I did predict this. Twice in fact. What is that? You don't remember the second time? It was two years ago. After Oklahoma ran away with the MRI title despite losing their final two contests, I felt apologetic. And I wrote this:

Sportswriting today has become such a hype business that it over-sensationalized Oklahoma to point where they were being considered the best college football team of all time. I will personally buy towels for everyone so that they can wipe the egg off their face now. They still end in the MRI as the best team this year, and I don't have a reference point from other year's data to determine if they are better or worse than any former champs. Maybe in two years I can look back and say, 'Well, Oklahoma was good, but they weren't as good as USC in 2004, or Texas in 2005'.

That's what I wrote, word for word. Scary, yes? It was for me when I ran across it not too long ago in my archives.

And in case you were wondering and can't be bothered to search for yourself, the MRI for Oklahoma that year was 143.50. USC finished second with 128.72. Last season, USC finished with 151.53 and no one else was even close after their dominating performance in the final game. So was last year's USC team the best ever?

No.

Texas finished atop the MRI and above last year's USC team with a final score of 154.26. USC finished with 136.77 in second place. The Longhorns this season were the greatest team ever! We should begin a series. We should match Texas with every great team of the last 50 years and see... oh wait, it was already done and run into the ground by ESPN with USC. Oh well.

It is somewhat funny that two years ago the same accolades were thrown on Oklahoma that were being showered on USC this season. And look what happened to both of them. It almost makes you wonder what would have happened to both of these teams 20 years ago, before ESPN, before the hype was overdone, before the internet. Might they have won? Maybe, but I think last night's game would have been just the same 20 years before, albeit without instant replay.

The fact is that Vince Young had an amazing solo performance in that game and carried the offense forward while his defense came up with just enough plays to stop USC. Texas played to win and gave their all and they deserved the final result. So sorry Matt Leinart, Texas was the better team, and they showed it on the field with the way they came ready to end the streak, end the championship run, end history.

Before the rankings, my bowl performance picks of the year:

• Outstanding play by a quarterback: Vince Young, Texas (Could it really be anyone else?)


• Outstanding play by a running back: I could give this to Vince too but I give it to D'Angelo Williams, Memphis


• Outstanding play by a receiver: Travis LaTendresse, Utah (4 TDs in the bowl game to double his season total)


• Outstanding play by a kicker: I know you are saying "Huh? What?" With so many kickers that performed so poorly, I am going to go out on a limb here and give this to two kickers that had strange nights. Despite missing twice when he had a chance to win the game for his team, freshman (get that? freshman) kicker Kevin Kelly redeemed himself in the third overtime and won the game for Penn State. Yes, a freshman on Joe Paterno's team. He is the first. The second didn't have the same storybook ending. Senior Matt Prater from Central Florida had two field goals of beyond 40 yards in the final half to help his team come back and send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, Prater missed the extra point on his team's touchdown in overtime and lost them the game. Still, his foot was enough to lead me to believe that this guy might be drafted to the NFL because as we have seen this year, some teams will need at least three or four kickers, especially if Bill Parcells is the coach.


• Outstanding play by an offense: Navy proved that the old school option game still works today gaining 611 yards and almost 500 of those on the ground. Special props to Reggie Campbell who scored 5 touchdowns for the Middies.


• Outstanding play by a defense: I had thought this might be Texas last night, but instead, this is for LSU. 153 yards and only 6 first downs surrendered to Miami for the entire game. Can't argue with that in their 40-3 blowout win.


• Strangest play of the bowl season: You thought I was going to say the last play in the Alamo Bowl when Michigan had a 'The Band is on the Field' moment. But I am not. Instead, this goes to Reggie Bush for his toss to no one which cost USC almost a sure touchdown. Don't ask me what he was thinking.


• MVP: When a single player generates 467 yards of offense, who else are you going to pick? That was more than some whole teams achieved in their bowl game (See Miami, South Florida, Houston). Vince Young, you earned it.

And Now the Rankings
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	MRI	LW
1	Texas	13-0	154.26	1
2	USC	12-1	136.77	2
3	Virginia Tech	11-2	122.56	3
4	Penn State	11-1	106.23	4
5	Ohio State	10-2	105.52	5
6	Alabama	10-2	88.34	8
7	Georgia	10-3	85.50	7
8	TCU	11-1	85.32	11
9	Miami	9-3	82.72	6
10	Florida	9-3	81.48	13
11	West Virginia	11-1	80.64	15
12	Louisville	9-3	80.23	9
13	LSU	11-2	78.35	21
14	Texas Tech	9-3	76.43	14
15	Notre Dame	9-3	75.59	12
16	Auburn	9-3	75.51	10
17	Boston College	9-3	72.17	17
18	Oregon	10-2	70.90	16
19	Oklahoma	8-4	65.30	20
20	Minnesota	7-5	63.90	18
21	Tulsa	9-4	62.98	22
22	Toledo	9-3	60.39	NR(29)
23	Michigan	7-5	59.81	19
24	Clemson	8-4	59.10	NR(28)
25	Wisconsin	10-3	57.05	NR(32)
Teams Dropped From The Top 25: Iowa (LW #23, TW #28), Fresno State (LW #24, TW #26), Iowa State (LW #25, TW #27)
Other Teams People Might Care About
RANK	TEAM	RECORD	MRI	LW
28	Iowa	7-5	55.31	23
31	Miami(Ohio)	7-4	49.97	31
34	UCLA	10-2	45.92	40
35	Northern Illinois	7-5	45.75	35
36	Florida State	8-5	45.71	36
40	Georgia Tech	7-5	43.69	27
42	Northwestern	7-5	40.88	39
43	Nebraska	8-4	40.16	45
46	Michigan State	5-6	39.23	41
51	Tennessee	5-6	33.98	50
53	Purdue	5-6	33.38	47
55	Maryland	5-6	32.34	60
61	Washington State	4-7	28.63	65
65	Pittsburgh	5-6	24.44	66
68	Texas A&M	5-6	22.47	67
75	Vanderbilt	5-6	17.70	75
96	Indiana	4-7	-11.52	95
112	Illinois	2-9	-37.62	112
114	Duke	1-10	-43.37	115
Last Place this week: New Mexico State (0-12) at -67.97.
Biggest Gain this week: LSU gained 17.84 points. (Beat Miami in the Peach Bowl)
Biggest Loss this week: Houston lost 11.29 points. (Lost to Kansas in the Fort Worth Bowl)
Conference rankings this week: Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, PAC-10, SEC, Big East, Mountain West, C-USA, MAC, WAC, SunBelt
			Copyright 2006 MRISports.com