By Danny Atkinson
As the 2009 college football regular season comes to a close and we enter the three-week long sometimes exciting, sometimes monotonous period called bowl season, it’s important that we look back on the storylines that made this season one to remember.
The Idea that 2009 was a “boring” season
For roughly two months now we’ve been hearing stories about how 2009 was one of the least exciting seasons in recent memory. I will admit there’s been a lack of big-time matchups going around, save for a few gems like Florida-Alabama. But there have been a number of intriguing storylines. The Pac-10 saw the dethroning of USC at the top and great four-team race for first place. In the Big East, Cincinnati continued to emerge as a national power with an undefeated regular season. TCU and Boise State recorded undefeated regular seasons and provided more controversy for an already beleaguered BCS. Finally, Florida and Alabama met in an epic SEC championship game that established the SEC as the best conference in the nation. Any fan who found this season “boring” just wasn’t paying attention.
The ND Paradox
No program was given more attention this season than Notre Dame. A once great program has now seemingly devolved into an annual soap opera. The Fighting Irish were foolishly predicted by some to have a great record but instead stumbled to a mark of 6-6. Notre Dame suffered some embarrassing defeats and Charlie Weiss’s tenure in South Bend came to an end, just a few years after he received a 10-year contract. Notre Dame managed to pluck Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly from his position just this week, as the job is still seen as prestigious by many. The question is however, should it be? Can an independent, old-school program like Notre Dame stay relevant in an ever-changing college football landscape? I am not so sure that it can, and it will be interesting to see whether anyone can revive ND’s glory within the next few years. Either way, I wish the Fighting Irish would get a little less hype each season until they start winning big games again.
More BCS Controversy
No matter how hard the NCAA tries to avoid BCS controversy, it comes almost every year. This time it was all about three non-championship game teams finishing undefeated in Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State and the (fair) perception that they didn’t get a decent shot at the title game. Because of pre-season rankings and BCS conference bias there was no way the Bearcats or Horned Frogs were going to get an opportunity to face Alabama. Of course, the leaders of the BCS see no problem with this and there’s no playoff on the horizon until at least 2012. It’s a travesty that we again won’t get to see a team prove it’s the best on the field.
Florida-Alabama
The eventual SEC Championship Game matchup had to be one of the most anticipated college games in recent memories. Fans and writers argued all year over which team was better as the Gators and Crimson Tide took control of a great conference and defeated all comers. The fact that these teams were very similar, with fiery head coaches, stellar defenses and inconsistent offenses only heightened interest in their eventual meeting, as did players like Mark Ingram and Tebow, the most polarizing player in the nation. When their meeting actually occurred on December 5th, Alabama delivered a memorable beat down that established who had the top team in the SEC and possibly the nation. The de facto national championship game, Florida-Alabama is the best rivalry in the sport right now and will be heated for years to come.
