The skill level is comparable, with Florida having an edge, overall.  Since only nine players are on the field at the time, the aggregate talent among 20-25 players per side is less important at a given moment.  SC hopes emotion makes the difference.

From his first season at UF, it has been clear that Sully uses a baseball business approach.  That shines through most of all with the pitching staff, where he is religious about pitch count and places a great deal of emphasis on righty/lefty match-ups.  Tanner uses a more emotional approach that is traditional in the college game.  He doesn't hesitate to use his top pitchers in critical situations, no matter their physical condition.  Sully has been super cautious about the injuries to Johnson and Maddux, while Tanner had his star 1B rub some dirt on the injured wrist, tape it up and go play.

Another sign of the emotional approach has been obvious in camera shots of the dugouts.  SC players wear rally caps in silly configurations and dance like high school cheerleaders.  If they'd just start singing and chanting, they'd look just like teams in the softball CWS.  The Gator dugout crew lined the railing, too, but the guys were talking among themselves and yelling to their teammates, but they did not seem to have the same high emotional pitch.

The emotional focus has helped other teams win against the Gators this year.  It has been galling to a few VSers that noles, UCF and a couple of other have won meaningless midweek games.  I see the JU game as a great example of what matters.  They had their top pitcher throw with short rest and he had a great game.  He also got bombed the following weekend in an important conference game. 

I doubt Tanner has placed any player at risk of long-term harm.  It's not my impression that he has overworked pitchers arms during the regular season, as M.Martin is said to do with nole pitchers.  It's only in critical playoff games that he has called on his players to sacrifice as much and it's worked, so far.

I prefer the steady approach with lower peaks and shallower valleys.  It certainly worked for Steve Spurrier and Billy Donovan and it has made Sully a consistent winner, too.  It would be simple enough to appeal to the boyish sides of the players, most of the team is age 20 or less and they were riding bicycles to the park and playing grab-ass in the dugout not long ago.  Still, Sully's style is built to pay off in the log run.  It has made this team stronger than the team that came to Omaha last year and I hope it shows in tonight's performance.

I'm convinced that the difference in the two teams will show up again tonight.  Last night, emotion was the better fuel.  After the game, Sully met with the guys and talked about putting the loss behind them and getting ready to play again.  He does that very well.  This game is a fun test of systems.  The Gators are strong and rested and prepared for the grind.  SC will throw their ace with much less rest than usual and hope emotion gets him through.  I hope that's a big mistake against the strong Gator line-up.