Without Tebow, a Gator loss means nothing

It's not common for me to venture into the national college football scene, but I mean come on, it's Tim Tebow. You all know by now that Tebow sustained a rather big concussion against Kentucky two weeks ago, and that as of this article, he's not yet cleared to play against the LSU Tigers this Saturday in Baton Rouge.

So what if he doesn't play? Florida has everything to lose by putting Tebow back in before he's ready. Conversely, but more importantly, the Gators basically have nothing to lose if the hold Tebow out one more week. That's because, in college football, image is everything when the final polls come out in December. Fresh off a win over the SEC West champ in the SEC title game, a once-beaten Florida team would be guaranteed a spot in the BCS Championship Game, if that one blemish is against No. 4 LSU in Baton Rouge without Tim Tebow taking the Gators snaps. Florida could lose this week by two touchdowns, but without Tebow, it will be viewed as a fluke, and virtually ignored if Florida wins out.

Do Florida coaches and fans really want to risk Tebow becoming a vegetable, just to beat LSU on the second week in October? This game means almost nothing to the national title race if Tebow is benched. In fact, Florida would get brownie points for the "we care more about our players than our wins" image emanating from sidelining Tebow.

There are no other real challengers in the SEC East this year, despite what many OMGSEC! folks would have us believe. So, it's not like one SEC conference loss would jeopardize any chances of playing in the conference title game in December.

And speaking of that title game, what if LSU happens to win the SEC West? Unlikely, I know, but very possible still. Does anyone really think any team could beat this Florida team twice? LSU could beat a Tebow-less Florida this week, but it's a fat chance in hell they could do it again, against a Tebow-ful Gators squad late in the year.

I would hope that if Tebow isn't fully ready to come back, the doctors and coaches will make the right decision this week. There is way too much to lose. Yet surprisingly enough, there's much to gain by benching the 2007 Heisman winner. A loss at No. 4 LSU this week means nothing without Tebow. We all know it.

That's all I have to say about that.