Steve Spurrier has been vocal about wanting to play the Hurricanes, and Butch Davis wants to play anybody good enough to cause AP voters to split this National Championship thing. More importantly, a win over the Gators would guarantee Miami the Florida college state championship, which is tougher to get than the national version. So the Sugar Bowl gets a huge traditional rivalry that stands virtually even, between two bitter rivals that have serious "history." It has a guaranteed huge crowd, big time ratings and a dual national championship opportunity all rolled up in a neat package.

Steve Spurrier did one of his better coaching jobs this year with a young squad, breaking in brand new receivers and a new quarterback in his annual topsy-turvy juggling act. Spurrier and his staff dealt with a tough stretch when his top linebacker, Andre Davis, was lost for the year, and a group of young LBs got knocked around by Mississippi State. Transfer Travis Carroll stepped in at MLB, stabilized the situation, and the Gators returned to the top of the SEC.

When you break down the teams and their conference you can see a distinct advantage for the Gators.  This advantage will translate into a win for Florida.

Both teams have very good offenses, stout defenses that rank one (Florida) and two (Miami) nationally in creating turnovers, and scintillating kicking games.  Florida QB Rex Grossman ranks third nationally in passing efficiency, while Miami's QB Ken Dorsey ranks fifth. The receivers for both teams all look like they could play on Sunday. This one has all the earmarks of a game to remember.

Florida is an amazing +19 in turnover margin, first in the nation by a wide margin. The sad reality for the Gators is that the number could have been more like +23 had the secondary been able to hem up the dropped interceptions in the FSU game. We must continue this trend and take away some balls to have a chance to win this game.

The talented freshman Grossman will have to be in total command for the offense to thrive. Jesse Palmer is a veteran, but did not take advantage of excellent protection provided by his line in the FSU game. Spurrier is hard to predict, but Grossman did the job in SEC Championship game. Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell are the young rescuers of a receiver situation that looked too young at the beginning of the season. They were dominating in the SEC Championship game, and ended the year as the nation's most prolific duo.

With Robert Gillespie a question mark, Earnest Graham was terrific against Auburn in Atlanta, piling up 169 yards. He and his offensive line must duplicate that performance against Miami. While Spurrier is loathe to play field position football for an entire game, that may be the best way to combat this balanced opponent, which matches the Gator quick strike capacity. Spurrier is a master with gimmick, or "exotic" plays. He knows how to coach them and when to call them. He will need a couple.

If Alex Brown is to get his act together for a sixty-minute-all-out performance, this would be a very good time.  The front will face the most balanced attack it has seen, and the secondary must play with absolute confidence. Leading intercepter Todd Johnson must get healthy, and Lito Sheppard will have to play the game of his life, taking on Santana Moss or Reggie Wayne, depending on the coverage.