Between the goal posts

Forget all the stuff you have been reading about the opening of college football season. Boston College begins practice on Monday. Other schools began earlier this week.

The official start of the 2009 college football season begins today. Just after 6 a.m. EDT, if you want to be precise, the defending national champion Florida Gators hit the field for their first practice.

Who's No. 1? That would be coach Urban Meyer's team. Last year. And this season. Oh they will play the games they need to play of course. For Florida that means a cupcake non-conference schedule -- Charleston Southern and Troy are the first two games as well as FIU and Florida State. And -- as always -- the rugged SEC schedule.

But Florida has what no one else in the country has in QB Tim Tebow. All Tebow has done is win a Heisman Trophy and been part of two national championships in his stint in Gainesville. In case you were wondering, only two other players in college football history -- Doc Blanchard for Army in 2005 and Matt Leinart for USC in 2005 have been able to do that. And NO ONE has ever won two Heismans and three national championships, which Tebow could very well do by the time his college career comes to an end next January.

And then we have coach Meyer, whose career path -- Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida -- continues to climb and climb and climb. There was some foolish talk about Meyer still having an eye on eventually coaching at Notre Dame, which he has called his dream job.

Please.

The Florida job is better. And Meyer with his recent pay boost to $4 million a year makes almost as much as Charlie Weis ($4.2 million) does at Notre Dame and Pete Carroll ($4.4 million) does at USC.

Which is at it should be. Meyer has won two national championships in the last three years with the Gators.

So let the season begin. Let summer camp and story lines develop and sit back and enjoy the spectacle.

College football 2009 officially began this morning.