And The Winner Is? Idaho?

Thirty-something bowl games later. That’s a whole lot of football. And, frankly, much ado over nothing. Another year of college football ends in turmoil. Sure, there was a “national championship” game, and yes, there was a winner of this “national championship” game. But when the best bowl game was the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, you really have to wonder about the state of the post-season.

As an aside, the Humanitarian Bowl had Idaho edging Bowling Green 43 – 42. The fourth quarter was, without doubt, the most entertaining (and refreshing) 15 minutes of football all year. With the game tied at 35, Bowling Green scored a touchdown with 32 seconds left. Score: Bowling Green 42, Idaho 35. Idaho then stormed back to score a touchdown with 4 ticks left on the clock, making it 42 – 41. In perhaps the gutsiest coaching move I’ve seen in a long time, Idaho went for the two point conversion – and made it – to win 43 – 42. Now that’s not something that even Les Miles or Nick Saban would do.

Games like this would be commonplace if college football had a playoff. It is laughable that the NCAA continues to claim that the BCS is “in the best interest of the universities”. As it stands, there are 34 bowl games, which means that 68 of 120 schools are in a bowl game. Most of these bowl games have incredibly low attendance. If this is what is “in the best interest of the universities”, then it’s kind of like being in elementary school and everyone getting participation awards because “everyone’s a winner”. And if that is the case, there is a lot of money being invested in college football so that “everyone is a winner”. Yeah right.

Now that we have the benefit of having watched a few bowl games, and having established who showed up and who didn’t, let’s take one final look at December Delirium, and find us a real national champion. The good ‘ole fashioned way – on the field.

This season reminded us, once again, that on any given day, anyone can win. That’s the beauty of sport. That’s the beauty that is lacking with the absence of a playoff. Just ask Boise State, who I truly believe could play with anyone this season.

In first round action, here are the games (seeding in parentheses):

(1) Alabama – (16) Troy in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN (East region)

(8) Georgia Tech – (9) LSU in the Chick Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, GA (East region)

(5) TCU – (12) Ohio State in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX (West region)

(4) Florida – (13) Miami in the Insight Bowl in Tempe, AZ (West region)

(6) Boise State –  (11) Virginia Tech in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, CA (West region)

(3) Texas – (14) Central Michigan in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX (West region)

(7) Oregon - (10) Iowa in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA (East region)

(2) Cincinnati – (15) East Carolina … Outback Bowl in Tampa, FL (East region)

I think we might have witnessed a number of upsets in the first round. Though Troy has a great offense, I suspect Mark Ingram would have run all over them. Georgia Tech and LSU is a toss-up, though I suspect the SEC might have scored the minor upset. Ohio State certainly played well enough, but it would have been a tall order to take down TCU. I don’t think TCU’s defense would have been quite so generous to Terrelle Pryor. Florida may have been one of the most dominant teams in the bowls. Boise State would have pounded Virginia Tech, using a fake punt, reverse on a kick return, and some variant of the Wildcat. Texas would have awakened from it’s Nebraska slumber to find a pretty good Chippewa offense, but by the fourth quarter Jordan Shipley’s 15 catches would have sealed the deal. Rushing offense? It was found cruising the River Walk in San Antonio. Oregon and Iowa both had little to no defense, with Iowa winning by three. And dare I say that Cincinnati, who never did arrive for bowl season (as Brian Kelly was on his way to Notre Dame), were handed a return ticket to Ohio by Skip Holtz and East Carolina – almost. Sadly, ECU simply couldn’t score a field goal when it needed, and Cinci scraped through with a one point victory.

Onwards to the Second Round:

(1) Alabama – (9) LSU in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL (East region). I just can’t see LSU winning this one. Alabama manages 4 field goals and one TD in the process, and Nick Saban throws deep with 0:03 remaining and ahead by 16. Just because. Surprise surprise.

(5) TCU –  (4) Florida in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX (West region). TCU takes advantage of the home game in Dallas, showing Florida that the SEC has no defense compared to the best of the Mountain West.

(6) Boise State – (3) Texas in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ (West region). Boise State brings out the wishbone, the option, and a touch of West Coast offense to put Texas on the sidelines. Moral of the story? Texas was ranked far too high at the start of the season.

(10) Iowa - (2) Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN (East region). Iowa finds a way to win by three, sending Cincinnati home for good. Did I mention that Brian Kelly was, by this time, already admiring “Touchdown Jesus”?

Now, how about these semi-finals?

(1) Alabama – (5) TCU in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA. Alabama finds their hands full with a real defense, in much the same way that Florida did. Score: TCU 2, SEC 0.

(6) Boise State – (10) Iowa in the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL. Chris Petersen, the best coach in the nation, brings out a flea flicker, an end-around, and a fake field goal. Oh, and they played some defense too. Iowa never had a chance.

And in the National Championship:

(5) TCU - (6) Boise State in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. When truth is stranger than fiction. Hold on a second, we actually saw this game this year – it was called the Fiesta Bowl. Fiesta, Rose, same difference. Remember, everyone’s a winner in the eyes of the NCAA.

When all was said and done, the Gem State provided us with a number of gems: the best bowl game, the winner of the best bowl game, and the 2009 – 2010 December Delirium National Champion – the Boise State Broncos! All hail Idaho!

Photo credit: Fokket