Why you should bet on the Florida Gators

Last year’s BCS champions, the Florida Gators, are looking to do what no team in the BCS era has been able to accomplish: win a second consecutive championship.

The anticipation has never been higher in Gainesville, and they started the season on the right foot, beating Charleston Southern 62-3 and blowing out Troy 56-6.

The reason people think this team is pretty much a lock to run the table again is because almost all of the players from last year’s team coming back to defend their title. That means they should hypothetically get better, which is a scary thought for the rest of the nation.

The offensive line graduated three starters: Phil Trautwein, Jim Tartt, and Jason Watkins, who all will be sorely missed. What is encouraging though is that a string of injuries last season helped prepare a group of young linemen that were given a shot in game action. Its safe to say that this O-line will be a wall when protecting Tebow, who really doesn’t need much protection in the first place.

If there are any gaps in the team this year compared to last year it has to be the loss of Percy Harvin. If you don’t think Harvin is a big loss just look how he did in his first week as a Minnesota Viking. Harvin played a hybrid position between receiver and running back which gave opposing defenses fits because it created serious matchup problems.

Andre Debose is supposed to be Harvins replacement. The knock on Debose is his size but he is apparently lightning quick, so what he lacks in size, he makes up for in playmaking ability. He’s the freshman you want to keep an eye on this season as he will be involved in many of the wildcat offensive sets that Harvin was last year.

Louis Murphy, Florida’s leading receiver last year with 38 catches, is also gone but the Gators do return five receivers who caught at least 11 passes last season and found the end zone at least once. Having a strong receiving core is important for an offense that passed for more than 3,000 yards last season.

Despite the loss of Murphy and Harvin, Tebow is very comfortable throwing to Riley Cooper (18 receptions, 14.5 yards per catch), David Nelson (12 catches, 19 yards per catch, five touchdowns), Carl Moore (14 catches, 13.1 yards per catch), Brandon James (11 catches, 8.6 yard per catch) and Thompson (18 catches, 14.9 yards per catch). No weakness here.

Since football isn’t all about offense, let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball where not much has changed as they return all 11 starters. The Gators remain strong at the linebacker position, though the suspension of Dustin Doe threw a little wrench in the plans. But remember, this is the Gators, and you know they have some talent waiting in the wings. That talent comes in the form of Jon Bostic, a freshman who plays like a seasoned veteran.

Just to recap, this team is loaded with 18 returning starters, including all 11 on defense. Even John Brantley, Tebow’s back-up, completed 64.3 percent of his passes (Tebow completed 64.4 percent) and threw for three touchdowns in mop up duty last season.

If you’re a backer of the Florida Gators you’re going to have to deal with some pretty big spreads, but this team is so good that until someone proves they can hang with the Gators, ride them all day.