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At the Big Ten meetings, commissioner Jim Delany voiced his preference that only the four highest-ranked conference champions be included in a possible four-team playoff, which could begin in 2014.

He also expressed his preference that the games be played using the current bowl structure instead of the home stadiums of the top two seeds, mostly because of the conference’s desire to preserve the Rose Bowl.

Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, the Big Ten has failed to place a team in the top four of the final BCS standings in eight of 14 seasons. In other words, if there had been a four-team playoff using the BCS standings to select the top teams, the Big Ten would have been left out 57 percent of the time. In the last four seasons, the highest-ranked Big Ten team was Wisconsin in 2010 at No. 5.

The Big Ten is afraid of a possible SEC monopoly on the four-team playoff. However, history suggests Delany’s proposal could work against his conference.

In half of the 14 seasons under the BCS, at least one conference placed two teams in the top four of the BCS Standings – including each of the last two years and three of the last four. In two of those instances, the Big Ten was the conference with two top-four teams.

In 2006 and 2008, two conferences produced the BCS’ final top four teams. In 2006, the top four were No. 1 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan of the Big Ten, and No. 2 Florida and No. 4 LSU of the SEC. In 2008, it was No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 3 Texas of the Big 12, and No. 2 Florida and No. 4 Alabama of the SEC.

The two plans are vastly different. How so? Take a look at the table to the right, which shows the different matchups using the 2011 season as an example.

Under Delany’s plan, the 10th- and fifth-ranked teams would have reached the national semifinals and the second- and fourth-ranked teams would have been left out.

Even after Alabama won the BCS Championship Game, the question of whether a team that failed to win its conference championship is worthy to play for the national title still divides fans. In the next few weeks, we’ll have an answer which could change college football.

The national champion Alabama Crimson Tide had three underclassmen selected in the first round -- Trent Richardson, Dre Kirkpatrick and Dont'a Hightower.

Last year, Marcell Dareus, Julio Jones and Mark Ingram were taken in the first round after leaving Alabama early, and in 2010, Rolando McClain and Kareem Jackson were selected in Round 1 after forgoing their final season of eligibility in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama joins the Miami Hurricanes (2002-04) as the only schools to have multiple underclassmen taken in the first round of the NFL Draft in three consecutive years.

The Crimson Tide are the first team to have eight underclassmen taken in the first round in a three-year span. Those Miami teams had seven -- two in 2002, two in 2003 and three in 2004.

Alabama is on a four-year run that began with Andre Smith being a first-round pick as an underclassman in 2009. That started after the Crimson Tide didn't have a first-round pick from 2001-2008 and failed to have a single player selected in any of the seven rounds of the 2008 Draft.

With Hightower and Mark Barron chosen in the first seven picks, the Crimson Tide became the second team in the Common Draft Era to have two or more players selected in the first 10 picks in consecutive drafts.

The Ohio State Buckeyes had two top-10 picks each in the 1996 and 1997 drafts, highlighted by Orlando Pace going first overall in 1997. Dareus and Jones went in the first 10 picks from Alabama last season.

Other than Alabama, the only school to have multiple first-round selections in each of the last two drafts was the Baylor Bears. Phil Taylor and Danny Watkins went in the first round from the Bears last season. The four picks over the last two years brings Baylor’s total to 10 first-round picks all-time.

Baylor is also one of two schools this year and five all-time to have a quarterback and wide receiver selected in the first round of the same draft.

Draft chatter
• No players from Miami, Florida or Florida State were selected in the first round for the first time since 1980.

• Nineteen early entrants were selected in the first round, surpassing the 2010 draft’s 17 for the most in NFL history.

• Riley Reiff of the Iowa Hawkeyes was the first pick from a Big Ten school, going 23rd overall to the Detroit Lions. That ties 1968 for the common draft era record for the longest into a draft before a Big Ten pick, when the Baltimore Colts selected John Williams of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

• Michael Floyd and Harrison Smith were each selected in the first round from Notre Dame. The last time the Fighting Irish had multiple first round picks was 1994 (Bryant Young, Aaron Taylor and Jeff Burris).

• Whitney Mercilus and A.J. Jenkins were the first pair of Illinois Fighting Illini players selected in the first round since Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice went in the top three picks in 1996.

• The Boise State Broncos are the first team not from a major conference to have two first-round picks since the Jackson State Tigers in 2000.

Brad Edwards contributed to this post

Optimism was high in South Bend as Notre Dame entered the 2011 season. The Fighting Irish closed the 2010 campaign riding a four-game win streak including a 33-17 victory over Miami, FL in the Sun Bowl to finish 8-5.

They were entering their second season under Brian Kelly, and in his previous bowl subdivision stops at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, Year 2 proved to be very fruitful (he won the Big East title at Cincinnati in his second year).

However, there was one huge question surrounding the Irish entering the fall: who would be the starting quarterback, veteran Dayne Crist or sophomore Tommy Rees? Crist won the job, but was replaced at halftime of the season opener by Rees, who remained the starter for the rest of the 2011 season.

Crist transferred to Kansas at season’s end where he reunites with Charlie Weis, the man who recruited him to Notre Dame in 2008.

While Rees threw 20 touchdown passes, he also consistently incurred the wrath of Kelly by throwing 14 interceptions. The Irish finished 8-5 for the second straight year after losing to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl as Rees was intercepted twice and sophomore Andrew Hendrix once.

This spring, the Irish have another quarterback derby on their hands involving juniors Rees and Hendrix, redshirt freshman Everett Golson and true freshman Gunner Kiel – ESPN’s No. 3-rated QB in the 2012 class.

Whoever wins the job will not only be counted on to produce but also to help solve Notre Dame’s biggest problem in 2011 - turnovers.

The Irish committed 29 turnovers in 2011, only outdone by nine teams in the bowl subdivision. Things were even worse in the red zone where Notre Dame turned the ball over seven times, second only to SMU in the FBS.

The quarterbacks who played (Rees, Crist and Hendrix) were responsible for 23 of the 29 turnovers (17 interceptions and six fumbles lost). Rees alone had 19 turnovers (14 interceptions, five fumbles lost).

Over the last five seasons, only six "BCS schools" had a worse red-zone turnover percentage than Notre Dame’s 5.5 percent. Only one team in the last five seasons had a worse red-zone turnover percentage and finished with a better record: 2009 Nebraska, which featured Ndamukong Suh and one of the best defenses in recent college football history.

If the Irish quarterbacks don’t take better care of the football and play more efficiently, it could be another disappointing season in South Bend.

Spring is a time for renewal. In college football, spring is also the time to look ahead to fall and the upcoming season. Saturday, Alabama holds its annual Golden Flake A-Day Game (ESPN3, 3 ET), which will give its fans a first look at the defending national champions.

Alabama captured its record-breaking ninth national championship of the major poll era in January. Once again, the Crimson Tide are expected to be one of the best teams in the country in 2012. But the Tide have been here before. Will history repeat?

In 2010, Alabama was preseason No. 1 in both The Associated Press and Coaches polls with 11 combined offensive and defensive starters returning from the team that had won the 2009 national title. The problem was the retention breakdown. Bama lost eight starters from a defense that allowed the second-fewest yards (244.1) and points (11.7) per game in the bowl subdivision. With QB Greg McElroy, the RB tandem of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and WR Julio Jones, the belief was that the Tide would score points and win games through their offense while buying enough time for their defense to jell.

However, all did not go as planned. The defense allowed slightly more PPG than in 2009 (13.5 in 2010, 11.7 in 2009). The Tide allowed more plays of 20-plus yards (13) in 2010 than it did in 2009 (7). They also blew a 24-point lead in a loss to archrival and eventual national champion Auburn in the regular-season finale, the biggest collapse in Alabama’s storied history. That was one of three losses for the Tide that season.

Like in 2010, this Alabama team has a quarterback returning for his second season as a starter (A.J. McCarron), along with a strong running back (Eddie Lacy). Also like the 2010 team, the Tide will lose several starters on defense including four likely first-round picks (CB Dre Kirkpatrick, OLB/DE Courtney Upshaw, LB Dont’a Hightower, S Mark Barron).

So how good will Alabama be in 2012? History suggests the Tide will be one of the best teams in college football, but not good enough to win a second straight national championship. Just like 2010.

Coming off of a two-year postseason ban, the USC Trojans plan to make their presence felt nationally this season. Matt Barkley and several other offensive skill players are back for a team that went 10-2 and averaged 36 points per game last season.

This is the first time since 2005 that USC has had its top passer, top rusher, and top two receivers return from the previous season. That team was coming off an undefeated season and national championship, and would run the table before falling to the Texas Longhorns in the final moments of the BCS Championship Game in Pasadena.

Aside from having the most prolific weapon in college football that season in Reggie Bush, USC's returning offensive group could be even more explosive in 2012 -- especially Matt Barkley and the Trojan passing assault.

Barkley's numbers from 2011 were better across the board than Matt Leinart's were when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2004. Barkley threw for more yards and touchdowns while completing a higher percentage of his passes in 2011 than Leinart did in 2004.

What's particularly scary for Pac-12 defenses is that Barkley has improved from year to year. His touchdowns have gone up and interceptions have dropped every year at USC, while Leinart's numbers were relatively unchanged during his three seasons leading the Trojans.

Barkley’s biggest improvement last year came when throwing the ball deep. He increased his completion percentage on passes 15-or-more yards downfield by 10 percent and didn’t throw an interception when throwing deep.

While Leinart often deferred to Reggie Bush and Lendale White in the red zone in 2005 (40 combined rushing TDs in 2005), the strength of the 2012 team lies with Barkley and his two favorite targets on the outside, Robert Woods and Marqise Lee.

The 2011 season marked the fourth time that a pair of USC receivers each eclipsed 1,000 yards, as Woods and Lee combined for 2,435 yards and 26 touchdowns. USC gained more yards from Barkley passing to Woods and Lee than 38 FBS teams had through the air for the season.

Woods and Barkley already hold several school and conference records. If they each replicate their success in 2012, even more records will fall.

Assuming a repeat performance of his 2011 statistics, Woods would be the Pac-12 career leader in receptions and would be tied for second in career touchdown receptions, all in three seasons. Barkley would be the eighth FBS quarterback to throw for more than 115 touchdowns in his career, and would be the Pac-12 career leader in passing yards and touchdowns.

Though setting records would be nice for these two players, the entire team has made it clear that there is a singular goal for the Men of Troy -- a BCS Championship.

Sharon Katz contributed to this post

Other quarterbacks have chosen to stay in school when they stood to be prominent NFL Draft picks, as quarterback Matt Barkley has done at USC.

Let's take a statistical snapshot of recent examples to forgo the NFL Draft for one more year in the college ranks.

Peyton Manning, Tennessee
Manning still ended up as the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft after returning to Tennessee for his senior season in 1997.

The Vols won the SEC Championship, beating Auburn, 30-29 before losing to Nebraska, 42-17 in the Orange Bowl. They finished No. 7 in the final AP poll.

Matt Leinart, USC

After winning a national title as a junior, Leinart returned for a memorable campaign in 2005, but one that floundered on a couple fronts.

A year after winning the Heisman Trophy, Leinart finished third in the balloting. His Trojans fell short of a second straight undefeated season and national championship, losing to Texas and quarterback Vince Young in a classic game.

Leinart ended up being selected 10th by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2006 NFL Draft and has not yet flourished at the level he did in college.

Sam Bradford, Oklahoma

After winning the Heisman Trophy and losing the national championship game to a Tim Tebow-led Florida team, Bradford returned for his junior year at Oklahoma. It did not go as planned.
Bradford suffered a shoulder injury in the Sooners first game of the season, then re-injured his shoulder upon returning to face Texas.

Bradford sat out the remainder of the season, then declared for the NFL Draft. He was taken by the St. Louis Rams with the No. 1 pick, and he has thrown for 24 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in two NFL seasons.

Andrew Luck, Stanford
Luck tested his luck by staying in school for his senior season in 2011, and the decision worked out well.

The Cardinal went 11-2 in Luck’s senior season, finishing No. 7 in the national rankings after a 41-38 loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Luck is expected to be taken No. 1 in this year’s NFL Draft.

Andrew Luck is constantly praised for his accuracy, football intelligence and leadership intangibles, but on Sunday at the NFL combine he proved that his athleticism rivals the top quarterbacks in the league.

Of the 14 quarterbacks who participated in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and broad jump at the 2012 combine, only Luck and Robert Griffin III placed in the top four in all three events. Notably, Luck posted the top broad jump of all quarterbacks, and put up comparable numbers to Cam Newton’s combine in 2011.

Unlike Newton, Luck played in a pro-style offense in college that did not ask him to run consistently. But anyone who watched Stanford throughout Luck’s career could see that he has the athleticism and mobility to succeed at the next level.

Luck was one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the nation when throwing on the run. The average quarterback completes less than 50 percent of his passes when forced to scramble outside of the pocket, but last season Luck completed 63.6 percent of these passes. He was even better when passing outside of the pocket on designed roll-outs, completing 71.8 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and just one interception on such passes.

Inside of the pocket, Luck’s mobility helped him elude pass rushers and get the ball out quickly. Luck was sacked only 23 times in his career at Stanford, about once in every 50 drop-backs. Of quarterbacks that started at least 20 games since 2009, only Kellen Moore and Brandon Weeden were sacked at lower rates.

Luck chose to remain in the pocket on the majority of the time, but when forced to scramble he averaged 5.9 yards per attempt. Overall, Luck ran for 957 yards and seven touchdowns in his career. Additionally, he caught two passes for 24 yards, including one of the most athletic plays of the season -- a one-handed, sprawling catch down the right sideline against UCLA.

So while Griffin may have stolen the spotlight by running a 4.41 40-yard dash on Sunday, Luck proved that he is one of the top athletes at the quarterback position -- a fact that may be surprising to some, but not those that have watched him closely for years.

Florida State may have had the most impactful National Signing Day, inking No. 10 overall player DT Eddie Goldman and No. 38 overall player CB Ronald Darby on Wednesday. It came in addition to already having top overall player DE Mario Edwards in the fold.

The Seminoles finished with 10 ESPNU150 recruits, including three of the top five defensive line prospects in the nation. They added to a defensive front that has posted the most sacks (88) and the second-fewest yards per rush (2.92) in the nation the past two seasons.

But Florida State’s 2012 class wasn’t the best in the nation.

Alabama took home the honor of 2012’s top recruiting class after finishing second to Florida State last year.

The Crimson Tide addressed their greatest needs, filling holes at defensive back and wide receiver.

Alabama struggled to replace Julio Jones in 2011, with no player catching more than 56 passes or four touchdowns last season. Next year, they'll face a similar problem when they have to again replace their top receiver, Marquis Maze.

But this year they signed four 4-star or 5-star athlete/wide receivers, the most of any school in the nation, adding options for AJ McCarron on offense.

McCarron improved throwing downfield last year, completing nearly 56 percent of his attempts of more than 15 yards in Alabama’s final six games (nearly 41 percent in team’s first seven games), and should have more chances to go vertical in 2012 with a deeper receiving corps.

Alabama also signed the top safety and No. 2 cornerback of the 2012 class to help replace three secondary starters in Dre Kirkpatrick, Mark Barron and DeQuan Menzie. Alabama had a historically stingy secondary in 2011, allowing the same number of completions (seven) as they made interceptions on passes of 20 or more yards.

Recruits Landon Collins and Geno Smith should fill in nicely for the Alabama backs that graduate or enter the draft.

Conversely, Florida State loaded up an already-strong defense but failed to address needs on offense.

The Seminoles’ offensive line was porous in 2011, allowing 41 sacks in 13 games, 14 more than in 2010 and 21 more than in 2009. Florida State signed two offensive tackles from abroad, but did not have a commitment from any offensive line recruits in the US.

Whether any of these recruits have an impact is yet to be known. None of the schools with the top-ranked recruiting class the last four years reached 10 wins in the following season.

Regardless, Florida State’s defensive front is positioned to be formidable for years to come while Alabama filled critical needs while putting together the nation’s top recruiting class.

--Mike Freer and Jonathan McDonald contributed to this report

National Signing Day is a day away, and the nation’s top wide receiver recruit remains unsigned. Dorial Green-Beckham will announce his intentions at 10:15 A.M. ET on Wednesday, with many of the nation’s top programs looking on.

Green-Beckham has been described as a hybrid of Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones. At 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, he possesses the size and speed to be a significant deep threat and formidable red-zone target.

Any program in the nation would be happy to land Green-Beckham, but he has narrowed his list to five schools -- Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Alabama and Oklahoma –- all of which have significant holes at wide receiver.

So the question becomes, who needs Dorial Green-Beckham most?

Alabama has stocked up on wide receiver recruits in its 2012 class with five 4-star or 5-star recruits listed as ATH/WR. The Tide could use all of the help that they can get after losing their top four pass catchers from 2011. Most importantly, Alabama needs to find a top wide receiver to fill the void left by Julio Jones and Marquis Maze leaving in consecutive years.

Jones and Maze were targeted on almost half of Alabama’s passes thrown 20 yards or more in the air since the start of 2010, resulting in 15 receptions and five touchdowns. Green-Beckham’s downfield prowess would benefit AJ McCarron who improved his deep passing in the second half of last season.

Arkansas is the predicted landing spot for Green-Beckham by all seven ESPN experts polled. If he chooses to sign with the Razorbacks, Green-Beckham would fill one of the greatest wide receiver voids in the nation.

Arkansas is losing three of its top four wide receivers, including the school’s top two players in career receptions, Jarius Wright and Joe Adams. Wright and Adams combined for more receiving yards (1,769) than any other set of receivers in the SEC last season.

In fact, no SEC team had three wide receivers combine for more yards, receptions and touchdowns than Wright and Adams.

Missouri needs a second wide-receiver option behind T.J. Moe next season with TE Michael Egnew and WR Wes Kemp graduating. Moe has the second-most receiving yards in the Big 12 since the start of 2010 among returning players, but he is not known for his deep-threat ability.

Of his 146 receptions in the past two seasons, only 13 have gone for 25 or more yards. Green-Beckham’s downfield speed would lead to more big plays for the Tigers and open up underneath routes for Moe and others.

Oklahoma must replace FBS all-time leader in receptions, Ryan Broyles. Broyles was Oklahoma’s top target downfield, in the red zone, on third down and when opponents brought the blitz over the last two years.

Landry Jones struggled after Broyles’ injury in 2011, and despite landing three 4-star wide receiver recruits, a talent like Green-Beckham could fill the void left by Broyles.

Broyles had some of the strongest hands in college football, dropping just two passes in 417 pass attempts since the start of 2009.

According to scouts, Green-Beckham also has strong hands and the ability to snatch balls in traffic, which will be valuable in an Oklahoma offense that throws a lot of quick slants. Oklahoma has focused on replacing Broyles with three 4-star recruits committed for next season, but the addition of Green-Beckham will have an immediate impact on a team with national title hopes.

Texas could use Green-Beckham’s size in the red zone. The Longhorns completed just 32 percent of their passes with three touchdowns and two interceptions in the red zone during conference play last season, which was the worst completion percentage by any Big 12 team in the last five seasons.

When throwing into the end zone, Texas completed just 5-of-17 passes with two interceptions. Beckham’s 6’6” size and leaping ability would give Texas a target to drastically improve its red-zone passing offense.

Here’s a look back at Joe Paterno’s coaching career from a statistical perspective.

Paterno won 409 games, the most of anyone in major college football history. That total ranks second all-time among college coaches in all divisions to John Gagliardi’s 484 (Gagliardi is the head coach for St. John’s, a Division III school in Minnesota).

Paterno averaged 8.9 wins per season as Penn State’s head coach. He also holds the NCAA records for most bowl appearances (37) and bowl wins (24). He was 24-12-1 in bowl games.

He had 24 bowl wins as Penn State’s head coach. Only six teams other than Penn State have won more bowl games in their history.

While at Penn State, Paterno defeated 80 different teams. Oklahoma and Florida were the only teams that Paterno faced MORE than once without a win (0-2 vs both).

Paterno debuted as Penn State’s head coach on September 17, 1966, as the Nittany Lions defeated Maryland, 15-7. He coached the team to five undefeated seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994), winning his first national title on January 1, 1983 when Penn State defeated No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, 27-23.

Paterno has been the record-holder for wins by an FBS coach since October 27, 2001, when Penn State defeated Ohio State, 29-27 for career win No. 324, breaking the mark he shared with Bear Bryant.

His 409th and final win, breaking the NCAA Division I record shared with Eddie Robinson, came with a 10-7 triumph over Illinois on October 29, 2011.

Paterno’s 46 seasons as a head coach are the second-most in major college history, trailing only Amos Alonzo Stagg’s 57.

His 46 seasons are by far the most of anyone who coached a major college program and never coached another team (Frank Howard and Dan McGugin are second with 30 seasons at Clemson and Vanderbilt, respectively).

Paterno finished with 548 career games coached, matching Stagg’s total.

Paterno’s Penn State tenure (including 16 years as assistant coach) spanned 61 years and 12 U.S. Presidential administrations. He was the head coach for 46 seasons, for more than one-third of the games played by the program in its 125-year history.

If LSU had won the BCS Championship Game, one could argue that its season would have gone down as one of the best in college football history. But it was not meant to be. The Tigers are not alone, they have plenty of company among the "what-ifs."

2011 LSU Football
The LSU Tigers took care of business during the regular season, knocking off eight ranked opponents, three of them top-10 teams, including second-ranked Alabama on the road. They wrapped up the SEC Championship with a convincing 42-10 victory over Georgia. However, in the BCS Championship, their offense disappeared and they become the first team to be shut out in a BCS bowl game, with a 21-0 loss to Alabama.

2007 Patriots
Record after record fell as the New England Patriots dismantled their opponents during the regular season. Tom Brady would throw a record 50 touchdown passes, and Randy Moss caught a record 23. However, their dreams of being the first 19-0 team in NFL history ended in Super Bowl XLII with a 17-14 loss to the New York Giants on Eli Manning’s touchdown to Plaxico Burress in the final seconds.

2005 USC Football
The USC Trojans easily went through the regular season undefeated with nine of its 12 wins by at least 17 points. Cases were being made that it could be the greatest team in college football history. However, Vince Young and Texas would not let it happen. In the National Title Game at the Rose Bowl, Young and the Longhorns shocked the Trojans with a 41-38 victory as Young scored the game-winner with 19 seconds to play.

2001 Mariners
The Seattle Mariners set an American League record with 116 wins and looked as though they would go easily to the World Series. They had Ichiro, who won the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year. After a five-game series win over the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, they faced the New York Yankees in the ALCS, who knocked them out in five games.

1990-91 UNLV Basketball
The UNLV Runnin' Rebels entered the season as the defending national champion and ran through all comers as they easily won the Big West title and went 30-0 entering the NCAA Tournament. However, in the National Semifinals, they would lose 79-77 to Duke, who had lost to UNLV by 30 points in the previous year's championship game.

1990 Athletics
The defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics seemed poised to repeat with a 103-win regular season, most in the majors. They swept the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS and faced the underdog Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. However, Cincinnati turned the tables and swept Oakland.

1988-89 Lakers
While it’s not an undefeated season, the Los Angeles Lakers were 57-25 during the regular season, the top team in the Western Conference and coming off back-to-back titles. They entered the playoffs and did not lose a game through the first three rounds (11-0). However, in the NBA Finals, they would get swept by the Detroit Pistons.

It is no surprise that the SEC remains atop ESPN Stats & Info’s Conference Power Rankings after winning its sixth straight BCS National Championship on Monday.

The SEC was dominant all season. The conference consistently had three teams ranked in the AP Top 10, and at one point was the first conference since 1971 to hold the top three spots in the polls. Today, three of the top five teams in the final AP Poll reside in the SEC after the conference went 6-3 in bowl season.

The Big 12 finished second in the rankings after a strong season by many of its top programs. The conference went 6-2 in bowl games, which was the best winning percentage of any AQ conference. Overall, the Big 12 finished with the best out-of-conference record (33-5) in the nation, but it lacked two top-tier teams, ultimately costing the conference the top spot in our rankings.

For the first time this season, the ACC fell behind the Big East in the Conference Rankings after being outscored by 74 points in its bowl games. The conference went 2-6 in bowls, including 0-2 in BCS Bowls. The ACC is 2-13 all-time in BCS Bowl games, but the most embarrassing of its losses may have been Clemson’s 37-point loss to Big East Champion West Virginia in this year’s Orange Bowl.

In the race for the top non-AQ conference, the Mountain West Conference came out on top. Boise State and TCU finished the season ranked in the AP Top 15 and gave credence to those who said that the conference deserved a BCS Bowl bid by winning by a combined 39 points in its bowl games. The conference finished 17.6 points ahead of the Big East and 23.3 points ahead of the ACC for fifth in our rankings.

Finally, Conference USA made a push for seventh in the rankings after a strong bowl season. The conference went 4-1 in bowl games and outscored its opponents by 52 points, tied for the best point differential with the SEC.

With 2011 in the books, it is not too soon to start looking ahead to next season. Conference realignment has the potential to change these rankings significantly. Will the Big 12 be the top conference in the nation with the addition of West Virginia and TCU? How will Texas A&M and Missouri impact the depth of the SEC? Tune in next year to see how it all turns out.

For a brief recap on how we rank the conferences, click here.

The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide shut out the No. 1 LSU Tigers in the BCS Championship Game, the first shutout in BCS bowl history. LSU gained just 92 yards, the second-fewest in a BCS title game or in any BCS bowl game; only Ohio State (82 yards against Florida in the BCS Championship Game following the 2006 season) gained fewer.

The last team to be No. 1 in the poll prior to a bowl game and be shut out was the 1953 Maryland Terrapins, who were shut out by Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, 7-0. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that was also the last time an undefeated and untied college football team was shut out in a major bowl game.

Alabama is the first team since the 1991 Miami Hurricanes to win the national championship with a shutout, and are the first team to shut out the Tigers since, well, Alabama did it back in 2002.

The Tide's defense led the FBS in PPG, Rush YPG, Pass YPG and Total YPG. They were just the second team to lead the country in all four categories.

Alabama allowed nearly 78 fewer yards per game than LSU, the largest gap between the top two teams in total defense since those records were kept beginning in 1937.

LSU didn't cross midfield until its next-to-last possession of the game, reaching only as far as the Alabama 40-yard line. LSU ran only four plays on Alabama's side of the field, its fewest plays in opponent’s territory in a single game since the start of the 2004 season.

Alabama forced LSU into 11 negative plays, tied for the most negative plays by an LSU offense since Sept. 10, 2005 (lost yards on 12 plays against Arizona State).

The key for Alabama was play-calling on first down. A.J. McCarron attempted 20 first-down passes, completing 14 of them for 165 yards. Alabama had attempted just 14 passes in its previous two games and 28 in its previous three games combined on first down.

The Tide called pass plays on 63 percent of their first-down plays on Monday; they entered the game passing on just 39 percent of first-down plays this season.

That enabled McCarron to use play-action effectively; he went 5-for-8 for 80 yards using play-action on first down. He also exploited LSU’s defense down the field, completing five of his nine passes that traveled 15 yards or farther in the air.

The five completions tied his career high. Entering the game, LSU had allowed only 12 such completions this season and no team had completed more than 40 percent of such passes.

Alabama finished the season without trailing for one second after the first quarter. The next team on that list is Boise State, which trailed for nearly 27 minutes from the second quarter on.

Just one month after the matchup became official and more than two months since the first meeting this season between the Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers, the Rematch of the Century is almost here.

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country face off for the second time this season on Monday night (8:30 ET on ESPN) with the BCS National Championship on the line.

What’s at stake?
Alabama could be the first team since the Minnesota Gophers in 1936 to finish as national champion without winning its conference title (aside from independents).

Already this season, LSU has beaten No. 3 Oregon, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Arkansas. With a win in this game, the Tigers will become only the second team to defeat four top-3 teams along the way, joining the 1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Alabama offense vs LSU defense
When the Crimson Tide have the ball, the focus will be on Heisman finalist Trent Richardson. Richardson was able to break down the Tigers’ second-ranked defense in the first meeting, totaling 169 yards from scrimmage, which is by far the most by an opposing running back against LSU this season.

However, in that same game, the LSU defense did have success penetrating the Alabama offensive line. Richardson was hit in the backfield on five of his 23 runs (22 percent), the highest percentage of rushes in Richardson’s career in which he was hit behind the line of scrimmage by an SEC opponent.

LSU offense vs Alabama defense
Alabama owns arguably the best defense in FBS this season, leading the nation in scoring, total, rushing and passing defense. Though LSU was not able to reach the end zone against the Tide in November, the Tigers did have success on the ground with 148 rushing yards, the second-most allowed by Alabama this season.

When Jordan Jefferson entered that game, LSU utilized his athleticism by running seven option plays that kept Alabama off balance. The Tigers ran for 54 yards on these plays, including two for 14 and 15 yards by Michael Ford. Ford is the only player with two rushes of 14-plus yards against Alabama this season.

Kickers in the spotlight
In the first meeting, the kicking game proved to be the deciding factor as both teams were kept out of the end zone. Alabama missed four of six field goals; LSU made all three of its attempts in the victory.

LSU has had the better kicking game all season. LSU made 88.9 percent of its field goals this season (3rd in FBS); Alabama made 62.1 percent (93rd in FBS). The Tigers have the clear edge in long-distance kicks and pressure situations.

Alabama missed four of its five field goal attempts from at least 38 yards against LSU and was 2-for-11 on such kicks during the season. LSU was 3-for-4 from that range this season, but its last attempt was September 15 vs Mississippi State.

LSU made all three of its field goal attempts when tied or trailing in the second half or overtime this season, and two of those makes came against Alabama on November 5. The only time this season Alabama attempted a field goal with the score tied or trailing in the second half was against LSU, when it missed one of two kicks.

Stat of the game
This is just the second “national championship” game between teams that had already met in the regular season. In 1996, Florida State beat Florida in November, only to end up having a rematch with the Gators in the Sugar Bowl. Florida routed the Seminoles 52-20 in the second game.

Less than a week after the Baylor Bears and Washington Huskies rewrote the bowl record book in the Alamo Bowl, the new volume will need to go back to the printer after the West Virginia Mountaineers' run through the Orange Bowl.

West Virginia broke six team records and four individual records on the way to a 70-33 win over the Clemson Tigers. Five of those records had been set or tied during last week’s Alamo Bowl, and the number of records set rises when compared only with other BCS bowl games.

Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith tied three bowl records. He threw for six touchdown passes to tie Chuck Long, who did the same in the 1984 Freedom Bowl for the Iowa Hawkeyes. His other two records, touchdowns responsible for and points responsible for, matched Keith Price’s Alamo Bowl records for the Washington Huskies. All three established new marks for BCS bowl games.

Also on the individual honor roll, Tavon Austin set an Orange Bowl record and tied a record for any bowl game with four touchdown receptions.

Austin and the West Virginia receivers did most of their damage after the catch. Smith completed nearly 80 percent of his throws of less than 10 yards, and all six passing touchdowns came on short tosses.

As a team, West Virginia now holds most of the point-related records in bowl games. The Mountaineers scored 35 points in the second quarter, 49 points in the first half and 70 points in the game. All three set new standards, as did the 69 points the teams combined for in the first half. West Virginia’s 10 touchdowns broke the record for most in a game, previously set by the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 2000 Alamo Bowl for the most in a bowl.

The two teams combined for 103 points. While that was well short of the record for a bowl game, it easily set the record for a BCS bowl. In a trend that is likely to reverse in the BCS Championship Game, three of the seven highest scoring BCS bowl games have taken place this season.

With Clemson's loss, the ACC falls to 2-13 all-time in BCS bowl games, the worst record among Automatic-Qualifying leagues.

As we look back on the Orange Bowl and start to look forward to the BCS Championship Game between the LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide, here are some things that are unlikely to be repeated in New Orleans on Monday.

• West Virginia scored 10 touchdowns against Clemson… Alabama (12) and LSU (14) each barely allowed that many touchdowns in the entire season.

• Geno Smith threw for six touchdowns… For the Alabama (6) and LSU (7) defenses, that’s a full season’s worth.

• Clemson allowed six offensive touchdowns in the first half… Neither Alabama (5) nor LSU (6) allowed more in every first half this season combined.

• Clemson allowed 49 first-half points against West Virginia… Alabama has allowed just 54 points in the first half this season.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to RJLARIAT (comments below) for pointing out the error in this post, which has been corrected. West Virginia's 10 touchdowns against Clemson did indeed set a record for bowl games, breaking the mark of 9 set by Nebraska against Northwestern in the 2000 Alamo Bowl.