This is not a place for bragging. All I will say is that Florida has won the national championship every year that I have had a web page. UF finally did to FSU what it has been doing to good teams... the Tennessees, Alabamas, Auburns, West Virginias, etc., for as long as Spurrier has been coach. They won and won big.
I think UF has the strongest case for the national championship, or Mythical National Championship as my Seminole friend John calls it. True, despite the many breaks UF needed to even have a shot to win it, there is not much of a case for the other teams. I think next to going undefeated, the next strongest case you can have is to go 1-1 against the only team you lost to. In other words, UF did not go undefeated, but they did beat every team on their schedule.
Florida went from 4 point losers to a great team, FSU, to 32 point winners. Florida played 60 minutes this time, and won the game with offense, defense, and special teams. They shut down Warrick Dunn, even if it did take leg cramps and FSU's pass happy offense to do it. The big surprise was that UF punter Robbie Stevenson matched FSU punter Scott Liss, a man who I think is the most reliable punter I've ever seen. Florida won the battle of field position thanks to strong punt run backs and solid defense.
The Gators played 5 bowl teams during the regular season: four of them went on the win their bowl game. Alabama beat an excellent Michigan team; at least, Ohio State backers trying to make the Buckeyes' National Championship case had better say that Michigan is good. LSU beat Clemson, Tennessee crushed Northwestern, and Auburn, despite horrible coaching, held off Army. And FSU, of course, was the other bowl team of Florida's regular season.
Also in UF's favor is the comparison of the Ohio State-Michigan game and the UF-FSU regular season game. Losing to number two on the road by four is much more impressive than losing to a team with 3 losses at your own place.
My top 5 was UF, FSU, Ohio State, Arizona State, and BYU. This is the best top 5 in recent memory (indeed, the best top 10). I ranked FSU second because Florida State was the only other team to win a game against every team they played. But I have tremendous respect for Ohio State, Arizona State, and BYU. Undoubtedly, BYU got screwed by the alliance, and maybe should have been in that Sugar Bowl. Arizona State was one of the steadiest, most well-coached teams I have ever seen, and if Danny Wuerffel is the greatest college quarterback ever (Spurrier's words, not mine), then Plummer must be up there too. And as for Ohio State, sweet Ohio State. The alliance's best friend. They made last year's Fiesta Bowl the NC game by losing to Michigan, then this year made the Sugar Bowl at least partially an NC game by losing to Michigan, and sealed the deal with a great Rose Bowl victory over Arizona State.
All five of those teams should be congratulated. ASU, FSU, and Florida all had losses against another top 4 team, and Ohio State lost to a good Michigan, and beat some outstanding teams along the way. And all BYU does is set a record for the most wins in a season with 14. Their loss was to a very good Washington team. Wow, what a top 5!
Wuerffel... Heisman Trophy and National Championship. Well, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. (Though it could easily have happened to Wirrick Dunn or Jake Plummer, both outstanding in character and on the football field.)