Bowl Season Awaits the Big One

As usual, the college football holiday extravaganza has been replete with crazy comebacks, blowouts, and the sport's first two playoff games.

Just think: Ohio State wouldn't have even had a chance to play for the National Championship under the BCS system, but the Buckeyes went into New Orleans and laid one on the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, 42-35.

Coach Urban Meyer did it with a third-string quarterback, Cardale Jones, who outplayed Alabama's first-stringer, Blake Sims. Of course, it helped Ohio State to have a rockpile line on each side of the ball.

Oregon may not have had a chance under the old system, either, but here they are after clobbering the defending champion Florida State Seminoles, 59-20.

The Heisman Trophy has always been nothing but a ball-handler's beauty contest, but damn, this year's winner, Marcus Mariota, is so well-rounded, he probably looks good in a bikini, too. He definitely outplayed last years' winner, Jameis Winston, and did it with no prior convictions, hints, or innuendoes.

And with all the drawn-out, stalling, hemming-hawing, foot-dragging proceedings by those in charge of whatever in Tallahassee, Jameis Winston was available to set up the meme of the season:

In the name of artistry, thank you to obstructors of justice everywhere, especially in the Florida panhandle.

The ratings for these two games were outstanding, as they drew the largest audiences in cable television history. In fact, they even outdid The Shield's wild card games.

The only negative of the whole evening was Florida State quitting; and yes, they did quit. Many of the Seminoles left the field after the game without shaking hands, which just shows what Florida State and their staff is really about.

So now, the makings are there for a great final in Dallas on Mon 12 Jan, which may just break another record for cable viewing.

Right. Cut it. Back to business here.

Bowl games are hit and miss for many reasons. For example:

• Who practiced hard or took it as a vacation?
• What pro prospects just wanted to get through the game without getting hurt?

Here's the :

• Utah showed up in their game against Colorado State (45-10), while the Rams made a cameo appearance sans their head coach, who was on his way to Gainesville;
• Memphis and BYU both left their defenses home as the Tigers won 55-48;
• Western Kentucky hilltopped Central Michigan, 49-48, in a fourth quarter for the ages;

• Illinois undid much of Ohio State's Big Ten image-building by going through the motions, which was not a wise move against a team like Louisiana Tech;
• Rutgers fooled everyone by winning eight games in their first Big Ten season and capped it off with a 40-21 win over North Carolina in the Quick Lane Bowl;
• Penn State is on their way back, prevailing in overtime, 31-30, against Boston College;
• Boise State was right at home -- again -- in the Fiesta Bowl; and
• There were two other great comebacks, by Houston to beat Pitt and Michigan State to beat Baylor.

USC, South Carolina, and Arizona State also won. Teams like Oklahoma, Texas, and Mississippi shut it down early, however, as they were all routed in their games.

It all leads to one final game next week, and after all the years of polls picking the winners and the BCS system, it's finally being played out on the field with a four-team bracket. Do we dare move it to eight anytime soon?

Money and ratings talk, and will no doubt be even louder after the Big One.