It’s a week late, but unfortunately, this BCS recap could not have come any earlier. I’d have skipped it all together, but my anti Notre Dame rhetoric needed an outlet. I just couldn’t wait until they were given an undeserving spot in the Preseason top 25.

But we won’t start there. First I get to eat some humble pie.

The SEC Backs Up the Talk:

We don’t write about college football often here at Sportszilla, but behind the scenes it dominates October and November conversations. Zach, David and I are all pretty big fans, so we always call each other up whenever something big breaks.

One of the things which always comes up is the ranking of the conferences. They’re Pac-10 guys and I’m a Big East fan, so we frequently complain about how certain conferences are over-rated. The Big XII and SEC are usually at the forefront. (Especially the Big XII).

Well the SEC shut me up in the BCS games. Florida pulled an upset I did not see coming in their National Title win over Ohio State. (I won’t cry too much since I hate the Buckeyes) LSU meanwhile, trashed Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. That one was not a surprise; all three of us figured that would be the worst game of the BCS.

The SEC isn’t nearly as deep as their fans will have you believe, but the top two or three teams are probably stronger than any one else. Right now, as much as it pains me to say it, the conference is the best in college football.

Urban Meyer is still a jerk though.

The Big Ten Does Not: Around 4 PM January 1st, the Big Ten was looking pretty. Penn State had just beaten Tennessee and mighty Arkansas, whom people were talking up as a potential National Championship contender a month and half ago, had been dropped by Wisconsin, who had been forgotten about despite having just one loss.

Then the Rose Bowl started. Michigan was most people’s pick but got dismantled in the second half by the USC offense and embarrassed by Dwayne Jarrett. Then a week later in the National Championship game, the vaunted Ohio State Buckeyes got dominated by the Gators on both sides of the ball. The two teams many had deemed the best in college football went down in ugly fashion in the sports’ two most high profile games.

I tend to think part of this was just bad luck. The two teams just happened to play bad games. But when Michigan and Ohio State’s only impressive wins come against each other and Big Ten foes, it does reflect poorly on the conference. No, neither Notre Dame nor Texas rank and impressive wins; they both were extremely overrated.

But neither team should fear; the name of the programs will ensure they get preferential treatment again.

Beasts of the East?:

A year ago, people were questioning whether or not the Big East deserved to maintain it’s automatic bowl bid in the BCS. A year later the conference has completed a perfect 5-0 mark in the Bowl season. At the very least the conference showed itself to be better than the ACC, as Louisville smacked down Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl and West Virginia defeated Georgia Tech despite not having Steve Slaton for most of the game and Pat White running around on one leg.

Rutgers laid down one of the worst beat downs of the bowl season over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl 37-10 in a game that wasn’t as close as that score indicated. Cincinnati and South Florida rounded out the perfect bowl season with victories.

The Big East still doesn’t get the respect it deserves, but there is no reason not to believe West Virginia, and dare I say, Rutgers, won’t be top ten teams to start the season. Their big stars will all be back next season. Lousiville will fall, thanks to Bobby Petrino’s departure along with Michael Bush and likely Brian Brohm. However should the Mountaineers and Scarlet Knights make the top ten, it will be second straight year the Big East will have two schools starting out in the National Championship picture. And watch out for South Florida down the road. Bottom line, this conference is good. The next few years will determine whether they can remain in the top three/four conferences or drift back down toward the ACCs of the world.

Twelve Ways From Good:

I’ve ripped the SEC before, but they backed up their reputation at the top with wins in two BCS bowls. The Big XII meanwhile looks like over hyped, over rated and not very good. Boise State is a very good team, but it wasn’t just Oklahoma that spit the bit in the bowls. How about Nebraska falling to Auburn? Or Kansas State getting bulldozed by Rutgers in the heart of Big XII country?

Right now, the all mighty Big XII has one major conference it’s better than; the ACC. This season seems to confirm what many detractors had said; if Texas doesn’t have a big year, there just isn’t much else in the conference to get you excited.

America’s Crappiest Conference:

Nothing delights me more than seeing the ACC crash and burn. After raiding the Big East a few years back, some were ready to anoint the ACC the next powerhouse of college football. Then the unthinkable happened; Miami went into the tank the same time Florida State and Virginia Tech did. Boston College remained what it’s been the last fifteen years, a good program that is capable of a great season every four or five years. That left the conference with the same terribly inconsistent programs it’s always had to pick up the slack: Maryland and Georgia Tech. Wake Forest was a nice story, but their loss to Louisville dampers their season quite a bit.

So the ACC went for the money and ironically enough ended up worse than the Big East did. Now Miami will probably rebound because they’re the U, but who knows with Florida State and Virginia Tech post Michael Vick? Right now, this is clearly the weak sister of the BCS conferences. I mean will they get one team into the top ten next year?

USC Is Real Good:

It's really too bad the Trojans lost to Bruins that last week because they were the best team in the country at the end of the year. But hey, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Unless Pete Carroll leaves, this team will be the Preseason #1 and rightfully so. We'll see about the rest of the Pac-10, but this is one squad that has earned the right to be ranked highly no matter where they play.

Bucking Broncos of Boise:

Many people will claim they watched Boise State/Oklahoma in years to come. I will be one of those people. The difference was, I actually did see the game in its entirety.

How can I prove that? Well it was a great opening ten minutes or so, then followed by a terrible second and third quarter that would put anyone to sleep. Boise State was cruising until a fluky bounce on a punt hit one of their blockers giving Oklahoma an easy TD. There, enough proof?

Anyway, most people will talk about the finish and with good reason. It was incredible; one of the greatest I’ve seen in any sporting event. And what can be said about that statue of liberty play? Executed to perfection.

However the real story should have been that Boise State was able to outplay a Sooners team that would have been around the top 5 had it not been for horrific Pac-10 officiating. The Broncos would have been unlucky to lose that game, despite the crazy way they were able to come back.

This game, combined with the Buckeyes loss and Louisville and LSU’s easy wins, should be all that anyone needs to know about why a playoff system is necessary. Can anyone honestly say that Louisville couldn’t beat Florida? Or that the Broncos couldn’t? They wouldn’t be favored, but they’d definitely have a chance.

Notre Dame Redux:

I don’t feel like going back to recount what I wrote last year after Notre Dame got waxed in the Fiesta Bowl, but it runs along the lines of “Notre Dame is overrated mediocrity” with some “I can’t understand why everyone loves Brady Quinn’s sister so much? She’s not that hot.” This year I have no idea where Laura Quinn is and the same thing could be said about Notre Dame in a big game.

The Irish played hard in the first half but got the doors blown off in the second half. I guess that’s one quarter later than last year, which is an improvement.

Notre Dame is everything that is wrong with college football. It comes off almost like a “good old boy” system, where the old favorites are rewarded despite flaws that even the most casual observer can see. Only die hard Notre Dame fans actually believed that game was going to be close.

The only reason Notre Dame was in that game was because they were Notre Dame. Frankly, it’s not fair to the other teams and it’s not fair to the fans. We want to see good bowl games, not embarrassments like the Sugar Bowl. Or the Fiesta Bowl. Or the Fiesta Bowl a few years back under Tyrone Willingham. The Irish prove nothing every season by beating up on the weaker sisters of their schedule and getting beaten by good teams. Evaluating conferences are hard enough, but what kind of decision can you come to on a team that’s most impressive win was over third tier teams like Penn State and Georgia Tech?

Notre Dame needs to get itself into a conference. The Big Ten and the Big East (due to their college basketball allegiance) are the most viable solutions. Until then, they should be treated like a mid major at best.

Unfortunately, just like a playoff system, it’s a pipe dream. And that’s why no matter how great college football can be with the finishes like the Fiesta Bowl’s, it can never live up to it’s true potential.

And when you see how amazing that Boise State game’s finish was, you can’t help but realize what a shame that is.