Okay, I'm convinced.
During UF's six-game win streak, fans and media members alike have been showering the Gators with praise and anointing them a national title favorite, but I held back.
I figured there had to be another Mississippi-like performance left in this team, and the defense couldn't keep this up forever, right?
Well, as usual, I couldn't have been more wrong. And I apologize for what I'm about to say if it brings on any bad luck, but I'm pretty sure this team is jinx-proof.
UF is the best football team I have ever seen.
Granted, the list of good teams I have watched regularly is short - the 1999 East Carolina team that defeated Miami and St. Augustine Nease High's state championship squad are near the top - but I was a freshman when the 2006 Gators won the national title, and this year's version is better.
What the Gators have done in the last six games clearly makes them the best team in the nation, and they've totally ruined the meaning of numbers for me.
They crushed No. 24 South Carolina 56-6 on Saturday, and it took quite a while for that to sink in. That means UF demolished a ranked team, and the then-best total defense in the SEC, by fifty points.
Since losing to Mississippi, the Gators have outscored their last six Southeastern Conference opponents 299-63, meaning they put up an equal amount of points against Kentucky (which led the SEC in scoring defense at that point) as they have allowed in a month and a half.
We all knew that Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and the rest of UF's offense would rank as one of the nation's best units, but the defense and special teams are clicking at an elite level, too.
Coach Urban Meyer isn't ready to call the Gators better than the 2006 team, but take it from South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, whose Gamecocks came within a few fingers of taking UF down two seasons ago.
"This team is a lot better than the one two years ago," Spurrier said after the game. "I said they had a chance because they won all of the close ones two years ago. This team they have now is a lot stronger than that one in my opinion."
He's absolutely right. The Gators are scoring 14.4 more points per game and giving up 2.2 less, and this week they became the first squad in SEC history to win six straight league games by 28 points or more, including a 101-0 margin in the first quarter.
This offense is better than the one led by Chris Leak, but the defense is improved too.
The line may not be good as the one led by Jarvis Moss and Ray McDonald, but the linebackers and secondary are playing as well as anyone could ask for.
There's no Reggie Nelson locking things down at safety - although Will Hill looked an awful lot like The Eraser with his interception Saturday - but the unit still has 17 picks and five touchdowns.
The only thing keeping Meyer from acknowledging this team as his best is the 2006 Gators' win against Ohio State for the national championship, but even he knows that if UF keeps up its current level of play, he'll have to change his stance on Jan. 8 in Miami.
