Oh, how time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for our first game in Camp Randall. Now there are only two games left for our Badgers and four weeks left in the season. As another great year of college gridiron action draws to a close, I would like to take a look back at the college football season that was and point out the good, the bad and the ugly as this year's football season has marched on.
The Good
With three teams in the Division I still undefeated, I will venture to say that the best of this year's teams are a handful of squads with a 1"" in the loss column - namely LSU and Oregon. The Bayou Tigers have shown the most tenacity of any team all year, knocking off team after team, week after week, despite playing in arguably the toughest conference in the country and going head-to-head with six top-25 teams. Their only loss of the season came in triple overtime at No. 17 Kentucky, just one week after a grueling victory against No. 9 Florida.
The Ducks tout a similar story, knocking off three top-10 teams in the past five weeks and embarrassing Michigan at the Big House in week two. And check out the numbers they have been putting up: 2,449 yards of rushing, 2,152 yards through the air and wins by an average of 24 points per game. Oregon's only loss came against No. 6 Cal when they gave up a 17-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Kansas and Ohio State have also proven to be tough teams down the stretch and should be commended for staying undefeated so far. But their schedules have not exactly been filled with tough opponents like LSU and Oregon's. If the Buckeyes can knock off Michigan in two weeks and Kansas can survive Missouri and beat Oklahoma for the Big 12 title, then you might be looking at this year's championship game - but this is improbable. My guess is that neither team will finish this season with an undefeated record.
Finally, pay some homage to Hawaii and Connecticut for staying in the thick of things despite being regarded as second-rate. The Warriors from the South Pacific are yet to be beaten this year and the Huskies are unbeaten in the Big East, a feat that not even West Virginia can boast. If these teams can win out, they should be in serious contention for a BCS game in January.
The Bad
It is a pretty good assumption that Michigan would be sitting at the top of the BCS rankings right now if they had not tripped at the starting line. If you change one thing about the Wolverine's season - turn the blocked field goal at the end of the Appalachian State game into three points - Big Blue would be 9-1 with an unblemished conference record and just one loss to a stellar Oregon squad. That is pretty good. But instead, they are on the outside looking in with regards to the five BCS games despite an impressive eight game win streak.
USC has not been the epitome of perfection it was supposed to be, either. I recall a time earlier this season when Mark May of ESPN rhetorically asked whether or not USC could be stopped at all this year. They ultimately got stopped by a bunch of trees or birds or whatever the Stanford Cardinal is supposed to be. Bottom line, the Trojans got beat by the then-worst team in the Pac-10. What is more, in retrospect, the five teams that USC beat to maintain its No. 1 status up to the Stanford debacle have now amassed a combined record of 11-27. Diagnosis: USC was overrated all along.
The Ugly
South Florida, seriously, what happened? You climb out of nowhere and beat some of the nation's best to get into the No. 2 spot in all of college football, and promptly respond to this honor by falling flat on your face - three weeks in a row. One month ago, you had a clear path to the national championship game. Now you haven't got a prayer of making it into a BSC game. Good luck in the Papajohns.com Bowl.
Kudos should also be dolled out to Charlie Weiss and his inept Irish. I will bet the Notre Dame students and alumni are happy that he signed that $30 million contract two years ago. After all, he has been breaking records all year: worst start in program history, first loss to the Navy in more than four decades and the second-worst rushing and scoring offense in the country. Don't worry, Irish, he has only eight more years on his contract.
As for Nebraska. This was supposed to be your year to return to glory. Instead you fall short of picking up the signature win against USC at home and drop five of your six conference games. Not even the sacking of the former athletic director in favor of interim AD and Cornhusker legend Tom Osborne could spark some motivation. In fact, last week's 76-38 loss to Kansas was the worst defeat ever in school history. Talk about not living up to expectations. Do not expect to see them win at all the rest of the season.
If you are extremely sad that this year's college football season is coming to an end, e-mail Andy at avansistine@wisc.edu.
