If there's one thing the BCS has been resoundingly successful at, it's evoking emotion.
If you turned on the TV on Sunday or Monday, sat around in a sports bar or eavesdropped on conversations in the Hub (I chose option three), odds are you heard someone either bashing or supporting the poll that was released this weekend.
If you're like the loud guy I overheard near Chick-Fil-A, UF's No. 10 ranking was "ridiculous," and "[The BCS] better not let Ohio State ruin another football season."
If you're like me, you probably think the Gators got about what they deserved for playing one really solid game, a few decent ones and two poor performances.
If you're like Tim Tebow, the poll had no effect on you.
"I don't care," the quarterback said of his reaction to the poll. "That's fine. Nothing really matters too much now, and that's really what my attitude was."
While it's lots of fun to argue about the BCS and hate The Man, Tebow's approach is the right one, and it's definitely the mindset fans should want their players to have at this point in the season.
The Gators are halfway through their schedule, and, as Tebow said, they still control their destiny, as winning out would clear away some teams with better BCS rankings. UF can take care of No. 7 Georgia next week and No. 2 Alabama in a potential Southeastern Conference title game, and that would position the team as one of the top one-loss squads vying for a spot in the BCS Championship Game.
That leaves seven other teams ahead of the Gators right now, and here's a breakdown of what (and who) you should be cheering for if you want to make a trip to Miami.
Naturally, all of this assumes UF will win out, because I just don't have the time to figure out the Gators' chances of winning it all with two losses.
Cheer for…
-Georgia and Alabama when they aren't playing UF. That might be hard to swallow, but the Gators need to notch big wins against the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide, and losses by either of them would hurt UF's chances.
Georgia travels to LSU this week, so pull for the 'Dawgs to run up the score and maybe sneak into the BCS top five. 'Bama also has a trip to Baton Rouge on the docket, and a win there would all but wrap up the SEC West division.
But the Gators need the Tide to stay undefeated for a meeting in the SEC Championship, by which point Alabama could be the top team in the nation.
-Missouri. If the Tigers can make it to the Big-12 Championship Game and take down No. 1 Texas, things get a lot easier for everyone else. Besides, Tebow is friends with Tigers quarterback Chase Daniel.
-Florida State. The Seminoles are 5-1 and No. 25 in the BCS, but wins against Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Boston College and Maryland in the coming weeks would help that ranking considerably. So, for once, pray the wheels don't fall off in Tallahassee. It's for your own good.
-Every other team on UF's remaining schedule, when they don't conflict with the above.
Cheer against…
-Texas, but cheer for them first. Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are all ahead of UF in the BCS. The best-case scenario is for Texas to go undefeated and knock off those other teams before losing to Missouri in the Big 12 Championship.
-USC, but it probably won't do any good. The Trojans' remaining opponents are a combined 20-20 this season, and they have no real tests left. Then again, that's when they lose.
Just hope it all works out somehow…
That leaves No. 3 Penn State and No. 9 Ohio State as the wild cards in all of this. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes face off this weekend, and you should probably cheer for PSU.
If Ohio State wins, they'll rocket up in the rankings, thereby pushing the Trojans up as well because their 35-3 trashing of OSU earlier this season will look more impressive.
So the best thing might be to root for JoePa and his boys to win big this weekend, exposing the Buckeyes for the sham they are and knocking USC down a peg. Then, only Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State would stand between Penn State and an undefeated season.
With all that madness, the safer thing for your sanity might be to just tune out and check back in six weeks. Now, if only ignoring the BCS could make it go away.
