Time to hand out some end-of-the-year accolades

	Northwestern's Brett Basanez may not be a Heisman finalist, but he's meant more to his team's success than any other player on any other team. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
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I know we've got a few weeks of college football left, a few final games to play before the bowl season begins Dec. 20, but I thought (since some teams have finished their regular seasons) now is as appropriate a time as any to hand out some end-of-season awards. There'll be no hand-tipping on my vote for the Heisman Trophy, mind you, but I'll try to be as thorough as possible.

Team of the Year

Penn State: I don't think anybody in the top 10 was as far down as the Nittany Lions were when the season began. After going 7-16 over the past two years, the only interesting story in Happy Valley seemed to be when 78-year-old head coach Joe Paterno would finally retire. Welcome back to the big-time, JoePa.

Honorable Mention: LSU, Notre Dame, Alabama

Coach of the Year

George O'Leary, Central Florida: O'Leary deserves this award for no other reason than he engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA history, taking UCF from 0-11 to 8-3. That he's done it with mostly freshmen and sophomores makes it all the more amazing. I spent the last week reporting on the Golden Knights for a piece in this week's Sports Illustrated, and I can vouch for the fact that O'Leary -- who lost the Notre Dame job four years ago because of inconsistencies on his resume -- doesn't have a lot of talent in Orlando. What he does have is a bunch of kids who are committed to each other and their coach. O'Leary's turned his team around on the field and in the classroom. College football -- with its boosters, sketchy recruiting practices and winking acknowledgement of the student-athlete ideal -- can make you cynical sometimes. But there's something happening at UCF that can make everybody feel good.

Honorable Mention: Charlie Weis, Notre Dame; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Bobby Ross, Army

Player of the Year

Brett Basanez, Northwestern: Take a second folks. Reggie Bush and Vince Young are definitely better football players than Basanez, but with all due respect, they play for USC and Texas, respectively, and there's something about playing for USC and Texas that, I don't know, makes things easier than playing for Northwestern. The 6-2, 215-pound Basanez had to scramble all year to keep his team in games against imposing competition. He often did more than that, leading the Wildcats to within 51 seconds of an upset over Penn State, and throwing for 361 yards and three touchdowns in a wild 51-48 upset of Wisconsin. He was never boring to watch. Not once. The senior is currently ranked fifth in the nation in total offense (327.0 yards per game), which puts him ahead of (ahem) Young. With help from its quarterback, Northwestern finished the season 7-4, with wins over Wisconsin, Michigan State and Iowa.

Honorable Mention: Vince Young, Texas; Reggie Bush, USC; Brian Calhoun, Wisconsin