Gator Nation Ready to Add to Swagger

ABC News On Campus reporter Dominick Tao blogs:

As with any game of this magnitude, the early buzz has been more like a chest-rattling din. The chatter — no, the sometimes shouting debates raging in living rooms and chat rooms — says it all.

It’s a clash of titans. King Kong versus Godzilla. The end-game showdown, with a virtually guaranteed spot in the BCS National Championship game as the bonus prize. This is No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Florida (according to Associated Press rankings) for the SEC title. It’s Nick Saban’s grinding consistency and 12-0 record versus Urban Meyer’s unpredictable spread and on-average 38-point margin of victory over the past eight games.

As far as styles of play go, this showdown under the Georgia Dome is the sumo wrestler versus the track star.  The fans and commentators have been battling out the pre-game what-ifs on this one like two 8-year-olds debating who would win in a fight: a grizzly bear or a great white, a T-Rex or 10 velociraptors, or in this case, a ‘gator or a pachyderm.

But for many Gator fans, victory today is all but assured. The hype would simply makes the inevitable beat-down of ‘Bama that much more satisfying. Right now, the Orange and Blue masses are settling in front of TV sets and into stadium seats with a swagger born of a record-breaking streak of opponent-crushing wins, and with a sense of entitlement to another national title akin to manifest destiny. And in this case, it’s backed by a 10-point advantage from Las Vegas bookies. 

While no Florida player will admit it, and Coach Meyer would balk at the very thought, the smirks and knowing grins are wide on the faces of thousands of Gator fans. It’s that look of confidence, and a little conceitedness. Hotels for Gator parties are already being booked in Miami.  Others might call this attitude an eventually self-destructive hubris, and that much more ammunition to fling at Florida fans after they lose. And there are thousands and thousands out there who want the flashy Florida boys to lose — badly. But unlike all the speculation about this showdown, one thing is clear — until the end, Gators everywhere will be giddy with anticipation.
Their team is the one to beat, and over the past three years, they’ve been spoiled by three national championships in the top two college sports — football and men’s basketball. The billboards along I-75 after the wins called the trifecta of wins the Gator Slam, and Gainesville, Titletown.

  Until the end, when the throngs of Gator fans pour into the streets of Gainesville and Atlanta — or hang their heads and quietly shuffle home from the Georgia Dome and bars around the country — the Gator nation will keep on with its loud confidence. It’ll keep on until some team can shut them up. But that won’t happen. Like a man who can withstand a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris, such a team does not exist.