It was a real shame that Colt got knocked out of the game so quickly. I would have liked to see him have the chance to end his career with an amazing championship game. Instead I got to watch Saban call conservative plays and yell at his special teams coach.

Wasn’t that a great onside kick by Texas? Kick it right at a guy, let it bounce off of him, then recover it.

Note to Texas: next time you’re about to intercept a fake punt pass, knock the ball down rather than catch it. Field position will be better.

Note to Texas QB Gilbert: it will be interesting to see you play next year. You showed some real spark in the second half.

LSU finished the season in the top 20 (#17 in both the AP and USA Today polls). It will be interesting to see what happens next year. I believe the main difference between LSU and Penn State this year was QB experience. That and more bad clock management by Miles at the end of the game, but that’s a different story.

LSU managed to mismanage the clock yet again. When there is less than sixty seconds on the clock, you don’t spend five seconds in formation before you start the play. One second is plenty. Yet that’s what they managed to do on their next to last play. A questionable penalty (at least in my mind) on an LSU player who was trying to get the pile separated pushed them back a bunch of yards, and ultimately Penn State won 19-17. The field was really sloppy which removed any “speed advantage” that LSU might have had, if there even was one. I was happy for the Penn State QB as the game obviously meant a lot to him.

There are quite a few discussions over the year about which conference is better. This year it seems there is no clear-cut winner unless it’s the Mountain West. Every other conference is at best 50% in the won/loss record for this bowl season, including the SEC which is currently 3-3. The Mountain West is 4-0, including victories by Air Force, BYU, Utah, and Wyoming. The conference has a chance to extend their record when TCU takes on Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. That should be an interesting game. It will be interesting to see if it’s close, or if one team or the other has a clear advantage. To me it was clear that Cincinnati did not belong on the same field as Florida; maybe TCU would have been a better choice afterall.

In other games involving SEC teams…

Florida whipped Cincinnati. Auburn escaped Northwestern in overtime. Georgia took out Texas A&M. On the losing side were Kentucky (lost to Clemson), Tennessee (lost to Virginia Tech), and LSU. Still to go are Arkansas, Ole Miss, and South Carolina. Oh, and I can’t forget Alabama. I’m looking forward to that game later this week.

Texas probably should have lost to Nebraska. I can’t remember a worse case of clock management at the end of a game. Ever! What did they think, that they had to use up the clock because of Nebraska’s “quick strike” capability? Unless Texas can find their grove again, Alabama is going to walk all over them for the national title game. I hope Florida gets their collective head into the Sugar, or the Bearcats will show them who’s what. The bowl game that has to be the most unusual is the Fiesta, with two undefeated teams not playing for a national title. TCU and Boise State… I have to believe they would rather be playing one of the “big boys” to establish more field credibility for next year, but then again, the Fiesta Bowl is a nice bowl for the two schools. It could be a really interesting game at that, perhaps even more compelling than ‘Bama versus Texas.

I LOL’d at USC finishing the season the way they did. I said it before; teams with freshman quarterbacks do not, as a rule, make a serious run at the national title.

And finally, I hope Toby Gerhart takes the Heisman. He deserves it.

After all of the upsets for the past two years it was interesting to see the top teams stay the same for essentially the entire season this year. Florida will meet Alabama in the SEC title game. Texas meets Nebraska in the Big 12 title game. Assuming Texas wins, it seems a reasonable conclusion for them to face the SEC winner for the title game. If not, another Texas school TCU seems primed to jump into the title game. I can’t remember a season with six undefeated teams this late into the season… of course one of the top two is going to have at least one loss after the SEC title game.

LSU did manage to move up after their overtime victory (over Arkansas) since Pitt lost and Georgia took out Georgia Tech. I don’t quite get how Ohio State ended up back in the top ten… when did that happen? They haven’t beaten anyone of note and they’re playing in a weak conference. Oh, wait, it’s the annual “Big 10 schools move up because they’re not playing anybody anymore” push. As other teams lose, Big 10 teams move up into the gaps. I see Iowa and Penn State in the top 10 too. Would I pick a two-loss Ohio State team over a three-loss LSU team? Nope.

Texas Tech took out Bayler after a slow start, and Oklahoma spoiled Oklahoma State’s season by giving them one more loss in the Bedlam Bowl. USC finished with a victory over UCLA, giving them 3 losses for the season. Hmm, who predicted that at the beginning of the season? Teams with freshman quarterbacks don’t often win their conference. I expect them to be back next year though. Granted I expected one of the losses to be to Notre Dame, but I’ll swap out the Stanford victory for that one instead.

I believe LSU played well enough to stay in the top 15, especially since Oregon, Iowa, and Penn State all lost. LSU has been officially knocked out of the SEC championship race, as Alabama has locked up the West just one week after Florida cinched the East. The goal now for both teams is to get there with unblemished records, setting up a sure play-in game for the BCA championship. The most likely opponent? Texas, who ran all over UCF (who? yeah, I thought, so, a nobody) today. There aren’t many challenges left for Texas now, who should run the table all the way to the Big 12 championship game.

Once they get there, they might even lose (doubtful) and back into the BCS game like Oklahoma did a few years back… before they lost to LSU.

Let’s look at it this way… given the amount of padding that football players wear, how much damage is a punch going to do anyway? What is the possibility of long-term damage from such an action? None, or at the most extremely slight.

What is the possibility of long-term damage to having your eyes gouged? Real good, if you ask me. Look at what happened to Orlando Brown when he caught an official’s flag in his eye. He was out of football for several years.

So to summarize: In NCAA football, if you punch someone with little or no chance of doing long-term harm you get kicked off the team. But if you try to gouge someone in the eye you get suspended for half a game. That makes sense.

If you feel like I do, please send Coach Urban Meyer an email at CoachUrbanMeyer@gators.uaa.ufl.edu and let him know.

Florida clinched the SEC East title based on their victory over Georgia and the South Carolina loss to Tennessee. Florida’s biggest challenges remaining on their schedule are probably South Carolina and a very unpredictable Florida State team. Alabama was off this week.

Ole Miss and Auburn played one of the most exciting 3rd quarters I’ve ever watched. There were long touchdown runs, long pass completions, and a blocked extra point returned for two points. Auburn got the win, which could put them back into the top 25. They might replace Ole Miss who could easily drop out. They are probably one of the biggest disappointments in the SEC this year. After finishing so strong last year (and defeating a good Texas Tech team in the Cotton Bowl) they had high expectations this year. Now they’re sitting in fourth place in the SEC West.

Meanwhile Texas seems to be hitting on all cylinders as they scored 41 against ranked but out-matched Oklahoma State last night. With only the defense playing it would have been a tie game (14-14). With the offense chipping in a few points it was hardly a contest. I turned off the game in the 3rd quarter. Will Texas move up? It’s hard to say. Florida looked like the champion team from last year as they dismantled Georgia. Tebow set the SEC record for rushing touchdowns. (With a * by the record as he played four years to Hershal Walker’s three.)

USC was on the receiving end of their worst loss in the Pete Carroll era. It was 24-17 at halftime and even if the Ducks had not scored again the final would have been 24-20. As it stands they cruised to a 42-20 final score. USC could drop out of the top ten, and Oregon should move up. Oregon now controls their own destiny in the Pac 10 but probably can’t make up enough ground on the teams in front of them to qualify for the BCS Championship.

BCS busters TCU and Boise State (who owns a victory over Oregon) both shellacked their opponents this week. TCU beat patsy #1 41-0 and Boise State beak patsy #2 45-7. Do the opponents matter? Not this week, because neither was ranked. TCU has the better shot at hitting a big bowl because they still have some ranked opponents on their schedule. Boise State doesn’t.

They cynic in me from the beginning of the season predicts LSU will lose two of their remaining four games to finish at 9-3 and will play in a good but not top-tier bowl game. They haven’t shown enough growth over the season to make me think otherwise. The hopeful fan in me sees them running the table, beating Florida in a grudge match SEC title game, and taking down Texas for their 3rd national title.

Yeah, that’s not going to happen. But it’s still fun to think about.

Didn’t Arkansas look great against Florida? They sure looked a lot better than LSU did, and they were playing on Florida’s home field. I watched the second half of that game and it was exciting. And scary. LSU has to play this same Arkansas team in a few weeks (for the famous “boot” trophy) and they look like they’re for real. Inconsistent, maybe, but for real. While Florida was lucky to escape with a win, ‘Bama rolled yet again over another ranked team as they took down South Carolina by the safe margin of 20-6. I’m guessing some more voters are going to consider flipping ‘Bama and Florida in the rankings. It doesn’t matter though; if each of them wins out they will meet in the SEC title game. Auburn – after what looks like a better loss to me after seeing what Arkansas did to Florida – lost at home to Kentucky. Their stay in the top 25 could be short. Next week they come to Baton Rouge to take on the struggling Tigers in what will likely make or break LSUs season. They can’t afford to lose another SEC game with Alabama looming on the schedule.

Meanwhile, just down the road from my house a little game called the “Red River Rivalry” took place. Oklahoma was looking to climb back into contention for the Big 12 title, and Texas was looking to continue to extend their undefeated streak. What happened was a game full of turn-overs and bad play on offense and a final score of 16-13 in favor of Texas. I don’t think they won the game, I think they managed to avoid losing. Oklahoma, however, lost Sam Bradford. I’m not sure that’s as big a deal for Oklahoma as it is for Sam… their backup QB played just fine. Bradford probably has to wonder what would have happened if he had entered the draft last year instead of coming back to play more college ball.

USC and Notre Dame went down to the final second. Literally. Notre Dame was sitting on the goal line with less than ten seconds remaining when they through an incomplete pass. USC started to celebrate, but the officials called everyone back onto the field and put one second back on the clock. At this point ND was playing to tie the game (or perhaps win if they went for two) and needed a touchdown to do it. The final pass attempt looked terrible, and USC continued their celebration. Overall it was an interesting game, but not the victory that ND fans were looking for. USC remains in contention and will likely move up as Virginia Tech lost to Georgia Tech.

Texas Tech… a team getting no respect. They lost to Houston and to Texas, but have defeated Nebraska and have a vulnerable Kansas team coming up. They wrap up their Big 12 schedule at Oklahoma State and hosting Oklahoma and finish out at Baylor. It will be interesting to see how they finish out the season.

Tomorrow the “will-he/won’t he” saga of Tebow comes to a close, and we’ll find out if LSU is worthy of their top-5 ranking. I don’t think they are, but then again I thought that Georgia would beat them. While we’re at it, where the heck did Auburn come from? This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year under a new coach. They sure built fast. The schedule for LSU all of a sudden looks tougher with Auburn sitting at 5-0.

I think we will learn several things this weekend. First, how good is LSU? History is not on their side. They have a terrible record when playing against #1 teams. (I was at a game years ago when Charles White was the tailback at USC and they visited LSU. I’m still bitter about the facemask call on fourth down.) Second, can Ole Miss climb back into SEC relevance and defeat Alabama? I picked this game as the biggest challenge for the Rebels, and it’s at home for them. If they can win, they are right back in it. Third, is Auburn for real? They travel to Arkansas, which despite being 0-2 in SEC play can still mix things up if their offense gets going.

Over in the Big 12 Oklahoma has two losses but – believe it or not – could still challenge for the national title. Afterall, LSU won the title with two losses two years ago, and this season has seen quite a few top-tier teams go down. Bradford will start again this week in what is essentially a tune-up game for the Red River Shootout next weekend in Dallas against Texas. Nebraska takes on Missouri in what promises to set up the front-runner for the Big 12 North title, although Kansas would like to have a say in that as well.

Michigan fades out of the top 25 after losing to cross-state rival Michigan State for the second year in a row. Penn State lost. Will the Big 10 title picture clarify after this weekend? Will anyone care?

USC took care of Cal, and handily at that. How can a team that started the season so well (Cal) get fall so far so quickly? And if anyone is interested, Stanford is leading the Pac 10 conference this year.

I am going to have to record the game as I will be heading out to the Texas State Fair this weekend. Nobody tell me what the score was until I get a chance to watch the game, deal?

On the other hand, Florida fans had to be holding their breath when Tebow went down and stayed down. The Gators visit Baton Rouge in two weeks, and if LSU does lose to Georgia then they will have to take care of Florida in order to keep a chance of winning the SEC West this year. Auburn is looking tougher than expected so the SEC West is likely to see their champ have at least one loss, perhaps two. Then again, if Alabama keeps rolling the way they have been, they could return to the SEC title game for the second year in a row. It’s going to be wild.

P.S. How can Alabama not have at least one first place vote in the latest poll?

In other conferences…

Houston, we have a football team. Houston has defeated two teams from the vaunted Big 12 South division. Houston got another boost in the polls this week after taking down Texas Tech. I don’t follow them much, but I hear they have a great quarterback. Good teams with great quarterbacks can be very successful.

Texas took care of business this week without much of a challenge. With Tebow following Bradford to the sidelines, and Cal’s running back Best being absolutely shut down this week, Colt McKoy has to like his chances for a Heisman trophy at this point in the year. The annual Red River Shootout comes up on October 10th and it would be great to see Bradford back on the field for that game.

USC takes on Cal next week. Each of them has one conference loss already, so the loser of this game is likely out of the Rose Bowl. On the other hand, depending on how things work out, they could still end up playing in a major bowl somewhere. Cal plummeted all the way down to the bottom of the polls after getting served by the Ducks this week. Miami, who seemed to be everyone’s darling last week, got wacked by Virginia Tech and dropped almost as much. Penn State lost to Iowa for the second year in a row and drops from the ranks of the unbeaten teams.

So basically the top five teams are made up of most of the major “name” universities that have yet to lose. I don’t expect LSU to remain up there for long, but ‘Bama looks like they are the real deal this year. It would be great to see them finish the season that got away last year.