Head-to-head: BCS National Championship Game
 
Jan. 7, 2007

Editor's Note: As Ohio State and Florida prepare for the Bowl Championship Series national championship game, we've asked two PGA TOUR players -- one fan of each school -- to explain why their team will come out on top Monday night. Firing first is 1995 Florida graduate Chris Couch. The rebuttal comes from former British Open champion Ben Curtis, a native of Ostrander, Ohio, a Columbus suburb:

headshot-96x109.jpg

Chris Couch (Florida)
It all depends on turnovers. If we don't have any, we'll win. If we have more than one, we'll lose. I think our defense will hold us in the game. I think we have one of the best coaches in the NCAAs (Urban Meyer) and it will be a good contest. I plan on watching it somewhere on Oahu. I'm definitely looking forward to it, though I'm no (Chris) DiMarco. I want Florida to win, but it's not going to be the end of the world if they lose. For DiMarco, it might take him three weeks to recover (if Florida loses).

curtis_headshot.jpg

Ben Curtis (Ohio State)
I think if we don't turn the ball over, it's going to be hard for Ohio State to lose. I think if we force turnovers, it's going to be hard to lose. They have a good defense. They might have more team speed on defense than we have seen all year. We match up pretty well, though, and I think our defense is going to be the difference. On offense, I don't know how you keep up with Ohio State when they go to split five and you have to stop them and Troy Smith and a pretty good running game. It hasn't been done much all year. Being the favorite is not an issue. Ohio State has been favored in every game this year, and it's worked out fine. Another 3-4 weeks doesn't make a difference. I'm not sure if it will be a high-scoring or low-scoring game, but I believe if the Buckeyes play up to their ability they should win.