Everyone already knows that college football has the worst system in all of sports, perhaps the world, for deciding an outcome. The BCS is the kind of thing that would come about if you locked Hugo Chavez, Barry Goldwater and an H-Bomb in a room together and told them to come up with a solution to something. Needless to say, the results, like the BCS, would please no one.

But would you believe it if I told you that the BCS isn’t even the only thing that’s wrong with the college football bowl season?

And I’m not just talking about the fact that the majority of the games take place more than a month after most teams’ final regular season games, bowls routinely pass over more deserving schools for ones that will make them more money or that most bowls are named after fading national pizza chains.

No, all of this stuff is even besides that. So without further ado, here are some of the things plaguing college football’s “postseason.”

Orlando has two bowls. Somehow, the only other city in the entire country besides Dallas to host two bowl games is Orlando, Florida. Orlando, the home of . . . what exactly? We know it has the two things that absolutely no bowl can live without, excessive Disney product placement and elderly people who are not originally from the area (who are likely complaining at this very moment about how many bowl games there are). But what else?

The block of cheese I am eating as I write this has more personality than this city. For crying out loud, Orlando is in Florida, America’s most celebrated coastal state, and not even on the ocean. We can do better.

Cincinnati got crushed in the Sugar Bowl without its head coach. Cincinnati was overmatched against the Florida Gators on Friday night. That is indisputable. But the fact is, they were still an overmatched team that was forced to play its most important game of the season without the person most responsible for getting them there in the first place: head coach and offensive coordinator Brian Kelly.

The bowls take place so long after the regular season has ended, coaches all but consider the time in between its own separate offseason. Coaches climb the ladder in other sports all the time, including in college basketball, but never between the regular season and the “postseason.” Maybe some day all teams will be able to play their bowl games with the personnel that got them there.

ESPN. First, there’s the fact that the worldwide leader insists on calling a bowl season that stretches out to nearly a month in length a bowl “week.” Not sure which focus group told them they needed to do that, but it’s annoying.

Second, everything else. From the announcers, to the stilted opening montages to the relentless mentioning of the fact that Cincinnati wide receiver Mardy Gilyard once lived in his car, everything the channel touches turns to awfulness. Now Desmond Howard being unable to speak English on the pregame show is just as synonymous with the Rose Bowl as good football.

The pizza chains thing. I mean really, can we at least just pretend that somewhere along the line in the planning and discussions for these things that dignity is considered? Can the money the NCAA gets from allowing games to be called the PizzaHutStuffedCrustPizza.Info Bowl really be worth it? I doubt it.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Best game: Cincinnati vs. Florida. No fancy pick here.

While 12-0, Cincinnati went undefeated without ever really getting tested by a non-Big East opponent. Florida will provide an obviously stiff test. The Gators, meanwhile, have looked lackadaisical on offense all season despite having the best offensive player of a generation.

Cincy’s defense is no steel trap, so UF will score, but Florida’s own D will probably be facing its biggest test all season, including Alabama. A win by Cincy, even without Brian Kelly, would go a long way toward boosting the Big East’s reputation, while a Florida loss will further sully Tim Tebow’s previously impeccable reputation. A loss to Alabama made it a theory, but a loss to Cincy would make it a law: Tebow can’t do it all by himself.

Worst game: Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss.

You would think a game between teams that both finished in the top three in one of the top two conferences in the country would have some intrigue. It doesn’t. Both had chances to take giant leaps forward this season, but instead took many, many more back. It’s a bowl featuring non top-ten teams who didn’t beat any real opponents all season long. They both have “star” players that didn’t do any starring in 2009. It promises to be ugly–and boring.

Most to learn from: Oklahoma vs. Stanford.

By all accounts, Oklahoma had a very down year in 2009 while Stanford had a very good one. But Stanford played in a conference with a lot of very soft defenses. They put up gaudy numbers against teams that seemed more concerned with outscoring them than stopping them.

OU will try to outscore, but will also actually try to stop them. Can Stanford, possibly playing without standout quarterback Andrew Luck, score on a team that is very much not soft? Playing at full speed, Stanford was already facing a tall enough task. Now they have to prove they can move the ball against a team that values defense while they aren’t at full strength. If they can still rack up the yards and score on OU without a healthy Luck, the Pac 10 will not only prove its worthiness, but may even be better than we thought.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, has to show that Landry Jones continues to progress. None of this 250-yeard, four interception stuff. Which leads us to our next point.

Who can make the biggest statement heading into 2010: Oklahoma.

If Landry Jones continues to show improvement, and OU’s defense–fresh off its total demolition of Oklahoma State–can hold Toby Gerhart and Luck in check, it will do more than just embarrass Stanford: it will announce to the world that OU’s hiccup in 2009 without Sam Bradford was very much a temporary thing, and that the one year reprieve they handed out to the Big 12 last season was just that.

Biggest cop out: Boise State vs. TCU.

As you may have heard, Boise State and TCU both finished undefeated and don’t play in BCS conferences. The way the BCS is spinning it, they are “rewarding” fans by pitting two undefeated teams against each other in the Fiesta Bowl.

The way everyone else sees it, they were afraid to have their undefeated party crashers crush Georgia Tech or Iowa. They’ve marginalized both upstart teams in plain sight. No matter what now, neither team will have “proven” anything by beating just another non-BCS opponent. It may still end up being an entertaining game, but not one we can take any long-lasting ramifications away from.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Since the addition of Penn State to the Big Ten back in 1989, the conference has been the biggest misnomer in collegiate sports with its 11 charter members. In 1999 the conference tried to round things out with an invitation to Notre Dame but they declined electing to keep their basketball in the east and their then-prized football program independent.

Well, it’s been another 10 years and it’s time for the conference to discuss expansion once again. Reports are that over the next 12-18 months the conference will explore adding anywhere from one to five new members.

Obviously, this expansion is more football-minded than basketball as the expansion would give them two divisions, a longer regular season and a long sought after conference championship game before the college football postseason, but any shift in conferences be it one school or five will impact college basketball as well.

The Big Ten is eying several schools but the most obvious choice, both geographically and economically, is sending a second invite to Notre Dame.

The Irish have struggled since joining the Big East in 1995, making the tournament just five times and advancing past the second round just once, winning one conference title in 2001 (a tie) and no conference tournament titles.  A conference as large as the Big East could certainly spare a team.

As for the football program, they are an independent so no conference loses. But therein lies the problem, Notre Dame likes its autonomy and NBC likes its exclusive contract with the once-legendary program . . . so, Notre Dame’s move to the Big Ten is almost as likely as the public option for health care.  Almost.

So who else is out there?

There is talk of other Big East schools jumping ship like Syracuse, Cincy and Pitt. The latter would help renew the age-old rivalry between Penn State and Pitt, but really how much would any of these schools benefit from the move?

In football the Big Ten is stronger year after year than the Big East, but schools like ‘Cuse and Pitt are more basketball schools than football and moving to the slowed down, defensive-minded basketball of the Big Ten isn’t going to do them any favors.

There are also Big 12 schools on the expansion radar, namely Mizzou and Iowa State, though Texas and Nebraska’s names have been thrown out there as well. But realistically Notre Dame is more likely to move than Texas and Nebraska.

Geographically both schools make sense for the conference and both would offer nice rivalries in football and basketball: Iowa State and Iowa in football and Mizzou and Illinois in basketball.

But moving Mizzou would break up one of the oldest rivalries in both sports with the Border War, (ahem) excuse my political incorrectness, Border Showdown between Kansas and Mizzou Iowa State could be rather lopsided as the Cyclones have been no match for the Hawkeyes on the gridiron the last two seasons.

I think they should look to a mid-major like Valpo or St. Joe’s to become their 12th member, but regardless who they get we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We need to come up with a new name first.

How about the Really Big 12?

–Aaron Whitebread, Red Editorial Staff

We’re nearing the beginning of a new decade. That can only mean one thing at the University of Notre Dame: time for another new coach.

Well, actually, in all fairness, it’s not just a decadal thing in South Bend: it’s practically bi-annual at this point. Like clockwork, some dubiously qualified schmuck comes in, and talks about how much they value tradition and Notre Dame being their “dream” job.

They win a few early season games against bottom-grade Big East teams before watching the bottom fall out and the “faithful” lose their minds.

This goes on for two or three seasons before everyone is inevitably put out of their misery.

Each hiring has been more disastrous than the last in recent years.

Bob Davie had never before been a head coach at any level. The highlight of his tenure was losing the 2001 Fiesta Bowl to Oregon State 41-9.

His replacement, Tyrone Willingham, had been a head coach, but had never won at anywhere near the level he would be expected to at Notre Dame.

What did he do? Not win at anywhere near the level he was expected to at Notre Dame. His “highlight” came when the Irish lost the Gator Bowl during his first season to North Carolina State 28-6.

Then, of course, there was Charlie Weis. He, like Davie, had never been a head coach before. He recruited better than either of his two predecessors, but still lost just as frequently. His highlights were “almost beating USC that one time” and getting blown away in two BCS bowls. Another one bites the dust.

But somehow, someway, after three straight catastrophic hires, the Irish have managed to find the right man this time around.

After their semi-embarrassing public flirtations with Bob Stoops, and far-fetched whisperings about Urban Meyer, Notre Dame went out and did what it had to do: hire Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.

Kelly is everything Notre Dame’s past three coaches were not.

Unlike Weis and Davie, he has been a head coach before. Unlike Willingham, he has consistently won at a high level on a big stage. Unlike Weis, who was a heck of a recruiter, he can both recruit and make his players better. Unlike all three, he can both recruit extraordinarily well and coach in-game extraordinarily well.

In three years at Cincinnati, he went 34-6. He went 10-3 against ranked opponents.

Those 10 victories against ranked teams the past three years? Twice as many as Weis had in five. Those three losses against ranked teams. Less than a fourth of what Weis had.

Of course, it is still entirely possible he could fall just as flat on his face as all the others. None of the previous three Notre Dame coaches were considered bad hires at the time, either. Weis was actually considered an exceptionally good one.

Notre Dame is the kind of place where things snowball. No one will be expecting an 11-1 season in 2010, but if they go 2-10, the whispers will already begin. It’s not a fun way to live your life if you are a head coach.

But for now, the hiring of Kelly is unassailable. Irish fans can be unabashedly optimistic without any cynicism.

Now let’s just hope they don’t break his spirit the way they did everyone else’s.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Today is Championship Saturday, or whatever ESPN is billing it as. Whatever it’s called, it is an important day. Coronations are to be completed (Texas), and grudge matches to be revisited (Florida/Alabama).

In reality, there is very little actually at stake. Yes, the national championship match-up will be decided, but out of a pool of only three teams. Out of ten potential BCS bids, eight are already sewn up.

Alabama and Florida will both obviously be invited regardless of what happens today, as will Texas. Ohio State, Oregon, Cincinnati/Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech/Clemson and TCU have all already punched their tickets. Those are the “sure things.” God willing, Boise State seems to have a reasonably tight grip on the ninth spot.

That leaves only one true BCS vacancy. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t already been decided, however. It has. Barring a miracle tonight in Dallas–that being Nebraska scores some touchdowns–the final bid is certain to go to either Iowa or Penn State of the Big 10.

While few fans outside of Great Lakes territory would argue that either are among the ten best teams in the country, for whatever reason, one of them is going to a BCS game. Well, it’s not for whatever reason. As everyone knows, the Big 10 is where college football’s real money and power is. That’s why Houston or the losers of Cincinnati/Pittsburgh or Georgia Tech/Clemson will not even be considered for the final spot.

So while it’s a situation no college football fan wants to be in, we are now stuck debating the merits of Iowa vs. Penn State. And it’s not even close–Iowa blows away Penn State on every conceivable level.

But like so much in college football, who is likely to get picked has absolutely nothing to do with what has actually happened on the field. The BCS, like all bowl committees, only wants who will make them the most money. That means things like a school’s national prestige and number of mobile fans will always trump results.

One of the things that actually happened on the field in 2009 was that Iowa beat Penn State. At Penn State. The Nittany Lions were held scoreless after the first quarter in their 21-10 loss.

But Penn State’s inferiority to the Hawkeyes this season goes far beyond their head-to-head match-up, which again, should still be enough of a tiebreaker between two teams that share the same record, 10-2, and play in the same conference.

Plain and simple, Penn State’s BCS “case,” outside of having living legend Joe Paterno as its coach, is laughable.

For the entire season, they played two ranked teams. They lost both times, with both losses coming at home, no less. One was, of course, to Iowa, while the other came against Ohio State, who ambled by 24-7.

That means that in their two only important games this season, they were not even competitive. In case you were wondering, their toughest non-conference opponent was Temple. They did manage to win that one.

Iowa, on the other hand, beat the Nittany Lions in State College and then took Ohio State to overtime in Columbus. They also played and defeated two real non-conference teams, Iowa State and Arizona.

Did I mention they had the same record as Penn State and played and defeated them on the road?

Apparently what I didn’t mention was that Penn State has a far larger fanbase, much more storied tradition and one very popular old coach. That’s why the Hawkeyes will almost certainly be relegated to the Capital One Bowl, and why no one even pretends that things are fair anymore.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

With the regular season nearly over, we now have a full slate of games under our belts, and a full cupboard of NFL prospects to drool over. The most loaded position this season seems to be wide receiver.

Some of them will be superstars, and some of them will be busts. But almost all of them remind us of somebody else, and if any of these players hit their ceiling, it might look a little bit like this.

Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas: Plaxico Burress. The length, the reach, the ropey physique; Briscoe’s got it all. Neither player is usually the fastest receiver on the field, but both have uncanny abilities to go up and grab balls out of the air away from undersized defensive backs. Like Frankenstein mash-ups between down-field and slot wideouts, they can reach any ball, while also making the tough, short-yardage catches over the middle of the field.

Danario Alexander, Missouri: Randy Moss. Admittedly, this is an impossibly lofty comparison–that is until you see him play. Alexander has the size, strength, hands and breakaway speed to warrant the Moss talk. In one season, he has gone from an obscure back-up to Jeremy Maclin to not just the best receiver in a conference loaded with elite receivers, but perhaps the best receiver in a country loaded with elite receivers.

He’s done it all in 2009. Grabbed seemingly uncatchable balls out of mid-air over the center of the field, ran away from all the defenders after making them, score at will. He’s also got the size (6-5), that you, as they say, cannot teach. While his profile is much lower than any of the other players mentioned here, his ceiling is likely the highest.

Golden Tate, Notre Dame: Wes Welker. In some strange way, this may seem like it is selling Tate short. Tate, after all, has manhandled his competition this season. That’s not something the methodical Welker is known for. Of course, Welker has also been one of the NFL’s most unstoppable wideouts the past three seasons. Still, at the end of the day, he is a “possession” receiver. Someone who moves the chains, not someone who grabs touchdowns out of the sky like Randy Moss. Not always the sexiest job.

But while Tate has played the Moss role much more than the Welker role in college, that isn’t his future in the NFL. Why? Because of one universally discriminating statistic: his height. He’s only 5-11. Welker is 5-9.

But again, back to why potentially being the next Wes Welker, and not the next Randy Moss, is still an exceedingly good thing, and nearly as important. For starters, Welker has 302 catches in his past 40 games. 302. As you may have realized, that’s an astounding number. Second, arguably no player has been more important to the Patriots these past three seasons than Welker. When he was out of the lineup earlier this season, Tom “Terrific” Brady scuttled, and the Pats did not dominate.

Third, Tate is like Welker in a lot of ways, but in a few important ways he’s not. Namely, he’s got more speed and athleticism than even the shifty Welker could ever dream of. Couple that with his Welker-esque steel trap hands, and we have a very productive future NFL player on our hands.

Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State: DeSean Jackson. This comparison is based on only one thing. It’s not size–Bryant is far bigger than Jackson. It’s not speed–Jackson, relatively speaking for WRs, is much faster than Bryant. No, it simply comes down to big plays.

While Jackson is now known for his amazing big-play potential for the Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant was on his way toward being known for such a thing at Okie State before his suspension this season. For his college career, Bryant averaged over 17 yards per catch. Jackson’s NFL and Cal averages are startlingly similar. Bryant won’t be a possession receiver like Tate, and he might not dominate games like Briscoe and Alexander, but he can change them with one play, and that’s something in strong demand at every level of the game.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Oftentimes, as the season in college football goes, so does the Heisman trophy race.

In 2008, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas all had dominating seasons. Quite unsurprisingly, all three teams were quarterbacked by players that had dominating seasons.

Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford was named the nation’s best after passing for an astounding 50 touchdowns. Texas’ Colt McCoy placed second after setting the NCAA record for best single season completion percentage at 77.6. Finally, Tim Tebow placed third after posting a breathtaking season of both passing and running–a year after winning the award with a breathtaking mix of passing and running.

All three QBs, and all three schools, finished the regular season with just one loss and dominating resumes, making the debates over who should play for the national title and take home the Heisman tense, passionate and riveting. Each school and quarterback had compelling arguments as to why they were the best. In both races, there was–and still is in hindsight–no wrong answer.

Enter 2009.

Much the same thing is happening this season. Again, there is no clear-cut best team in the country, nor any obvious Heisman deservees. There is one key difference between this season and ‘08, however. Where last year there was an overflow of quality and talent, this year the landscape is parched.

Not one team in the entire country has truly distinguished itself, especially those of BCS conferences. While Florida, Texas, Alabama and Cincinnati all remain undefeated, all four lack “signature” or compelling wins.

They have all often struggled against inferior competition, and depended on lucky breaks, whether it be awful calls or opponents’ injury. There has been no Oklahoma rolling over an entire conference in historic fashion, no Florida pounding the SEC into submission after an unfocused early season loss. We can’t tell who is truly deserving, because we can’t tell who is even really good.

It is the same with the Heisman. Whereas three players all rose up and practically demanded to be called the nation’s best player in 2008, not one has done so in 2009.
This is made all the more puzzling by the fact that all three of last season’s top three finishers returned for the 2009 season.

The winner, Bradford, very well may have cruised to his second straight trophy. There was just one problem–he’s played in barely more than one and a half games after twice injuring his shoulder.

The runner-up, McCoy, has played in every game, but been unremarkable when compared to his record setting junior season. While he has been a top-flight quarterback, he has rarely single-handedly won games the way he did in 2008, and is coming nowhere near equaling his gaudy, record-breaking statistics.

Then there’s Tebow, perhaps college football’s best all-time player. While he has become easy for many to take for granted at this point, that’s not why he’s not getting the kind of Heisman attnetion many expected: he just isn’t producing the way he once did. After averaging 5.4 yards per carry in 2008, he is going for just 3.5 in 2009, and after throwing for the SEC’s third most yards, he is just eighth in 2009 (albeit, after missing one game).

So who do you choose from amongst the mediocrity?

Houston’s Case Keenum is throwing the ball all over the place, but plays for a team that is third in Conference USA.

Alabama’s Mark Ingram is averaging 6.7 yards per carry, but is still just sixth in the country among BCS conference players.

Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh is almost single-handedly making the Huskers’ defense one of the best in the country, but doesn’t even lead his own team in sacks.

In truth, no player has distinguished himself enough in 2009 to bring home the hardware. But in the true spirit of the BCS, that won’t stop us from bestowing it on somebody.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

At 9-0, the Big 10’s Iowa Hawkeyes are currently ranked fourth in the BCS standings.

This is a joke.

Everyone who watches college football knows it’s a joke. Iowa has struggled to put away awful opponents and played one ranked team all season. Their quarterback is not good. They are down to their third string running back. They are not an elite team.

But therein lies an age-old problem–everyone already knows this. They know the Iowa Hawkeyes are not an elite team capable of competing with the nation’s best. So what do they do? They don’t talk about it. And when they don’t talk about it, people just keep on ranking the Hawkeyes fourth.

Maybe this column well help.

So, you know Iowa is bad (Relative to what a 9-0 team should be, of course, not actually bad), but do you actually have any idea of just how unimpressive they really are?

First, part of their problem is the conference they play in. Put simply, the Big 10 isn’t a very good one right now. In 2009, the conference as a whole is 5-7 against other BCS conference teams, which includes a 2-1 record against 3-5 Syracuse (Which part is worse? The two wins inflating the conference’s record, or the fact that one of its teams actually lost to Syracuse?).

In games against ranked non-conference foes, they are 1-2.

It’s not a good conference.

But of course, 9-0 Iowa is undefeated in both conference play and nonconference play. The fact that one of their nonconference opponents, Arkansas State, is 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Sun Belt doesn’t seem to bother too many people. That’s probably because almost every BCS school fattens up horrid nonconference competition these days. Iowa’s joke of a non-Big 10 schedule shouldn’t be held against them.

But what about the fact that they beat Arkansas State by just three points? At home.

Or how about the Hawkeyes’ harrowing 17-16 victory over Northern Iowa?

First things first–Northern Iowa is not a division one football team. They play in the Missouri Valley Conference of the FCS. Then there’s the fact that this game, like Iowa’s Arkansas State “victory,” came at their home stadium.

Things go to a whole ‘nother level, though, when you consider the fact that Iowa was losing this game 10-7 at halftime and needed a last second field goal block to preserve their “victory”–two of them. Two last second field goal blocks. Against Northern Iowa. A FCS football team. At home.

In Iowa’s defense, UNI did beat South Dakota 66-7 the following week.

Whatever, throw that out the window. Lots of good teams play down to their competition. Surely there is something Iowa is doing that’s setting them apart and enabling them to win close game after close game . . . right?

What about a difference making player? Quarterback Ricky Stanzi? Well, he’s fifth in the Big 10 in passing yards–impressive, right? Well . . . he’s also first in interceptions. And second is sacks taken.

His touchdown-to-interception ratio is 14 to 13–1.07 to 1. For every interception he throws, he throws .07 more touchdowns.

As a team, the Hawkeyes are third in the Big 10 in point deferential, behind both Ohio State and Penn State. They are tenth in total offense, third in total defense.

They have been outscored 88-87 in the first half.

Iowa is sustained by one fact and one fact only–they play in the woeful Big 10.

In a season in which it appears there will be multiple undefeated teams at the end of the regular season for the first time since 2005, these are not frivolous details.

Cincinnati may play in a (supposedly) worse conference, but it’s outscored its opponents by 210 points–playing nearly half the season with a back-up quarterback.

Boise State plays in a conference that is twice as worse, but is beating its opponents nearly three times as soundly–literally. Iowa’s point differential is +89, Boise’s is +229. The Broncos have also beaten a top ten non-conference opponent, a little bit different than eeking out a one-point victory against an FCS team.

Then there’s this. Since 2007, the Big East and Boise are a combined 3-1 in BCS bowl games. The Big 10? 0-6.

To put the Hawkeyes in any potential national title game over either of these two teams would be a travesty. Of course, Texas and either Florida or Alabama could win out, making this a moot point, but it still needs to be said.

For a time at least, the nation has to be through giving the Big 10 the benefit of the doubt. The Hawkeyes aren’t playing old-fashioned football, they are playing bad football. It’s something we’ve seen over and over from the Big 10’s recent “elite” teams–and not something voters should forget as the polling gets serious and the stakes get huge.

Don’t vote Iowa.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Few remember the game at this point.

No one really remembers that Boise State held Oregon to just one measly scoring drive on the opening night of the NCAA season. Or that Boise more than doubled Oregon’s total offense. Or that they held the ball for 42 of the game’s 60 minutes.

No, they just remember the one thing the media deemed newsworthy: LeGarrette Blount’s punch-em-up after the final whistle had blown.

And truthfully, after the game had ended, that’s what fans were comfortable with the game’s legacy being. Yes, Oregon was ranked number 16, but if they lost to Boise, they couldn’t have really been all that great.

It was a cute little win for the Broncos, no doubt–just like their one the year before in Eugene–but that was it. No matter how much the Boise fans wanted the game to have an impact on the national title picture, most “knew” it was nothing more than a small moral victory for the Broncos.

And that’s exactly the way things have played out since. Boise’s gone un-vogue since their demolition of the Ducks. They almost lost to Tulsa for crying out loud! Not only have people stopped caring about Boise, they’ve really stopped caring about Boise, to the point where they continue to fall in the rankings despite doing nothing but winning.

But something troubling has happened as they’ve faded from national attention–Oregon has claimed it. Yes, it turns out the House of 10,000 uniforms was actually pretty good after all. After losing to Boise, they scuttled a few weeks more, barely beating Purdue before struggling against Utah at home. But then they started routing people.

Since their nonconference misadventures, they have rolled up four straight Pac 10 victories by a combined score of 161-38. That included a 42-3 demolition of then number six California, and a 43-19 victory at Washington–the same place USC lost in September.

Now they face USC later tonight in a de-facto Pac 10 championship game. They are at home and favored. If they win, they are going places. Only there’s one problem–Boise State.

Oregon is currently ranked tenth in the AP poll, Boise sixth and USC fourth. If Oregon wins, people’s first inclination is going to be to vault them. But how high can they really be vaulted in they can’t be moved ahead of Boise State?

And they can’t be moved ahead of Boise, right? True, their matchup was the first game of the season, and both are “different teams now,” but no matter when or where the game was played, how can voters acting in good faith put the Ducks in front of a team that so thoroughly dominated them and hasn’t lost all year? Would they really dare to put a BCS conference team ahead of an undefeated non-BCS team that not only beat them, but destroyed them?

Even for the consistently fraudulent and cumbersome BCS, this would be breaking new ground.

The questions will be many if Oregon wins.

The first being, if this Boise team–a team that smothered a top ten opponent that (potentially) won its BCS conference–can’t crack the national title game, which non-BCS team can? Will there ever be hope for the nations’ other conferences?

Second, is Oregon doomed? Assuming the pollsters do not want to look like the biggest hypocrites alive, it’s very possible that beating USC will be the Ducks’ peak this season if Boise remains undefeated.

Finally, is any of it fair? Oregon is a different team now. Boise State still is undefeated. So why does neither have a real shot at playing in the national title game, while few would bat an eye at a one loss Texas, Alabama or Florida team doing so?

The older the BCS era gets, it doesn’t age like a fine wine–it only reveals more cracks. Will this finally be the year it is damaged beyond repair? Boise State, Oregon and USC will have had a lot to say about it if it is.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Jim Zorn award.

Ron Zook is just one of those people in sports that you legitimately feel bad for. When a group of “loyal” Florida boosters started “FireRonZook.com” before his first season as coach at UF even began, it seemed amazingly premature and bitterly unfair.

Turns out, it was ahead of its time. Zook is simply a laughable excuse for a man who is supposed to be running a Division-I football team. Speaking of which, Illinois hasn’t beaten an FCS team since last November. Throw in the facts that the once promising career of Juice Williams has been swiftly crushed, and the Illini got manhandled in a Big 10 game–against Indiana–and it’s time for Zook to disappear.

Chase Daniel award.

Last season, Colt McCoy was literally the most accurate quarterback in college history. This season . . . not so much. Exactly like the man this award is named after, McCoy is having a deflating senior letdown after electrifying the nation as a junior. It’s not that he’s not winning, he is. Texas is 6-0. But he himself isn’t willing the team to victory like he did so often in 2008 with both his arm and his legs. He won’t factor into the Heisman trophy award race this year, and he won’t set any more records.

Also much like Chase Daniel, he’s gone from a potential first or second round draft pick to out of the draft altogether, though his slightly taller height may spare him that indignity. Many lost millions, meet Colt McCoy.

Worst conference.

Easily the most competitive of these “awards,” it’s truly hard to discern who’s the worst. That being said, the Big 10 has shined like a star when it has come to being as bad as they could be in 2009. Their “best” team? A 7-0 Iowa team that has yet to beat a conference foe by more than ten points, edged Northern Iowa by one and Arkansas State by three. Can you say USC’s yearly January feeding?

Second worst conference.

While the Big East may have a team, Cincinnati, go undefeated, it is in grave danger of becoming the first BCS conference to have a team go undefeated and then not picked for the National Title game at the expense of a one-loss squad. The competition is putrid, the names unrecognizable and the football . . . horrible.

Best conference.

Often this debate rages as the hottest fire in all of college football. In 2008, the SEC and Big 12 engaged in a season-long death march that finally concluded with Florida edging Oklahoma in the national title game.

This year? There’s no competition. The only two truly dominant teams in college football, Florida and Alabama, both reside in the SEC. While beyond those two the rest of the picture isn’t so pretty down South, their top-heavy dominance more than outpaces the all-encompassing mediocrity that’s passing for five other BCS conferences.

Best player.

We know the arguments against Notre Dame. Pro Golden Domer media bias. A soft schedule. Their own TV deal that allows them an inordinate amount of national exposure. But plain and simple, Jimmy Clausen is a gunslinging fool the NFL is surely drooling over.

He has the confidence, arm and elusiveness that all NFL quarterbacks dream of. Despite a dearth of talent around him, he almost never misses a throw and always lights up the scoreboard. It might not easy to admit such a hated private institution snuck the best player in college football into its program while the whole thing seemingly crumbles, but that’s the case at Notre Dame in 2009. Clausen for Heisman, and maybe the number one pick in next Spring’s NFL draft.

This year’s USC excuse.

The underwhelming conference foe we lost to on the road was calling us bad names before the game.

The where did all my money go award?

Sam Bradford.

Still the biggest ass in the game award?

Charlie Weis.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff