Big Day in Football Tomorrow for Gators, Noles, Irish

Tomorrow afternoon Florida will play Florida State (football) in Tallahassee to essentially see which team gets to go to one of the major BCS bowls around New Year's.  Should the Gators prevail, they would most likely get an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.  I don't know where the Seminoles would go...it could also be the Sugar Bowl, against some SEC team like LSU, the Alabama/Georgia loser, or Texas A&M.  But maybe the winner won't go to one of these bowls, because...

Later Saturday night, undefeated and #1 ranked Notre Dame plays USC to finish out their regular season.  Should the Fighting Irish win, they will almost certainly play the Alabama/Georgia winner in the national championship game.  But should the Trojans pull off the upset, the other team playing for the title would be the highest ranked team left in the BCS polls.  And the consensus is that Florida, with a win against FSU, would be that team.  Florida State fans also entertain some hope that by beating UF, they would leapfrog in the polls over other SEC teams and Oregon to be in that exalted contest. 

Regardless of the outcomes tomorrow, both Florida and Florida State have had excellent seasons.  Will Muschamp and Jimbo Fisher are good coaches who know how to build competitive teams from the inside out, emphasizing control of the line of scrimmage.  The fans should support them both and be patient through the inevitably tough seasons that will crop up from time to time in the future...