Creature Vs. Creature: A Gator On Georgia-Florida

Everyone is picking favorites for this weekend's epic showdown between Georgia and Florida. But is this just about who gets the possible nod for an appearance in the SEC Championship? Absolutely not.

In all honesty, both Florida and Georgia suffered severe losses that damaged their chances of playing for a national championship. But they aren't the only ones.

So following the suit of people who are viewing games from different perspectives, I'm viewing it from Florida's perspective. And I hope that Oklahoma is paying attention.

From one side of the spectrum, anyone can say that Florida will finish pretty good, but they will lose out on the BCS Championship. That's not the case.

It's as simple as this: Florida beats Georgia and Florida State. Texas loses at least one game between now and the Big XII Championship. Oklahoma suffers another setback. And Alabama? Well they can do whatever they want, just as long as they lose to Florida down the road.

But Georgia is going down the same path as Florida. Georgia lost a heartbreaker to a revamped Alabama team, but got back on track by slapping the taste out of Les Miles' Gatorade-filled mouth with a 52-38 win over his LSU Tigers.

The Gators lost by a single point (via blocked PAT) to Ole Miss, then went on a rampage with a 51-21 drubbing of the so-called unbeatable LSU Tigers and came back for seconds with a 63-5 mudhole stomping of Kentucky last weekend.

Now the stage is set for arguably the make or break game between two SEC East Rivals. On a scale of 1-10 on the importance scale, this is a 20. Georgia needs to beat Florida to keep the Gators from moving one step closer to Atlanta.

These two SEC Powerhouses know that they're the frontrunners to play for the BCS Championship out of the SEC. They also know that depending on how the Big XII Conference does this weekend, they can easily fly back up to the top five (which they should already be).

Florida has Vandy (who lost its intimidation factor earlier this season), South Carolina (which has become a personal game for obvious reasons) and Florida State (in possibly Bobby Bowden's last game as coach of the 'Noles) following this weekend's showdown in Jacksonville.

If they beat their last three SEC foes, they will easily be in Atlanta for more than just a pass-through. As for Georgia, they've got Kentucky and Auburn left on their plate before finishing their season with some Good Ol' Fashioned Hate against Georgia Tech. Now don't get the wrong idea.

The Jackets, Tigers and Wildcats all have one major thing in common: They've played spoiler to BCS Teams in the past.

So looking at the four games that Florida has left and the remaining four that Georgia has left, who wins the strength of schedule based just off of that? And does Alabama truly deserve their spot in the Top five? This can only be proven if they can get that Bayou Bengal Monkey off their back.

Texas proved their worthiness with two huge wins over the state of Oklahoma. The only difference: Only one of those teams showed up to battle while the other one rolled over and gave up before the game was over. Penn State earned their spot by sending Ohio State to the cleaners with a convincing win.

With that said, why is Oklahoma still ranked above Georgia and Florida? If anything, the Bulldogs lost to a dangerous Crimson Tide team. Florida lost by a single point to Ole Miss.

So what does Georgia and Florida have to do to win some respect? Georgia got the shaft last year with the whole SEC-LSU fiasco. Florida came up short against Michigan to end last season, came up short against Ole Miss and have been on a massive tear ever since.

So if Alabama loses between now and the SEC Championship, Oklahoma loses another one, Texas loses anytime before the Big XII Championship, Penn State gets shocked (which is most likely not going to happen), what does that do to the Top 5?

Florida and Georgia have just as much to gain as everyone. They also have as much to lose as everyone else as well. But that's for another time. This is about Georgia and Florida.

Over the years, Georgia has been a thorn in the side of every Gators fan out there. Florida has had to endure the thought of losing its opportunities to play for the National Championship with some help from Georgia.

But when Saturday begins, it will come down to two individuals from beginning to end: Tim Tebow of Florida and Knowshon Moreno of Georgia. Tebow has found his groove in recent weeks, especially last week with four touchdowns (two run & two pass) against Kentucky.

To clear the air, the defense did have to do those push ups that were caused by Moreno's impressive 188 yards last season. The Gators lost by 13, but it was the Bulldogs who lost more last season with that brash cocky end zone celebration on the first touchdown of the game.

But that will not be the case this year. Georgia has been able to "skate" through this season, but when they get put under pressure, as was the case against Alabama, they seem to falter.

As for Florida, with the exception of the fluke loss against Ole Miss earlier this season, Florida has found ways to dominate and destroy teams on both sides of the ball. The defense has stepped up in a huge way to contain the best players in the country.

The tabloids say that the Gators need a lot of help to secure their spot in the BCS Championship. They're half right. Florida has to beat Georgia, no question about that.

Tebow has matured alot since last season's loss, but Georgia has always been dangerous.

But Florida remembers that game against Moreno's Dawgs. And the Dawgs remember the anarchy that Florida has unleashed over the years. In all honesty, there is no bigger game this weekend with bigger implications that Georgia-Florida...that is except for Texas-Texas Tech.

But before the Horns and Raiders duke it out in Lubbock, everyone has to know if this year's Gators or this year's Dawgs will make it three in a row for the SEC in the BCS. Because if not, I'm sure that JoePa and his Lions have no problem returning the Big Ten back to its original state.

When the smoke clears on Saturday, Florida gets another measure of revenge against another SEC Rival. The Gators are for real this year. Georgia's only loss was a drubbing by Alabama; Florida's only loss was a one point shocker by Ole Miss. Now do you really want to ask if Florida is ready? Just ask LSU and Kentucky. They didn't get the memo either.

But that's just the perspective...from the eyes of a Gators Fan.

Final Score: Florida 52, Georgia 37