth-best quarterback in the Big 12.

Franks emphasized the quality of Big 12 quarterbacks during media interviews Sunday, ranking Tebow behind Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

"I'd say (Tebow) would probably be about the fourth-best quarterback in our conference," Franks said. "I really think with those three guys, it's a lot harder to prepare for those guys."

Tebow laughed at the comments, refusing to give the Sooners bulletin-board material.

"That might have been a compliment," Tebow said. "I'm thankful for being fourth. There's a lot of good quarterbacks in the Big 12."

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables did not agree with the assessment made by Franks, a sophomore.

"I don't know, maybe it's just a young guy who doesn't know any better," Venables said. "He doesn't watch enough tape. I really mean that. But I think he's going to bat for a lot of guys who he has a lot of respect for."

Franks, Venables and the Sooners have been forced to answer questions regarding an Oklahoma defense that ranked 63rd overall nationally and 98th against the pass.

Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes fired back at the Sooners, saying that Oklahoma's defense is a "joke."

"That's what it is," Spikes said during Monday's media day. "When I watch SportsCenter, I look at the scores and it's 56-49, just basketball scores.

"Ole Miss ran up and down the field on a Big 12 defense (Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl). It's just crazy. That's just my perception of the Big 12 defenses."

Florida's defense, on the other hand, allowed just 12.8 points per game - the best mark in the rugged SEC.

The Gators also will not have to worry about Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray, who suffered a torn hamstring on the first play of the Big 12 title game and will not play Thursday.

Florida also was without its top speedster, Percy Harvin, in its conference championship game. But Harvin, who is nursing an injured ankle, expects to play Thursday.