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They were stretched all around, as far as the eye could see, at the BCS National Championship Game last night in Miami. The Florida Gators, and game MVP Tim Tebow, beat the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 to capture their second National Title in 3 years. Florida was also voted the AP National Champion in the poll released this morning.

Experts expected the game to be a shoot-out with two of the best offenses in the NCAA going head to head. Oklahoma did not score less than 35 points in any game this season en route to a 12-1 regular-season record and Big 12 championship. The Gators were also an offensive juggernaut, also finishing 12-1 and winning the SEC championship. It was Florida’s #4 ranked defense that made the difference.

Despite having the Heisman Trophy winner in Sam Bradford, Oklahoma was not able to put the points on the board that they are used to. They were stopped at the goal line twice in the first half, once on 4th down and once with an interception. Still, the game was neck and neck in the second half until Florida blocked an Oklahoma field goal attempt. After that play one could feel the momentum swing to Florida, and they ran away with the game. Tebow and Percy Harvin, who had missed a month with an injury and stayed in Florida over Christmas to rehab for the game, put the Sooners away.

Urban Meyer, head coach of the Florida Gators, stated that Southern California, Texas and Utah should fight to be recognized as part national champion.

He believes Pete Carroll, Mack Brown and Kyle Wittingham have good cause because all of them only lost one game and yet none of them are represented in the national championship game Thursday.

Teams like Utah have a reason to gripe due to being in such a small conference. It’s gotten so bad that Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who is not the lawyer for the University, but the lawyer for the state of Utah is investigating the BCS for possible antitrust laws in light of the type of schools that get to play for the national championship. College football does need to establish a playoff system so there can be one national champion, not multiple. It is the only popular sport that does not have a clearly defined system to determine its champion and that needs to change. Everyone cannot be number one in college football.

Alex Stepney - Manchester United

You’re probably aware of the expression “screaming your head off,” but here’s an incident of “screaming your jaw off.” Alex Stepney, a former Manchester United goalkeeper, was reaming out his defensemen in a match against Birmingham City in an effort to encourage a more spirited performance. He yelled so hard that he dislocated his jaw. Contrary to those who believe soccer is a slow sport, it does provide enough jaw-dropping plays.

Cal Ripken Jr. - Baltimore Orioles

Cal Ripken Jr. earned the nickname “Iron Man” for his impeccable toughness and endurance, both of which helped him to play in an MLB-record 2,632 consecutive games. But just because you’re made of iron doesn’t mean you will go without injury. In the 1996 All-Star Game’s pre-game photo session, pitcher Roberto Hernandez lost his balance and started to fall backward. He swung his arms in an effort to regain his balance and his forearm connected with and broke Ripken’s nose. In typical Ripken fashion, he still played — and started — the All-Star Game.

Derrick Mason - Baltimore Ravens

Most golfers scream the word “fore” during an errant shot, but NFL wide receiver Derrick Mason likely uttered a different four-letter word when playing golf during a charity tournament. Mason was teeing off when he made an awkward swing, causing his hand to twist and break his wrist. Unfortunately, a mulligan didn’t help in this situation.

Jaromir Jagr - New York Rangers

Enforcers are a dying breed in the new NHL, but the following example is one reason to keep them around. At the end of an ugly playoff loss to the rival New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers’ goal-scorer Jaromir Jagr tried to punch Scott Gomez. Jagr used his left hand for the swipe but whiffed and dislocated his shoulder. Jagr has made many defenders and goaltenders look foolish with his stick, but the tables turned when he tried to use his fist.

Bret Barberie - Chicago Cubs

Brett Barberie, former baseball utility man and ex-husband of the foxy Jillian Barberie, obviously had good taste in women and seemingly had good taste in food. He was making nachos one night with all the mixings, including chili peppers and hot sauce, but he neglected to wash his hands after touching the spicy ingredients. He later went to put in his contact lenses and felt a severe burning sensation; consequently he missed a game. Talk about taking your eye off the ball.

Mark Smith - Milwaukee Brewers

By the time most of us reach the age of 3 we have been thoroughly lectured about sticking our hands into electrical sockets, fans or other potentially dangerous devices. Unfortunately, Mark Smith, a former MLB outfielder, must have missed that lesson. He was fairly average with his bat through his eight-year career, but he quite obviously didn’t excel in evaluating situations. When faced with a hotel room air conditioner that he thought was broken, Smith cut his hand after sticking it directly inside the unit to ascertain what was causing the malfunction. Maybe it was working fine after all.

Bill Gramatica - Miami Dolphins

They say NFL kickers are a dime a dozen, but Bill Gramatica found a way to stand out in an anonymous grouping. He wasn’t more skilled than your average kicker, but his exuberant celebration style made him stand apart. After one particular routine field goal with the Arizona Cardinals, he jumped high in the air for his typical superfluous celebration but landed awkwardly and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his nonkicking knee. He claimed that he wasn’t doing it for show, but his reasoning for excessive celebration didn’t have a leg to stand on.

David Seaman - Manchester City

Soap operas are fictional and seemingly never-ending, but most addicts can’t stand to go one day without their fix. Chalk up goalkeeper David Seaman as a fiend and his bad habit cost him: While trying to tape an episode of Coronation Street, Britain’s longest running soap, Seaman pulled a back muscle reaching for the remote. In his defense, it is perennially one the UK’s highest-rated shows.

Gus Frerotte - St. Louis Rams

NFL touchdown celebrations have run the gamut from Merton Hanks’ funky chicken dance to Chad Johnson’s Riverdance, but none were as foolish as Gus Frerotte’s festivity. After scoring in the second quarter of a game for the Washington Redskins, Frerotte went to headbutt the padded wall just outside the end zone. Unfortunately, the stadium wall consisted of a thin layer of foam and a very thick layer of concrete, which put Frerotte into a woozy state. He was then quickly ambulanced to the hospital to get treatment for his head injury.

Kevin Johnson - Phoenix Suns

After a walk-off hit, shot or goal, most teams clear their bench and euphorically celebrate together in a mob. After Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson netted a game-winning basket, teammate Charles Barkley greeted him with a big bear hug. Barkley squeezed him like a tube of toothpaste and clasped so hard that Johnson’s shoulder popped and dislocated, making the moment truly bittersweet.

Big Ten MVP Shonn Greene figures he’s ready for the next level.

The Iowa running back turned Thursday’s Outback Bowl into a farewell party, leading the Hawkeyes past South Carolina 31-10 and then announcing he intends to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

“I don’t think there’s really a lot more I can do here,” Greene said. “People talk about the Heisman, but I think that’s a lot of politics. I don’t like getting caught up in all of that, so I just figure I’ll try my chances.”

“He’s been the same guy each and every week,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said, using words like “humble” and “modest” to describe the 235-pound junior, who worked at a furniture store and didn’t play football while attending community college to improve his grades.

Greene scored on a pair of 1-yard runs to help Iowa build a 21-0 halftime lead, then added an 11-yarder to make it 31-0 late in the third quarter. South Carolina scored on Chris Smelley’s 10-yard TD pass to Jared Cook and Ryan Succop’s 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Once again London Fletcher has been overlooked by the Pro Bowl, and will not be making the annual trip to Hawaii. In his 11 seasons, Fletcher has been an 8-time alternate. He has only been able to go if one of the two players picked ahead of him decides to pass up a free trip to Hawaii and five-figure bonus. Needless to say, he has not made the trip nearly as much as he would like.

Fletcher is considered the MVP of the Washington Redskins defense, the 4th ranked defense in the league. He is a great player, who regularly leads his team in tackles, but is quiet about his success. He does not dance when he makes a great play or cause controversy in the media. With a large percentage of Pro Bowl voting decided by the fans, this is probably what is holding him back. Most fans are of the Sportscenter variety; they see highlights and notice the biggest personalities. Players like Fletcher do not get noticed by these fans.

His being constantly overlooked for the Pro Bowl led Fletcher to compare himself with Susan Lucci. We all know her as the soap opera actress who was nominated for an Emmy 18 years in a row without winning. This is not a good comparison. While Fletcher is a good player, he has not been one of the best middle linebackers in the league during his time. He is not Hall of Fame worthy as he suggests. Susan Lucci is considered one of the legends of the genre, and unlike Fletcher, she eventually won.

When the NCAA adopted the Bowl Championship Series rankings to determine it’s national champion it was heralded as an incredible, groundbreaking decision. Previously, the national champion was decided by votes from sportswriters and coaches. There were 10 previous occasions where teams split the championship because of separate polls choosing different teams. The B.C.S. was supposed to take care of that problem with a sophisticated system, based on polls and computer rankings, that would pit the two best teams against each other for the championship.

Ten years later and the B.C.S. has failed to do what it had promised, provide a convincing champion every year. Many around the nation are calling for and end to the B.C.S altogether, or at the very least, a playoff involving the top 8 teams. In 2004, USC was left out of the B.C.S. Championship Game, somehow falling to #3 in the rankings. When favorite Oklahoma lost to LSU in the Sugar Bowl, LSU was crowned B.C.S. champion, but USC was voted the AP National Champion. The controversy that was supposed to be silenced by the B.C.S. roared again.

This season, there are undefeated, Division 1 teams while two 1 loss, Florida and Oklahoma teams play for the title. Alabama was ranked #1 until they lost their last game to now #1 Florida, while Oklahoma lost to 3rd rankedd. One would think Alabama would have the edge over Oklahoma, but a rematch would throw the world of college football into chaos. The only way to get a definitive answer would be to implement a playoff system.

Each Divison 1 team plays a couple lowly opponents every year. These games are laughers where the margins of victory are sometimes in the 70’s. Also, there is a gap of a month between a team’s last game and the Bowl Games. Cut out one regular season game, and start an eight-team playoff in mid-December. A three game playoff would only add one game to the schedules of the champion and runner-up, and a lot of credibility to the NCAA and eventual champion. Nobody can deny the winner of such a tournament. Those are the situations when true champions are revealed.

Joe Paterno spent most of the past college football season coaching from high above the field. With a bum hip, he was unable to walk the sidelines and instead sat in the coaches box, talking to players and assistants through a headset or phone. The longest tenured coach in NCAA history’s future was in doubt. On November 23, a day after clinching the Big Ten title, Joe Pa underwent hip replacement surgery. Less than a month later he was rewarded with a contract extension.

Taking in to account his 16 years as an assistant coach, 2009 will be Paterno’s 60th season with Penn State. His 43 years as head coach is far and away the most in college football history. At 81 years old, he is also football’s all-time winningest coach. Even with such a resume, his 2007 salary was reported at $512,000, well off the $4 million Alabama’s Nick Saban makes a year. Terms of his new deal have not been disclosed, but the extension runs for 3 more years, through the 2011 season. With his rehab coming along nicely, Paterno will be back patrolling the sidelines in Happy Valley next season.

While many coaches have become victims of an inability to alter their game plan and strategy, Paterno’s coaching style has evolved with the game. It is rare for a coach to last 10 years in college football, let alone 4 decades. Some believed that if the game couldn’t get the best of him, his health would. A couple years back, in a game against Wisconsin, Paterno’s leg was broken after being taken out by a falling player. He was back coaching at the next practice.

While coaching from the skybox this past season it seemed coach was getting farther from the game, with the next logical step being retirement. Instead, the grizzled veteran has been put back together and will be returning to the scene of the action. Paterno will coach one more game from the box, the Rose Bowl against USC on New Year’s Day. Come next season though, expect to see Paterno lead his team out of the tunnel for the 44th straight year.

Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the Florida Gators, is in a position to win a second Heisman trophy, the most prestigious award in college football.

So is Sam Bradford, the quarterback from Oklahoma, Tebow’s opponent in the BCS national championship game on January 8 in Miami.

This creates an interesting dynamic in college football and college sports, for the Heisman winner seldom receives a second Heisman. Tebow won as a sophomore and is trying to repeat as a junior. With Bradford the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners, the highest scoring college football team in 89 years, that definitely will command him some votes. So the question is, who will win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night?