By RAY McNULTY, Scripps Howard News Service

Two questions gnawed at me Saturday as I watched top-ranked Florida crush arch-rival Georgia 41-17 in college football's annual outdoor cocktail party in Jacksonville: Are the Gators that good? Or is the Southeastern Conference that bad? Here's what I've come up with.

Yes.

And yes.

Everyone knows that the only fair way to get a true national champion in college football is to implement some kind of playoff.

And I do mean everyone.

That includes all those university presidents who refuse to give us one, pretending to care about the athletes and academics and even the bowls when, really, what they care about most is the money.

There's a reason the Miami Dolphins are enjoying so much more success with their Wildcat formation than everyone else in the NFL.

Actually, there are three reasons.

Ronnie Brown.

Ricky Williams.

Tony Sparano.

MIAMI - If what we saw Monday night at Land Shark Stadium was any indication, the future of the annual, AFC East blood feud between the Jets and Dolphins is in very capable hands.

MIAMI - This is a strange marriage, the wedding of Bill Parcells' blue-collar brand of football and Stephen Ross' glitz-and-glamour marketing scheme.

Parcells, the Miami Dolphins' football boss, is all about grit and effort and teamwork, the ingredients he believes are necessary to win games.

What were you doing on this weekend 25 years ago? Do you remember how you spent that Saturday? Enjoying a late-summer day at the beach? Playing a little golf? Lounging at home, watching some college football? Probably, too much time has passed to recall exactly where you were and what you did.

But not for me.

The receiver was open in the end zone, as much as anyone could hope to be in such a dire circumstance.

The pass was there, a tad low but entirely catchable.

The game -- a must-have, home-field victory over a fierce rival in Monday night's season opener for both teams in Tallahassee, Fla. -- was in his hands.

And he dropped it.

Imagine living in an NFL city and having the TV broadcast of every home game blacked out.

It could happen. Here in Florida. In a part of the state that is supposed to be crazy about football.

Florida football coach Urban Meyer might not want to hear this, but ...

This is it. The season Florida fans have been waiting for. The long-awaited "Year of the Gator."

So what's it going to take?