The college football regular season has now come to a close. It was a good one, but as per usual was not without controversy. We now have to wait until December 20 to get more college football action. I know those are inconsequential bowls, but if you are anything like my you disregard them now, but once they roll around you're jonesing so bad for some college football game pitting Colorado State against Fresno State seems worth watching. However, before we start to look forward to the bowls, let's take a look back at this college football season, starting by looking at all the conferences.

Non-BCS (or apparently now Non-AQ): This was a good year for the "Non-AQ" teams. Both Utah and BoiseState finished the year undefeated, with the Utes getting a shot to make up for Hawaii's embarrassing loss to Georgia in last year's Sugar Bowl. I wouldn't even begin to compare these two teams though, it's apples and oranges quite frankly. BallState almost joined the ranks of the undefeated, but suffered a fairly surprising loss to Buffalo in the MAC championship. Great job by Turner Gill up in Buffalo, that program was beyond bad before he got there.

There were a lot of other really good Non-AQ teams this season. Tulsa, who was also undefeated for a while, then lost a couple of games and ended up also losing their conference championship, with the Golden Hurricanes falling to East Carolina, who were the very first Non-AQ darling of the year after two huge wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia. David Johnson of Tulsa had an amazing year up to that conference championship game, leading the FBS in passer efficiency, whatever that is. However, he was absolutely atrocious in the C-USA title game, but I would like to thank him for leading my fantasy team to the playoffs. Other Non-AQ also rans include TCU and BYU, who both suffered two losses to respectable competition, TCU to Oklahoma and Utah, and BYU to TCU and Utah. It was a very good year for the Non-AQ schools, particularly in the Mountain West. The biggest surprise was probably Buffalo winning the MAC title, and the biggest disappointment was probably FresnoState, unless you want to include Notre Dame in this list. Way to earn that contract, Charlie.

ACC: The ACC was an extremely closely contested conference this season, due to a scarcity of really bad teams, but also a dearth of any great teams. Once again, the Hokies of VA Tech won the conference. Congratulations to Frank Beamer and his team, but I am really tired of seeing them in the BCS seemingly every year. They just don't excite me all that much. Of course, I'll still be watching them play, because it is college football after all. I was really hoping for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to pull it out after realizing that was a legitimate chance. They definitely have to be the surprise of the conference, going 9-3 on the year running the triple option. Big time kudos are in order for Paul Johnson, I think a BCS berth is in their near future. FloridaState and Miami also started to reassert themselves as good teams, and they are probably both on their way back to their old positions high in the rankings. Clemson, who was certainly the biggest disappointment, did manage to turn it around late in the year and get bowl eligible once Dabo Swinney took over. Still, 7-5 doesn't cut it with their expectations. I'd probably have to name Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer the ACC Player of the Year. I know he's in the triple option offense, but 1328 yards and 12 TDS is nothing to sneeze at. Things are looking up in the ACC.

Big East: Though eight of the ten teams in the Big East managed to qualify for a bowl, it was not exactly a banner year for them, as they were probably the worst of the AQ conferences. Cincinnati surprised everybody by winning the conference, even while going through five quarterbacks and having no big name players on their team. Pittsburgh finally made it to a bowl under Dave Wannstedt riding LeSean McCoy, though Pat White earned Player of the Year honors in my book, passing Brad Smith for most career rushing yards for an FBS quarterback. Rutgers staged an amazing late season run to salvage a 7-5 record, and in doing so left South Florida to bear the title of biggest disappointment, going 2-5 in conference to finish 7-5 on the year. With Pat White graduating and McCoy potentially going pro, things might be even worse for the Big East next season. It will be interesting to see what Cincinnati manages to do next season, especially if coach Brian Kelly ends up seeking greener pastures.

Big Ten: A lot of change in the Big Ten this season. OhioState relinquished their status as top dog, as Joe Pa and the Nittany Lions took the conference and the Rose Bowl bid thanks to great seasons by Darryl Clark and Evan Royster, who could be a Heisman contender next season. It was definitely the year of the running back for the Big Ten as well, with Shonn Greene of Iowa, Javon Ringer of MSU, Chris "Beanie" Wells for the Buckeyes, and the duo of P.J. Hill and John Clay at Wisconsin ran wild all season. Minnesota went from 1-11 last season to 7-5 and bowl eligible this season, thanks to a good coaching job by Tim Brewster (and an easy schedule). They would probably get my vote as surprise of the year. The biggest disappointment in the Big Ten, however, is a tough race to call. Rich Rodriguez led the Wolverines to their worst season ever in his first year as head coach. Illinois failed to make a bowl after going to the Rose Bowl last season. Joe Tiller's last year manning the helm for Purdue led to a 4-8 record. However, Wisconsin, after much hoopla and high early season ratings in the polls, only managed a 7-5 record including squeaking past Cal Poly. A lot of people were down on the Big Ten this season, but it was probably the third best conference in all of college football this year.

Big 12: This was the conference that had everybody's attention. The BCS mess, the ultra high scoring affairs, the gaudy quarterback numbers, it was fun to watch. Oklahoma made it to the national title game, albeit with some controversy. Texas and Texas Tech both had great years, and played what I think was the game of the season. OklahomaState had quite the year too, though they got lost in the shuffle. Even Baylor looked pretty decent despite their 4-8 record with stud freshman Robert Griffin under center. Biggest surprise was probably Mike Leach and the Red Raiders. They were expected to be good, but 11-1 good? I didn't see that coming. It's a shame they had to get left out of the BCS picture. As for biggest disappointment, Kansas made it to the Orange Bowl last season and won, and they barely managed a 7-5 record this season with ostensibly the same team. I know it was an incredibly tough conference, but still. Trying to name the best player in the Big 12 is extremely tough. Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell, Michael Crabtree, they all stand out. However, let's not forget OklahomaState's Kendall Hunter and Zac Robinson and Missouri's Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin. Naming the best player in this conference is basically saying who you are going to vote to win the Heisman, so I will recuse myself from making a decision until later. People derided the Big 12 for not playing defense, but I think it was just a matter of tremendous offenses making defenses look bad some of the time.

Pac-10: Also known as USC and the also rans. Although, up until late in the season it seemed entirely possible that the Oregon State Beavers, definitely the surprise team of the conference, were going to win it thanks to their huge upset victory over the Trojans. Alas, the Oregon Ducks blew them out of the water in the Civil War, thus ending the dream for Mike Riley and company. They are certainly a fun to team to watch nevertheless, especially when super freshman Jacquizz Rodgers is playing. If you didn't get to see the Beavers this season, check out their bowl. Congratulations to Mike Stoops and the Arizona Wildcats for making their first bowl under Stoops and the team's first bowl since 1998. Now they get to play BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Ouch. As great as USC was this season, the teams from Washington were just as terrible. WashingtonState's only FBS victory came over Washington, who managed the goose egg in the win column, the only FBS team to do that. Finding the player of the year in this conference is kind of tricky, but it's got to be somebody from the Trojan's ultra staunch defense, so let's go with middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, but kudos to the entire defense on a great season. The Rose Bowl should be an intriguing match up.

SEC: Even in a "down" year for the SEC, they still had a couple of great teams, several good ones, and some great games this year. Both Florida and Alabama were tremendous, and Tim Tebow really made a case for the back to back Heisman. Georgia was a little disappointing, given their preseason number one ranking, and LSU had a real down year thanks to horrible quarterback play, but Ole Miss stepped in to fill their shoes, as Houston Nutt proved Arkansas foolish for firing him. Vanderbilt made their first bowl since 1982, something they couldn't even do with Jay Cutler under center, so way to go Commodores. LSU and the Tennessee Volunteers both made their case to be the biggest disappointment, but Auburn takes the cake with a 5-7 record and horrendous offense that got Tommy Tuberville (inexplicably) fired. They couldn't take one down year? That was a foolish, hasty decision. It will be interesting to see how Lane Kiffin does as the new head coach down in Tennessee next season, but that's a different story for another day. The SEC once again delivered the goods in terms of high level, exciting football, and once again they put a team in the national title game.

Well, that covers all the conferences of the FBS, now just for a couple of notes on other topics. As per the Heisman Trophy, I'd say my ballot would look like this: 1. Sam Bradford, 2. Tim Tebow, 3. Colt McCoy. It's a bit of splitting hairs with those three, and if any of them won it, it wouldn't be a travesty, but Bradford just really impressed me, as he led the Sooners to an 11-1 record and the most points ever in a season for a FBS team. The biggest surprise in all of college football was probably the Bearcats of Cincinnati, and the biggest disappointment was probably Auburn, given their preseason ranking, which brings me to the biggest joke in all of college football. No, it's not the BCS, though that is ridiculous and I am for one in favor of the plus one system, but preseason rankings. What is the point of these? They are always comically poor. Georgia #1, Clemson #9, Auburn #10, ArizonaState #15? My favorite though is either Michigan #24 in the coaches poll or the poor soul who cast a vote for Washington. I know these don't have the impact of the BCS standings, but they certainly skew voting throughout the season. If a team starts ahead of another team, they are hard pressed to overcome them if they have the same record. Do away with the preseason polls, and of course the BCS as well.

I am sure there will be plenty of bowl coverage on the site throughout bowl season, so I won't mention anything about the bowls right now except that I pick Florida to win the national championship. That about wraps up this recap of another tremendous college football season. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Bring on the EagleBank Bowl!