Season in Review: Lowlights of the Year

10. New Mexico Fail update of the season – In Mike Locksley's second year, he matched his awful 1-11 record from year one. It was an improvement considering he wasn't suspended for any games this season for punching his assistants like last season, or named in any lawsuits this year. Still, the Lobos were just as bad (if not worse) and managed to somehow lose to New Mexico St. again, in the single worst game played all season. Other than the loss to New Mexico St., the true failure is by the administration for having given Locksley a contract so big they can't afford to buy him out meaning he will return to coach next season and the Lobos will still be in their weekly perch in this section.

9. Temple isn't in a bowl game – Seriously. The Owls went 8-4 and beat Connecticut who also went 8-4 and were rewarded with a BCS game. The MAC should be ashamed for not figuring out how to get the Owls into a bowl game and not signing backup deals with bowls like the Sun Belt and WAC have done to ensure homes for their better teams once the BCS league don't fill their allotments.

Benny Sieu - AP

8. Arizona St. and the art of the Extra Point – Twice this season, the Sun Devils lost games because they were unable to block correctly on extra points. Early on at Wisconsin, the Sun Devils scored with a little over four minutes left and didn't block the guy with the clearest path to the ball, getting the PAT blocked. They didn't get the ball back. Later, against USC, a similar situation happened and USC returned the extra point for two points that later turned out to be the winning margin in the game. At least they turned the tables on in-state rival Arizona with two blocked PATs to win that game.

7. Iowa in the 4^th quarter – Considering the other issues with problems in the drug testing regime, players living with convicted felons and running backs scattering out of the program like bugs when their home is unearthed, there is an explanation for this. The fact remains that Iowa led or was tied with under five minutes to go in each of its first four losses and blew them all despite having one of the best defenses in the country (this of course doesn't count the loss to Minnesota where the team didn't bother showing up or the win over Indiana where Damario Belcher dropped the winning touchdown pass on 4^th down with under a minute left for the Hoosiers).

6. Oregon St. vs Washington St. - This game stands out for who knows how many reasons. The Beavers, while certainly not as good as their preseason billing, only played this bad one other time and it was a raod game against a top five team. To lose at home to Washington St. takes a special level of failure, especially for a team that pushed TCU and didn't get completely blown out against Oregon or Boise St. Even now, I can't fathom what went wrong on that day that cost the Beavers a bowl game. Even the bizarre road loss to UCLA doesn't match this in terms of worst performances by a decent team (excluding Cal and its own Jekyll and Hyde issues that led to 5-7).

5. Florida snapping problems – Florida had a ton of offensive issues all season long. It started from game one with the inability to correctly perform a shotgun snap. That problem (one that reappeared quite a few times during the season) took vital time away from a young offense that needed all the help it could get to move the ball. The Gators fell behind working on basics and never really had a cohesive gameplan or offensive process (except against Georgia, but the Gators have played their best game of the season against Georgia nearly every season for the last 20 years).

4. Texas offense – Well, the Texas offense was quite offensive this season. They did nothing all year long except against Florida Atlantic, a bad team from the Sun Belt, and Wyoming, the only team that managed to lose to New Mexico. Even in vcitory against Nebraska, it was a surprise wrinkle that got them all the way to 20 points and a defense that benefitted from Cornhusker receivers having grease on their hands that got the win. The offense was bad right from the beginning with only 34 points against Rice and getting blown out at home by a very bad UCLA team and it never improved, bottoming out with the horrifying performance at Kansas St. (who somehow has beaten Texas three straight times and five out of seven since the Big 12 was formed) where the defense surrendered opposite the inept offense.

3. James Madison – Yes, there were a few teams that shamed themselves and their conferences by losing to FCS teams. Only one of those teams was a top 25 team that ended up a conference champion and in a BCS bowl game. Virginia Tech, come on down, what the heck was that? I don't care if you were hungover from the Boise St. loss five days earlier and had no legs, you can't lose that game. Honorable Mention Lowlights to San Jose St. (scheduled two FCS teams, lucky to beat Southern Utah and lost to UC Davis), Minnesota (lost to South Dakota), Akron (lost to Gardner-Webb), Ball St (lost to Liberty), Kansas (lost to North Dakota St.) and Ole Miss (lost to Jacksonville St.),

2. Knock it down – There were two big Hail Mary's that occurred this season. One in the first week and one in the final week, In week one, East Carolina won the game on a Hail Mary against Tulsa while in the final week, Auburn effectively finished South Carolina right before halftime with Cam Newton's Hail Mary. To the defenses, especially the one at South Carolina, KNOCK THE BALL DOWN.

1. LSU vs Tennessee – There really was no other choice for this. LSU did everything they could to lose this game only to be bailed out by the 7-3-3 defensive formation, aka two too many men on the field. I can't even fathom how this all happened in the way it did, over two months later.