Dear Santa....  

It's that time of year! Now, we're all about to get our wishes fulfilled as Bowl Season kicks off after a couple of tough Saturdays, but what else are we going to ask for this holiday season? Well, here's out wish list, in no particular order:

1: An entertaining National Title game. Frankly, we may have to go over the Jolly Man's head for this season, and appeal to the big guy upstairs directly. We've been writing the blog for two years, inspired, in part, by the thrilling Texas-USC tilt, but we're staring a second consecutive dud straight in the face. We'd love to be able to end the year with a bang, instead of a whimper.

2: More players like Darren McFadden and Dennis Dixon, and more coaches like Urban Meyer and Rich Rodriguez. College football is better than the NFL because the schemes are so unique and exciting, and the elite players can do such incredible things on the field. We love innovative coaches, and electric performances. Here's hoping we get another season full of them.

3: An underdog who can seal the deal. Here's a list of National Champs since 1992: Alabama, Florida St, Nebraska, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Miami, Ohio St, LSU, USC and Texas. Pretty much chock-full of bluebloods, eh? This year, the year of the upset, pits Ohio St. against LSU. This sport desperately needs a Mizzou, or a Kansas, or an Oregon, or somebody to step up and take home the title for all the little guys.

4: Common sense for the NCAA presidents. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that NCAA football needs some sort of playoffs. Year after year of unfulfilling conclusions (USC v. Texas notwithstanding) has to eventually lead to the inevitable. The school presidents love the bowl games because they provide a reward of sorts (not to mention a whole truckload of cash) to the schools at the end of the year, but common sense tells us we CAN have a playoff WITH the bowls still in place. An 8 team playoff won't make the bowls the equivalent of the NIT. It's football fellas! People will watch the games even if they are officially labeled as meaningless.

5: More coaches who care about their school. I always say that if given the choice of being a college coach or an NFL coach I'd choose the former every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The reason is simple....in college, if you're great they name the stadium after you. Well these days that's about as likely as Mark Mangino going on Atkins. With coaches moving around more than ever it will be a long time before we see another JoePa build an empire out of nothing. Rich Rodriguez is just the latest in a long list of coaches who leave what they've started to pursue greener pastures. Heck, if it weren't for Greg Schiano you could eliminate the word "more" from this wish.