By CHRISTOPHER RAMIREZ

Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Florida’s Tim Tebow, the opposing quarterbacks in Thursday’s BCS National Championship Game, are forever linked by their Heisman trophies. They are also linked by faith.

Bradford, who reads the Old Testament story of David and Goliath before every game, this year became the second sophomore to win the Heisman in the award’s 74-year history.

The first? Tebow, who claimed the honor in 2007 and displays a reference to a New Testament passage on his eye black during games.

The two will be the center of attention at Dolphin Stadium on Thursday, as they become the second pair of Heisman winners to oppose each other in a championship game. Oklahoma’s Jason White and USC’s Matt Leinart were the first, in the 2005 championship game in Miami.

Yet the quarterbacks have insisted that the spotlight shouldn’t shine solely on them.

“I feel like it’s two great teams playing,” Bradford said. “It’s not going to come down to whether me or Tim plays great. It’s going to be which team plays better as a whole.”

Tebow had a similar message, pointing out that other factors would help determine the outcome of the game.

“It could be which defense, it could be which coach out-schemes the other coach, it could be which line comes off more dominant,” he said. “There are a lot of things. I don’t think you can say it’s just both quarterbacks.”

It will be the first time the athletes’ paths have crossed on a football field.

Bradford and Tebow have anticipated facing off for the national title since early December, when the Sooners and the Gators won their respective conference championships and finished the regular season as the top two teams in the BCS rankings. The following weekend, the two shared the stage, along with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York.

The impending match-up added an extra twist to their encounter.

“There was talk about, ‘Hey, we’ll be playing against each other in a couple weeks,’” Bradford said, “but it was all friendly and nothing was really competitive at that point.”

Tebow added: “We had to do a few photo shoots and whatnot with each other, but we didn’t really get to sit down and talk too much. I don’t know if our personalities are exactly alike, but in a few manners I think we are similar.”

Both quarterbacks built their Heisman résumés on eye-popping numbers. Bradford has thrown for 4,464 yards and 48 touchdowns this season. He also led the nation in passing efficiency and led the Sooners’ offense to an NCAA-record 702 points. In 2007, Tebow passed and ran for a combined 4,181 yards and 55 touchdowns.

They met for the first time only days before the Heisman ceremony, in Orlando, Fla., for the ESPNU College Football Awards show. Bradford said he’d been looking forward to the meeting since learning of the Tebow family’s missionary trips.

“One of the coolest things about meeting him is getting to know more about him and his family and what they do to help people in other countries who are less fortunate than we are,” Bradford said. “I think that says a lot about him and his family.”

While Bradford likes to keep a low profile, Tebow has been more visible, making appearances to speak at prisons and hospitals, for example.

But both players have woven their spiritual beliefs into football.

Tebow started a trend earlier this season by wearing eye black with the inscription “PHIL” under his right eye and “4:13” under his left. It refers to the Bible passage Philippians 4:13 — “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” — and has brought a different kind of attention to the junior.

“I’ve got letters and calls from different high school teams and Pop Warner teams that had all their players do it,” Tebow said. “I’ve had letters from parents saying, ‘Thank you, because after that my kid asked me about what that means,’ and they were able share the Bible with them.”

Bradford, on the other hand, draws upon the Old Testament for inspiration. Reading the David and Goliath story, which he’s done since he was young, is something that “gives me confidence going onto the field,” he said.

Asked if he saw himself as David this week, Bradford quickly replied “no.”

In the end, there’s little doubt that both he and Tebow want to be king.