Was there ever really any doubt?
Yeah, Tim Tebow's speech at the celebration Sunday may have given you pause. But deep down, you just kind of knew he was going to come back, right?
In an era of athletes being all about the money, it's reassuring to know people like Tebow still exist. This is not a blanket statement - I understand there are some family circumstances where money simply is that crucial.
But now that the junior quarterback has satisfied many UF fans' dreams, he must understand something.
In following the example of the '04s - Al Horford, Taurean Green, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah - Tebow inherits the bar they set.
The expectations are already clear - it's win a national title or bust for the 2009 Gators.
Now, you probably won't hear them say it.
Come spring and fall, UF players and coaches will utter the same "just get to Atlanta" rhetoric, but it'll seem a little more empty this time around.
While UF fans may not have accepted it, the drop-off from 2006 to '07 had to happen due to the lack of depth and an extremely young defense filled with players who simply weren't ready to be starters in the Southeastern Conference.
The excuse factor is gone now, because the 2008 Gators just became the youngest team ever to be crowned college football champs.
Barring injuries, the defense should compete to be one of the best ever in college football history. Certainly the top in 2009.
Heaven forbid Percy Harvin comes back to school. If he did, the Gators would also have one of the scariest offenses.
Best offense + best defense should equate to a national champion, right?
That's a scary proposition, though. You never can tell how a team will respond to the off-season pressures with everyone projecting it as national champs, even with Urban Meyer's well-known ability to motivate.
Meyer already has some good material to use, though, if he looks up his rivals in Athens.
Georgia came into this season as a highly touted preseason No. 1 with Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno poised to win a ring in Miami.
The Bulldogs finished 10-3, didn't even win the SEC East and played in the Capital One Bowl.
Besides the mystique of repeating - it hasn't been done since Nebraska in 1994-95 - there is one possible thread of motivation - an undefeated record.
It's never been done at UF, and Tebow has stated multiple times that it is a goal of his.
The path less traveled might look a lot like one taken a few years back by Southern Cal. The Trojans ran the table in 2004 behind Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush and won the national title by defeating Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The Trojans were one of only two teams (along with Florida State in 1999) to be No. 1 wire-to-wire in the AP poll.
Can Tebow steer UF through the pressures and deliver UF's first unblemished record?
He "couldn't" win the Heisman - and then he did.
He "couldn't" pass the ball well enough - and then did.
He "couldn't" lead a team trailing in the fourth quarter - and then he did.
I wouldn't bet against him.
