This week, admittedly a week to fill space, I'll give out my own mini-awards, the Freshman Fifteen Fifteen Superlatives of the season. I won't be directly picking a Heisman winner or the Army-Navy contest (Navy by 2 TD's) as part of my official record. I can't just pick one game - it's the Freshman FIFTEEN, it would just go against principle.
And without further ado, here are the Freshman Fifteen Fifteen Superlatives of the season:
1. Most Surprising Team
Surprising as in, "I'm shocked this team did so well", not "I can't believe how bad they are". That's the next superlative. This award goes to the Cincinnati Bearcats, who improbably defended their Big East crown with a resounding 12-0 march. Their award - face an angry Tim Tebow and Florida in SEC territory. Possibly without their coach (more on that later). Good luck. Cincinnati was picked by most to be a middle of the road Big East team as they faced the task of replacing 10 defensive starters. Their offense would be good, it was reasoned, but can the defense keep up? They did, barely at times, and they were also helped by the offense putting up stratospheric numbers. The Bearcats capped their memorable season with a one point win at Pitt, in which they scored 4 second half TDs to come back from a 21-point deficit.
Honorable Mention: Temple, Idaho, Stanford
2. Most Disappointing Team
As dismal as Notre Dame's season turned out to be, they don't merit this award because I had a hunch they'd not be what everyone touted them to be. No, this one goes to a top 5 team who fell hard and never were able to pick themselves back up. Victims of a nasty injury bug and tough early losses (total margin of defeat in first 3 losses: 5 points), the Oklahoma Sooners underwent their most disappointing campaign in recent memory. They were supposed to be neck and neck with Texas, and it was considered a coin flip as to who would win the Big 12 and represent the conference in the BCS title game. But their season proves that sometimes you're just 2 injuries away from mediocrity.
Honorable Mention: USC, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Notre Dame, Florida State
3. Most Predictable Team
Meaning, the team that did just about as everyone expected them to, nothing more, nothing less. It's pretty difficult to pick, but I'm going with Oregon State. As per their pattern, they plodded out of the gate, losing 2 of their first 4, both at home, before ripping through the rest of their schedule, losing only to USC and Oregon in close games on the road. And as usual, they rest in the top 3 of the Pac Ten standings. Again.
Honorable Mention: Penn State, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Boise State, Troy, Auburn, Utah
4. Most Invisible Team
This award goes to the Marshall Thundering Herd, who stealthily creeped to a 6-6 record and an invitation to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl. Bet you can't name 3 of the 6 teams they've beaten? I certainly can't!
Honorable Mention: Wake Forest, Northern Illinois, Hawaii
5. Most Snakebitten Team
The Connecticut Huskies 5 losses came at a grand total of 15 points, and they suffered a tragic and heartbreaking loss when DB Jasper Howard was murdered on campus. If that's not a runaway winner of the "Most Snakebitten" award, I don't know what is. Credit Randy Edsall and his team for not folding up the tent mid-season. The Huskies valiantly rallied to win their last 3, including an OT win at Notre Dame, to lock up a bowl bid. They were able to see adversity turn into strength and perseverance into character, as is so often the case in trying situations. Seems like there's a biblical principle in there somewhere.
Honorable Mention: Mississippi State, LSU, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma
6. Most Entertaining Team
Perhaps giving Notre Dame their very own TV package isn't such a bad idea after all. Ten of the twelve games the Fighting Irish played were decided by 7 points or less, and two of them went to overtime. In many of those games they had fourth quarter leads, only to give them away; and in others they roared back from sizable deficits only to fall slightly short. Add to that resume the fact that their offense boasted future pro's Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, and Michael Floyd, and the result is a team that played watchable and entertaining games all year. The fact that they ended up 4-6 in those close contests is a big reason why Charlie Weis got the boot.
Honorable Mention: Connecticut, LSU, Arizona, Oregon
7. Least Entertaining Team
Contrast Notre Dame with Oklahoma State, who played just 2 games that ended in a margin of victory of 7 points or less. Win or lose, a game with the Cowboys in it was going to end with an uninteresting second half. Consider that fact before tuning into the Cotton Bowl, where they play Mississippi, another team with the habit of blowout wins or losses (also 2 for 12 on one-possession games).
Honorable Mention: Mississippi, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, anyone from the Sun Belt or MAC
8. Most Wasteful Team
What I mean by "most wasteful" is this: doing the least with the most fully stocked cupboard. It's a close parallel to "most disappointing", but sometimes teams with armfuls of talent are given more modest expectations. Exhibit A is the Illinois Fighting Illini. Anticipation was that Illinois could compete for the Big Ten's third or fourth place, perhaps press the big boys a bit, but were generally expected to fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. They failed even to reach that. And they really weren't even close. This with a team stocked with prime recruits from the past 3-4 years. Ron Zook showed at Florida that he could recruit with the best but couldn't match it on the field, and his tenure at Illinois is only reinforcing that sentiment.
Honorable Mention: Florida State, Notre Dame, Colorado, Georgia
9. Most Thrifty Team
The opposite of most wasteful, this team did the most with the least. Welcome to the Freshman Fifteen, Temple Owls! Temple once occupied the lowest rung of the Division 1-A ladder, getting ignominiously kicked out of the Big East and nearly abandoning football altogether. At it's lowest point, getting recruits to come to Philadelphia was all but impossible. Who would want to play for a team that was kicked out of a conference for how pathetic the program was? And now the Owls have emerged, after a few years of steady improvement, with a breakout 9-3 year that nearly ended in a MAC title. Expect recruiting to come a little easier, and expect Al Golden to land a job at a major conference school within the next two years, possibly within the next 2 months as the chain of coaching changes that will be set off by the Notre Dame hire will be far-reaching.
Honorable Mention: Iowa State, TCU, Boise State, Northwestern, Navy, Army
10. Most Outstanding Player
Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh probably won't win the Heisman, but he was the most dominant player any time he stepped onto the field this year. His performance against Texas will be remembered for decades, even in defeat, but he wreaked havoc like that all season long. The fact that he did what he did against Texas, on that stage, only cements his legacy of dominance.
Honorable Mention: C.J. Spiller, Colt McCoy, Toby Gerhart
11. Most Outstanding Coach
Lots of candidates abound: Brian Kelly of Cincinnati, Randy Edsall of UConn, Gary Patterson of TCU, Jim Harbaugh of Stanford. But I'm going with the "other" Kelly - Chip Kelly of Oregon. After the near-meltdown at Boise State to open the season, many rookie coaches wouldn't have been able to rally their teams to a productive season. But he handled the LaGarrette Blount situation marvelously, managed to gain his team's focus, and Oregon rose head and shoulders above a very good Pac Ten conference.
Honorable Mention: see above
12. Most Sleazy Coach
I created this category just for Brian Kelly of Cincinnati. How can you openly lust after another school's head coaching position while your team is in the midst of the program's best season ever? How can you even interview for the open position while your undefeated team prepares for the biggest game in school history? What is the reaction of Cincinnati fans to this? The players? Do they view him as a hero, or a jerk? We all know Cincinnati isn't one of college football's glamour schools, but the way Kelly is unabashedly treating the program like second-class citizens has to cause them to bristle even a bit, doesn't it? Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino were vilified by the fan bases of many, but Kelly's handling of the Notre Dame situation - like a dog drooling over a Milk Bone held tantalizingly before it, eyes following its every move - has to rank at or near the same level. If I were the Bearcats administration I'd do Kelly the favor of showing him the door right now. And if I were the Notre Dame administration, I'd think long and hard about hiring someone who would show that degree of brazenness and poor class. There has got to be a place for integrity and character, especially among the coaches who's first job it is to influence and mold the lives of the young men they're privileged to mentor.
13. Most Likely to Succeed
In the bowls, that is. Texas Tech faces a Michigan State squad decimated by suspensions in the Alamo Bowl on January 2. Even with those players, Michigan State would face a tall order, given the mediocrity of their season and the shoddy Big Ten bowl reputation. The Red Raiders should win easily.
Honorable Mention: Miami (FL), Virginia Tech, Ohio
14. Least Likely to Succeed
Again, in bowl season. And no, I'm not going to just flip the coin over and say Michigan State. Though that would be easy. No, this honor goes to Tennessee, who face a Virginia Tech team who's played in Atlanta once this year already and is significantly more talented than the Volunteers.
Honorable Mention: Marshall, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Iowa, Middle Tennessee State, SMU, Army (if qualified)
15. Most Enticing Bowl Matchup
Disclaimer: I'm not picking the National Championship Game, because that's naturally the most enticing, being the only one that truly matters. This pick comes from the remaining 33.
At first glance I thought the bowl slate was lacking, considering the relatively even playing field we've had all season. But after a few more looks, there are some really nice matchups out there. The bowls did a good job at matching teams with the same or very similar records. The only unjust selection, in my opinion, was the Gator Bowl taking Florida State. Not even Notre Dame gets to play on New Year's Day at 6-6. I know it's Bobby Bowden's last game and it will be the sad end of a great legacy, but couldn't that just as easily happened in the Emerald Bowl, against USC no less? The Gator Bowl threw on-field results out the window just to get a tailor-made matchup. Boo. As for "most enticing", the candidates are many: LSU-Penn State, Oklahoma-Stanford, Ohio State-Oregon, Florida-Cincinnati, Texas A&M-Georgia. But I'm going with the surprise pick of Pitt-North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Both teams will have talent returning next year and could rest in the preseason top 15, so this could be a preview of a BCS bowl next year. And it should be very entertaining, as both offenses will be able to put up points. For the first time in your life, make it a point to catch at least some of the Meineke Car Care Bowl!
Honorable Mention: see above
Next: we kick off the bowls with a prediction of the December bowls
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