I'm not exaggerating when I say January 8th, 2007 is the Greatest Day of My Life. I wasn't a student at the time, but I was in Gainesville that fall and was lucky enough to be a part of the Gators' greatest triumph.
My friends and I cleared out of Gator City and onto University Avenue as soon as Urban Meyer got the Gatorade bath. It was packed with people, like after we beat UCLA, but it was a lot different. People are not as big into basketball, so it there was less people. Not only that, we didn't plan to rush the street after beating UCLA, it just happened. After the BCS title, you knew the whole town would be at 17th and University. There was disbelief in the crowd because we didn't think we'd win like that and anger because the public thought we wouldn't win. All this came out in the destruction of what is known now as "The Victory Tree", a piece of which is right next to my Palm Sunday fronds.
Of course, we really had no reason to knock down a defenseless tree. If anyone has reason to be angry, it's LSU. Of the 65 first place votes in the final AP Poll, four went to teams that did not win their DIVISION; Georgia and Kansas. Give Georgia credit because they were able to lose to South Carolina and Tennessee, which kept them away from LSU and a possible third loss. And after their governor wanted to steal Florida's water to fix their drought, now the UGA president wants a piece of Louisiana. He is proposing an eight team playoff presumably to keep Georgia in the race after they lose to Meyer and Spurrier. Classy Georgia. Too bad LSU's last two national titles are marked by people thinking that someone (USC twice and UGA this year) is better. But I'd rather have it them instead of us.