Happy New Year to one and all! Now that we are on the final day of 2010, let us take a look at the top five non-AQ stories of the season:

1. Conference realignment. 2010 started with a triumvirate of three non-AQ teams leading the charge for national recognition: Boise State, TCU and Utah. But as 2010 closes, only Boise State will be left as a non-AQ team in the coming years. While the Broncos are moving on to the Mountain West, Utah is headed to the Pac-12 for 2011 and TCU will move to the Big East in 2012. You can best sum up the recent events with a tried and true motto: If you can’t beat them, absorb them!

Utah, Boise State and TCU have each gotten to two BCS games, and all three have created headaches for the BCS and AQ conferences because they each have gone undefeated in the regular season but been shut out of a chance to play for a national championship game. That has happened for three straight seasons now (Utah in 2008; Boise State, TCU in 2009; TCU in 2010). Now only Boise State is left to wander the road to inclusion with its cohorts in the Mountain West, WAC, MAC, Conference USA and Sun Belt. Meanwhile, we are left to wonder whether or not the WAC will survive with the Broncos, Nevada, Fresno State and Hawaii joining the Mountain West (Hawaii in football only).

2. Boise State loses. This one qualifies as a bigger story than TCU making the Rose Bowl for one big reason -- the Broncos more than the Horned Frogs served a symbol of the non-AQ team trying to break the national championship glass ceiling this season. No non-AQ team brings out more vitriol than Boise State. Its critics see the Broncos as a bunch of whiners who play in a weak conference and have done nothing to deserve their national attention. Most everyone expected Boise State to move past TCU in the BCS standings when the season ended. But Nevada had other plans, and its stunning overtime win qualifies as the upset of the season.

3. TCU to the Rose Bowl. For the second straight season, the Horned Frogs went undefeated in the regular season and earned a BCS berth. Because of a caveat in the rules, the Horned Frogs ended up going to the most prestigious bowl game of them all: the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. And this time, they get what they wanted last season -- a chance to play a big-time AQ program to prove they belong in the national conversation. TCU has more than playing for itself on the line in this game. It has the hopes of all non-AQs on the line as well. Of course, we have seen other non-AQ teams win their BCS games only to have nothing change. Utah and Boise State have BCS wins, but they have done nothing to alter the perception that they should remain outsiders.

4. Nevada. The Wolf Pack deserve it after upsetting Boise State to ruin the Broncos’ hopes of playing in a national championship game. They ended up with a share of the WAC title and the best season in school history. Let’s not forget Colin Kaepernick and all he has accomplished in his career, rewriting the school and NCAA record books along the way. Coach Chris Ault is set to get a contract extension, and his Pistol offense has swept the nation. So what Nevada did this season not only helped itself, but is helping plenty of other teams as well.

5. The service academies. This is the first year in history that all three service academies played in a bowl game. Not only that, this is the second time in history all three have finished with seven or more wins in the same season. Army coach Rich Ellerson deserves much of the credit here because he has been able to turn around a moribund team and make it competitive. Army cadets have been asked for years when this program would actually win some games. They now have their answer. When you consider the commitment of these young men, not just to football but to this country, all three academies deserve a salute for a job well done.

Others: Miami (Ohio) turnaround from 1-11 to 9-4; San Diego State turnaround from 4-8 to 9-4; Kellen Moore finishing fourth in the Heisman; Ohio mascot taking down Brutus the Buckeye; three MAC coaches go to AQ schools (Al Golden, Mike Haywood, Jerry Kill).