There's no debate about the greatness of Tebow

Now check out the number. He is No. 15, but his jersey was tugged and twisted so much, sometimes it looked as if he were No. 11, sometimes 17, the wrinkles of a lineman.

Finish with the face. Thick cheeks decorated in eye black, framed by a crew cut, above a tight expression that sweated with intensity, a face of a fighter.

This is Tim Tebow. For a couple of wonderfully antique hours Thursday, this is the perfect player who made us forget college football's imperfect system.

After Florida's messy 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in the BCS national championship game at Dolphin Stadium, I'm still not sure I can name the nation's best team.

But I'm absolutely positive of its biggest star, that being the Gators quarterback who looks like a Four Horseman, acts like Seven Blocks of Granite, and talks like Knute Rockne.

"I wanted to leave nothing on that field," Tebow said.

But, oh, he did, and suddenly all the BCS controversy momentarily disappeared underneath his churning legs, his exhorting arms, and his game-ending, completely uncharacteristic, in-Oklahoma's-face Gator chomp.

Picked up the first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his career.

"I didn't trash talk," he said. "Just gave it a little Gator chomp."

Tebow left memories of his legs, which rushed for 109 yards, including 48 huge strides on Florida's go-ahead touchdown drive in the middle of the third quarter.

"He's one of those guys that you give him your best shot, he's going to get back up," Sooners safety Nic Harris said with a sigh.

He left memories of his arm, which threw two interceptions in the first half, but which found the strength to clinch the game with a four-yard jump pass to David Nelson with 3:07 left.

"A lot of it is their design, and a lot of it is him," admitted Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops.

Tebow accounted for 340 of Florida's 480 total yards, but just before he departed the field, he left one last memory far greater than even all that.

While the other Gators were hugging and dancing and waiting for the trophy presentation on the makeshift stage near one end zone, Tebow was on the other side of the field, running along the base of the stands, slapping hands with fans who screamed and cried and begged the junior for one more year.