A Fitting End

It seems like the regular season of the year of the upset ended the way it should have. There are many shocking statistics including: twice this year, 5 of the top 10 lost to unranked teams and that 4 times this year, the Number 1 team and Number 2 team both lost on the same weekend.

The Five Main Bowls are as Follows:

• The Rose Bowl: Southern California versus Illinois on January 1st at 4:30pm
• The Sugar Bowl: Hawaii versus Georgia on January 1st at 8:30pm
• The Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma versus West Virginia on January 2nd at 8:00pm
• The Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech versus Kansas on January 3rd at 8:00pm
• The BCS National Title Championship: Ohio State versus Louisiana State on January 7th at 8:00pm

The last week was a fitting end. The Buckeyes were the Pittsburgh Panther's biggest fans as they went on their way to upset West Virginia, the 6th team ranked #2 to lose to an unranked opponent this year, along with Southern California, South Florida, Louisiana State (losing both of its games in triple overtime), Boston College, and California. Then there was freshman quarterback Sam Bradford propelling the Sooners to a 6th Big 12 title under Bob Stoops against Missouri. I feel that Missouri's harsh treatment was unfair. Despite losing only two games (both to Oklahoma), Missouri is headed to the Cotton Bowl rather than a major BCS bowl. Meanwhile, Kansa, who lost to Missouri, is going to the Orange Bowl. Since the two top ranked teams lost, Ohio State was granted a bid for the title game, but its opponent took a while to figure out. Virginia Tech was the A.C.C. champion, but they lost to Louisiana State 48-7. Georgia was ranked higher than Louisiana States, but didn't even get an opportunity to play in the S.E.C. conference title game. This left L.S.U. as the only legitimate contender.

This was a year where Michigan was supposed to beat Ohio State for the 1st time since 2003 and win the National Title. Neither Missouri nor Kansas was ranked at the beginning of the year. Hawaii repeated Boise State's feat last season, going undefeated and earning a BCS bid. Stanford beat Southern California, a 41-point favorite. Notre Dame had never had a nine-loss season before. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Ohio State offense and Jim Tressel, yet they will be competing for their second consecutive National Title (against another S.E.C. team that uses a spread offense). Remember California being ranked second in the country? Neither do I.

Remember, the season's not over yet. And wait until you see Notre Dame in the Top 5 next year after going 3-9. Wow.