When I opened my eyes and glanced out my window last Saturday morning, I saw fellow students chugging bottles of O'Douls. Certain that I was hallucinating, I stumbled into the kitchen where I found the shelves stocked with nothing but green vegetables and tofu burgers. Still perplexed, I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Instead of seeing Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and the rest of the ESPN Gameday crew, I watched in horror as Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh locked lips in a passionate make-out session. Just when O'Reilly began to tug at Limbaugh's tie, I woke up.
This bizarre dream was not the result of a drug-induced stupor or a three day bender on State Street. No, my body was simply reacting to the craziest, most improbable college football season in recent history.
Let's take a look back.
Rutgers, a traditional Big East doormat and a team that won four conference games from 1996-2002, stands undefeated and is ranked No. 7 in the country. The Scarlet Knights did go undefeated once before, but that was back when your parents were busy boogying around the disco ball.
Down south, Wake Forest fans have something to cheer about besides the start of basketball season. With a record of 9-1, the Demon Deacons already hold the most wins in school history and look poised to challenge for their first ACC title in 36 years. Ironically, the team that won the conference crown in 1970 only finished with an overall record of 6-5. Wake Forest had not defeated Florida State since 1973, but last Saturday the Demon Deacons shutout the Seminoles 30-0.
This brings us to the sad state of football in sunny Florida. Both Florida State and Miami are 5-5 and are struggling to earn bowl berths. The last time neither the Seminoles nor the Hurricanes had a winning record after 10 games was back in 1976.
Despite the return of Ohio State and Michigan to the top of the conference, the Big Ten has also seen its share of insanity this season.
Many pundits picked Iowa to make a run for the Big Ten title and a Bowl Championship Series game. Yet, the Hawkeyes have crash-landed, losing five conference games.
Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema has continued the over-achieving trend started by Barry Alvarez's final teams. The Badgers are a second-half meltdown away from being undefeated, and Bielema has set a record for most victories by a first-year Big Ten coach.
After they drive the Buffalo Bulls out of town, Wisconsin will finish the season with 11 victories. Let me repeat that: 11 victories in the regular season. In the 118 years of Badger football, no team has ever finished the regular season with 11 victories.
A few weeks ago, I said that the Badgers were ""not a Rose Bowl team."" While they might not be physically playing in the Rose Bowl, I now believe Wisconsin is as good as any team that will be taking the field in Pasadena. You have to be a great team to win 11 games, even if you did play a few cupcakes along the way.
Sadly, with the domination of Ohio State and Michigan and the BCS rules as they are, we may never know just how good this Badger team could be.
For some teams, 2006 has been a dream season. For others, it has been a nightmare. Hopefully my articles didn't put you to sleep. Whether they did or not, I'd like to say thank you and goodbye to all of you, well, all three of you, my loyal readers, who came along for this crazy ride that was the 2006 college football season.
But, if I may borrow a line from UW Marching Band Director Michael Leckrone, ""We never really say, goodbye, 'cause we're gonna' see ya' real soon.""
Who knows? Maybe I'll see you in Pasadena in 2008. Now there's one dream I'd like to come true.
