Honoring the best -- and worst -- from the week that was

By Andy Gray

Poking fun at the college sports world, one Monday at a time....

Fan of the Week

A Wolverine and a Buckeye share a drink before Saturday's matchup. Peter Turnley/SI

Who says there's no love between Michigan and Ohio State? These ladies (right) prove that's not always the case.

Coach of the Week

Mark Dantonio, Cincinnati: A week ago, Rutgers was the toast of the football world after it defeated No. 3 Louisville in the biggest game in the school's history. A week later, the Scarlet Knights were on the other end of the biggest game in a school's history -- playing against Cincinnati. Before the win over Rutgers, the highest-ranked team the Bearcats had ever beaten was No. 9 Wisconsin, 17-12, on Sept. 18, 1999. The Bearcats are now 6-5 overall (3-3 in the Big East Conference) and bowl-eligible for the fifth time in the last seven years -- the second time in three years under Dantonio.

Not Quite Coach of the Week

Chuck Amato, NC State: The Wolfpack's unimpressive 23-9 loss to the 1-9 Tar Heels brought Amato's career record to 15-19 APR (after Philip Rivers). Although Amato has gotten votes of confidence from NC State's AD Lee Fowler, it may be time for him to hit the bricks. I'm sure these people would agree.

Ex-Coach of the Week

Tom Osborne: He won 13 Big 12 titles and three national championships during his 15 years as coach of the Cornhuskers, and will return to Lincoln in January to teach classes in leadership and business ethics at Nebraska's College of Business Administration. After retiring from coaching, Osborne spent six years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He chose not to run for a fourth term so he could run for Governor of Nebraska, but that didn't go so well (he lost in the May primary to Gov. Dave Heineman). Let's just hope he gets bored with this teaching thing and decides to wonder over to Memorial Stadium.

This is, quite simply, the greatest helmet/tribute we've seen from any college football fan this season. Damian Strohmeyer/SI

Helmet of the Week

All we can say is wow. This Eagles fan (left) went way beyond the call of duty to honor the graduating seniors from Boston College.

Freshman of the Week

CJ Gable, USC: Prior to Saturday's game against Cal, the freshman from Sylmar, Calif. had 159 rushing yards on the season and hadn't carried the ball more than six times since the Trojans' season-opening victory over Arkansas. But injuries to Chauncey Washington (strained knee) and backup Emmanuel Moody (sprained ankle) forced Gable into action and the freshman delivered, gaining 91 yards in the Trojans' 23-9 win. Considering that Gable had a total of 52 rushing yards in his previous six games, we weren't expecting a huge outing. But betting against a USC running back? We should've known better.

As for the Trojans, it would be a travesty if they win out and don't get to play for the national championship in Glendale. They would be 11-1 with wins over SEC West champion Arkansas, Big 12 North champion Nebraska, 10-1 Notre Dame and 8-3 Cal. What more can you ask for?

Goat of the Week

Shawn Crable, Michigan: We tried to avoid too much Ohio State -- Michigan analysis, because at this point, it's more annoying than that John Mellencamp commercial, but we couldn't give Crable a free pass for his foolish 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on third-and-15 that gave the Buckeyes another set of downs and, eventually, the go-ahead touchdown. In the words of Bill Walton, "That was terrible."