Tim Tebow and Gators Prepare for Fourth Straight National Championship Run

This isn't a title you will be seeing in newspapers as the kickoff of football season approaches, but such an alternate reality is not that far removed from our own.

Every Game Matters

At the conclusion of the topsy-turvy 2007 college football season, at least nine teams found themselves a single loss shy of the National Championship. No. 3 Virginia Tech and No. 4 Oklahoma were just barely edged by No. 2 LSU in the final week. No. 5 Georgia was a loss to Tennessee short of playing in the SEC Championship.

No. 7 USC and No. 11 Arizona would not have missed had they not lost two Pac-10 games. No. 6 Missouri and No. 9 West Virginia were in the top two slots before losses in the final week, and No. 8 Kansas was in the same position the week before.

Finally, No. 12 Florida was a loss to Georgia shy of playing in the SEC Championship.

So, how much does this near alternate reality diverge from ours?

No. 11 Florida over No. 18 Georgia (37-35) in Jacksonville

The Bulldogs stomped (literally) over the Gators 42-30, carried by running back Knowshon Moreno who posted a career high of 188 yards and three touchdowns. The young Florida defense not only fell to Moreno but subsequently freed up Matthew Stafford to throw three touchdowns on only eleven attempts.

On the other side of the ball, Tim Tebow was held to a career low -15 yards rushing with 6 sacks. With two and a half minutes remaining in the game, Tebow then fumbled a snap away to the Bulldogs, ending any chance of overcoming the 12 point deficit.

While no single play determined the outcome of the game, a stop of the Georgia's final scoring drive could have given the Gators the appropriate momentum to finally overtake the Bulldogs on the scoreboard.

A win here in Jacksonville, itinerant games staying the same, would have placed the Gators in a tie for the SEC East with Tennessee, who they destroyed earlier in the year 59-20. In this case the Gators would then be heading to the SEC Championship to face LSU.

No. 4 Florida over No. 7 LSU (22-19) in Atlanta

The SEC Championship game usually has National Championship implications. This year would be the special case when both teams have an outside shot. This is in contrast to the actual game in which No. 14 Tennessee lost to LSU (14-21).

While hindsight may be 20-20 and played games can be analyzed for fatal flaws, a game that never was is difficult to recreate. Because of that, we will have to look at the intangibles, and the factors that make this game different than LSU's victory over Florida (28-24) at home in October.

This earlier game was a played a week following Florida's devastating (17-20) home loss to Auburn. The SEC Championship is played a week after a loss by LSU which was just as devastating. The Tigers were the top ranked team in the nation but were conquered in the third overtime by unranked Arkansas.

The situation is altogether similar to the 2006 SEC Championship the year before when LSU dashed Arkansas's National Championship hopes with a season ending loss before the Razorbacks played the Gators. The Gators defeated Arkansas in that game 38-28.

Another interesting factor in this game is LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, commonly used as a running quarterback behind starter Matt Flynn in a role similar to Tim Tebow's the year before behind Chris Leak.

For this game, Perrilloux replaced Matt Flynn as starter because of injury. This is a favorable alteration for the Gators because of Perrilloux's inexperience over the season and the Gators' experience with a running quarterback of their own.

The score I've chosen reflects the failure of a late game two point conversion attempt by Ryan Perrilloux which LSU used to defeat Tennessee in the actual SEC Championship. The Gators' strong offense led by Tim Tebow would take the ball down for the final score, completing a two-point conversion of his own for good measure.

Following this game, No.1 Missouri would lose to No. 9 Oklahoma (38-17) and No. 2 West Virginia would lose to unranked Pittsburgh (13-9), catapulting No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida into a National Championship rematch.

No. 2 Florida over No. 1 Ohio State (38-34) in New Orleans

A year removed from completing back to back basketball National Championships with a win over Ohio State, the Gators' football team would be attempting the same thing, this time having already beat the Ohio State football team in the previous National Championship (41-14).

Controversy surrounding the teams selected to play in the National Championship would have been reduced with the Gators winning the SEC. The largest beef would probably have come from an 11-1 Big 12 team which was locked out of their conference's championship game. (sound familiar?)

Ohio State actually played, and lost, to LSU in the National Championship (38-24) and it is tempting to jump on the bandwagon that the Big Ten can't win the big ones, especially against the SEC.

In a season where no team stood head and shoulders above the rest, this game would be closer than the blow out the Gators served up the year before. While the Gators actually lost in the nearby Outback Bowl to Michigan (41-35), I'm taking a more confident Florida team as National Champions in an exciting second edition of Florida v. Ohio State.

Beyond 2007

While the affect of having won a second consecutive National Championship would obviously have far reaching psychological affects on the Florida Gators and football fans across the country, we'll assume 2008 season was played exactly as was, culminating in Florida's third National Championship in as many years with a (24-14) victory over Oklahoma.

How many teams have won three National Championships in a row? Well that is hard to determine, but such a dominance would find near equivalence to the Nebraska Cornhusker teams of the 90's and Miami Hurricane teams of the late 80's.

Just think of how the outcome of one game in Jacksonville could affect college football history. Remember during this coming season when you find your team 5-2, that every game is meaningful and contains that inherent excitement that comes from a college football game.