Yes, there's some intrigue in seeing if Boise State could keep it going. But come on. Anyone could see that it doesn't get any better than what Boise State experienced. If you could bottle what those players were feeling Monday night and sell it, you'd put the drug dealers out of business.

We should all have to settle for that.

If Boise State wants to be in the title conversation, the solution isn't a playoff. The solution is for the Boise State athletic director to schedule non-conference games against first-class opponents like USC and Cal that allow the team to prove itself before bowl season arrives.

Boise State already had a perfect end to its season, one  it never would have had if that game against Oklahoma was just another step in a process. I wish the broadcasters could have recognized that and let the moment be, rather than take the opportunity to agitate for a playoff that their network would surely love to broadcast.

If ever there was a time to live in the moment, Monday's game was it.

Just a thought

Now that Boise State has established itself as a player on the national football stage, it's time for the Broncos to get rid of their ugly blue turf. It makes their TV games unwatchable. They're legitimate; they can drop the novelty act.

This week I like

• The performance Penn State running back Tony Hunt in the Outback Bowl. He finished his career strong, rushing 31 times for 158 yards and putting the game away in the fourth quarter. The senior may have first-round speed -- and with his toughness and versatility, he's a player I'd want on my team.

• Cris Collinsworth in the booth on the NFL Network. As good an NFL booth analyst as there is.

• "Ode to Fredo" on YouTube. First lines of the song, sung mournfully: "I'm smart/ I can do things ..." Just tremendous.

This week I don't like

• Nick Saban, whose NFL epitaph will read: "He was a liar, a loser, and a lousy judge of talent." The statements he previously made about having no intention of leaving Miami for Alabama, before doing just that, are appalling. But what I dislike most is the mess Saban leaves behind, because it is one of his own creation. There's no way he would be jumping ship if he hadn't made the wrong choice in signing Daunte Culpepper instead of Drew Brees. Saban spent a lot of his owner's money on the wrong quarterback and then ran away.

• The Bengals' el foldo the last two weeks of the season. Back in August, I picked Cincinnati to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl; clearly I should have scouted their kicking game more closely.

• On New Year's Eve, watching a guy who was already drunk mix himself a cocktail of tequila and vodka. Let's just say the night ended as messily for him as you might imagine. The good thing about a New Year's Eve party in Manhattan? No one is driving home.