But none, obviously, will come close to approaching the element of surprise we've come to expect from college football, an element best summed up this season by a single score: 13-2.

The decisive nature of Oklahoma's smack-down of Florida State in the 2000 season's crescendo will leave fans and pundits baffled for years to come. But that was not the biggest surprise.

Look at the larger picture. Ponder how a team that went 7-5 the year before became the sport's only undefeated team the following season, defying conventional wisdom week after week of its improbable campaign. To envision how odd the idea of an Oklahoma national championship would have seemed 12 months ago, try picturing next year's winner as Boston College or Pittsburgh, both 7-5 this year.

The unpredictable nature of the 2000 season, although captivating, wasn't unique in the context of the sport's history, and it won't be any different next year. That's what will make the next eight months of imagination and speculation so fun, no matter how high or low your particular team's fortunes seem now.

What we learned, what we liked
In case you weren't convinced before, national prominence is now fair game for anybody. Just ask South Carolina and Oregon State. Two years ago, those schools bet a lot of faith and money that a high-profile coach could reverse their recent histories of football ineptitude. And they won. While the Gamecocks and Beavers represented 2000's Cinderella stories, Miami and Oklahoma proved that once a powerhouse, always a powerhouse. Alabama, USC and Penn State are hoping that proves true again next year. Meanwhile, the Pac-10 put to bed premature reports of its demise with big nonconference wins early and in the bowls, while the Big Ten showed that even a mega-conference isn't immune to cycles of mediocrity. Among the disturbing trends, though, was a head-coaching market spiraling out of control both in salaries and quick-trigger firings, and a rash of players succeeding on the field during the season but failing in the classroom badly enough to miss out on bowls.
ON: Big East. The depth may not be there yet, but Miami and Virginia Tech are two of the elite programs in the country right now, while Boston College and Pitt are on the rise.
ON: Junior colleges. The rapid improvement by both Oregon State and Oklahoma, whose stars Josh Heupel and Torrance Marshall both took the juco route, should have other coaches around the country scouring Texas and California. And Utah.
OFF: Ohio State. Was it really just two years ago the Buckeyes finished No. 2? Now, 2 is the number of yards you can expect when they run a play.
OFF: Florida State. The writing is on the wall for a crumble in 2001. We're talking ugly, folks ... like 9-2.
ON: Butch Davis. In the time it takes to read this column, he'll be rumored for another job.
OFF: Hal Mumme. Kentucky coach's New Year's resolutions: Stop running off perfectly good quarterbacks, stop getting busted by the NCAA and stop going 2-9. Two out of three will be considered a success.
The Stoops standard
Five years ago, Gary Barnett did the impossible and took Northwestern to the Rose Bowl. The very next season, four struggling Big Ten coaches were out of a job. The same effect has begun taking place on the national level thanks to Bob Stoops' two-year slam dunk at Oklahoma. Indirectly, he's the reason Jim Donnan is out at Georgia despite going 7-4, John Cooper is out at Ohio State despite winning the large majority of his games, and why the schools that actually are satisfied with their coaches are paying big bucks to keep them.
Mobile, to a point
Back in the summer, you couldn't pick up a magazine or read a (this) Web site without seeing the words "mobile quarterback." They were all the rage, thanks to Michael Vick's spectacular Sugar Bowl. But while there's no denying the abilities of Vick or Clemson's Woody Dantzler or Indiana's Antwaan Randle El, they all proved to be human after all. Meanwhile, the teams that did reach the championship, Oklahoma and Florida State, did so with more traditional, drop-back passers who also happened to finish 1-2 in the Heisman.
Traditionally speaking.
The BCS is now three for three in producing a true national champion, and maybe -- though not likely -- the playoff hysteria will die down for a bit. But as reporters filed out of Pro Player Stadium following this year's championship, talk had already turned to what has all along been the most dreaded aspect of the BCS for many: the thought of a Rose Bowl without a Big Ten or Pac-10 team, played two days after New Year's and without the breathtaking third-quarter sunset because of the 8 p.m. EST kickoff.
These WILL change over the next eight months.
Preseason Top 10 1. Florida 2. Virginia Tech* 3. Nebraska 4. Oregon State 5. Miami 6. Oklahoma 7. Oregon 8. Texas 9. Florida State 10. South Carolina Others to Watch: Washington, Kansas State, Tennessee, Clemson, Notre Dame, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Michigan, LSU, UNLV. Heisman hopefuls 1. Michael Vick, QB, Va. Tech* 2. Ken Simonton, RB, Oregon State 3. Ken Dorsey, QB, Miami 4. Damien Anderson, RB, Northwestern 5. Lito Sheppard, CB, Florida * Only if Vick stays in college, of course.
Each week, the Glance offered its projected BCS lineup based on current standings. Don't hold us to this one, either -- until January 2002.
Rose: Florida vs. Virginia Tech	Fiesta: Nebraska vs. Oregon
Sugar: Michigan vs. Tennessee	Orange: Clemson vs. Miami

 

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