MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - We concede.

And by we, I mean the rest of the college football world.

As the heavily partisan Florida fans chanted in the waning moments of Thursday's game, "S-E-C, S-E-C, S-E-C."

And if all the leagues from the Big East to the Pacific-10 knew what was good for them, the other 107 NCAA Division I-A teams would S-E-C-ede from the union that the Gators definitely own these days.

If there were any doubts about the right team with the rightful claim to No. 1, Urban Meyer's Gators removed them - at least most of them - by taking control in the second half and stifling top-ranked Oklahoma's prolific offense for a convincing 24-14 victory.

ADVERTISEMENT

The victory earned the SEC a third consecutive national title, replicating something no other league had pulled off in more than half a century. Not since Minnesota defended its 1940 crown with another and Ohio State followed it up in 1942 had one conference put up three in a row.

And Florida now has two of those - in 2006 and 2008 - with LSU's title sandwiched in between.

Can you say dynasty? Gators fans can, especially if 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow returns to college, as expected. Florida has positioned itself as the new Southern California of this decade and shows no signs of stopping here.

Yes, unbeaten Utah and oneloss Texas and USC can climb on their soapboxes and make valid pitches because Florida (13-1) has a blemish on its record. But the Gators can claim something the others cannot: They won the best conference in America.

In truth, Texas might have put up a better fight here at Dolphin Stadium than an Oklahoma team beset by red-zone failures and an inability to contain either Tebow or his sensational sidekick, Percy Harvin, who's part-wideout, partrunning back and all-world.

The Longhorns didn't get that chance and saw their remote shot at a title fade with the Gators' victory. It didn't help that Texas was denied a chance to win the Big 12 because of tie-breaking rules that make as much sense as the electoral college, barely beat a really good Ohio State team and was diminished by a loss to fast-fading Texas Tech - its lone conqueror - down the stretch.

Granted, we bellyached for months that the pass-happy Big 12 had dethroned the mighty SEC and stolen its place as the premier conference in the nation. Not true.

The SEC didn't have its usual stable of great teams -- Alabama floundered badly against Utah in the Sugar Bowl -- but it obviously had one. The rest weren't chopped liver because the league went 6-2 in the bowl season.

Ole Miss, the most underrated team in America, thrashed an 11-victory Texas Tech, which was an excellent team once upon a time in 2008. LSU held a nine-victory Georgia Tech team without a touchdown. Georgia whipped nine-victory Michigan State. Even Kentucky and Vanderbilt are winning bowl games these days.

Therein lies the crunch. The Big 12 didn't deliver in the postseason. Oh, it produced four victories from Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, but Tech and Oklahoma State laid eggs and Oklahoma had so many blunders one wondered if Mike Leach were coaching the Sooners.

Florida very clearly won it, but OU certainly did its part to lose it, as the Sooners dropped their fifth consecutive BCS game and third national title chance this decade.

"If that's the biggest burden in life I'll have to bear, I'll be all right," OU Coach Bob Stoops said. "We'll keep trying to go after 'em."

The BCS folks caught a break because if the Sooners had somehow clipped the Gators, it might have set off so much hand-wringing that three or four state attorneys general, and not just Utah's, might have headed to the courthouse and filed lawsuits.

That didn't happen because OU failed to score on two trips inside the Florida 10 -- have you heard of a field goal, Bob? -- had a field goal blocked, didn't spy on Tebow, who killed them with run after crucial run, and never came up with the big plays it had from September to December.

"Big Game Bob" was more "Big Lame Bob" for eschewing easy field goals that could have given the Sooners some badly needed momentum.

OU did answer the charge that no one in the Big 12 played defense.

The Sooners held down the high-scoring Gators for most of three quarters, but Meyer's balanced attack kept OU off balance, had the ball for almost 10 more minutes than the Sooners and scored four times in four red-zone chances.

The game never really lived up to its billing as a shootout between two teams that averaged 99 points a game between them because it was a mistake-riddled contest, and the defenses held the upper hand.

Both Heisman-winning quarterbacks were victimized by two interceptions, the biggest when Florida's Ahmad Black wrested the ball away from Juaquin Iglesias in the fourth quarter as OU was driving to come back from a 17-14 deficit.

But then, the SEC has always boasted - rightfully - that it plays defense better than anyone.

Why, OU might even have to wash Sam Bradford's uniform for once.

In the end, Tebow and Harvin and that speedy defense weren't to be denied.

The crowd was so heavily weighted in Florida's favor - probably 3 to 1 - that OU might have sworn it was playing in Gainesville. It figures to get even louder in the Swamp from now on.

Oh, and what does next year hold for the Gators since they were the only SEC team without a senior starter on defense and trailed only twice in 14 games this season?

They just might be the preseason No. 1 team in the country.