Hook 'Em!
Posted January 6, 2006, 5:48 AM ET

The 2005 college football season has concluded and there is a new sheriff in town...the Texas Longhorns.

In arguably the best college football game played in recent memory, Mack Brown won his first national championship and the Horns their first title since 1970 - much to the delight of the folks wearing burnt orange. I figure that might include a few people who follow UNC and App. State football that were happy to see Mack get the monkey off his back, too.

What isn't up for debate is the individual performance by Texas QB Vince Young. He was incredible....200 yards rushing and 267 yards passing against USC on the biggest stage in college football. Young was simply the best player on the field, and that's saying something - given the number of stars, future NFL players and Heisman winners that were participating.

The Texas and Southern Cal game was better than advertised...and that's impressive, given the maximum exposure it received in the past month by the national media. It is rare in this day and age that an event lives up to, and in this case, over-delivers to the masses. The TV numbers were through the roof, and the game ended at 1AM.

And speaking of HYPE, ESPN reached an all-time high (or low, based upon your perspective). Let me preface this by saying that nobody does college football better than the boys in Bristol. College Gameday is my favorite element of ESPN's stable of programming....but the guys were out to lunch with the USC ass-kissing.

First of all, the network which loves to promote their BCS-relationship kept harping on the "three-peat" with USC...that was dead wrong. Leading into the Rose Bowl, the last two BCS champions were LSU and USC...so the Trojans and ESPN couldn't make that claim, even with a Southern Cal victory over Texas. It makes for better television when you can spice up the storyline. The great fans in Baton Rouge should remind the boys from HYPE the next time they come down on a Saturday night to broadcast a game.

Next, the "Worldwide Leader in HYPE" declared that this year's USC team was the best in college football history. Huh ? I found it remarkably funny that the Trojans proved to ESPN and the world that not only are they not the best college football team ever....they weren't even the best team this season. Thank you, Texas....and for the ESPN talking heads, you can begin to rub the egg off your face.

Chris Fowler, the superb host of Gameday, was even backstroking on the air when some of the Longhorn players pointed out that ESPN had disrespected their team by the accolades given Trojan Nation. I don't blame the Texas players one bit...the love fest towards USC has been hard to stomach during the holiday and bowl season. All Mack Brown had to do was play the tape to his players and keep his mouth shut.

As you know, I'm not a big fan of the BCS or the stupid instant replay system that is in place, but the last few bowl games of the college football season were fantastic. The BCS games were outstanding and fun to watch...and that was badly needed. The bowl season has become a joke...28 games are too much, especially when the system dictates that there is only one game that matters.

College football is a great sport, and with a true national playoff system could threaten to be the best thing going in all of sports. But the current bowl system is hurting the game...28 bowl games water down a great product, and most of the games are played in front of empty upper decks, minimal TV ratings, plus nobody cares about a bunch of 6-5 teams playing each other.

But after the Texas-Southern Cal game, it gives me hope that one day we'll see a true championship take place in Division 1-A football. In the meantime, I'll have a smile on my face knowing that I just watched one of the best college football games ever...and that I won't have to watch or listen to Aaron Taylor of ABC Sports until August.