Hey Florida Gators Fans, It's Time to Stop Whining

Stop Whining Gator Fans

The Florida Gators are ranked #1 in the BCS standings. They have won 17 straight games which is a school record. They are the defending BCS National Champions. But if you lived in Florida, or spent any time on the Gator message boards, you'd never know it. You'd think UF was 4-3 going into this week's monumental tilt in Jacksonville against Georgia. You'd think the Gators were 16 point underdogs. But it's UGA that can say those things, not Florida.

Florida and it's fans need to step away from the edge of the cliff. It's ok. Really, it is. Florida's problems this year have been in my opinion, that they are trying to play the SEC and BCS Championship Games every week. I hear it from the fans after every not-as-big-as-expected win. "We will never beat 'Bama playing like this" or "we gotta get a lot better before we play 'Bama." While I don't deny that this is probably true, let me clue you in on something. You don't play 'Bama this week. You play Georgia. Next week you play Vanderbilt. And the week after that is South Carolina. In fact you don't play the Tide for six more weeks. And even then you might not. There is after all a little ol' team from Baton Rouge, LA who still has something to say about it. And if you don't think LSU can beat 'Bama, ask Monte Kiffin.

Florida is a victim of it's own success. Last year the Gators romped over everyone but Ole Miss on it's way to the title. Every win was a blowout by halftime. But in the SEC and BCS title tilts things were a bit tougher. So Gator fans naturally assume that if the regular  season is already tough, then the SEC Championship Game is (gasp) probably going to be a loss. But let's take a step back to 2006. 21-14 over UGA. 25-19 over Vandy. 17-16 over South Carolina. 21-14 over FSU. Those scores sound familiar don't they? Right now it's looking very likely that the scores of those game will be pretty similar this year. How did that 2006 team end up? Oh that's right, they won it all! And they did it with defense. Sound familiar? If there is one thing I would have thought fans would have learned by now, it's never to count Urban Meyer or Tim Tebow out. Apparently some of us have short memories.