Going into the BCS championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns, if you had told me that with four minutes left in the game, we would be down by three points and have the ball, I would have said I liked our chances. If you had told me that we would get there with our true freshman quarterback, I would have told you that you were nuts.

After a very ugly first half, most of America thought the Longhorns would be blown off the field in the second half. I’ll admit that I was worried it was going to get ugly.

Instead, the Longhorns dug deep and were playing for the win late in the game. And while the final score differential as seventeen (thanks for showing your ass, Coach Saban), Texas proved their strength of heart and depth of talent on that field.

I’ll certainly have more thoughts (and predictions) on the games later, but here’s what comes to mind right off.

Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs. Oregon
January 1st, Pasadena, California

No surprise here. If the Rose Bowl has the option of taking the Pac 10 and Big 10 conference winners, they almost always will do so.

The Oklahoma Sooners proved that they didn’t belong in the national championship picture last night, as the Florida Gators allows only two touchdowns, winning 24-14.

Some thoughts, in no particular order…

1st – Florida Gators
They looked great tonight and their defense was amazing, holding a potent OU offense to fourteen points. Yes, their loss was worse than ours, but they’ve certainly gotten it done since then.
2nd – Texas Longhorns
No, they didn’t exactly dominate the Fiesta Bowl, but Ohio State played their best game of the season [...]

My Christmas wish of a playoff in Division 1A football did not come true this year, and the new year approaches, so it’s time to start thinking about the BCS games starting next week. [...]

The writing has been on the wall for weeks now, and today it came true: the Texas Longhorns were passed over for the National Championship Game, even though they beat one of the teams going to Miami. Texas’ only loss came on the last second against a top ten team, while Oklahoma lost to Texas [...]

After the Bowl Championship Series screwed Texas this Sunday, I spent some time thinking about the long, proud history the BCS has in producing bad results. Here are what I consider to be the top seven most egregious calls.
7. Kansas State Wildcats, 1999
The Wildcats get a repeat screw job (see below), when lower ranked Michigan [...]

As expected, the Oklahoma Sooners jumped my Texas Longhorns in today’s BCS rankings. As a result, Oklahoma is off to Kansas City next weekend to play the collapsing Missouri Tigers for the Big Twelve Championship. Win there, and the Sooners are most likely off to Miami to play in the national championship against the winner [...]

Mongol General: Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.
Mongol General: That is good! That is good.
– “Conan the Barbarian”
Terry: All right. Now I have complied with your every request, would you agree?
Rusty: I would.
Terry: Good, ’cause now I have [...]

The new rankings are out:
1. Alabama – .987
2. Texas – .921
3. Oklahoma – .912
4. Florida – .875
5. USC – .797
6. Utah – .786
7. Texas Tech – .779
8. Penn State – .752
9. Boise State – .658
10. Ohio State – .621
Either Alabama or Florida will drop out of the picture after losing the SEC championship. The winner [...]