Florida Gators

The SEC and Big 12 announced an annual challenge on the basketball court, but colleague Edward Aschoff wondered what it would look like if that challenge extended to the football field.

There are already two games on the schedule this season -- between TCU and LSU, and Oklahoma State and Mississippi State. What else would I like to see?

Let me start by saying that renewing the Texas-Texas A&M and Missouri-Kansas rivalries are a given. I'm omitting those matchups, but I'd love to see them.

Let's get started:

Oklahoma State vs. Alabama: OSU narrowly missed out on playing for the national title back in 2011, and both are among their conference favorites again in 2013. When the BCS "snubbed" the Pokes after the 2011 regular season, OSU coach Mike Gundy half-jokingly suggested these two play for the right to play LSU in the title game. It would be fun to see this one finally played out on the field.

Baylor vs. LSU: Straight up offense vs. defense. That's the Big 12 vs. SEC debate at its heart. Baylor just might be the Big 12's best offense, and LSU will put together another strong defense. These are the matchups we want to see. The Big 12 has faltered on the big stage, helping the SEC stretch its run of national titles, but seeing Bryce Petty sling it around against an athletic defense would be a lot of fun.

Texas vs. Arkansas: Arkansas' exit from the Southwest Conference helped usher in the birth of the Big 12 after the SWC crumbled. Texas has bigger rivals like Oklahoma and Texas A&M, but these two played some of the greatest games in college football history, and as an Arkansas native, I've seen up close how much Razorbacks fans detest the Longhorns to this day. The result would be a great game and a hyped atmosphere.

TCU vs. Texas A&M: Texas A&M fans take exception to the idea that TCU was an on-field "upgrade" over the Aggies in the Big 12. The Aggies largely struggled in the Big 12 after some early success and a Big 12 title under R.C. Slocum. Since leaving for the SEC, the Aggies have gone nowhere but up, and ended 2012 as the hottest team in college football. Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel has a Heisman Trophy. Could he shred the Frogs? Want to prove TCU is not an upgrade? Beat TCU on the field.

Kansas State vs. Florida: Kansas State is perpetually underrated and wins with a bunch of junior college guys, and high school players overlooked by major programs. Florida won big under Urban Meyer, but has been largely overrated since Meyer left and was whacked by Louisville to end 2012. The Gators would be suiting up an army of recruiting stars, but could Bill Snyder, the Manhattan Magician, grab a win for the Big 12?

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida got two pieces of help it needed on Saturday to get back into the hunt for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game.

The Gators need two more -- and a victory over Florida State.

UF (10-1) moved up to No. 4 in the latest BCS standings because of losses by Oregon and Kansas State. The Gators are behind No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia and just need to move up two spots to get a chance to play for the school’s fourth national title.

The easiest scenario for that to happen would be for Southern California to beat Notre Dame on Saturday and Alabama to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 1 (provided, of course, Bama beats Auburn and Georgia beats Georgia Tech this week). The Gators -- if they beat the Noles on Saturday -- would then likely move into the No. 2 spot in the final standings.

That would set up an all-SEC title game for the second year in a row, something which seems to be causing a lot of backlash among fans. But it remains to be seen whether the voters in the Harris Interactive and USA Today coaches’ polls -- two-thirds of the BCS formula -- would take that into consideration and drop the Gators to prevent that from happening.

UF has been ranked high in the computer polls (No. 2 in the latest standings) after playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules. That won’t change if the Gators beat the Noles, because that would give UF four victories over teams ranked in the BCS top 12.

The seeds would be Oregon, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Florida and LSU. But how would it play out? ESPN Insider Travis Haney lines it up, gets some help from the oddsmakers, and picks his champion.

Read the story here.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida’s loss to Georgia on Saturday resulted in the Gators falling five spots in the BCS standings, but they’re not out of the national championship race yet. Mathematically, anyway.

Florida is now No. 7 -- behind Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Oregon, LSU and Georgia -- but still has a game against No. 9 Florida State remaining. Plus, the Gators are still alive in the SEC’s Eastern Division race. They can win the title by beating Missouri on Saturday and having Georgia lose to either Ole Miss or Auburn in the next two weeks.

UF (7-1, 6-1 SEC) can’t lose again or the Gators won’t have any chance to reach the No. 2 spot to earn a berth in the BCS Championship Game. There’s still a month of the season and several critical games remaining.

• Kansas State must still play Texas.
• Notre Dame must still play Southern California.
• LSU must still play Alabama and Mississippi State.
• Oregon still has the meat of its schedule remaining: Southern California, Stanford and Oregon State.

One remote scenario would involve LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon and Kansas State each losing a game while the Gators win out. Then Georgia loses a close game to Alabama in the SEC title game and the Gators claim the No. 2 spot despite losing to Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla.

However, if the Gators do win they’ll likely get an at-large berth into a BCS bowl.

"We just have to look at the next game," LB Jon Bostic said. "We’ve got another SEC opponent and just keep going. We’ve been playing well all season. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time."

Florida’s 17-9 loss to Georgia resulted in a tumble from No. 3 to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25, USA Today coaches’ poll, and Harris Interactive College Football Poll. The latter two are parts of the BCS formula. UF dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 in the computer polls, which is the final part of the formula.

• Watch: Sorting out unbeatens after No. 1 Alabama

The BCS got it right. Florida is No. 2.

With all due respect to Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame, you just aren't as physical or as relentless as the Gators.

All that moaning and groaning that first erupted on the Left Coast two weeks ago can just stop. You're just not what we are looking for at No. 2.

Oregon, you have that PlayStation speed and your defense is respectable in the Pac-12, but look at your schedule. No team you've beaten is currently ranked in the AP Top 25 or the BCS standings. The combined record of your past opponents is 25-25.

Kansas State, Bill Snyder has been excellent and Collin Klein is a true Heisman candidate. However, your best win is against Oklahoma.

Read the complete story here.

Alabama, Oregon, Florida, Kansas State and Notre Dame all have undefeated aspirations. Which of them has the best shot? ESPN Insider Brian Fremeau compared each team against a close recent profile and modeled the results. So far, Bama has the best shot, but some of the results might surprise you. Read the complete story here .

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida remained No. 2 in the BCS standings, but the Gators' hold on that spot will be challenged this week.

And not only because the Gators play No. 10 Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, either.

No. 3 Kansas State plays host to No. 14 Texas Tech, and No. 5 Notre Dame plays at No. 8 Oklahoma. No. 3 Oregon plays host to 1-6 Colorado, so the Ducks won't have a chance to make up any ground on the Gators, unless, of course, Georgia wins for just the fifth time in the last 23 meetings.

None of that stuff matters to UF coach Will Muschamp. He's focused on beating Georgia to earn the SEC's Eastern Division title -- and he's making sure his players aren't thinking about the BCS, either.

"We play in Jacksonville next week. One-game season," Muschamp said. "I sat with them Monday and said, 'Let's have a conversation about the BCS and the AP and the UPI and the USA Today and all the polls. Is that going to help us win against South Carolina? Is any of that information going to help us prepare for the game?'

"And they all agreed it wasn't going to help us. We're not going to sit here and talk about it."

Florida (7-0, 6-0 SEC) remained No. 1 in the computer polls and No. 3 in the Harris Poll, but moved up one spot to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches' poll.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It wasn’t expected to happen this quickly, but Florida is back in the national-championship hunt.

In fact, the Gators are one of the favorites.

Florida came in at No. 2 in the first BCS standings that were released Sunday night. The Gators are behind only No. 1 Alabama. Oregon, Kansas State and Notre Dame round out the top five.

The Gators (6-0, 5-0 SEC) are No. 2 because they are No. 1 in the average of the six computer polls that make up one-third of the BCS formula. UF came in at No. 2 or No. 1 in five of the six computer rankings and No. 5 in the other. The lowest and highest rankings are dropped and the remaining four rankings are added and divided by 100. Strength of schedule is factored into each of the computer rankings.

The Gators are No. 3 in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll (up from No. 6 the previous week) and No. 4 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, which are the other two pieces of the BCS standings formula.

Florida’s resume includes three solid victories:

• at Texas A&M (No. 18 in the BCS);
• at Tennessee;
• at home over LSU (No. 6 in the BCS).

UF still has regular-season games remaining against three more teams in the top 15 of the BCS standings:

• South Carolina (No. 7);
• Georgia (No. 11)
• Florida State (No. 14).

The Gators can win the SEC’s Eastern Division by beating the Gamecocks and Bulldogs in the next two weeks, which would set up a likely showdown with Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

UF also has games against Missouri, Louisiana-Lafayette and Jacksonville State.

The Gators weren’t expected to be a national-championship contender in 2012 after going a combined 15-11 in the past two seasons, including 7-6 in 2011 in coach Will Muschamp’s first season. But the Gators have become one of the nation’s best teams behind a stout defense, RB Mike Gillislee, and the surprising development of QB Jeff Driskel.

The Big 12's held on all season, but the SEC finally passed it for the No. 1 spot in the ESPN Stats & Info Conference Power Rankings.

The Big 12 still has the No. 1 spot in the computer polls, but the Big 12 took a hit in the human polls after just four Big 12 teams showed up in Sunday's AP rankings. The SEC took the lead by a full point after steadily creeping up on the Big 12 since the rankings debuted.

What was the biggest factor for the move? From the Stats & Info Blog:

Losses by Top-5 teams LSU and Georgia did not impact the SEC’s conference ranking because they lost to teams that were also in the Top 10.

On the other hand, losses by TCU and Texas Tech impacted the Big 12 in the rankings since they lost to teams with worse records entering the game.

The computers still favor the Big 12 over the SEC due to the depth of the conference, but the gap has narrowed. The SEC’s dominance in the polls has vaulted the conference into first place for the first time since the final conference power rankings of the 2011 season.

It's going to be a tight race all season, but for now, the SEC's pulled ahead by a nose.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Here's a breakdown of the first half of No. 14 Florida's home game against Kentucky.

Stat of the half: The Gators have been terrible on third down on offense this season, converting just 27 percent of their opportunities entering Saturday's game. However, UF converted 5 of 9 third downs in the first half.

Player of the half: Florida hadn't been doing much on offense and seemed a bit listless until CB Jaylen Watkins stepped in front of a Morgan Newton pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown that put the Gators ahead 17-0. That seemed to spark the Gators, who added another touchdown and dominated the remaining 8:24 of the half. It was the first interception of Watkins' career.

What's working for Florida: The Gators pass defense has been solid, although part of that is because starting QB Maxwell Smith isn't playing because of a shoulder injury. The Wildcats are going with Newton, but he hasn't had much luck. The Gators have locked down receivers La'Rod King and Aaron Boyd, and Newton has missed several open throws when his receivers have found open space. UF picked off three passes, and Newton managed to complete just 6 of 20 passes for 49 yards.

What's not working for Florida: UF has been a little sloppy on offense and it has cost them several chances at touchdowns instead of field goals. The Gators faced a third-and-goal from the Kentucky 3-yard line, but RT Kyle Koehne was penalized for a false start and QB Jeff Driskel dropped the snap on the next play, and the Gators had to settle for a field goal. Driskel also threw his first interception of the season in the end zone. It was a throw he shouldn't have made because the receiver wasn't open. He did the same thing late in the second quarter -- he tried to hit Frankie Hammond in the back of the end zone -- and he was lucky that one wasn't intercepted as well. Driskel also missed a wide-open Quinton Dunbar in the end zone, but he came right back to him on the next play with an accurate throw. Florida's offense is missing one of its threats, Trey Burton, who is suffering from back spasms.