EVENTUALLY, IT ALL EVENS OUT

by Sterling Gould, More Credible

Hey there Cinderella, how are you feeling right about now? If you're an Eagle, a Bull, or a Sun Devil... not too good right about now. Remember some of the things I said about the Cinderella teams back in mid-October? I meant it. Eventually, Ohio State will stumble. And if they don't, just remember that I said right now that they'll get rolled by whoever they play in the BCS championship.

Boston College, South Florida, and Arizona State all had something in common this season: they soared up the polls quickly, had a chance to justify their ranking on national television, and let it slip away. It's not to take anything away from these programs, by their standards, they would be having exceptional seasons. But once you taste the national championship stew, you want to keep returning to the bowl until you've got a fat stomach and some hardware in your hands. Look, I've got a lot of respect for the underdog, but you've got to make baby steps before you can do wind-sprints. For all of the aforementioned schools, their fans were thinking they could compete in a marathon before they won a footrace. The "less recognized schools" are could be just as talented as the larger, traditional powerhouses. But the real significant factor is the mindset. For football, you take long stretches from week to week in between games. It's hard to continue the momentum you rode in on if you've got such a long wait before your next game. In basketball, you're constantly riding high. You usually have a game every three or four days and if your players stay hot, you can compete with almost anybody. The Bulls, Sun Devils, and Eagles just ran out of that "Mo".

Boston College in all likelihood played themselves out of the national championship with a home loss to Florida State. Matt Ryan did himself no favors for the Heisman with his stat line. Arizona State looked completely outclassed against Oregon and South Florida dropped their third in a row. But this is the best time of the season for these schools. You want to garner respect for your program? Finish strong. Just because you overachieved mid-season and failed, doesn't mean you can't set the bar high the next season and succeed. I guess this is my "inspirational post" for the year. Blaaaah, I'm getting too "feel good". I have to remember, I'm a blogger, I live off negativity.