ANAHEIM, Calif. – When a team enters a season with expectations of competing for a national championship, going to a bowl game without championship implications can feel like a consolation prize.
Urban Meyer knows that from experience. During his first media availability of Rose Bowl week at Disneyland on Wednesday, Meyer thought back on his 2009 team at Florida – which had won the national championship one year earlier, and returned Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow – and how the Gators lacked excitement to play in the Sugar Bowl (even though they went on to win that game, 51-24, over Cincinnati).