Gators taking it easy early in college season

With the kickoff of the college football season just three weeks away, nearly all of the pre-season media polls and rankings are predicting the Florida Gators will repeat as national champions.

Texas, Southern Cal and Oklahoma are regarded as the most likely teams to step forward if the Gators falter. After that, it gets a little fuzzy.

The coaches, who vote in the USA Today poll, put Alabama at No. 5. Sports Illustrated picks Virginia Tech. This will be settled on the first Saturday of the season when the Crimson Tide square off with the Hokies at the Georgia Dome.

The first betting line of the season came out this week and 'Bama is favored by 6 1/2 points.

If the bookies are right (and they usually are) the top four have nothing to worry about on Labor Day weekend. The line:

Oklahoma by 21 1/2 over Brigham Young.

Southern Cal by 34 1/2 over San Jose State.

Texas by 40 1/2 over Louisiana Monroe.

Florida by 73 over Charleston Southern.

That's right, no half points for the Gators. Just an obscene 73.

The UF administration and coach Urban Meyer should be ashamed for scheduling such a mismatch. And that's just for starters. The Gators' second opponent Sept. 12 is that renown power from the Sun Belt conference, Troy.

In fairness, I have to point out that Florida's next eight games are with Southeastern Conference teams and if it emerges from those contests unbeaten it will deserve to be No. 1.

Not every team in the state of Florida opens on easy street. The Gators' two primary rivals in the recruiting wars, Florida State and Miami, play each other in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Labor Day.

And while I question the schedule-makers in Gainesville for lack of fair play in choosing Charleston Southern as an opponent, I wonder what Miami was thinking when it committed to its first four 2009 matches -- FSU, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma. Each is a consensus preseason Top 20 team.

I know non-conference foes, like Oklahoma, are scheduled years in advance and that television often dictates when you play a powerful conference team, but to have such a tough first month is ridiculous.

There is a faction in South Florida that feels so strongly about the Hurricanes losing all four games that they have internet message boards working to death the phrase: "Oh and four, out the door."

The target is coach Randy Shannon, who is in the third season of a four-year contract. He took over a program that had gone steadily downhill under Larry Coker, a nice guy who couldn't recruit and was a poor disciplinarian.

Shannon, one of only four black coaches out of 119 NCAA football schools, has brought in recruiting classes ranked in the top 25 in his three years on the job and has an overall record of 12-13. He does not tolerate players who do not follow his strict rules about class attendance and late-night shenanigans

Last season top quarterback Robert Marve was twice suspended -- once for a minor law violation and once for showing up late for class.

Marve has since transferred to Purdue.

Shannon was a starting linebacker on Miami's national championship team in 1987, a team with such swagger that ESPN analyst Beano Cook once said: "The Hurricanes will play anybody, any time, any place and they would be willing to take on Notre Dame in the afternoon and Florida that night."

This is the kind of swagger that Shannon carries into the season's first four games, which he insists provide a huge opportunity for the Canes to command national attention and get ranked fast.

Finally, it should be noted that Florida, with its loyal fan base, can fill its 90,000 seat stadium scrimmaging patsies like Charleston Southern and Troy. Miami would be fortunate to draw 20,000for a game with either team. The Canes need big name foes like Oklahoma to attract decent crowds.

Thus, the Gators can afford to sign Meyer to a six-year $24 million contract while Shannon needs a couple of early season victories to get a contract extension.