Happy holidays from Benched Press

The Benched Press offices are feeling extra charitable this week and decided to give the entire staff the week off between Christmas and New Year's.

That means we'll be back on Monday, January 2 making you laugh your tail off. And rest assured that if something hilarious happens, we'll have something for you anyway.

The Redskins are screwed

If you're a Redskins fan -- and you're anything like me -- watching football on Sundays has felt like more of a chore for the last several weeks. You've also probably been looking forward to April's 2012 NFL Draft since about Week 8, when the Redskins fell to 3-4 and were unofficially eliminated from the playoffs.

And trotting out a combination of Rex Grossman and John Beck for the entire season has been nothing short of torture for the short-term-focused fan. But for the fan who can see past the mess and accept that this season is a throwaway, you've probably realized that the Redskins' biggest need is at quarterback.

Sure, Washington needs a star receiver, more depth on the o-line, a middle linebacker, another starting cornerback and a free safety. But nowhere is the lack of talent more obvious than at quarterback.

And with a potential top five-ish pick, I've been salivating about the idea of drafting USC's Matt Barkley, Baylor's Robert Griffin III or even Oklahoma's Landry Jones.

Until yesterday, that is. Because yesterday was the day that Redskins fans took a collective steel-toed boot to the groin.

It all started with the news that Barkley was returning to USC. Frustrating news for every NFL fan whose team needed a quarterback, sure, but not devastating. Until Sports Illustrated's Tony Pauline tweeted that "as of today the word is Robert Griffin III/Baylor & Landry Jones/Oklahoma will also return to school. Could change, still interesting."

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

If there's any truth to this rumor, the Redskins probably just became frontrunners to win the Peyton Manning sweepstakes. The Colts are clearly drafting Stanford's Andrew Luck with the first overall pick, and if there's any truth to Pauline's tweet -- and if history is any indication -- the Redskins may have to suffer through another season of Grossman, or worse, mortgaging the future for a 36-year old Manning who will undoubtedly retire in the preseason after the Redskins trade seven first-round draft picks to acquire him.

Tough year for Towson

It's been a pretty rough calendar year for the Towson Tigers men's basketball team.

And by tough, I mean that the Tigers have literally won no games in 2011.

At 0-11, Towson boasts enormous losses of 46 points to Kansas and Belmont, 38 points to La Salle, 30 points to UMass, 20 points to Oregon State (with President Obama in attendance) and 19 points to Manhattan.

Damn.

On the bright side, it is the first year under head coach Pat Skerry, and the Tigers do have a handful of underclassmen contributing minutes.

On the other hand, Towson has lost 10 of its 11 games by double digits. Its only "close" loss came at home to a 1-9 UMBC team. Good lord.

But let's get back to the focus of this story, which is the fact that Towson started 4-7 last year before losing 19 straight games, all of which occurred in 2011.

Next year's New Year's resolution: win a basketball game.

As Yahoo's Jeff Eisenberg points out, things haven't been easy for Skerry in his first year.

"Leading scorer Isaiah Philmore transferred to Xavier shortly after former coach Pat Kennedy was fired. Braxton Dupree left to play professionally in Israel. And the indefinite suspension of leading returning scorer RaShawn Polk before the season left Skerry with just one player who played for Towson last season: redshirt sophomore forward Erique Gumbs, who averaged a mere 3.6 points."

Yes, that is officially a recipe for disaster.

But it shouldn't be a recipe for an o-fer season, and there's a very real chance that Towson could not only lose every single Colonial Athletic Association league game, but the rest of the games on its slate.

If the Tigers managed that, it would be almost 700 days before the 2012-13 season started, or nearly two years between wins. Just let that sink in.

Dan Orlovsky's unique housing situation

At some point, you run out of stories to write about a 1-13 Indianapolis Colts team, and you just start looking for quirky things to take your mind off the miserable on-the-field product.

So when the Indianapolis Star found out starting quarterback Dan Orlovsky was living rent-free with starting running back Donald Brown, it was a solid nugget of entertainment.

Because in theory, Orlovsky shouldn't be too hard-up for money.

The veteran was signed to a one-year deal in July as an emergency substitute for perennial Pro Bowler Peyton Manning, who has missed the entire season rehabbing a neck injury.

But before that, he inked a three-year deal worth a little over $9 million with the Houston Texans in 2009. Assuming he didn't fritter the money away on hookers and blow, shouldn't Orlovsky be able to afford a $700-per-month room in downtown Indianapolis?

So when Orlovsky threw a great block to spring Brown open for an 80-yard touchdown run that essentially sealed the Colts' first win of the season last Sunday, the quarterback pretty much owed it to his backfield teammate.

"I've been living at his house for four months, rent free. He told me the hip check was the least I could do," Orlovsky said afterwards.

As far as I can tell, Orlovsky and Brown -- who both attended UConn -- were never on the same team. But from one Husky to another, it's a pretty funny situation for the 28-year old journeyman, who has undoubtedly had to find housing at some point in his professional career.

Nevada struggles to sell bowl game tickets

How does Christmas in Hawaii, watching your favorite college football team play a bowl game sound?

It probably sounds awesome. Unless you're the one footing the hefty bill for the flight.

A quick check on Travelocity.com showed that a roundtrip flight plus hotel from Reno, Nevada (home of the Nevada Wolf Pack, who are playing in the bowl game) to Honolulu would cost at least $1,570, plus taxes.

And if you don't feel like spending a night in the airport or on a plane, you're talking more like $2,200.

So it makes some sense that the Wolf Pack's athletic department is having trouble getting rid of its ticket allotment for the upcoming 2011 Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.

But you'd think the school would have sold more than 10 tickets for the Christmas Eve game scheduled for Saturday night.

That's not a typo. That's 10 tickets, as in everybody who comes to the game wearing Nevada gear gets to pick an offensive and defensive player to cheer for, and nobody will overlap.

For a team that has been to seven straight college football bowl games, you would think the Nevada Wolf Pack would have some more dedicated fans.

But maybe they should have known better. After all, the 2009 Hawaii Bowl -- in which Southern Methodist beat Nevada 45-10 -- sold just 150-200 tickets, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"Nevada managed to make a little more than $160,000 in 2009, the last time it played in the Hawaii Bowl," the RG-J reports. Here's guessing eating those tickets will mean eating some profits, instead.

Colts get 1st win, Pack get 1st loss

It took 15 weeks, but the Indianapolis Colts finally got their first win of the season, and the Green Bay Packers finally suffered their first loss.

The Packers, looking to become the fourth team in NFL history to improve to 14-0 -- behind the 1972 Dolphins, 2007 Patriots and 2009 Colts -- fell just short in a 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs managed just one touchdown all game. Instead, Kansas City's MVP of the day was kicker Ryan Succop, who connected on field goals of 19, 32, 46 and 20 yards.

Green Bay (13-1) didn't look much like the Super Bowl contender it's been pegged as all season. The Packers led for just four minutes all game, and were outgained in most statistical categories.

Amazingly, it was Green Bay's first loss in 364 days, the last one coming in Week 15 of the 2010 NFL season at New England. And, despite being all but eliminated from playoff contention, the Chiefs (6-8) still gave interim head coach Romeo Crennel (pictured) a Gatorade bath.

Meanwhile, 500 miles east in Indianapolis, the Colts had reason to celebrate, winning their first game of the season and successfully avoiding becoming the first 0-14 team in NFL history.

They did it in impressive fashion, too, beating the Tennessee Titans 27-13. The Titans (7-7) desperately needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. And Indianapolis' success was largely due to a few unlikely characters. Running back Donald Brown got his second-ever 100-yard game, carrying 16 times for 161 yards and an 80-yard touchdown.

The Colts' 30th-ranked rush defense looked more like the Steel Curtain, holding Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson to 55 yards on 15 carries.

And while the win doesn't mean much at this stage in the season, it's a good morale boost for a team that was trying to avoid making the NFL history books for all the wrong reasons. The Colts (1-13) still have a stranglehold on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, as they are one game up on the Minnesota Vikings (2-12) with two games left to play.

Tim Tebow and the $1 million underwear

Make no mistake: even though the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos have strung together seven wins in eight weeks, they are still huge longshots to win this year's Super Bowl.

So underwear company Jockey isn't exactly flipping a coin in its latest promotion to hand out $1 million in prizes if the Broncos win the Super Bowl.

Hell, the Broncos are still 38-to-1 to win the Super Bowl in Vegas, and aren't even assured a playoff spot just yet.

Of course, Tebow is endorsed by Jockey. And that's not nearly as embarrassing as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady being sponsored by Ugg shoes.

Perhaps this blog has a fascination with Tebow's lower half. Hell, I already told you how to get into Tebow's pants, and now we're going one layer further.

Let's just hope for everyone's sake that the Tebow's body posts stop here.

Moses and the best pre-game ritual ever

I'm actively opposed to people playing Christmas music in October and November. But hell, it's two weeks 'til Christmas and I'm in the holiday spirit.

So when I caught wind of a private Catholic high school outside Boston with a unique pregame ritual for its varsity basketball team, I was hooked.

Central Catholic High School of Lawrence, Massachusetts boasts one of the most creative routines in the nation, across all levels of sports.

A mascot (?) dressed as Moses approaches the student section, all decked out in red and waving back and forth, slams a broom on the ground and "parts the red sea."

The student section falls to each side. A description of it really doesn't do it justice, though. So be sure to watch the well-choreographed routine below.

Oral Roberts wins on crazy buzzer-beater

Through 73 career games at Oral Roberts, junior Damen Bell-Holter was a career 29% three-point shooter.

But after hitting an 80-foot prayer at the buzzer to beat Arkansas-Little Rock on Monday night, head coach Scott Sutton will probably let the 6-foot-9, 245-pound big man hang around the three-point line a little more.

Tied at 55 with five seconds left in regulation, Bell-Holter intercepted a length-of-the-court pass at the opposite free throw line, took two dribbles and altered his shot in mid-air before taking a baseball-esque throw at the basket, which banked in.

Oral Roberts (7-3) won the game 58-55, and Bell-Holter finished with his second double-double of the season.

The Golden Eagles know a thing or two about buzzer-beaters this year, too. They lost 78-77 to Texas-San Antonio in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off when UTSA guard Kannon Burrage -- who has one of the coolest names in college sports -- hit a three-pointer as time expired.

Oral Roberts is actually a pretty good team, giving West Virginia a scare earlier this season, trailing by just one point with less than three minutes left in regulation, before losing by seven.

Check out Bell-Holter's amazing shot below.

Will the Redskins trade for Peyton Manning?

There is some shadow of a doubt that, at the end of the season, the Redskins could trade for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

(Editor's note: If this happens, my November post will one day make me look like Nostradamus.)

Sitting two games ahead of (behind?) the St. Louis Rams, the Colts (0-13) have all but sealed the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

And it seems to be a foregone conclusion that they will draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

If you weren't sure, teams can't start two quarterbacks. And nobody spends the first overall draft pick on a backup quarterback. So that would seem to be the end of Manning's days as a Colt.

Meanwhile, the Redskins continue to struggle without a franchise quarterback. And with Luck, the clear slam dunk pick of the draft, off the board before Washington's name gets called, the Redskins will likely have their choice of Baylor's Robert Griffin III or Oklahoma's Landry Jones.

Or they could trade for Manning, who signed a five-year, $90 million deal just five months ago. He's missed the entire season while rehabbing a serious neck injury -- one that some have speculated could make him one big hit away from retirement. He's owed a $28 million bonus, plus nearly $36 million in salary through 2015, when he would be fast-approaching 40 years old.

Yet he's an 11-time Pro Bowler and a guy who, when healthy, is among the best players in the league. That means he still commands some trade value. The Colts could easily get a pair of first-rounders and maybe even a couple second-rounders in exchange for him.

Trading for him -- and taking on that contract -- would be a disaster of epic proportions. A disaster that could set the Redskins franchise back five years.

Under head coach Mike Shanahan, Washington is already 0-for-1 on trading draft picks for an aging veteran quarterback. The Skins traded in-division rival Philadelphia for quarterback Donovan McNabb, getting out to a 4-3 start before limping to a 6-10 finish last season.

Panicked Redskins fans can find some comfort in a few key facts. First, Washington had a pick in every round of last year's draft for the first time since 1995 in Shanahan and general manager Bruce Allen's first years with the Redskins.

Also, Manning has won fewer than 10 games just twice in his 13-year career. The guy likes to win. And he has only one Super Bowl ring. So at the end of his career, you'd think he wants to be with a playoff contender. And with three playoff appearances since 1992, that'd eliminate Washington from the running.

Xavier, Cincinnati marred by brawl

Cincinnati and Xavier got into a fight on Saturday and a basketball game broke out.

With just nine seconds remaining in Xavier's 76-53 win over in-state rival Cincinnati, a melee broke out on the court, resulting in both benches clearing, several thrown punches and almost as many ejections.

After coaches and referees had to separate the players, the game was called off. But the damage was already done, and Xavier's Kenny Frease got the worst of it with a bloodied face from a sucker punch by Cincinnati's Yancy Gates.

After the game, players and coaches spoke in the press conference, where Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin expressed deep remorse about the actions of his team. Cronin said he would review video tape and essentially hinted that several players could lose their scholarships.

Yet one day later, both schools announced suspensions, and none seemed to fit the crime.

Gates was among three Cincinnati players to earn a six-game suspension. Xavier suspended two players four games, as well as starters Mark Lyons and Tu Holloway for two and one games, respectively.

As you'll see in the video below, there was plenty of trash talking and lots of violence, only to result in a light slap on the wrist: suspensions during the holiday lull where teams play creampuff after creampuff. Meanwhile, former Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount was suspended for almost an entire season for his sucker punch on a Boise State player.

According to ESPN, there's some debate about whether the heated rivalry will continue next year, which would mark the 80th meeting between both teams.

"It should be more of a celebration of two really good programs in the city rather than the Hatfields and the McCoys. It's up to both our programs, led by me and Mick. That's what has to happen ," said Xavier coach Chris Mack.

If you haven't already seen video, check it out below:

Best and worst bowl game gifts

From the Idaho Potato Bowl to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, it's gotten to the point where practically any team with a pulse gets a postseason bowl game invitation.

With bowl games comes bowl game freebies, the stuff that the sponsors give to each athlete on a team as a congratulations for at least going .500 (unless you're UCLA). Sometimes gifts are awesome. Sometimes the gifts suck.

That leads us to today's post, courtesy of a list that Sports Business Journal assembled, of each bowl game's giveaways. Note that NCAA rules state each player is allowed up to $550 in gifts, no more.

The Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl did a surprisingly good job of putting together a solid gift pack for Florida International and Marshall, including a Playstation 3 and nice Oakley sunglasses.

The Alamo Bowl and Champs Sports Bowl both did what sponsors should do and gave a few hundred bucks' worth of gift cards to Best Buy for the players to spend as they please.

The Chick Fil-A Bowl followed suit, handing out some Best Buy gift cards, some Russell Athletic gear and, you guessed it, Chick Fil-A gift cards. (But only $15 worth. What the hell?)

Coming in dead last is the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl, which gave student-athletes a hat and a "gift suite," which could mean anything. Usually it means a private shopping spree in a store. But since we'll never know, we'll just assume it's a shopping spree for auto body parts and containers of motor oil.

How not to name your children

Until about two weeks ago, former Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer was pretty popular among Gainesville enthusiasts.

He led the Gators to a 65-15 mark through six years at Florida, including a 5-1 record in bowl games and two National Championships.

So it's not necessarily a surprise that some überfans would name their children after him.

Enter Florida mom Jen Wiley, who fits that bill. But it's been nothing but sour grapes since Meyer took the Ohio State job in late November.

Now, Wiley wants to change the middle name of her son, Spurrier Urban Wiley (yes, that's real) because she's mad.

"My husband and I got married in 1996, when Spurrier won the championships, and then we conceived in 2006 when Urban Meyer won the championship," Wiley explained to the Bay News in Tampa.

So she was heartbroken when Meyer "retired" from Florida and resurfaced at Ohio State a year later.

The only problem is getting her husband -- who, it sounds like, is not a raging lunatic -- on board.

If he comes around, the Bay News reports "she's thinking Tim after Tim Tebow, the great Gator quarterback who is becoming a star in the NFL."

Guess she's not a quick learner.

Former Wiz coach now at local H.S.

In sports, most coaches aspire to go from high school level to the pros. Not the other way around.

For former Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan, he figured he might as well. The 56-year old Jordan is out of work after getting fired following a 27-55 year with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2009-10.

Philly still owes him $3 million, so in the meantime, Jordan figured he'd coach the Archbishop Carroll freshman boys' basketball team pro bono.

Not even the varsity squad. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Actually, it's pretty cool that Jordan would return to the high school ranks -- and to Carroll, his alma mater. Though you would think he would at least get to coach the big(ger) boys.

"I just felt, to be in a gym and helping kids, I wanted to see what kind of group I will get. It's my high school. It's Carroll... I wanted to give back," Jordan told Josh Barr of The Washington Post.

As Barr describes it, the 6-foot-1 Jordan towers over his team of adolescents. He shares practice facilities -- the school's gym -- with Carroll's varsity and junior varsity boys' and girls' basketball teams.

And the players seem to be excited for the opportunity.

"At first it was [different] but you come around to it. At the end of the day, he's still your coach and practice is pretty much the same. We've got to do what he says and work on fundamentals and play together as a team," said 14-year old Johnathan Beckett Jr.

Time for bowl game superlatives

It seems like Week 1 of college football was kicking off just the other day.

But here we are in early December, and lo and behold the bowl schedule is already out.

Time to hand out some superlatives.

(Here at the Benched Press offices, we love superlatives. We've seen Super Bowl advertisement superlatives and NFL Draft superlatives. We also believe every child should get a trophy for everything ever.)

WORST BOWL GAME: Illinois versus UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Neither team has a head coach. Seriously. Illinois lost its last six games to end the season, firing head coach Ron Zook in the process. UCLA ended the year with a losing record and cut Rick Neuheisel loose. They should rename this bowl the Interim Head Coach Bowl.

BIGGEST SCREWJOB: Boise State. Again. Despite ranking No. 7 in the BCS polls, the Broncos got the shaft and now play in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl, facing off against the Pac-12's fifth seed, Arizona State.

BEST NON-CHAMPIONSHIP BOWL GAME: Oklahoma State versus Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. As of Week 11, these two teams were No. 2 and No. 3 in the country, respectively. Both suffered one loss -- Oklahoma State to Iowa State and Stanford to Oregon -- which dashed their National Championship hopes. Both teams also feature Heisman hopefuls at quarterback, have high-powered offenses and deserve to be playing in a BCS bowl.

BIGGEST SURPRISE BOWL APPEARANCE(S): Vanderbilt versus Cincinnati in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. In the Bearcats' second year under Butch Jones, Cincy has turned things around, improving from 4-8 year last year to 9-3 this season. And nobody expected Vanderbilt to be particularly competitive in head coach James Franklin's first year, much less go to a bowl game. The Commodores have been to one bowl since 1983 and have more wins this year (6) than in 2009 and 2010 combined (4).

BEST CHANCE OF A MID-MAJOR TEAM TO UPSET A MAJOR TEAM: Houston over Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas. The Cougars missed out on a perfect 13-0 season after losing the Conference USA Championship Game. But Houston's high-octane offense leads the nation in passing offense, scoring offense and total offense. Its opponent, Penn State, has the fifth-ranked pass defense and the No. 10 total defense in the country. But the Nittany Lions' offense is fairly anemic, which gives Houston some hope.

Wazzu fans go nuts for Leach

If there was ever a shadow of a doubt that Mike Leach would be a popular (and good) hire for a college football team, Washington State has settled that debate.

Last week, the Cougars hired the out-of-work Leach to replace Paul Wulff, who went 9-40 over four seasons.

Washington State's athletic department processed 750 new season ticket orders on the day the hire was announced, "including 100 club seats at $2,000 per order," news station KING-5 reported.

That's about one new order per minute, and $200,000 in revenue on the day of the hire. And more orders will continue to roll in.

Think Washington State got that kind of reaction when Wulff was announced as the new head coach in 2007?

"I asked athletic director Bill Moos to select the best head football coach in the country and I am convinced that he has done exactly that," said school president Elson Floyd.

"He's the only guy I talked to, and he's the only guy I wanted," Moos said.

The Cougars are paying top dollar for Leach's services. Wulff earned just $600,000, the lowest salary among Pac-12 head coaches. Leach will earn more than $2 million per year. But his performance at Texas Tech -- an 84-43 career coaching record, with 10 consecutive bowl games and impressive academic standards -- was worth every penny.

The Olympian reported that Washington State players are already chirping about the hire.

"I can't wait. If I'm throwing for as many yards as some of his guys were a game, then it’s going to be a good year and I’m going to have a lot of fun," said quarterback Jeff Tuel.

Washington State plays its home games in Martin Stadium. With a capacity just a hair over 35,000, it's the smallest stadium in the Pac-12, and has had the lowest attendance levels since 2007. The Cougars have made just four bowl appearances since 1995.

But if the fan reaction to Leach's hire is any indication, the tide may be turning in Pullman, Washington.

Old men fight at CFL banquet

If the name Joe Kapp means anything to you, you're probably old. The 73-year old former professional football player was best-known for leading the Minnesota Vikings to Super Bowl IV back in 1969.

Before that, he starred in the Canadian Football League, where he was a two-time CFL All-Star. More importantly, he's a YouTube sensation after a video of him fighting another old guy surfaced on the internet and went viral.

Kapp was at a Grey Cup (Canada's Super Bowl) event, when he recalled an event back in 1963 where fellow CFL player Angelo Mosca -- formerly of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats -- made a late hit on Kapp's teammate, running back Willie Fleming.

"He was already down. It was a cheap shot. Here comes Mosca and he hits Willie in the head. I got into his face and cursed at him in two languages, English and Spanish. Willie won't talk to him (to this day)," Kapp told the San Francisco Chronicle.

You'd think, 40 years later, Kapp would have let bygones become bygones. Nope. Instead, Kapp took advantage of the situation and took a swing at the (fellow) old man.

"On his way down I couldn't resist kicking him in the ass," Kapp said.

I guess you can take the dog out of the fight, but you can never take the fight out of the dog. Talk about holding grudges. Check out the video below.

Yet again, BCS system looks foolish

"This year is the best argument for why there should be a college football playoff implemented ASAP."

Those were my words last season, when I begged for a playoff system to replace the flawed BCS system.

But those words ring just as true -- maybe even more so -- today.

The Big East is in shambles. The conference has just one ranked team (No. 22 West Virginia), whose record is 8-3. Yet the Mountaineers need a few things to happen to even win the conference. Otherwise, the automatic BCS bowl berth likely goes to Louisville (7-5).

Yes, Louisville. The same Louisville that lost to Florida International and Marshall this year. The same Louisville that started the season 2-4. The same Louisville that could easily be playing Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl a month from now, which would most likely result in the Big East's second lopsided BCS bowl loss in a row.

Last year, UConn (8-4), which wasn't even ranked in the BCS, got an automatic bid to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, where it played No. 7 Oklahoma. The Huskies lost 48-20, the biggest point differential in a BCS bowl game. After the first quarter, Oklahoma led by 14, and by the middle of the third quarter, it was a 24-point game.

Meanwhile, Boise State (11-1) played in the MAACO Bowl, beating No. 19 Utah in dominant fashion, 26-3. How much better would a Boise/Oklahoma matchup have been? A rematch of the thrilling 2007 Fiesta Bowl, when Boise State went for a two-point conversion late in the game to steal a 43-42 win. How much better does that sound than Oklahoma winning by four touchdowns over a lousy UConn team?

Back to this year... UCLA (6-6) limped to the finish line and is fresh off a 50-0 loss to cross-town rival USC. If USC wasn't bowl ineligible, the Trojans would face off against Oregon in an otherwise exciting Pac-12 Championship Game. Instead, Oregon is a 32-point favorite over UCLA, and a shoo-in to earn a BCS bowl. But the fact that UCLA is even sniffing a BCS bowl after the season it had is totally inexcusable.

Meanwhile, while Louisville and UCLA play for the right to a primetime bowl game, teams like Boise State and Houston (12-0) are just hoping for an invite. Boise already beat No. 19 Georgia on the road to start the season, and a missed field goal against TCU three weeks ago is the only reason the Broncos won't be in a BCS game. Houston went undefeated this year, beating UCLA to open the season.

What's it going to take, NCAA? Make a six- or eight-team playoff bracket, play it out and let's see if any of the three fantastic SEC teams are the best team in the country. Or maybe we'd see a Pac-12 surprise if Oregon or Stanford turned a few heads. But please, please, please don't make us watch a mediocre team like Louisville get crushed again, while more capable teams are watching from home.