SEC

About this time last year, the Gator Nation was basking the warm glow brought about by the return of their quixotic QB and nearly everyone else from their Championship team.  Bolstered by predictions of a second consecutive championship (or at least a spot in the BCSCG) by everyone from Athlon’s and Steele to Mandel, there were actually boosters of the Bull-Gator variety booking rooms in Pasadena in August 2009. 

Then came the season, which judging by the number of columns asking what was “wrong” with Florida’s offense and the legions of fans voicing their displeasure with the “3-yards-but-occasionally-40-and-a-cloud-of-dust” playbook, was pure drudgery.  Meyer’s clipped tone following the victory over the Vols was merely the beginning of what would be an unending string of games that found the Florida staff  at a loss to explain wins. 

It should be noted that Florida’s schedule last year contributed mightily to the discontent of the Gator allegiant.  Within weeks, the Vols lost to what turned out to be a horrible UCLA team at home, UGA lost to Okie St., and LSU struggled mightily against nobody.  In typical fashion, the ‘Noles did their part by fielding the worst defense this side of Bethune-Cookman and losing their star QB weeks before the Gators came to town.  Put another way, the regular season schedule stunk, at least on paper.   As it turned out, only Arkansas (with questionable calls and a last minute comeback) and UGA provided any relief to the fretting Gator Nation in 2009, but if candor is among your attributes, Gator fan, you’ll admit that last year was all about one game, the rematch with ‘Bama.

Irrespective, there wasn’t a game on the schedule that the Gators weren’t supposed to win handily (the lowest point-spread of the year was Florida by 6.5-over Bama!), and the resulting mindset of the Gator Nation was that there was but one way win; destroy everyone.  Candidly, the pyrotechnic display Florida put on during the latter half of 2008 made this seem like a reasonable request at the time.  The realit was, however, quite different.

And, we all know how this ended-with our stud DE receiving a DUI for sleeping at a red light (allegedly) after attending a party with pretty much the entire team, followed by a sound beating at the hands of Darth Saban’s shock troops and teary-eyed Tebow on every flat screen in the Country.   Shortly thereafter, the Gator Nation was literally mouth agape for the better part of 2 weeks after learning that our seemingly impervious Coach was leaving for health reasons.  Looking back, it seems that the crushing weight of last season’s expectations was so tremendous, that it had a visceral effect on the usually stoic Coach Meyer.  And why wouldn’t it? 

For those among you who still doubt the accuracy of this post, please see Florida’s inability to sell out it’s Sugar Bowl ticket alotment as Exhibit “A,” and the muted exuberance of the Gator Nation following our bludgeoning of an undefeated Cincinatti as Exhibit “B.”  No storming of the streets, few parties, and little more than a “phew” followed by a wipe of your nervous brow when Florida took early control of the game.

What makes this painful chronology worth recounting is the fact both the local heads, such as Dolley and Ackerman, and the fans are far more intrigued by this year’s Gators than last year’s juggernaut and in turn, far more excited.  Admittedly, this is strange considering the Gator Nation’s obsessive love affair the St. Tim of Tebow and the chance to repeat as CFB Champions, but true nonetheless.   

Naturally, the holdovers from the Spurrier era will counter this position by alleging that it never gets tired beating your rivals by 40 points.  While there is some merit to this, context must be added to fully understand while this doesn’t remain true today.  First, Spurrier was a veritable Moses, leading Florida to the promised land after years of plague, drought and famine.  For those old enough to remember the 80’s, pre-Spurrier Florida football was best characterized by the hapless Buck Belue’s improbable connection with Lindsay Scott for a 90 yard touchdown pass in the last seconds of the annual Florida-Georgia tilt.  Bye the bye, this heart-breaking play came at a time when the forward pass was akin to “cheating” in the SEC.  Add to the mix the fact that the SEC was much deeper in the 90’s, with Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, and LSU fielding top-10 outifts on a near annual basis.  And bye the bye, this was the apex Florida State’s former empire too.  Under these circumstances, 10-years or so of vanquishing your highly-ranked rivals in dramatic fashion and reveling in the lamentations of their fans was a necessary and soothing balm for the Gator Nation.

Today, however, Florida is one of a handful of programs that comprise the nation’s elite and the once deep SEC has seen hard times fall on once proud regimes in Auburn, Tennessee, and Georgia, and to a lesser extent, LSU.  Furthermore, FSU is a mere shadow of its former self.  All of which makes it nice, for a change, to harbor a shred of doubt as we head into 2010. 

Distilled to its core, this season is one of slightly reduced expectations, combined with an improved schedule and a new cast of Gators.  For example, Florida’s game with ‘Bama will be the first game the Gators aren’t favored to win in 2 years.  Florida St. whould be much better and, if you believe the premonitions of Dooley and Heath Cline, South Carolina and Georgia could be better than advertised too.  In addition, while few will outwardly admit it, there is a desire to see the return of the high-octane spread attack that catapulted Coach Meyer to prominence and most, if not many, think Brantley will drastically change the look of this team  by filling the air with tight spirals.  All told, it seems that the Coaches, Players, media and fans like this team and even better, feel like the Gators might be able to surpirse a few folks this year. 

The moral of the story, if you care for such things, is that uncertainty and occasionally, fear, have returned in 2010, and brought their old friend, anticipation along with them.         

News and Notes…Alabama’s QB wrecking cyborg of BCSCG fame, Marcel Dareus is practicing while the NCAA looks into him taking his talents to South Beach this summer…SEC Commish, Mike Slive, tacitly concedes that he boozed a bit when Kiffin left town…USC makes a run at its own brawl-a-palooza…Florida’s Chris Rainey intimates that there may have been some prima donnas on last year’s squad….and the first USA Today Coaches poll ranks the Gators at #3, which is 9 spots above Pat Dooley’s pre-season ranking.