Because when I threw the set-up out to my wife she got the punchline right away.

And this is it — while a lot of us are rejoicing that college football driving towards a four-team playoff with the speed of Junior Johnson, that crumpled heap of trash it may be discarding on the side of the road is one of the greatest events in sports.

The SEC Championship Game.

It’s in my top five. I love going to Atlanta for that game no matter who is playing in it. There is nothing like that atmosphere, especially since the SEC starting owning college football.

But if the BCS boys come up with a system that allows only conference champions into the mix and then only if they are among the top six as has been proposed, it might mean the end of the SEC title game.

Here’s why: It has been risky enough the last two years to have unbeaten teams play in the game against teams that have no shot of playing for a national championship. Auburn dispatched South Carolina in 2010 and LSU came to its senses in time to roll over Georgia last year.

South Carolina was 19th in the BCS and Georgia 16th, Even if either team won and claimed the SEC championship, neither was going to finish among the top four.

The league dodged those bullets, but I can’t help but wonder what it will do if this proposal passes. Last year, the league was covered with Alabama. But if we finally get a playoff and the SEC Championship Game could eliminate the league from that playoff, well, I wonder how much longer it will be around.

You could make the same argument for any of the championship games. Since the playoff is going to add two games to the post-season, are we nearing an end to the conference title games?

I hope not. But it’s very possible.

“Nobody is going to work harder in the nation than Ronald Powell,” Muschamp said. “I told him after the game it was a setback and he said, ‘It’s not a setback. I’ll be OK.’

“The guy has got an amazing attitude. I’m struggling with it and (defensive coordinator) Dan Quinn is struggling with it more than he is. I wouldn’t bet against Ronald Powell.”

Powell is not expected to have surgery to repair the injury until next week when the swelling goes down. He is expected to be out from four-to-six months but Muschamp sounded like he expects to see No. 7 on the field this fall at some point. The big question will be whether it makes more senese to redshirt Powell. A lot depends on when he is physically able to play.

After securing a victory last year as an honorary coach in the Orange and Blue game, I could have walked away undefeated. Instead, I came back for more.

And a wild ending left Andy Staples and I on the short end of a 21-20 score. Our Orange team scored with 23 seconds remaining but didn’t convert a two-point conversion.

After the game, I confronted Will Muschamp.

“If you kick the extra point, I’m 1-0-1. I’m still undefeated,” I said.

“You have to go for two there,” he said with a smile. “You wanted a tie? You’re Pat Dye.”

In all seriousness, it was great fun. The flag football game before the spring game was hilarious, the access was amazing and the opportunity to be in the middle of it all for the second straight year was much appreciated by this old man.

Since Staples and I were on the defensive side, coordinator Dan Quinn asked us before the game what we wanted to call.

“Biltz every time,” I said.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said.

Later, running backs coach Brian White wanted to know if we had any words of wisdom for the team. I had my coaching cliches ready. Then someone said, “And don’t ride motorcycles.”

The Gator Walk was way cool again. We walked from the locker room to the start of it this year instead of taking a bus for a two-block ride. Caleb Sturgis, the Gator placekicker, said to a teammate as they walked, “This is what happens when you go 7-6.”

Talked to Chris Leak. He’s going back to play in Canada. Talked to Alex Brown. He’s working for Comcast in Chicago. Talked to so many great Gators.

It was a great day. Even if I dropped to 1-1.

But if you are going to ride the March Madness train, this is what you get. And if you are going to be away from home for an extended period, it’s difficult to believe there are two better sites than Omaha and Phoenix.

For one thing, the people in both cities are so friendly. After being in New Orleans and almost being killed by a cab, it’s amazing how people here in Phoenix will actually stop and let you cross even when you don’t have the right of way.

And they have people wandering around downtown with bright orange shirts who are there to help you get where you want to go. It’s like the opposite of so many SEC cities where nobody seems to know where media parking is.

Downtown Phoenix is one of the nicest and most beautiful towns in America. If there is a negative, it’s that the homeless people here are really angry.

I was walking to breakfast one morning and there was a guy on the corner just screaming about something. And later that day, a young girl was walking near my hotel holding a cat and trying to beg for money. As more and more people ignored her, she finally yelled, “Am I bleeping invisible?!!?”

As much as I miss my family and all of you back in Gainesville, this has been a wonderful ride. And on Thursday, I was in the same building as two of my sports heroes — Muhammad Ali and Magic Johnson.

Tonight will be my 16th night in a hotel bed out of the last 18 nights. But this is what you sign up for with the tournament.

Here we are at the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Major League Baseball is about to crank up. The NBA is in high gear. Tiger will tee off at Bay Hill tomorrow.

And all anyone can talk about is the NFL.

Peyton Manning signs with Denver. Tim Tebow is traded to the New York Jets. Sean Peyton is suspended for a year.

Oh well, I might as well jump in, too.

1. Like I said earlier, I’d have made the move if I was the Broncos. But if I was Manning, I’d have gone to San Francisco. Denver was awful before Tebow took over and, to be honest, not much better with him. He willed them to a bunch of wins, but there were certain teams they could not even dream of beating. Denver has a lot more moves to make if it thinks it will be in the Super Bowl again.

2. Tebow to the Jets makes no sense. They already have a quarterback who needs constant pats on the back. And the locker room was a mess before Tebow was acquired. Does anyone believe this is going to be a good fit? It’s good for Timmy off the field in terms of his marketability. But I just don’t get why Rex Ryan would make this move. At the same time, it’s low risk because of what they gave up.

3. I was surprised at the length of the suspension for Peyton, but not that the NFL came down hard on him. It was a message they felt needed to be sent. I wrote two weeks ago that the people of New Orleans could not care less about the SEC Tourney because of all the news floating around about their football team. The Final Four is there next weekend.

We are back in Phoenix after a crazy night of flying (head hit pillow at 4:15 a.m. Eastern) and it brings back a lot of memories.

Certainly, the best of those memories was 2006, still my favorite trip of all time. Not only did Florida win the national title, we were treated like kings by the Fiesta Bowl people. Of course, with everything that has transpired concerning their finances, maybe we all should feel a little guilty.

We were out here in 1995 to see Florida get demolished by the best college football team I have ever seen. Hey, Nebraska just scored again.

We were here in 1999 to watch Florida basketball team in the Sweet 16. And of course, there was 2006.

I have been out here two other times for USFL games. I get why people retire to this area. Downtown Phoenix is clean and low key. And it doesn’t stink to wake up in my room, look out the window and see the Major League park of the Arizona Diamondbacks with mountains in the distance.

Florida’s AD Jeremy Foley likes to remind me how lucky I am to cover Florida. Certainly, it’s not because of the access. But the sights we get to see make me realize that he may be right.

But this no daylight savings time is crazy.

The Hilton is across the street from the arena where the regional was played Friday and Sunday. After Florida’s win, Kansas was pushed to the brink of elimination before surviving Purdue. I watched the game while eating dinner at the hotel bar.

Almost as soon as the horn had sounded the quiet bar exploded as Kansas fans stormed the place in need of a drink.

Among those who bellied up, former NBA player and current announcer Steve Kerr and former Vermont coach and current radio announcer Tom Brennan. They are two of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet as were their producers.

So we spent the night telling stories. They loved my Harold Arceneaux story. So here it goes:

When we arrived in Seattle for the 1999 Regionals, we stumbled into the media area to see a Weber State media guide. On the cover was Harold “The Show” Arceneaux. The next night, The Show lit up North Carolina and sent the Tar Heels packing.

Chris Harry, then working for the Tampa Tribune, and I watched the game at courtside just marveling over this player. Late in the game, Chris said to me, “Hey, it’s too late to get anything in our papers (it was around 1 a.m.) but we can go to the locker room and get some quotes for tomorrow.”

Since Weber State would be playing Florida next, we both went in search of The Show after the game. In the locker room, his teammates were telling us his performance was no surprise. One of his teammates was from the same area as Arceneaux, so I asked him if The Show was a high school legend.

He looked at me and said, “I don’t think The Show went to high school.”

In the next game, The Show was on fire again. But Billy Donovan’s strategy was to run him ragged. At the start of the second half, Weber State’s players came out for warm-ups but there was no Show. Finally, he trudged out, went over to the bench and sat down.

Someone on press row said, “The Show is over.”

Florida won, of course, and advanced to Phoenix and the Sweet 16. I wonder where The Show is now?

Today was one of those days. I went to the Old Mattress Factory to watch the Florida women play and grab some lunch. In the corner there was what looked like a game of some kind.

Only when I approached it did I realize what it was. For $2 you can try to fetch a lobster using an arm a claw at the end. By the time I saw it the lobsters were down to a threesome and had huddled in the corners so the arm could not reach them. Still, guys in Kansas gear kept trying because three of their buddies were eating lobster for lunch.

If you caught one, the Old Mattress Factory would cook it for you.

At first, looking at the lobster flinching in the corners, I felt sad and wondered how PETA would feel about it. But we throw live lobsters in boiling water so I guess it’s a line that has been drawn with butter.

Of course, Florida won the women’s game. Good for Amanda Butler. The claw is coming for her team in the next round.

But I had only seen the CenturyLink Center from the outside (although it was the Qwest Center them). It’s right across the Hilton where the Gator baseball team stayed and a 3-wood from the TD Ameritrade Park where the CWS is held.

The arena is linked to the Hilton with a sky bridge and also a convention center where next week if we want to stick around we can see “The World of Wheels.”

At any rate, this is my first time inside the CenturyLink Center and I have to say it is a beautiful arena. Creighton plays its game here and there is a nice schedule oc conerts upcoming including Jimmy Buffet and Nickelback.

It’s one of the best set-ups for the media as well and after the cramped conditions on New Orleans Arena last week it’s welcomed. Not that you care.

Florida is staying right up the street at the Courtyard Marriott where I spent the last four nights of my last Omaha journey. Across the street, the t-shirt shop that saved me when I ran out of clean clothes during the CWS is an abandoned store now. But D.J.’s Dugout, where you can watch every sport imaginable abs even bet on Keno, is going strong. So is the Rock Bottom Brewery, where I watched Rory McIlroy win the U.S. Open on Father’s Day.

It’s funny, but I was thinking about how two years ago Florida went to Oklahoma City, which is the home of the Women’s CWS. This year, the Gators are in the home of the men’s CWS. Two years ago, they were one-and-out. We’ll see what happens this time.

How does our view of Kentucky change heading into the tournament it really wants to win?

It depends on how you see it — whether you are a Kentucky fan or are hoping the Wildcats don’t make it back to Atlanta for the Final Four.

The optimistic Kentucky fan will tell you this was good for the ‘Cats, that as hard as it was to stomach this team needed a loss before the NCAA Tournament. They needed to feel that pain of going home without a trophy. And besides, didn’t their Fearless Leader say he didn’t care about this tournament anyway?

The pessimistic Kentucky fan (and those of you who are rooting hard for John Calipari not to get his first national title) will tell you the Wildcats looked vulnerable all weekend at this tournament. They were down to LSU before rallying, pushed to the limit of Florida and finally beaten by Vanderbilt.

Here’s what I think:

1. This is still the best team in the tournament but we all know the best team doesn’t always win this tournament. The Wildcats lack depth and it’s possible that these freshmen have worn down late in the season.

2. On the other hand, while the NCAA Tournament is a grind, it’s not three games in three days.

3. But Billy Donovan deserves an assist for Vandy’s win because he showed on Saturday that you can wear the Kentucky bigs down by playing fast. It also doesn’t allow them to set up their defense. Plus, you have to think Vandy’s players were a little fresher because of the way Florida ran Kentucky the day before.

4. Kentucky struggles at times with its half-court offense and we saw it during this tournament.

5. Still, the Wildcats are going to have the crowd with them wherever they go.

6. In the end, as always, it’s going to come down to match-ups.