Post-Bowl position [pre-bowl position]
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (14-0) [1] : The Tide win their first National Title in thirty years with a convincing win over Texas. Although QB Greg McElroy was 2 for 12 in passing, the Longhorns couldn't stop their running attack; the Tide had TWO 100-yard rushers in the game!
2. Florida Gators (13-1) [6] : A dominating win in the Sugar Bowl proves that the SEC Championship was REALLY the battle of Number One v Number Two!
3. Boise State Broncos (14-0) [3] : The Fiesta Bowl was the most exciting BCS bowl game of the postseason, and the Broncos proved to be the better BCS buster! They also spoiled the Mountain West Conference's bid to go unbeaten in the bowls.
4. Texas Longhorns (13-1) [2] : The Longhorns played very well considering they lost QB Colt McCoy in their first drive
5. TCU Horned Frogs (12-1) [4] : Admirable performance for the Horned Frogs. Was it good enough to help convince the BCS bosses to grant the Mountain West Conference winner an automatic bid?
6. Cincinnati Bearcats (12-1) [5] : Their defense couldn't halt Tim Tebow in his final collegiate game
7. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-2) [9] : The Big Ten won the Rose Bowl! 'Nuff said.
8. Iowa Hawkeyes (11-2) [10] : Iowa proved stronger than Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. The Hawkeyes came out swinging, instead of needing a quarter or two to get motivated, and they never trailed.
9. BYU Cougars (11-2) [11] : The Mountain West runner-up was most impressive in their Las Vegas Bowl win
10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-3) [8] : The ACC winner was outgunned by Iowa
11. Virginia Tech Hokies (10-3) [14] : They slaughtered Tennessee in the Chik-fil-A (formerly Peach) Bowl
12. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) [12] : It was tight, but their defense proved tougher than LSU to escape an attempted comeback
13. Oregon Ducks (10-3) [7] : Their offense couldn't get moving past Ohio State Buckeyes
14. Central Michigan Chippewas (12-2) [13] : They needed two overtimes to get past Troy
15. Utah Utes (10-3) [17] : Outscored Cal in an highlight-filled Poinsettia Bowl
16. Pittsburgh Panthers (10-3) [16] : Same score against North Carolina as Penn State had against LSU, but that score was due more to lackluster performance and turnovers than outstanding defense. Still, there is no denying that Dave Wannstedt has turned this program around
17. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-4) [20] : Registered the only shutout of the bowl season, and they aren't even known for a stingy defense!
18. Oklahoma Sooners (10-3) [19] : Gave Stanford the "heave-ho" in the Sun Bowl
19. Wisconsin Badgers (10-3) [21] : Started off the Big Ten's winning bowl record
20. Houston Cougars (10-4) [15] : Destroyed by Air Force, but it's always hard for the non-military school to win the Armed Forces Bowl
21. Navy Midshipmen (9-4) [NP] : We have two military academies in the Top 25, a rare event indeed! Navy trounced Missouri and ended up as the top rushing school in the nation
22. LSU Tigers (9-4) [18] : Fought hard, but came up short against Penn State
23. Ole Miss Rebels (9-4) [NP] : They shut down one of the most prolific scoring offenses in the country
24. Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-4) [24] : They beat Michigan State without Mike Leach, but the Spartans were without 26 players, including their three best offensive stars. The fact that the Spartans still scored 31 points is telling about the Raiders lack of defense
25. Miami Hurricanes (9-4) [21] : They disappointed the home crowd in the Citrus Bowl as Wisconsin beat them
Conference Bowl performances:
1. Mountain West (4-1) : Boise State spoiled their attempt to go unbeaten twice in three years, but they still have the best overall bowl record over the past four years. No wonder the BCS is considering granting them an automatic bid.
2. Big East (4-2) : Despite concern when Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College emigrated to the ACC, the Big East has done better in bowls than the ACC since that time.
3. SEC (6-4) : Ever dominant in post-season play, the SEC struggled more this year.
4. Big Ten (4-3) : Great to see them get a winning bowl record, and capture the Rose Bowl title!
5. Big XII (4-4) : Not a great bowl year for this traditionally strong conference. The Oklahoma State loss was a shocker, Texas Tech struggled against a weakened Michigan State team, Navy ran all over Missouri, and Georgia manhandled A&M. Oklahoma and Nebraska were really the only bright spots.
6. WAC (2-2) : Boise State's victory pulled them to an even record, helping to erase the stings of the Fresno State and Nevada losses. Idaho needed a last minute two-point conversion to beat Bowling Green
7. Sun Belt (1-1) : Troy nearly made it a perfect bowl season for this weak conference - or maybe I should stop using that label
8. ACC (3-4) : Another down year for this conference, who has struggled in bowl games in recent years
9. Conference USA (2-4) : Up and down in bowl performances, they suffered some massive letdowns by Central Florida and Houston. East Carolina's overtime loss to Arkansas was a disappointment, too.
10. Pac-10 (2-5) : Once again, this conference is near the bottom. Usually they redeem themselves with a Rose Bowl win, but they don't even have that this year. USC and UCLA were the only winners, again shining the spotlight on southern California.
11. MAC (1-4) : They beat other conferences in the regular season early, but couldn't carry that power into the bowl season.
Bowl highlights
Here are some random thoughts about the 2009-2010 bowl season:
- I felt the matchups were very good this year. We had a few blowouts, but we had many more close games, including two overtime and two DOUBLE overtime thrillers.
- I was very proud of my Big Ten conference. Every team played well, even the losers. Minnesota only gave Iowa State one good quarter, it's just unfortunate their offense couldn't get more than a field goal in the second half. Northwestern had TWO chances to win their game against Auburn, despite SIX turnovers. They definitely humbled the Auburn defense in the fourth quarter. Even Michigan State played well, despite losing so many players due to disciplinary reasons (14 academically ineligible and the others suspended after a rowdy campus party - don't you just love the discipline practiced by Midwestern schools? Too bad Florida, Texas, and California schools can't emulate them)
- Most exciting finish: Tied between the Humanitarian Bowl and Outback Bowl. Auburn seemed to have the Outback Bowl in hand early in the fourth quarter, so I switched to the Gator Bowl (I had the Capital One already on my second television). However, following the Outback online, I discovered Northwestern's comeback, and switched back. Northwestern's amazing comeback was capped by a late field goal, but it went wide. It happened again in overtime, allowing Auburn to escape with a three-point win. In the Humanitarian Bowl, Bowling Green scored a touchdown and led by six with less than a minute and a half left. After the PAT and resultant kick-off, there was only 1:16 on the clock. Yet the Idaho Vandals moved the ball down and scored a touchdown. Deciding for an outright win instead of a tie, the Vandals attempted a two-point conversion. They succeeded, and beat the Falcons by one point.
- Most balanced team: Has to be Nebraska. The offense scored 33 points, the defense didn't allow a score, and they had only three penalties all game.
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