10 Things We Learned from the Fiesta Bowl

1. Mack Brown owes his career to two QBs
As Colin Cowherd stated on his radio show Tuesday, “Mack Brown is the master of illusion.” And indeed he is. Here’s a guy who made a lot of people, including yours truly, believe that Texas was the best team in the country. But now we know that he owes his success as a coach to his success as a recruiter. If it weren’t for Vince Young and Colt McCoy, Texas wouldn’t be a top tier program. (By the way, I caught the 2005 Rose Bowl, and the drive that VY orchestrated to win the BCS Title for the ‘Horns looked eerily similar to the drive made by McCoy on Tuesday night, including a big fourth down conversion.)

2. Terrell pryor is the real deal.
I’m convinced that Ohio State has a legitimate chance to win a BCS Title in the next three years based solely on the assumption that TP will grow in his passing development. Catching the ’05 Rose Bowl the other night confirmed that belief. If Texas can win one on the back of a big, mobile QB, why can't we. He was probably the best athlete on the field Tuesday night.

3. The Big 12 is the second or third best conference by a mile
The SEC continues to show why it is clearly the best conference in the country…and it’s not even close. I might even put the Pac-10 over the Big 12 because of how Missouri fared against Northwestern, how Oregon ran all over Oklahoma State, and how Ole Miss embarrassed that “high octane” Texas Tech. And did you see LSU demolish Georgia Tech or Georgia sleep through the first half and still plaster Michigan State? SEC is big boy football.

4. The Big Ten is a middle-of-the road conference.
It’s not even an argument anymore. 1-6 in bowl games. Enough said. Lump them in with the Big East, ACC, and Mountain West.

5. Ohio State will not win the Big Ten next year, and Texas will get to the BCS Championship Game*
OSU has a lot of seniors on their defense, which will mean a down year on that side of the ball, which was their overwhelming strength this year. Pryor won’t be able to carry the offense passed Penn State without Beanie and Robiskie, so I’ll pick them second in the conference. Texas will have McCoy back, and that seemed to be enough this year to get them one play away from a Title Game berth.
*If they can beat Oklahoma

6. The Buckeyes don’t need beanie to be successful on offense.
Beanie sat out the last few series for the Bucks, and it didn’t seem like they missed him that much. With number 28 in the backfield, OSU is too predictable. He isn’t quick and illusive enough to run the option with, and he doesn’t catch the ball out of the backfield well enough for quick screens. Boom Herron seemed a better fit with Pryor. But that begs the question, whatever happened to that phenom, Brandon Saine?

7. Beanie Wells will declare early for the draft.
The above realization is the final reason for Beanie to bolt Columbus. He has nothing left to prove, except maybe that he can stay healthy. But I think, instead of risking another injury-prone season in college, he’ll adopt to embark on a similar, yet more lucrative, career in the NFL.

8. Todd Boeckman will get a flier from someone in the NFL.
He is slow and mistake prone, but this kid has a giant arm. Someone will draft him to be a Bledsoe-like backup.

9. Colt McCoy is the MVP of college football, but not its best player.
This distinction clearly goes to Tim Tebow, as hard as it is for me to say (see: 2006 BCS Title Game). He should have won his second Heisman.

10. The Buckeyes can rush the QB and their O-line isn’t that bad
OSU won the battle up front pretty handily against those big boys from Austin. Both lines are still mediocre, which says a lot of Texas’s.