Location: Louisiana Superdome – New Orleans, LA [Capacity: 72,968]
Time: 8:30 p.m. (EST)
Weather Forecast: N/A

TV: FOX / FOXHD
Sirius: 120; XM: 140

Odds: Florida -13, O/U 57
Head-to-Head Stats: Gainesville Sun

KEEP AN EYE ON…
- Florida’s 2009 senior class…the winningest group in Southeastern Conference history with a 47-7 overall record. The seniors will be playing in their third BCS game and fourth January bowl in four years.
- Seniors quarterback Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes…two of the best players in school history who do not wish for their last memories in the Orange and Blue to be back-to-back losses.
- Junior defensive end Carlos Dunlap…who is returning from suspension for a DUI and, according to coaches, is raring to make up for his mistake to his teammates, coaches and Gator Nation. It is undecided if Dunlap will start.
- Junior cornerback Joe Haden and wide receiver Mardy Gilyard…who will face-off in what could potentially be the match-up of the game between one of the best CBs and one of the best WRs in the nation. Haden has already been a menace to Alabama Crimson Tide WR Julio Jones and Georgia Bulldogs WR A.J. Green this season.
- Head coach Urban Meyer…who is 3-0 in BCS bowls and a combined 5-1 in his career in bowl games. Meyer and his wife Shelley both attended the University of Cincinnati. As a player for the Bearcats, Meyer faced the Gators in the teams’ only previous meeting, a 48-17 Florida victory on Oct. 20, 1984.
- Experienced players…the Gators feature 19 starters and 44 players who saw action in the 2009 BCS National Championship.

STREAKS:
- The Gators are appearing in a bowl game for the 19th straight season, the second-longest active streak in the nation. Friday’s game is Florida’s sixth appearance in a BCS bowl game and eighth appearance in the Sugar Bowl.
- Though the Gators are 5-1 against teams from the state of Ohio (1-1 in bowl games), they are only 7-3-2 all-time against the Big East.
- Florida has allowed 15 touchdowns this season, tied for fewest in the nation; the 11.5 points per game it allows ranks No. 3 in the country.
- The Gators are the only team in the country that has posted over 2,800 rushing and passing yards and are only one of four teams in the nation to score at least 25 rushing and passing touchdowns.
- Florida’s defense has recorded interceptions in 11 of 13 games and 23 of 25 games.
- The Gators have not lost back-to-back games since Sept. 29 and Oct. 6, 2007.

Read OGGOA’s Florida Gators vs. Cincinnati Bearcats preview after the jump!

2010 SUGAR BOWL Preview
No. 5 Florida Gators vs. No. 3 Cincinnati Bearcats

Though the 2010 Sugar Bowl will feature two of the top teams in the nation in the No. 5 Florida Gators (12-1) and No. 3 Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0), the stories leading up to the big game at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA, have been less about the game itself and more about the head coaches who will and won’t be on the sidelines.

First, Cincinnati lost head coach Brian Kelly to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish; replacing him on Friday is interim coach Jeff Quinn, who was named the new Buffalo Bulls head coach just days after being tabbed as the Bearcats’ temporary coach for the bowl game. Florida fans thought they might have an upper hand here, but defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was hired away by the Louisville Cardinals almost simultaneous with Kelly’s departure. Then an unexpected blow came for the Gators when head coach Urban Meyer resigned last Saturday, only to change his mind a day later. Meyer, who is a Cincinnati alum and former player, is 56-10 at Florida and said the Gators are “full speed ahead. We’re going to do everything possible to win this game.”

While uncertainty may surround those calling the shots on the sidelines, things on the field are pretty cut and dry for each team. Florida senior quarterback Tim Tebow hopes to close out one of the single greatest careers in college football history with a bang. Fellow seniors linebacker Brandon Spikes, LB Ryan Stamper, wide receiver Riley Cooper, LB Dustin Doe, WR David Nelson, cornerback Wondy Pierre-Louis and a host of others are also playing their last collegiate game in Orange and Blue. With so many talented players on staff, the Gators could also lose a bevy of juniors to the 2010 NFL Draft including CB Joe Haden, defensive end Carlos Dunlap, center Maurkice Pouncey, guard Mike Pouncey and safeties Major Wright and Ahmad Black.

The Bearcats come into the game on the shoulders of two seniors of their own – QB Tony Pike and WR Mardy Gilyard. One of the best and most productive quarterback-receiver duos in the country, Pike and Gilyard present the best aerial attack the esteemed Florida defense has seen all season. The head-to-head match-up between Gilyard and Haden should prove to be the most interesting and dynamic of the game. Defensively, the Gators simply outmatch Cincinnati. Florida’s defense has only allowed 150 points in 13 games (mostly against Southeastern Conference offenses) while Cincinnati has let up 249 points in their 12 contests.

The Gators come into the game with the stronger pedigree, but they have a heavy heart after missing out on a 2010 BCS National Championship appearance while simultaneously ending a school-record 22-game winning streak by falling to the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2009 SEC Championship. Florida is also dealing with some injuries. Senior kick returner Brandon James (foot) and redshirt junior LB A.J. Jones (knee) were ruled out weeks ago and redshirt junior DT Terron Sanders (hip) is a surprising inactive after Strong said the entire team (aside from Jones) was healthy and ready to go just last week.

OGGOA will be with you before, during (via twitter) and after the game with full coverage of the 2010 Sugar Bowl. A post-game story will be up shortly after the game.

2 » Though they lost head coach Brian Kelly to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and their interim coach, Jeff Quinn, accepted the head job with the Buffalo Bulls, the Cincinnati Bearcats are playing better than ever, according to quarterback Tony Pike. “I think this has been our best week of practice this season,” Pike said. “It’s been a relief to get back on the field. The success we’ve had this season had been overshadowed by the other stuff.” The Bearcats and Gators will both descend on New Orleans, LA, on Saturday to begin practice for the 2010 Sugar Bowl.

3 » A five-star recruit coming out of high school, Florida freshman guard Kenny Boynton has already delighted fans with his exciting play and aggressive style. His shot selection, however, leaves much to be desired. Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun took a closer look at Boynton’s struggles – the freshman sensation is shooting only 37 percent from the floor and a measly 21.9 percent from beyond the arc. In the Gators’ loss last Saturday against the Richmond Spiders, Boynton was 0-6 from three-point range, some of which were simply bad shots. “Kenny may have taken some bad shots, but I think the same thing can be said of the rest of our team,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “Guys are going to have ups and downs. He’s got to have the freedom to take good shots, to take unchallenged shots.” While his shot selection may be questionable, one key to Boynton’s success in the backcourt is his penchant to hold onto the ball; he has a sterling 2.25 assist-to-turnover ratio.

4 » Though Donovan and his players are certainly not making excuses, one of the reason’s for Florida’s recent struggles on the court (aside from the high quality of opponents faced) are their injuries. Only six of the team’s 11 scholarship players are healthy, with the frontcourt being especially banged up. Junior forward Chandler Parsons (torn leg muscle), redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin (pulled gluteus muscle) and sophomore C Kenny Kadji (back) will all likely be good-to-go Tuesday. Freshman F Erik Murphy (shoulder), on the other hand, may sit and rest. “Those kind of injuries that we have right now are similar to a lot of teams and what they go through,” Donovan said. “But there’s no question [that other teams] have a lot more depth than we do right now.”

2 » Florida women’s basketball (5-5) defeated the Southern Jaguars (6-3) 62-35 in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Sunday in the first round of the Gator Holiday Classic. Sophomore center Azania Stewart scored a career-high 18 points as she led the Gators to victory. Florida will take on the High Point Panthers for the tournament title at 7 p.m. on Monday.

3 » Further fleecing the Cincinnati Bearcats staff, the Buffalo Bulls have hired Jeff Quinn (Cincinnati’s interim coach after Brian Kelly left for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish) as its new head coach. Though Quinn will not start until after the 2010 Sugar Bowl, his hiring spells relief for Gators fans who were hoping neither cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford nor quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler would be hired away for the job.

4 » Seniors quarterback Tim Tebow and softball pitcher Stacey Nelson, along with 28 other Florida student-athletes, graduated on Saturday. Here are two pictures: