West Virginia was the team I picked to win it last year and, hey, if it wasn’t for an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh on the final day of the regular season, they very well would have won (check that: definitely would have won, given they’d play Ohio State, your annual second place loser). I’ve already gone ahead and tabbed them as my winners for next year; even without Steve Slaton, they’ve got a lot of speed on offense, and I don’t see anyone in the Big East they may trip over.

Well, now things have gotten interesting. From College Game Balls, via The Big Lead, Noel Devine, the speedy back everyone loves to try and catch, allegedly beat down a student in a rather one-sided fight.

Once outside, Sangarie said someone punched him in the back of the head. Sangarie said he fell to the ground and was kicked and punched by several of the football players, including Devine and Sanders.

No verdict on what the school may do, though my best guess is this is some crazy plan hatched by Rich Rodriguez, and he’ll be properly sued for it.

After Oklahoma’s humiliating loss to Boise State last year — though, while it was probably embarrassing, it provided for one of the most memorable college football games ever — in the Sugar Bowl, the Sooner vowed to show up this year. They were going to show the nation just how far they’d come, and they weren’t going to lose to a heavy underdog for a second consecutive year.

So much for that notion.

Under interim coach Bill Stewart, the Mountaineers pasted the Sooners, 48-28, sending another question to BCS supporters: Is West Virginia the best team in the nation?

I know a lot of people are hopping on the USC and UGA bandwagons right now. UGA beat a team that a local high school could compete with, and USC beat up on a Big Ten team that’s two years away from being considered a national threat. West Virginia, on the other hand, has just as many losses as the aforementioned, and beat up on an Oklahoma team that probably ranks in a higher echelon than Hawaii and Illinois.

The rumor is that Stew — that’s what the players know Bill Stewart as — will be the next head coach at West Virginia, and hey, why not? The players love him, and it could be a luring point to draw Steve Slaton back.

One thing I do know, if this guy is hired, he’s the smartest and luckiest guy in America. West Virginia, whether Slaton returns or not (it’s not like Noel Devine is a shabby ‘back), will be a top 5 team in the nation next year. They were my pick to win it this year, and they’ll probably be my pick to win it next year.

Oh, and I think it’s about time we stop inviting Oklahoma to the BCS games. You can’t lose to Boise State one year, get blown out the next, and expect to keep getting invites.

My guess is the same will be said about Ohio State and National Championship games after Monday’s sure-debacle.

(PS: As a Georgia Tech fan, I can’t stand the “Georgia is the best team talk.” Look, the best team they beat had 4 losses — that would be Florida — and in their hardest road game of the season, they got it handed to them by Tennessee. They didn’t lose. They got it handed to them. So stop with the “they’re so hot” talk. They’re only hot because of who they’re playing.)

There were a lot of skeptics out there when it was announced that Hawaii and Illinois would both play in a BCS game, especially given the teams they had to suit up against. I, for one, thought that Illinois had a chance. I hadn’t seen Illinois a whole lot, but I did see them beat Ohio State, and the spurts and clips I saw throughout the season always made them out to be a very fast, quick team.

I was wrong.

Though I wasn’t as wrong as those people that really believed Hawaii actually had a shot. I said when that game was first announced that they’d get killed, and watching last night’s debacle did nothing to disprove that. Colt Brennan, thought to be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, looked like a scared high schooler running around with no clue of where to throw it.

Two BCS games, two blowouts by the first quarter (in Illinois’ defense, they began to come back in the second half, but I don’t think anyone wearing Trojan red was ever very concerned). Tonight features two teams that should be a bit more evenly matched. I’m a little concerned with how West Virginia will play after a.) somehow losing to a 28 point underdog when they were a game away from playing on January 7 and b.) losing their coach because of that pitiful performance, only to have no replacement to date and c.) because Steve Slaton and Pat White could probably sprain an ankle if a stiff breeze came by these days.

Don’t get me wrong: I like WVU. I picked them at the beginning of the year to win it all, and when healthy, they’re as good and as fast as any team in the nation. Oklahoma packs a serious D, and with the question marks surrounding Morgantown, I just don’t know if they can win it.

At any rate, it’ll be better than any of the two that were played last night. For all the BCS proponents who say January 1 is just “so exciting,” they apparently weren’t watching the same TV I was. I had the USC game turned off by the third quarter, the UGA game by the second.

My pick tonight: I’ll say Oklahoma by 3. WVU is more talented, but Oklahoma’s had a much more. . . well, normal month than the Mountaineers.

I saw a quick little story on ESPN about this, and couldn’t resist making a post about it. Terry Bowden, who hasn’t coached since 1998 — where he could recruit for Auburn like crazy, but couldn’t coach worth a damn — is looking to get back into coaching, and would love the opportunity to coach at West Virginia, where Rich Rodriguez has left everyone scratching their heads.

“I made a full commitment to get back into coaching almost two years ago. Coming home to West Virginia would obviously be the dream job for me,” Bowden, a college football analyst on radio and for Yahoo! Sports, said in a statement released by his publicist.

If Pat White returns, which is expected, and Steve Slaton rejoins him, which isn’t expected, this job will be a lot of people’s dream jobs. The problem? Terry Bowden isn’t exactly a “dream coach.” He wasn’t in ‘98. He definitely isn’t in ‘07.

Last night was probably the first ever suspenseful BCS Selection Show — for the most part, people pretty much know who’s going and who’s not; I don’t think anyone thought Boise State was going to sneak past Florida last year and play Ohio State, and, well, voters learned that Michigan sucked at the right time of year — and while it was entertaining and fun to watch, I’m not certain I like the matchups.

Illinois snuck into the Rose Bowl, when everyone other than Florida was hoping they’d play the Gators in the Capital One or Outback. Georgia has Hawaii, which isn’t going to be nearly as close as everyone’s saying, and VT will more than likely blow out a Kansas team that ranked 109 out of the 116 teams in college football when it comes to strength of schedule (all this bad shit said, I think the West Virginia/OU game will be pretty entertaining).

Oh, and I should point out that everyone’s favorite National Championship Game Punching Bag, Ohio State, gets another crack at another SEC team for all the marbles. They got their teeth kicked in last year by the Gators, then lost to the very same team in similar fashion in basketball, and this year they’ll complete the Cycle of Misery.

I haven’t seen the early line yet, but I’m jumping all over LSU. People are saying the Buckeyes are underdogs this time, and they’ll be prepared this time, but I’m just not buying — they didn’t play anybody all year and, after all, they’re The Ohio State University, and second place is what they do best.

I don’t pretend to know what bowls feature what conferences — outside of the Rose Bowl and the Peach, which are pretty obvious — so I won’t even attempt to claim some of these bowl projections as my bowl projections. These are the predictions that CBS Sportsline has put out, and I find that CBS is often more accurate than ESPN. To read all of their bowl projections, go here; I’m going to just highlight some of the good ones that I noticed.

-Emerald Bowl, Dec. 28: Georgia Tech vs. Cal

• Most across the nation won’t find this to be too spectacular a game to watch, but I’m a Tech fan, so I couldn’t leave it off the list. And if I’m lucky, Chan Gailey won’t be coaching it.

-Independence Bowl, Dec. 30: Colorado vs. Alabama

• If Saban loses this one, shit may officially hit the fan in Tuscaloosa. They were so snotty and snide about hiring Nick Saban, and were sure that he’s the best coach in the entire nation, but after three straight losses, the wheels appear to be falling off.

-Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, Dec. 31: Auburn vs. Clemson

• This one appears to be set in stone, but it’s not quite official yet. Auburn has a pretty good run defense, but had a hard time containing KnowShaun Moreno, which might make it very difficult on them trying to contain James Davis and CJ Spiller, who, to me, is arguably the fastest player in college football. ACC/SEC games are always fun to watch, though, as VT and UGA proved last year.

-Capital One, Jan. 1: Illinois vs. Florida

• If there’s one team Florida doesn’t want to play, it’s Illionis. It’s not that they can’t beat Illinois — because they most certainly can — it’s that they don’t want to play a team that’s good who’s coached by Ron Zook. FireRonZook.com was a pretty big hit during his days as a Gator, and what more humiliating way to end a season than by losing to the guy that you ran out of town who took over a formerly cruddy program? Oh, and this game may also feature this year’s Heisman winner (Tim Tebow), and next year’s Heisman winner (Juice Williams)

-Outback, Jan 1: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin

• Last year’s game between these two was solid, and based on Tennessee’s inability to stop anybody on the road, you’d have to think it’d be a fun shoot-out to watch this year, as well.

-Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Ohio State vs. USC

• USC hasn’t really been itself this year, and Ohio State, to me, has been vastly overrated. I guess this will give full closure. I hate the Trojans, but I’ll be rooting for them; Ohio State has been the most overrated team for the last two years.

-Orange Bowl, Jan. 3: VT vs. Georgia

• Last year’s Peach Bowl game was great to watch, and it was spiced up even more back in August when VT accused UGA of spying on them during practice. Georgia has a great running offense, and VT has a great running defense. Read earlier what I said about SEC/ACC games — they’re very fun to watch.

-National Championship Game, Jan. 7: Mizzou vs. West Virginia

• West Virginia was the team I called at the beginning of the year, and throughout the season I’ve thought they were the best team. Their defense isn’t the best thing since sliced bread, but that offense quite possibly is. Mizzou looked great against Kansas, but no one really knew how good or bad Kansas was. We all know how good West Virginia is. It’ll be fun, but Pat White and Steve Slaton will be holding the trophy up later on that night.

Just read the title, and you know how I feel. For the last few weeks now — ever since LSU lost to Kentucky, USF showed us they were a lie, and Cal shit the bed like no No. 1 team has shit the bed before — I’ve been suffering thinking about a possible match-up that involves Ohio State in the National Title game again.

It’s not that I didn’t want to see an LSU-Ohio State matchup; truth be told, I wanted to. I would’ve loved nothing more than to see the SEC representative walk all over the Big Ten patsy again. An LSU-Ohio State game would’ve made the Florida-Ohio State game look like a freaking classic.

I was listening to XM Radio today (Fox Sports, I think — I’m not a very big fan of listening to Colin Cowherd make love to the Pats all day or Mike and Mike talking about whatever it is Mike and Mike talk about), and someone called in bashing the Buckeyes. The hosts of the show were quick to defend Tressel’s bunch; when speaking on the Buckeyes’ behalf, they said people only hate Ohio State because they’re good every year.

And I started thinking: Do people hate Ohio State because they’re good every year. . . . or do they hate them because they’re a consistent contender who plays nobody for three months?

My answer was the latter. I’m not a fan of the Pats, but I at least respect them — they’re genuinely good. The Buckeyes, however, are a team that come in and play their patsy Big Ten schedule, then play one team — one team! — at the end of the year, and that team in blue and yellow isn’t that great anymore (they aren’t this year, they weren’t last year — it was proven when Florida kicked around Ohio State, and it was proved when USC kicked around Michigan).

All this was supposed to be an opening paragraph to what should be the BCS Top Ten. Enjoy.

1.) LSU: They’re the best team in the country. The’ve got tough games against Arkansas and presumably Tennessee or Georgia in the SEC Title game. Win those, they’re in — the BCS made a mistake once by not putting the SEC team in the title game before (see: Aurburn), and that same mistake won’t happen twice.

2.) Oregon: Everyone is going Jayhawk crazy, but I think this team offers the best chance of beating LSU. They’ve got a mobile quarterback who’s seemingly come out of nowhere, and their offense can score on anyone. Their problem? The schedule, which gets very, very easy, while Kansas’ only gets much, much harder.

3.) Kansas Jayhawks: Don’t be surprised to see them jump Oregon with a win against Missouri followed by a win against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Title game. It’s too early to assume they’ll win those games — I wouldn’t be surprised if they were ‘dogs in both — but we’re just playing the scenarios right now.

4.) Oklahoma: They’re unlikely to get in, but it’s not impossible. It’ll require beating Kansas in the Title game, and probably an Oregon loss.

5.) Missouri: The most overrated team in the Top 10. You’ll see what I mean when the bowl season comes around.

6.) West Virginia: The team I liked in the preseason to win it all. They better not look past Cincinnati, though, who’s looked awful good these last few weeks.

7.) Ohio State: Still overrated, even at number 7. Who has this team beaten? Penn State? We’re this many games through, and your biggest win is Penn State?

8.) Arizona State: Dennis Erickson did a good job. This team will continue to build in the future.

9.) Georgia: Watch out for my Yellow Jackets. We’re quick to crown this team the best 2-loss team in the nation, but I’m not sold yet — my second favorite team is Tennessee, who has been handled quite a bit this year, and the only memory I have of the Dawgs is being down 28-0 to the Vols. That’s just not the best 2-loss team in the nation to me.

10.)Virginia Tech: Could we see another bowl matchup featuring VT and Georgia? I hope so; after the tabloids that UGA was spying on them at practice, it adds some juice to the otherwise meaningless bowl games before the National Championship.

A lot of blogs are doing this, so I feel I should jump in. And with the recent nothingness in sports, why not? Which brings me to this: Each day I will try and post major conference breakdowns for all you college fanatics out there. The Big Twelve, SEC and ACC will be broken into two parts, since there’s two different divisions. All others will be covered in whole.

I’ll have a ranking posted next to each team, and for the teams in conferences broken down by divisions, that ranking doesn’t represent the ranking for the division. . . it represents the ranking for the entire conference. To see past entries, click here. On we go.

• West Virginia (1): Hard to pick against these guys. The defense is shaky, sure, but with Pat White and Steve Slaton, there won’t be a lead they can’t come back from. Both were hurt last year, which slowed the team, but if healthy there’s no reason they can’t go undefeated. Oh, and an interesting stat, one I only know because I’m a Georgia Tech fan: The Jackets have only lost two times in their five trips to the Gator Bowl. Their first loss came to Miami, who a year later won the National Title. Their second loss? Last year versus West Virginia. We’ll hold that thought.
• Louisville (2): People think there’ll be a fall off with Petrino gone, but Louisville is still loaded from top to bottom. They’ve got the best quarterback in the country, and maybe the best defense in the Big East. Their road block? They’ve got West Virginia in Morgantown, where foes don’t win often.
• Rutgers (3): They’ve got USF and West Virginia at home, and could very well be undefeated before their showdown with Lousiville November 29. They’ve got Ray Rice back, yes, but they also lose 11 starters from last year.
• USF (4): Only because it’s become a popular pick, I’ll go ahead and throw them at the four spot. They’ve apparently got a good defense — I won’t even pretend to have seen more than two of their games, and that’s even a stretch — and though they only have 3 starting seniors on their roster; the catch, however, is the other 15 returning starters from last year’s squad that went 9-4, finishing 4-3 in the Big East.
• Pitt (5): With Dave Wannstedt as your head coach, fifth in a weak Big East is about the best you can expect. The guy had it once, I know, but it just isn’t there anymore.
• Cincinnati (6): They were 4-3 in the Big East last year, and return 16 of their starters. The good news is they play West Virginia and Louisville at home; the bad news is they’ll beat neither, and the teams they might stack up against they play on the road.
• Syracuse (7): They’ve always got basketball, right?
• Connecticut (8): See: Syracuse.