College Football Bowl Season Recap

1. Four or more Group of 5 teams take down Power 5 opponents

Group of 5 teams notched only three victories against Power 5 opponents during bowl season, coming up just short for this prediction.  Louisiana Tech, Boise State, and Houston won, but Colorado State, UCF, Cincinnati, and East Carolina all faltered.

2. Boise State notches another Fiesta Bowl victory

The Broncos pulled out another Fiesta win, and now hold a 3 - 0 record in the Glendale, Arizona bowl game.  They even brought back the Statue of Liberty play that helped them beat Oklahoma in this same bowl almost a decade ago.  The trickery helped them jump out to a 21 - 0 lead early.  Arizona would rally back, but ultimately Boise State triumphed, 38 - 30.

3. Ole Miss stifles TCU in Peach Bowl win

It was the Horned Frogs' defense on display in Atlanta, as they completely shut down the Rebels.  Ole Miss was held to only 3 points, 129 yards of offense (including only 9 rushing yards), and committed four turnovers.  The victory for TCU fuels their playoff argument, and rightfully so.  But after the Big 12 finished 2 - 5 in bowl games and Ohio State knocked off top-ranked Alabama, there is probably a stronger argument for playoff expansion, rather than TCU's inclusion in this year's playoff (because, who would they have replaced?).  At the very least, the 42 - 3 blowout win provides some momentum for the Horned Frogs heading into next year.

4. Melvin Gordon claims number two spot on single-season rushing list

Gordon bounced back nicely after being contained by Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.  The Wisconsin running back ran all over Auburn, setting a new Outback Bowl record of 251 rushing yards.  The performance brought him to 2,587 for the season, passing Kevin Smith for number two on the list.  The total is also only 41 yards shy of Barry Sanders' 1988 record.  Wow.  It will be fun to see what this kid can do in the NFL.

5. Baylor beats Michigan State by double-digits

This one looked like a lock as the Bears entered the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl with a 20 point lead.  But the Spartans mounted a furious comeback to not only ruin this prediction, but win the football game, 42 - 41.  The victory was huge for the Big Ten, and helped justify the playoff committee's selections.

Bowl season record: 2 - 3
Overall record: 31 - 49

Other headlines from bowl season:

Comebacks!

I already mentioned Michigan State's comeback, but it wasn't the only B1G comeback, as Ohio State fell behind 21- 6 early against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl before fighting back to win 42 - 35.  A day later, Houston rallied to beat Pitt in the Armed Forces Bowl after trailing 31 - 6 in the fourth quarter.  The comeback included 3 touchdowns in the last 3:41 of the game and was the biggest fourth quarter comeback in bowl history.  Kansas State tried to duplicate the effort later that day after falling behind by the same score to UCLA at halftime of the Alamo Bowl, but came up short.  The craziest may have been Central Michigan's comeback attempt, though, as they entered the fourth quarter of the Bahama's Bowl down 49 - 14 against Western Kentucky but clawed their way back by scoring five touchdowns in the final 11:37 of play.  A wild Hail Mary brought the Chippewas within one point, but a failed two-point conversion gave the Hilltoppers the win.

SEC West the strongest division in college football? Not so much...

In recent years we've heard how good the SEC West was.  And this year was more of the same, as the division dominated headlines all season.  But a 2 - 5 showing in bowl games exposed the group, and the SEC as a whole, as vastly overrated.  The East did post a perfect 5 - 0 record, but faced widely weaker opponents in smaller bowls.  Only two of seven ranked SEC teams won their bowl games, and the best win for any SEC team was Georgia's victory over 21st ranked Louisville.  The conference was 0 - 3 in New Year's Six bowls and will be shut out of the national championship game for the first time since the 2005 season as a result of the new playoff system.

Pac-12 shines, Big Ten surprises

The Pac-12 had arguably the best bowl season of any conference, with a 6 - 2 record.  Oregon destroyed Florida State to earn a spot in the championship game.  Arizona was the only one of six ranked Pac-12 teams to lose, as they fell to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.  The other big winner was the Big Ten, who entered bowl season as underdogs in all 10 of their bowl match-ups, but ended up going 5 - 5.  The top three teams all posted victories over teams ranked 1st, 5th, and 19th, with Minnesota as the only ranked team to go down, losing to SEC East champ Missouri.  The league, which had taken heat earlier in the year for poor out-of-conference showings, posted a 2 - 0 record in New Year's Six bowls, with Ohio State earning a spot in the championship.  It's also worth mentioning that the Big 12's pitiful 2 - 5 bowl record showed that the playoff committee probably was right in leaving co-champs Baylor and TCU out of the playoffs.