By: Mr. Sensible

Will this be an old school defensive battle? The author thinks so.

Florida 24, Alabama 20

Three Keys for Florida Victory

1) Florida’s Defense
It is safe to say, Alabama hasn’t faced a tougher test than the one waiting this Saturday. Florida’s league leading defense is built in pressure, aggressiveness, and taking the ball away from the opponent. It is as hard to move the ball consistently against Florida as it is to score points – only nine times this season has the other team crossed the goalline against the Gators. Moreover, Florida is good as stuffing the run – only giving up 2.6 yards per attempt – which puts the onus on Alabama’s passing game even more. The Gators defensive backfield has produced 20 INTs this year and in a game against big, physical wide receivers of LSU (comparable to Alabama’s squad), Florida held them to 11 catches for 96 yards. That’s darn impressive. The loss of Carlos Dunlap on the defensive line due to suspension is noteworthy and he will be sorely missed. However, Florida possesses strength in scheme and quality depth which helps to cover for that loss and gives them a distinct advantage in this game.

2) Florida’s Coaching Staff
It is not a matter of Florida’s staff being better than Alabama’s as much as it is Florida’s staff has experience in these games and beyond and it all starts with the head coach, Urban Meyer.  It’s hard to describe Meyer without using the word “winner” in the report. Five double-digit win season, four conference titles,  two undefeated regular seasons, two BCS Championships, a number one overall NFL draft pick, a Heisman trophy quarterback, and 95 total wins over his nine year head coaching career. At Florida, he’s 56-9 overall and this may not even be the best team he’s fielded for the Gators. The supporting staff is excellent (don’t be surprised to see some of them plucked from the sidelines by season’s end) and they get maximum effort from highly-touted players. That’s not a small feat. It’s rare for Alabama’s Nick Saban to be equaled by the opposing sideline. Florida’s Meyer may just be better.

Only 2 more games of Hype, Will Vern's head explode? ...it just might.

3) Tim Tebow
Without going into too much hyperbole, Tebow is the x-factor, been there done it all, leader every team covets at the signal caller position. Even when it doesn’t seem possible for him to do something else, he finds ways to do it. Tebow’s won 34 times as a starter and lost only five times (four of those coming in his first year as starter). He’s thrown 84 TDs against 15 interceptions and rushed for a league record 56 TDs. Besides the insane stats, the leadership skills are undeniable and, maybe, unbeatable in big games like this one. Last year going into the fourth quarter, Florida was against the ropes and then Tebow made plays – with his arm no less – to bring them back to two fourth quarter scores against roughly the same Alabama team he’ll face Saturday. It’s hard to go against this guy with the big prizes are on the line.

Raise your hand if you think Alabama can knock Tebow out of the game. It took a blindside shot under the chin to do it before and it’s the only time we’ve seen this guy take a lick and not get up from it. I don’t think Alabama can be one dimensional on offense the way they were against Auburn and win this game; Florida’s too good at pass rush and pass defense for that. Alabama proved they can beat Auburn without a running game. Can they beat Florida without it? I don’t think so because opposing teams hoping to win against the Gators need balance. When it comes down to it, the best defense against Florida’s offense is to control the clock and keep the ball out of Tim Tebow’s hands. Finally, Florida’s offense isn’t as explosive – the scoring average is down 8 points and they haven’t been in the endzone as much – but they have actually gained more yards than last year’s squad. Additionally, the defense gives up 3 points less and 33 yards less per game this year. I’d say Florida is as good as 2008, just getting it done differently.

Final Thoughts
This is appointment football television for college fans. It’ll be an epic battle at every position and will come down to the wire. In the end, I believe Florida’s defense can limit Alabama’s endzone opportunities forcing field goals and the Gators offense can get to the endzone often enough to win the SEC Championship.

Are the powers that be controlling more than the telecast?

by Kevin Strickland

When ESPN signed a blockbuster $2 billion, 15 year deal in August of 2008 with the Southeastern Conference for the rights to televise sporting events including football and basketball many wondered what impact the agreement might have on the future of sports.

Some, echoing the sentiment expressed by former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, expressed concern at the amount of influence the network now commands and raised the question of where the line between broadcasting games and having a vested interest in their outcome begins to blur (http://www.tigersx.com/ks/espn-influence-is-also-its-curse/).

As the 2009 SEC season unfolds, many are wondering if the specter of tampering with the possible outcome of games might already have reared its ugly head.

In recent weeks a series of egregiously bad officiating calls have gone against opponents of both SEC front runners Alabama and Florida.

It’s undeniable that the calls in question changed the dynamic of the games if not their actual outcomes and each contributed heavily to keeping both the Tide and Gators undefeated through ten games.

When the Gators were in danger against a resilient Arkansas team, the Razorbacks were mystifyingly flagged for a personal foul/ The sham penalty extended a Florida drive allowing the Gators to tie the game with just over seven minutes remaining.

When Mississippi State challenged the Gators, the officiating crew and then the replay booth allowed a Florida touchdown on an interception when the naked eye and numerous slow-motion replays proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the ball was fumbled before crossing the goal.

On Saturday, with Alabama up six and driving in the fourth quarter, LSU intercepted a Greg McElroy pass. Everybody in the stadium saw it. Everybody watching on television saw a clear pick with both feet placed squarely in bounds. There was even a large divot where the first foot had been planted.

The only people in the stadium who didn’t see the interception? Two confused officials and a blind replay booth. The officials ruled the pass incomplete but not before they looked into each other’s eyes as if puzzling over what to do. Adding insult to injury, the the replay official confirmed the errant call.

Alabama went on to kick a field goal and increase their lead to nine. The difference between a six point spread and nine point advantage is canyonesque in a game where points are at a premium.

Could LSU have driven the field and scored to take the lead? Alabama fans snort at the idea and insist their defense wouldn’t have allowed such an affront, but stranger things have happened against better teams. Would the Tigers have seized the shift in momentum and broken the back of Alabama’s undefeated season? As a result of the blatantly erroneous call, we’ll never know.

Later, officials failed to react to an obvious foul on a screen pass to Julio Jones that helped spring the Alabama receiver for a long touchdown that sealed the win.

Shoddy officiating or a pattern of protecting the league’s sacred cows?

Because these were clearly the right calls to make....wink...wink!

“Speculation,” LSU head coach Les Miles grimly offered in the aftermath of the loss to Alabama, “is rampant.”

Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin and Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino have all come under fire for questioning the competence, if not the integrity, of the SEC officiating crews.

The crew that worked the Arkansas-Florida game was suspended for their blatant incompetence.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive has made it clear that he won’t tolerate criticism of officiating by firing warnings and leveling fines on coaches who do — even when those coaches are correct in their assessments.

When coaches are prevented from questioning obvious wrongs and are fined for speaking out, does that promote transparency or make it appear that the SEC does, in fact, have something to hide?

What does the SEC and by proxy ESPN have to gain by offering protection to Alabama and Florida? Isn’t the adage that an upset can happen on any given Saturday part of the pageantry and allure of college football?

The answers? Money, and lots of it. And not so much any more.

ESPN has a multi-billion dollar tie-in with the SEC. It is in the best interests of the network for the SEC to be represented in the BCS title game. The parent company of ESPN — ABC — owns the broadcast rights to January’s title game. It is also in the best interests of that network for an SEC team to hold one position.

When Florida was in trouble against Arkansas, can’t you imagine the suits at ABC sweating? What if the Gators had lost? And then beat Alabama in the championship game? Would the BCS computers spit out a Texas vs. TCU or Boise or Cincinnati title matchup? That would spell ratings disaster.

No, the SEC needs to make sure it holds up its end of the bargain and sends either the Gators or the Tide to the major stage.

Forget pageantry and the innocence of the college football experience. Cinderella’s a great story, but it’s not good for the bottom line if the kitchen help shows up at the ball and steals the spotlight away from the pre-ordained princesses.

Texas is, at this point, a virtual lock. The Longhorns would have to stumble and stumble badly down the stretch. Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M should pose no significant threat to Texas’ march to the title game and the Big 12 North opponent in the Big 12 Title Game is likely to offer little competition.

With half the bracket hopefully filled, ESPN and ABC needs a Florida or Alabama on the other side of the slate to help boost ad revenues, amp up viewership and pad ticket sales. The networks can’t afford to roll the dice on a BCS computer spitting out a Boise State or TCU at number one or two. Think of the lost revenue.

But what if Texas does trip over a blade of grass down the stretch? If the Tide and Gators are potentially off the board, the networks could envision a disaster of comet-smashing-into-the-Yucatan impact.

It’s a worst nightmare scenario, the kind of thing that causes network executives to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, to consider the possibilities if media darlings Florida, Alabama, Texas, USC and in any other season LSU and Oklahoma were to all fade.

USC imploded. ESPN and ABC couldn’t help the Trojans despite spending $2.4 million on hair gel for Kirk Herbstriet and getting Pete Carroll to grace their commercials.

Oklahoma flopped. Not even the networks could magically repair Sam Bradford’s shoulder, but not for lack of trying.

By the time LSU got to Alabama, the Bayou Bengals had a loss under their belts. Not wise to risk a one-loss team making the SEC title game and knocking off an unbeaten Florida.

The networks can’t do anything about Texas, the Longhorns have to make their own way. But what if they don’t?

Should Texas fail and if the SEC Champion is toting a loss, the possibility of a BCS title game between Boise State and TCU or Cincinnati exists.

If the refs looked like this no one would complain about the officiating.

That would be the mother of network nightmares. If the BCS burped out a Boise-Cincinnati BCS title game, it could also spell the beginning of the end for the BCS itself. The major conferences would balk and balk vociferously at a system that could create a title game that lacking in old-school star power.

To what lengths would the SEC and its partners ESPN and ABC go to prevent just such an epochal event?

Is it too much to believe the network might subtly exert its $2 billion muscle and quietly encourage the SEC to protect its investments?

Is such a suggestion coming from a company that staked 15 years of its future on the league really so far-fetched?

Whether there’s any veracity to the suspicions and speculation that now runs rampant, the video evidence appears to show a conclusive pattern to the botched calls. Perception is reality and the appearance of impropriety clearly exists.

Not even a replay from the booth can overturn that call.

Still no love for the 4-0 Auburn Tigers

By: Kevin Strickland

The Auburn Tigers out-punched the Ball State Cardinals 54-30 Saturday night to move to 4-0 on the season. If history is any indicator, the hot start bodes well for Tiger fortunes.

Only 27 teams in Auburn history have started a season 4-0. Eight of those occurred after 1974.

Of the eight teams in the last 35 years that started 4-0, only two failed to win at least ten games. The 1994 Tigers reeled off nine before a closing with a tie and a loss. Auburn started 2000 with five consecutive wins before fading to 4-4 down the stretch.

Two of the eight finished the season without a loss.

Only one of the eight lost more than two games.

Three of the eight won the SEC West (one other would have but was on probation).

Six of the eight finished in the Top Ten. All eight were ranked at the end of the season.

Seven of the eight opened the season with at least five consecutive wins.

Of interest to fans of college football’s greatest rivalry, seven of the eight Auburn teams that opened 4-0 defeated cross-state rival Alabama.

The 2009 Auburn Tigers have a long way to go before they can start considering double digit win totals.

Auburn special teams are truly special, particularly if you’re using the term “special” to describe something malformed, hideous and shocking to the senses.

Auburn special teams or another bad showing from Cher?

Against Ball State the Tigers fumbled a punt that led to a Cardinal touchdown, attempted a ill-timed and poorly-executed fake punt that helped Ball State put a field goal on the board, committed penalties that nullified the only quality punt and kick off returns, and did a poor job containing Cardinal kick returners.

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said special teams were his focus after flops against Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State were costly. There seems to be little, if any, improvement.

Kicker Wes Byrum provides lone spark to the woeful special teams effort. Byrum appears to have regained the consistency he showed as a freshman and has been methodically efficient.

Defensive lapses are also particularly troubling.

The Tigers gagged up 30 points to a team that managed just ten against North Texas.

Auburn continues to display a frustrating inability to get the opposition off the field on third down.

Poor tackling continues to plague the Tigers.

Fortunately the Auburn offense has no such issues. Tiger quarterback Chris Todd continues to gain confidence and the Tiger offense has more than compensated for the defensive deficiencies.

Auburn racked up nearly 600 yards against the Cardinals despite sporadic struggles in the rushing game, including a dreadful failure on fourth down in the first quarter.

At some point during the SEC season, Auburn will run into a team that will put the clamps on the offense and the Tigers will have to lean on the defense to earn a win.

The Tiger stopping unit has so far shown no indication it is capable of holding up its end of the bargain.

Still, the Tigers are 4-0. It’s better to be 4-0 with clearly defined areas in need of improvement than 0-4 and performing at peak efficiency.

From a historical standpoint, the 4-0 start forecasts an expectation-defying season for Auburn.

The last Tiger team to start 4-0 banged out five straight wins, including a gutsy 24-17 win over South Carolina in Columbia. Auburn started 2006 ranked fourth and had a chance to leap into the number one spot before Arkansas derailed the winning streak and bounced Auburn out of the Top Ten 27-10.

The 2006 Tigers finished the season 11-2 and were ranked ninth after knocking off Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.

Other Auburn teams that opened a season with four consecutive wins:

2004 — SEC Champions

Auburn won 13 straight games and finished the season ranked second in the nation. The Tigers were denied a shot in the BCS title game despite playing the toughest schedule among the top three teams and despite beating more top ten teams than the other two competitors combined.

2000 — SEC West Champions

Tommy Tuberville’s second Auburn team roared out to a 5-0 start behind the surprising dominance of junior college transfer Rudi Johnson. The Tigers climbed to 19th in the polls before dropping back-to-back games to Mississippi State and Florida. Auburn finished the year 9-4 after losses to Florida in the SEC Championship Game and Michigan in the Outback Bowl.

Auburn (9-4) closed 2000 ranked 18th.

1997 — SEC West Champions

A year before the Terry Bowden era imploded, quarterback Dameyune Craig helped power Auburn to a 6-0 start. The Tigers clawed their way to sixth in the poll before falling to number seven Florida. The 1997 Tigers lost to Tennessee and Peyton Manning 30-29 in the SEC Championship Game before upending Clemson in the Peach Bowl.

Auburn (10-3) finished the 1997 season ranked 11th.

1993 – 1994

Bowden’s Auburn tenure got off to an incredible start. Despite probation and limited expectations, his first Auburn team clicked off eleven consecutive wins, including a 22-14 win over Alabama.

Even though Auburn was the only major program in the country with an undefeated record of 11-0, the Tigers finished fourth in the polls.

The streak continued through the first nine games of 1994. Georgia halted the winning streak with a 23-23 tie before Alabama upended the Tigers 21-14 to end the season.

Auburn (9-1-1) was ranked ninth in the final poll in 1994.

1988 — SEC Champions

Auburn opened the 1988 campaign ranked seventh. Four wins later, the Tigers had surged to fourth when they visited Baton Rouge for a showdown against LSU Tigers. In a classic SEC bout, the Bayou Bengals set off seismic waves when a fourth quarter touchdown gained a 7-6 win.

The loss was probably the most frustrating of Dye’s career. Three straight shutouts followed and the Tigers only allowed 28 total points over the remaining six games of the season — all wins.

Had Auburn survived LSU, the Tigers would have played a typically overrated Notre Dame team in the Orange Bowl for the national title. Instead, Auburn got a Sugar Bowl bid and fell 13-7 to Deion Sanders and Florida State.

Auburn finished the season 10-2 and ranked eighth. 10-2

1986

In the first year of the post-Bo Jackson era, Pat Dye’s 1998 Tigers churned through seven straight games, rising as high as fifth in the polls, before 20th-ranked Florida rallied in the fourth quarter to eclipse Auburn 18-17. Georgia skimmed past the Tigers 20-16 two weeks later. Auburn smacked Rodney Peete and USC 16-7 in the Florida Citrus Bowl to finish 10-2, seven total points from an undefeated season.

The 10-2 Tigers closed 1986 ranked sixth.

1974

Auburn rolled up seven consecutive wins to open the 1974 campaign. Legendary Tiger coach Shug Jordan was one dismal season away from retirement and this was his last great team.

The Tigers finished 10-2 and were ranked 8th.

1972

One of the most cherished of all Auburn teams, the Amazin’s were expected to flounder after the departure of Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Pat Sullivan and record-setting receiver Terry Beasley. The team flourished instead.

Auburn won four straight before a loss at LSU. The Tigers rebounded and knocked out six consecutive wins to close the season. Included in that string was the famous Punt Bama Punt game, an improbable 17-16 Auburn win, and a 27-3 thrashing of Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Auburn (10-1) finished the season ranked fifth.

1957 – 1971

Auburn started at least 4-0 on five occasions between 1957 and 1971

1971: Auburn won nine straight and finished 9-2
1970: Auburn won its first five and finished 9-2
1963: Six straight to open the season led to a 9-2 finish
1962: Auburn won its first five, but fell to 6-3-1
1957: The National Champion Tigers ran off 10 consecutive wins
1908 – 1921
Auburn opened with at least four consecutive wins in 1921 (5-3 overall), 1919 (8-1 overall), 1917 (6-2-1 overall), 1916 (6-2 overall), 1915 (6-2 overall), 1914 (8-0-1 overall), 1913 (8-0 overall), 1912 (7-1-1 overall), 1909 (6-2 overall), 1908 (6-1 overall), 1907 (7-0 overall), and 1900 (4-0 overall).

Photo by Todd Van Emst

Will Chizik win for Auburn this Saturday?

By:  Kevin Strickland

It’s hard to fathom just how much has changed in the last twelve months for the Auburn Tigers.

In the span of 365 days, the Tigers went from predicted title contender to projected punching bag. Have the Tigers really fallen that far that fast?

At this time a year ago, the Tigers were the chic pick to win the SEC West. The program was one of the most stable in the league, its head coach Tommy Tuberville holding the second-longest tenure of any active SEC coach. Fresh off a heady performance in the Peach Bowl, sophomore quarterback Kodi Burns was expected to step in flawlessly and give the Tigers a dual quarterback threat that was a cross between Michael Vick and Tom Brady. New offensive coordinator Tony Franklin brought the anticipation of a high-flying, high-scoring offensive juggernaut to complement Auburn’s traditionally stingy defense.

In addition, the Tigers owned a comfortable six-game winning streak over their arch rivals.

The only questions facing the team were whether it would finish with ten wins or eleven and whether the bowl game would be of the BCS variety.

The sky was the limit. Until it fell.

The offense collapsed, managing just three points against struggling Mississippi State. The defense faded, falling apart in the second half against West Virginia. Vandy tazed the Tigers. The losses mounted. So did the frustration.

Franklin was gone mid-season. Tuberville departed at season’s end.

Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs brought in Gene Chizik, former Auburn defensive coordinator under Tuberville, as head coach. Once one of the hottest assistants in the business, Chizik tarnished his reputation and left significant room for doubt with a less than adequate 5-19 record in two seasons as head coach at Iowa State.

Three days from now, Chizik will unveil his first Auburn team against Louisiana Tech.

If you believe predictions made by WhatIfSports.com, Chizik’s debut will be a sour one.

The website simulated every game of the season 10,000 times and then posted the average result. The computers prognosticate a 23-15 Auburn loss in the opener.

Further, WhatIfSports.com’s week-by-week predictions forecast a 3-9 finish for Chizik in his debut season.

While some would be willing to give Chizik leeway in his first season, using lack of depth and the learning curve as primary justifications, a 3-9 season should be considered utterly unacceptable.

Barring significant injuries, a 3-9 season would unequivocally indicate that Chizik is incapable of handling the position and the Auburn administration would be wise to immediately begin to look elsewhere.

Yes, there is a lack of depth, particularly at the linebacker position and on the offensive line.

Yes, the quarterback position is not as solid as once thought. Kodi Burns, for a number of reasons, never matured into the dynamic playmaker most thought he would be. That falls largely at the feet of Franklin who let his development lag.

The Tigers instead will have slow-footed Chris Todd taking snaps. Todd was shell shocked a year ago and injury limited his effectiveness. It’s unknown whether he has recovered sufficiently both physically and mentally to own the role Chizik’s staff has handed him.

Still, a 3-9 season would be an abomination.

Rewind the tape to a year ago. Auburn was considered to have enough talent to win the West.

The majority of that talent returns.

The Tigers bring back seven starters on offense, including three on the offensive line.

The Future looked so promising

Most of the receivers must be replaced, but Auburn’s receiving corps was woefully inadequate a year ago and can only be improved with the addition of impact freshmen like DeAngelo Benton.

Proper utilization of Mario Fannin and the explosive potential of transfer Onterio McCaleb should give the offense added boost.

Seven starters potentially return to the Tiger defense although that number is trimmed to six until safety Mike McNeill recovers from a broken leg suffered in the spring.

Auburn needs bodies at linebacker, but the starting front can hold its own with any team in the league.

The secondary is also somewhat thin and younger players will have to step in immediately.

The Tiger special teams returns a solid unit and will be improved if Wes Byrum returns to freshman form.

Auburn fans shouldn’t start checking flights to Pasadena for the BCS Championship, nor should they make hotel reservations in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.

Neither should they tolerate a 3-9 record in 2009.

Auburn may have fallen, but there’s more than enough talent on the Plains for this team to get up. No matter what the justification, 3-9 won’t cut it.

College football is nearing an end. Only the GMAC Bowl and the Bogus..err.. Bowl Championship Series title game remaining, what has this bowl season taught us? We’ve learned that the GMAC bowl is curiously placed in the middle of the majors for some unknown reason, for one. We’ve learned that it was a lot more fun when all of the major bowls were played on a single day, for another.  In the coming days we’ll probably learn, or re-learn, that Tim Tebow is not human.

Here, though, are the top ten things that the 2008-09 bowl season taught us: 

1. The Big 10 is overrated.  Completely and utterly overrated.  Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin were all losers. Only Iowa’s win over South Carolina kept it from being a total Big 10 bust. Few of the games were even close. Slow is slow. The Big 10 is slow. There’s not a single team in the Big 10 that would be consistently competitive in any of the other major conferences.

2. The Big 12 is also overrated. Vastly overrated.  Florida will crush Oklahoma to pound this concept in, but even before the Sooners get Tebowed, the Big 12’s big boys haven’t set the world on fire.  Texas struggled with SEC punching bag Ohio State and looked just as slow and pedantic as the Buckeyes in the process.  Texas Tech, which scant weeks ago was touted as the best team in the country, was pummelled by middle of the SEC packer Ole Miss. Missouri skimmed past a Big 10 patsy.

3. The BCS busters deserve their due. Boise State punked Oklahoma two years back. Utah punk-slapped Alabama this season despite Antoine Caldwell’s now famous “We gonna kill you” coin-toss taunt.  How’d that work out, Antoine? The next time a Utah or Boise State goes unbeaten, that team deserves the same shot an overrated Texas, Ohio State or USC would get.

4. The best conference in the country is still the SEC.  Despite it being universally accepted as a down year for the SEC and despite the absence of two traditional league powers (Auburn and Tennessee) from the bowl lineup, the SEC notched several impressive bowl victories, including the Rebel win over one-dimensional Texas Tech.  LSU demolished Georgia Tech, Georgia crushed Michigan State, Kentucky outlasted East Carolina and Vanderbilt won its first bowl game since John Smith dated Pocahontas.  Florida will nuke Oklahoma back to Howard Schnellenberger to reinforce this point.

5. The second best conference in the country is the Pac-10. USC and Oregon each exposed a pretender from one of the weaker conferences.  The Trojans dismantled Joe Pa’s Big 10 Penn State while the Ducks plucked Big 12 Oklahoma State. Oregon State’s Beavers got in on the act, clipping east coast foe Pitt 3-0. Pity the bowl selections didn’t see fit to give us an SEC vs. Pac10 matchup so the country would have a relative comparison.

6. One player does make a difference.  LSU’s defense manhandled a decent Georgia Tech team in the Peach Bowl (aka Chick-Fil-A), but the Bengals got the biggest boost from quality quarterbacking. Freshman Jordan Jefferson played like a veteran. His effective play opened the LSU offense and had the Bengal Tigers looking more like the team that won the 2007 title than the team that stumbled against Arkansas. Poor quarterbacking cost LSU against both the Hogs and Alabama during the regular season, games that could have been won.  That meant the difference between a shot at the SEC title and a possible BCS berth and landing in the chicken sandwich bowl

7. One player does make a difference, version two. Without veteran offensive lineman and Outland Trophy winner Andre Smith in the Sugar Bowl, the Alabama Crimson Tide struggled offensively.  Quarterback John Wilson was harassed into making bad plays and poor decisions. Only a special teams lightning strike and a rare Ute miscue kept this game from being a three-score blowout. Alabama’s offense mustered little. Granted, Smith didn’t drop passes or overthrow receivers, and his presence probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but there’s little question that his absence affected the team both physically and mentally.

8. Notre Dame can win a bowl game. The last time the Irish ended a season with a bowl win, there were only 48 states. So it’s only fitting that Notre Dame broke the bowl-losing streak in one of the new states — Hawaii.  Of course this is the same Hawaii that Georgia scored 371 points on in last year’s Sugar Bowl, that coming the last time the Warriors were really good. This Hawaii was without the star quarterback lost to graduation and without the coach, June Jones, who’d led them from obscurity. This Hawaii was 7-6 coming in and qualified for their own bowl game only.  Still, though, the Irish won. Guess that makes them the consensus number one pick in the polls entering 2009.

9. You can’t measure heart. When Southern Miss’ DeAndre Brown went down with one of the most sickening leg breaks ever YouTubed, his Golden Eagles lost arguably the best freshman wide receiver in the country — and at least a third of their offensive production. Instead of folding, Southern Miss kept battling and eventually prevailed over a gritty Troy State team in overtime by blocking a field goal attempt.  The Golden Eagle effort made the New Orleans one of the most entertaining of all bowl games.

10. College football needs a playoff. Could this be any clearer? Once again, the bowl season highlighted the glaring need for some form of post-season playoff.  Is Florida really the best team in the country? Will demolishing an overrated Oklahoma team prove that?  What about unbeaten Utah, a team that smacked around an Alabama squad that sat in the top spot for weeks? Do the Utes have no argument? Had the final vote been taken immediately after the Sugar Bowl, there’s no question Utah would have drawn a significant number of votes. But with the BCS title game coming a full week later, there won’t be nearly as much residual love for the Utes. Most voters will be wrapped up in the spectacle of Florida and Oklahoma and Utah will be relegated to an afterthought.  Same with Texas, whose fans are crying today that they deserve a share of the title due to a regular season win over the Sooners.  What about one-loss USC? The BCS forgave Florida’s loss to Ole Miss and overlooked Oklahoma’s stumble against Texas. Why not give similar passage to the Trojan’s one loss? What’s fair?  One thing is certain: The BCS and the current bowl structure, in spite of all the entertaining games provided, certainly isn’t.