Let’s preface this with two statements: Florida QB Tim Tebow is a tremendous college football player. North Carolina PF Tyler Hansbrough is a excellent college basketball player.

But can you recall a time when the media has gone so disgustingly ga-ga over two college athletes before?

Surely the memories of last year’s Louisville-UNC game in the NCAA tournament remain fresh on your brain. UNC was victorious in the Elite 8 and Hansbrough was fantastic, scoring 28 points and collecting 13 rebounds. But the gushing from Jay Bilas and Dick Enberg – two very good announcers – and was ridiculously over-the-top, as you can witness in this video. UNC had the better team, was the higher seed, and the favorite! Hansbrough’s work ethic, talent and desire are undeniable (plus, he’s got a clean rap sheet!), but if you had just returned from six months on an Arctic expedition, you would have thought Hansbrough was the second coming of Lew Alcindor. In the next game, the Tar Heels were smoked in the semifinals by Kansas.

Which brings us to Tebow, who was terrific in Saturday’s win over No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Without his co-star, Percy Harvin, Tebow ran the football more, committed no turnovers, and led the Gators to victory. He carved up one of the best defenses in the country with precise passes at all the right times. It surely put Tebow in serious contention to repeat as the Heisman trophy winner (more on that later in the day).

But here’s the giveaway that the Tebow-love from announers Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson got to be excessive: When your wife is in the room, and she’s barely paying attention to the game, and looks up to say, “geez, you tell just listening to these guys that they want to be Tebow.” What did it for us was when Verne compared Tebow’s passionate speech following the loss to Ole Miss to “Win one for the Gipper.” Really, Verne? How, exactly, is a guy on his death bed comparable to Tebow being pissed about a home loss?

Tebow’s definitely a likable character – a noted ladies man, he’s being courted by politicians, thanks God first in speeches and carries a 3.7 GPA. He passes on Spring Break debauchery to perform circumcisions in Asia. Like Hansbrough, he hasn’t run afoul of the law. What’s not to love?

But are we looking at two truly great players in their generation – Hansbrough’s probably going to own tons of ACC records before he’s done, and Tebow could be looking at three National titles and three Heismans, assuming he pulls a double this year and then passes on the NFL and repeats the feat next season – or just two really, really good college athletes who the media fell in love with, yet never make it in the pros?

If you’re like us, and wondering why this kind of endless praise isn’t showered upon black college athletes … most of the best basketball talents skip college altogether (Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard) or aren’t around long enough to forge a legacy (Bosh, D Wade, Chris Paul). Ditto for football (Adrian Peterson). Some of the top young NFL running backs either went to a small college or a non-national contender (Tomlinson, Chris Johnson, Forte, Barber, Willie Parker, Michael Turner).

But there’s hope on the horizon! Quarterback’s the most important position, so maybe Penn State’s Daryll Clark and OSU’s Terrelle Pryor may slide into the role of Tebow next season.