What's hot (and not) from bowl season

Updated: January 11, 2007, 1:11 PM ET

Mark Schlabach's no Paris Hilton. But he can identify what's "hot" (and not) from the 2006 college bowl season.

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By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
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Bowl season. It's the most wonderful time of the year. At least for the players, coaches and teams that came out on the winning side of the 32 bowl games. From TCU's dominating defensive performance to Florida's runaway win in the BCS Championship Game, there was plenty of "hot." Then there was Notre Dame's bowl drought and Minnesota's coach being forced out as a sampling of the "not." Here's a look back at both sides of the ledger from the 2006 bowl season:

What's Hot and Not from the 2006 College Football Bowl Season
HOT	NOT
Gators. Urban Meyer won a national championship in only his second season at Florida, and now might be poised to do what Steve Spurrier did in the 1990s -- dominate the SEC. Meyer will have to win next season without quarterback Chris Leak and several other important pieces, but the coach already has assembled a boatload of talent in Gainesville.	Buckeyes. We knew Ohio State hadn't played a game in 51 days, but did the Buckeyes practice during their long layoff? Few teams have played as miserably in such a big game. With Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and possibly Ted Ginn Jr. leaving, what exactly does the future hold for Ohio State?
Big East. The much-maligned conference went 5-0 in bowl games. Louisville over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. South Florida over East Carolina in the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Rutgers over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. West Virginia over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl. Cincinnati over Western Michigan in the International Bowl. Who wants to take away the Big East's automatic BCS berth now?	Conference USA. Thank goodness for Southern Miss, a 28-7 winner over Ohio in the GMAC Bowl. The rest of the league's bowl participants went 0-4. Rice lost to Troy 41-17 in the New Orleans Bowl, East Carolina lost to South Florida 24-7 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl, Tulsa lost to Utah 25-13 in the Armed Forces Bowl and Houston lost to South Carolina 44-36 in the Liberty Bowl.
Chris Petersen. The Boise State coach became a household name in his first season, leading the Broncos to a 13-0 record and a thrilling 43-42 overtime victory against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Petersen went to his bag of tricks three times in the final minutes with a hook and lateral, a halfback pass and, of all things, a Statue of Liberty play on the winning two-point conversion in overtime.	Glen Mason. The Minnesota coach was fired two days after his team blew a 31-point lead and lost 44-41 in overtime to Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl. It was the second straight season the Gophers blew a big lead in a bowl game, but the Insight Bowl debacle was titanic. The Red Raiders trailed 38-7 with less than eight minutes to play in the third quarter, but then forced overtime by scoring 24 points.
Big-armed quarterbacks. BYU's John Beck (375 yards, two touchdowns) vs. Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl. Hawaii's Colt Brennan (559 yards, 5 TDs) vs. Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. Kentucky's Andre Woodson (299 yards, 3 TDs) vs. Clemson in the Music City Bowl. Oregon State's Matt Moore (356 yards, 4 TDs) vs. Missouri in the Sun Bowl. LSU's JaMarcus Russell (332 yards, 2 TDs) vs. Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Texas Tech's Graham Harrell (445 yards, 2 TDs) vs. Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. USC's John David Booty (391 yards, 4 TDs) vs. Michigan in the Rose Bowl.	Troy Smith. The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Ohio State flopped in the Buckeyes' 41-14 loss to Florida in the BCS title game, completing only 4 of 14 passes for 35 yards with one interception. The Buckeyes had no answers against Florida's defense, with only 82 yards of offense and eight first downs. Smith deserves credit for accepting blame after the fiasco, but he wasn't alone. Smith had little protection from the offensive line, and the Buckeyes lacked a deep threat after Ginn injured his foot.
Trick plays. Boise State wasn't alone in using trickeration in winning bowl games. Coach Rich Brooks had Kentucky fake a punt from its 20-yard line. The Wildcats threw for a first down, then scored on a 70-yard touchdown pass on the next play in winning their first bowl game in 22 years, a 28-20 win over Clemson in the Music City Bowl. Georgia recovered an onside kick early in the third quarter and scored a touchdown seven plays later, helping the Dawgs rally from an 18-point deficit in their 31-24 win over Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Louisville's Patrick Carter threw a touchdown on a halfback pass to Anthony Allen in the Cardinals' 24-13 win over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.	Botched gambles. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is usually as conservative as his red sweater vests. But late in the second quarter of the BCS title game, with the Buckeyes trailing Florida 24-14, he decided to run, instead of punt, on fourth-and-1 from the Ohio State 29. Chris Wells was stuffed for no gain, and the Gators kicked a field goal four plays later. Nebraska coach Bill Callahan's decision to call a fake punt from the Cornhuskers' 29 early in the second quarter of the Cotton Bowl proved to be even worse. The Cornhuskers botched the handoff on a reverse, so the Tigers took over at the 14 and scored a touchdown four plays later for a 14-7 lead.
Interim coaches. Boston College defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani led the Eagles to a 25-24 win over Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl after coach Tom O'Brien bolted for NC State. Central Michigan offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn led the Chippewas to a 31-14 win over Middle Tennessee State in the Motor City Bowl after replacing Brian Kelly, who left for Cincinnati. Kelly won his first game with the Bearcats, a 27-24 win over Western Michigan in the International Bowl. Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines got more out of the Tide's offense than fired coach Mike Shula ever did in a 34-31 loss to Oklahoma State in the Independence Bowl.	Lame-duck coaches. Arizona State's Dirk Koetter lost his last game with the Sun Devils, a 41-24 loss to Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl. At least he got a trip to paradise out of it. Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe also lost his last game with the Golden Hurricane -- a 25-13 loss to Utah in the Armed Forces Bowl -- and was named Louisville's new coach Tuesday. The lone bright spot was Miami's Larry Coker, who won in his swan song as the Hurricanes beat Nevada 21-20 in the MPC Computers Bowl.
Comebacks. Texas Tech's 31-point comeback against Minnesota in the Insight Bowl was the biggest in NCAA Division I-A bowl history. Georgia rallied from 18 points down against Virginia Tech. Florida State trailed UCLA 20-10 in the second quarter but won 44-27 in the Emerald Bowl. Oregon State scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to rally from a 31-21 deficit going into the fourth quarter of its 39-38 win in the Sun Bowl. West Virginia trailed Georgia Tech 35-17 in the fourth quarter of the Gator Bowl, but scored three straight touchdowns to win 38-35.	Oklahoma's collapse. Boise State's improbable 43-42 overtime victory in the Fiesta Bowl will be remembered as one of the greatest comebacks in college football history. But Oklahoma's meltdown in the final 40 seconds also was inexcusable. The Sooners went ahead 35-28 when Marcus Walker intercepted Jared Zabransky's pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown with 1:02 to play. Then the Sooners allowed Boise State to drive for the tying touchdown in 40 seconds, with Drisan James' catch and lateral to Jerard Rabb covering the last 50 yards to force overtime.
Home field. Teams playing in bowl games in their home states were 7-2, with Hawaii, Central Michigan, California, Texas, Georgia, Southern California and LSU all winning on their home turf. New Mexico lost to San Jose State 20-12 in the New Mexico Bowl, and UCLA lost to Florida State 44-27 in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.	Home sickness. Do you think Oregon, Purdue and Tennessee were very interested in playing in second-tier bowl games? The Ducks were blasted 38-8 by BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, Maryland whipped the Boilermakers 24-7 in the Champs Sports Bowl and the Volunteers didn't show much pulse in a 20-10 loss to Penn State in the Outback Bowl.
Bowl streaks. Boston College has won seven bowl games in a row, the longest streak in the nation, after its 25-24 win over Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Utah has won six in a row after its 25-13 victory over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl.	Notre Dame's drought. The Irish were embarrassed by LSU 41-14 in the Sugar Bowl, extending their bowl futility to nine in a row. The Irish haven't won a bowl game since beating Texas A&M 24-21 in the 1994 Cotton Bowl and their nine-game losing streak in the postseason is the longest in NCAA Division I-A history.
TCU's defense. Florida turned in a defensive effort for the ages in the BCS title game, but the reptiles from Fort Worth were pretty good too. TCU held Northern Illinois to only five first downs and 60 yards of offense in a 37-7 win in the Poinsettia Bowl. The Huskies ran for minus-20 yards, and their only touchdown came on a blocked punt return.	Notre Dame's defense. For the second season in a row, the Fighting Irish were picked apart by a superior opponent, allowing 577 yards in a 41-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl. The Tigers had 332 yards passing and 245 rushing. Notre Dame surrendered 617 yards in a 34-20 loss to Ohio State in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Staff changes could be coming in South Bend, Ind.
First-year coaches. Boise State's Petersen wasn't the only first-year coach to cap a remarkable season with a bowl victory. Wisconsin's Bret Bielema went 12-1 in his first season replacing Barry Alvarez, capping it with the Badgers' 17-14 win over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl. Rice's Todd Graham, Middle Tennessee State's Rick Stockstill and Kansas State's Ron Prince lost their first bowl games at their respective schools, but it should be noted that making the postseason was somewhat of a pleasant surprise for all three programs.	Hot seats. These coaches could have used bowl victories to quiet the critics but didn't get them: Clemson's Tommy Bowden, UCLA's Karl Dorrell, Purdue's Joe Tiller, Oregon's Mike Bellotti and Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione.
Utah's Eric Weddle. The two-time Mountain West Conference Player of the Year did nearly everything in the Utes' 25-13 win over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. He ran for 56 yards and one touchdown on offense, plus had six tackles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass on the final play. Weddle also was the holder on the Utes' four field goals.	Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball. Here's what the Yellow Jackets' four-year starting quarterback did against West Virginia in the Gator Bowl: nothing. Ball was declared academically ineligible before the game. Taylor Bennett started in his place and gave hope to Tech fans for the future. Jackets cornerback Kenny Scott and Tennessee receiver Bret Smith also let their teams down by failing in the classroom, and Clemson cornerback Duane Coleman was suspended from playing in the Tigers' bowl game after his arrest on marijuana charges.
Big introductions. These lesser-known players came up big in the spotlight: BYU tight end Jonny Harline (nine catches, 181 yards, one touchdown), Hawaii receiver Jason Rivers (14 catches, 308 yards, 2 TDs), Houston receiver Vincent Marshall (nine catches, 201 yards, 2 TDs), Georgia Tech running back Tashard Choice (169 yards, 2 TDs) and Boise State tight end Derek Schouman (eight catches, 72 yards, 1 TD).	Vanishing acts. Along with Ohio State's Troy Smith, these big-name players struggled in their final college games: Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn (15-for-35 for 148 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions), Tennessee receiver Robert Meachem (four catches, 33 yards), Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson (20 carries, 77 yards, 2 TDs) and Northern Illinois tailback Garrett Wolfe (20 carries, 28 yards).