Shortest Reign At No. 1 — California for (approximately) three hours. Actually, the Golden Bears were the No. 1-team-in-waiting after LSU had fallen to Kentucky in triple overtime. Cal, at No. 2, promptly turned in a dreadful performance and fell to Oregon State 31-28, jump-starting a 1-6 finish and a nuclear meltdown.

Most Surprising Bowl Appearance — The Florida Atlantic Owls of Coach Howard Schnellenberger (remember him?), who qualified for the New Orleans Bowl after a 38-32 road victory at Troy (which had lost only to Florida, Arkansas and Georgia). The Sun Belt Conference title never felt so good.

Most Surprising Bowl Non-Appearance — Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina Gamecocks. The Head Ball Coach’s team, remember, was once ranked No. 6 nationally. It finished with a five-game losing streak, a 6-6 record, and there were no SEC bowl slots available.

Most Tragic Injury — Oregon QB Dennis Dixon, maybe the Heisman favorite, went out with a torn ACL against Arizona. The Ducks promptly began a three-game losing streak, dropping out of the national-title race and Dixon's shot at individual honors was gone.

Best Freshman — Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, who led the nation in passing efficiency. If not for his injury against Texas Tech, the Sooners might have been in the national-championship game.

Most Underrated Freshman — Why didn’t we hear more about Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree, who had 125 receptions for 1,861 yards and 21 touchdowns?

Most Underrated Running Back — McFadden? Mike Hart? Ray Rice? We know all about those guys. Can you believe Central Florida junior RB Kevin Smith? Heading into the Liberty Bowl, he has 2,448 yards rushing and a legitimate shot at breaking the all-time record of Barry Sanders. If you have those numbers and get ZERO Heisman recognition, yes, you are officially underrated.

Best Switch Of Positions — South Florida sophomore George Selvie arrived as center. Now he’s a defensive end with 14 1/2 sacks and 31 1/2 tackles for a loss, just off the all-time record.

Best Offense — Hawaii. The Brennan-led crew averaged 46.2 points and 450.2 passing yards per game.

Worst Offense — Notre Dame. My goodness, the 3-9 Fighting Irish had trouble getting first downs against a stiff wind.

Best Defense — Ohio State. The reason why the Buckeyes will play for a national title.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

Worst Defense — Minnesota. The Golden Gophers went from a bowl team to 1-11. Along the way, they surrendered 518.67 yards per game. Astounding.

Worst Defense (Dishonorable Mention) — Nebraska. The Cornhuskers surrendered at least 40 points six times, including an all-time worst 76 against Kansas.

Coach Of The Year — Mark Mangino of Kansas. The Jayhawks were 11-0 before losing to Missouri. The non-conference schedule could’ve been more impressive, but hey, let’s not nit-pick. Again, Kansas was 11-0. Kansas is in the Orange Bowl.

Meltdown Of The Year — The postgame rant by Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy.

Two Best NFL Prospects (defense) — LSU DT Glenn Dorsey and Kansas CB Aqib Talib.

Two Best NFL Prospects (offense) — Arkansas RB Darren McFadden and Kentucky QB Andre’ Woodson.

Young Players Who Will Get Preseason Heisman Trophy Notice In 2008 — South Florida QB Matt Grothe, Kansas QB Todd Reesing, Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno and, yes, Florida QB Tim Tebow.

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