Joey Johnston

Some college football seasons are flat-out crazy (2007 comes to mind). Some feature teams that smack of a dynasty, and others are more balanced. Some have thrilling finishes and others are more predictable.

There are always surprising stars and disappointing underachievers.

But there’s no such thing as a bad college football season. It doesn’t exist. We’re always left clamoring for more after a year’s worth of highlights (and lowlights).

Here are some things to remember from 2008:

Biggest Rip-Off
Using the BCS standings to settle the Big 12 standings and, essentially, a spot in the BCS Championship Game. In the three-way tie between Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, there needed to be a way to jettison the third team, then utilize a head-to-head matchup between the other two to settle things. Every game counts? Here’s one that didn’t — Texas 45, Oklahoma 35 (on a neutral field).

Second-Biggest Rip-Off
Lack of a playoff system. What a marvelous time it would be, matching one-loss teams Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Penn State and USC, along with one of two unbeatens in Utah and Boise State.

One Man’s Heisman Ballot
1. QB Tim Tebow, Florida; 2. QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma; 3. QB Colt McCoy, Texas.

Best Team
Florida. It didn’t look that way in the early season, especially after a 31-30 home loss against Ole Miss. But the Gators set their jaw, Tebow became a better quarterback, the offense unleashed its speed and the defense flew all over the field.

Best Game
Texas Tech 39, Texas 33. Wonderful back-and-forth action, capped by a comeback, then a miraculous punctuation point (Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree).

Best Game We Won’t See
Unbeaten Utah vs. unbeaten Boise State in a bowl game. That would have been pretty cool. We get a decent runner-up to that with San Diego’s Poinsettia Bowl — Boise State vs. rock-solid TCU.

Best Game Practically No One Noticed
Florida Atlantic 57, Florida International 50 (OT). Twice, the Owls trailed by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. And twice, they rallied to tie the game before winning it in overtime. It put Florida Atlantic at 6-6 and eventually earned a bid to the Motor City Bowl, big stuff for a Sun Belt program trying to make a name for itself.

Best Conference (top to bottom)
Believe it or not, the ACC. Even though the league bowed out of the national-championship hunt pretty early, the ACC had a ton of good teams (but no great ones). The ACC had 10 — count ‘em, 10 — bowl teams. The race for its championship game went down to the final week. In the Atlantic Division, every team was either 5-3 or 4-4 in league play, meaning one game separated first place from last.

Upsets That Mattered
Ole Miss over Florida, Oregon State over USC, Iowa over Penn State.

Best Clutch Player
Tim Tebow. After the Gators lost to Ole Miss, he tearfully apologized and said no player would work harder for the remainder of the season. The Gators won nine straight games, blitzing most opponents and coming from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat Alabama for the SEC title.

Most Bizarre Moment
North Carolina went for the spectacular entrance, parachuting its game ball in for the opener against McNeese State. One problem: The plane wound up at Duke’s game, eight miles away.

Coolest Look
When Army broke out the camouflage helmets and pants against Navy. Didn’t help (Navy 34, Army 0), but it was still a nice touch.

Biggest Surprise
Georgia Tech going 9-3 and probably becoming the ACC’s best team (although, unfortunately, it didn’t make the league’s title game). The triple-option offense of Coach Paul Johnson picked up steam in the late season as the Yellow Jackets squashed Miami and Georgia.

Biggest Disappointment
Plenty to choose from here. Among the teams that fell from grace — Arizona State, Auburn, Michigan and Tennessee, all with losing records. Clemson went from preseason Top 10 to ACC also-ran before steadying the ship. South Florida was 5-0 with a clear path in the weakened Big East, but finished 7-5. But my choice for the biggest flop was Georgia, the preseason No. 1, which was blitzed by Alabama, Florida and Georgia Tech to wind up in the Capital One Bowl.

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