Buy The Gators, Sell The Nittany Lions In The BCS Championship Game

Here is what I am long (think will happen) and short (think won't happen) in the world of college football for the week of October 26, 2008.

LONG: Florida Gators over Georgia Bulldogs

Florida will beat Georgia this weekend, and it could get ugly. Florida has been as dominant as any team in the country ever since their one point loss to Ole Miss at the end of September. Tim Tebow is progressing as a passer, and the team has done a better job of spreading the ball around to their diminutive super-speedy playmakers Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps, and Chris Rainey. The Gators will be out for revenge after what happened in last year's game in Jacksonville. If you are a gambler, take Florida minus the points.

The Gators are, in my admittingly biased opinion, the best team in the country right now. If they run the schedule and win the SEC Championship, they should be playing for the national championship, even if Texas and Penn State finish the season undefeated. In that scenario, I would expect Florida to leapfrog the Nittany Lions the same way they did Michigan when they won the national championship in 2006.

It would be a shame if a one-loss Florida team doesn't get to play in the championship game after a two-loss SEC team got in last year.

SHORT: Penn State going undefeated

Call it wishful thinking if you like, but I have a strong feeling that Penn State will lose a game before the season is over. Since the Big Ten doesn't play a conference championship game, that leaves Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State as the culprits.

Michigan State is the highest ranked of the three schools, but my pick for the upset is Iowa. The Hawkeyes travel to Illinois this week, then get the Nittany Lions at home. Penn State will have an extra week to hear all about how they should be undefeated and in the national championship game in January. From a psychological standpoint, the Lions could get complacent and let their guard down against the Hawkeyes.