By Fred Bowen
Thursday, January 8, 2009

It's a great time to be a football fan.

Some of the most important college and pro games are being played in the next few days. Let's take a look at the big matchups:

National Championship Game

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators meet tonight for the championship of college football. I'm not sure which team will win, but I am sure it will be a high-scoring game. Oklahoma racked up an average of 54 points a game this season, while Florida tallied 45 points a game.

The teams score lots of points because they have terrific quarterbacks. Oklahoma's Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy as the outstanding college player this season by completing more than 68 percent of his passes and throwing for 48 touchdowns. Those are Nintendo numbers.

Tim Tebow, Florida's quarterback, is no slouch. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner threw for 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He also ran for 12 touchdowns.

So if you like touchdowns, get your homework done early, and beg your parents to let you stay up to see this exciting game, which starts at 8 p.m. on Fox.

NFC playoffs

The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants look like a cinch to return to the Super Bowl as the National Football Conference champions. The Giants have everything a team needs to win: two powerful 1,000-yard rushers in Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward, a tough defense and Eli Manning, a quarterback who already has a Super Bowl ring.

In addition, the other teams in the NFC playoffs -- the Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals -- are not that great. I know the Giants lost some games at the end of the season, but I don't see them losing any in the next two weeks.

AFC playoffs

Picking the American Football Conference winner is much harder. Every AFC team is tough. Even the San Diego Chargers, who have a so-so record of nine wins and eight losses, are red-hot, having won five games in a row.

I like the Pittsburgh Steelers' chances to go to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 1. The Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. Like Eli Manning, Roethlisberger has already won a Super Bowl.

But the real reason I like Pittsburgh is their defense. It's the best in the National Football League, allowing fewer than 14 points a game.

Be sure to keep an eye on my favorite Pittsburgh defender, Number 43, safety Troy Polamalu. You won't see his name on the back of his jersey, because Polamalu's long hair sticks out of his helmet and covers the letters. Polamalu says a prayer before every play and plays with such wild abandon that he is always around the ball.

My guess is that Pittsburgh's Number 43 will be going to Super Bowl XLIII.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.