College football regular season is over

The regular season of college football is over, and the last few weekends featured some excellent games that should sway BCS to finally adopt at least three-round playoff system in the next year. These past few weeks seen the likes of Fighting Irish, Longhorns and Trojans loose their stand and chances at better BCS games. For the Irish, the loss to the Trojans was particularly bitter since most of the starting players (six on the offense and nine on the defense) are seniors. Brady Quinn has missed a final chance to make a decisive impression on the Heisman trophy voters and Troy Smith will most probably walk away with the coveted award. Notre Dame goes to the Sugar Bowl thanks to a nation-wide fanbase, edging Wisconsin and Auburn (both ranked above Notre Dame) from the BCS bowls.


Despite the unexpected loss to town rivals, USC retains the place in final BCS top five (mainly due to a tough schedule and a good win over Notre Dame) and will face Michigan State in the Rose Bowl. The Wolverines had it really bad without a good lasting impression after a loss to the Buckeyes two weeks ago by only three points. The two-week span gave an opportunity to Trojans to edge into the no.2 slot, but they missed it against UCLA after a great win over Fighting Irish. This unexpected turn of events allowed Gators to go to the national championship game after an impressive win over the Razorbacks. The only Gators' loss was to once-no.2 Auburn, and the schedule strength for Florida and Michigan State was tied-2nd in the computer polls.


The reigning champions finished the season with two straight losses, dropping from no.4 to no.19 in the final BCS rankings. They now go to the local Alamo Bowl to face the 6-6 Iowa who lost all three games to ranked teams and lost three final straight. Colt McCoy has three great years in front of him, and Longhorns should bounce back next year.

The record 32 bowls will feature six teams with 6-6 record. While gratifying for the small teams, the tradition of creating a bowl strictly for promoting an advertiser just dilutes the value of the achievement (getting a bowl invitation). While SJSU coach is right that half of the NBA players go into the playoffs, and this has certainly been beneficial for the Scarlet Knights (thanks to a terrific coach), the first bowl bid since the 1990 season can no longer be viewed as an historical landmark.