As we predicted last week, our return to calling a non-Big 12 Game of the Week here at BON coincided with the Longhorns' return to the Win column. So we now understand that it would be irresponsible and wrong for us to skip another week, and we pledge not to do so. After yet another wild and wacky week of upsets in college football, we have begun to wonder: is the very definition of "upset" insufficient for this season? This weekend provides the best example yet of why the question is pertinent in the 2:30 PM CDT nationally televised contest on CBS between Florida and Kentucky. Would a Florida victory technically be an "upset" because they are ranked lower than Kentucky, and the game is in Lexington? Or would a Kentucky victory be an "upset" because they are a 6.5 point underdog and they are KENTUCKY playing FLORIDA?! We don't know. We do, however, have a good idea that Pam Ward will be calling Iowa @ Purdue.
Not necessarily football-related reasons to like Florida: The Gators have already lost twice, and that tends to essentially be their regular season quota. They easily could have beaten LSU and lost to an Auburn team that now looks very dangerous in Baton Rouge this weekend themselves (incidentally, take the points and Auburn in that one. 11.5? Please.). But you also have to respect the hell out of the UF student body. They live in a state with beaches galore, major cities, and all kinds of fun and interesting places. Yet they chose to go to school in Gainesville. USF is in Tampa--a great city. UCF is in Orlando--Disney World! But these guys shunned those hot spots for Gainesville. God bless 'em.
Not necessarily football-related reasons to like Kentucky: First and foremost, they got Billy Gillespie the hell out of College Station. Now the aggies can shortly return to their rightful place as basketball bottom-feeders, and we know everyone is looking forward to that. One of us has been to the last two SEC basketball tournaments, and there is no fan like a Kentucky basketball fan. Aside from being classy (for the most part) and knowledgeable, they make the neutral site a Sea of Blue by buying up tickets from fans of teams that lose as they exit the arena. On the rare occasion that the 'Cats are not in the title game, the place is maybe half-full for the conference championship. Oh, also, Andre Woodson is a good quarterback and people seem to have noticed, for once, that the university has a football team.
Why Texas fans should care: Florida is a whole lot like us. They strive to be a national contender in all 3 major men's sports and usually succeed in that endeavor. The difference, of course, is that lately they have been succeeding even more than we have. There are two ways to look at this situation. The negative view is that we don't want Florida maintaining supremacy over all of College Sportsdom because we feel that is our rightful place. Three losses before October has ended would pretty much put an end to Florida's reign, at least for now, and that opens up the throne for the Longhorns to claim it in the next couple of years. OR, you can approach it with the attitude that Florida's ability to win 3 straight national championships between basketball and football shows that it's possible, and the longer the dream continues the more we can hope for in the future with regards to Texas' success. Not that a 2-loss Gator bunch is going to win the BCS again this year, but winning the SEC keeps a streak of extreme success alive. Finally, after this next week we get the feeling the discussion is going to begin turning inevitably toward Texas and a BCS at-large spot. Florida may be one of the two-loss teams standing in Texas' way.
Battle of the YouTubes:
One of us grew up an LSU fan, so this UK clip makes us feel slightly better:
We feel for this Florida fan; it's a good thing there were no cameras with us while we watched the OU game, or else we might be on YouTube also. This one is probably not safe for work unless you mute it...: