I went to bed Tuesday night knowing that National Signing Day was approaching but I didn't expect ESPN to wake me up with an alert Wednesday morning that read, "ESPN NCAAF-ESPNU ranks Alabama as No. 1 recruiting class, landed 13 players in ESPNU 150, including 9 of top 60."

To which I replied, "Daggnabbitt! Another year of listening to these Bama fans {one in particular} yap away about how awesome they are....Roll Tide...Wonk! Wonk!"

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Somebody please explain how an undefeated squad rips through the regular season and falls apart in the national title game....anybody care to share?

The 2011 Allstate BCS National Title game was ridiculous from start to finish. Beginning with the fact that Alabama was voted into the number two spot by BCS voters back in December and ending with the fact that LSU crossed the 50 yard line one time in four quarters.

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Allstate BCS National Championship Game

You may have heard of this one.

The final college football game of the 2011 season will be played tonight at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans in a controversial rematch between #1 LSU and #2 Alabama. A stunning late-season loss by Oklahoma State allowed Alabama to move up to #2 in the BCS rankings and hold off a late charge by the Cowboys despite losing at home to LSU earlier in the season. That game was a brutally boring/titanic defensive struggle (depending on your point-of-view) that resulted in a 9-6 overtime win for LSU.
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GoDaddy.com Bowl

While the nation is gearing up for the national championship bout between Alabama and LSU on Monday night, there is one final game to play before then, and it should be a good one. Talk about a good appetizer before the main course: Sun Belt Champion Arkansas State (10-2, 8-0 Sun Belt) against MAC champion Northern Illinois (10-3, 7-1 MAC).

Both teams come into this game with plenty of momentum. Arkansas State is riding a nine-game winning streak while Northern Illinois has won its past eight games to capture its first conference title since 1983. Both teams feature talented dual-threat quarterbacks guiding potent offenses that can score points in a hurry. To paraphrase the immortal words of philosopher king Terrell Owens: get your popcorn ready, 'cuz it's gonna be a show!

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BBVA Compass Bowl

Southern Methodist takes on a Pittsburgh team looking for a repeat of last year’s bowl performance in the BBVA Compass Bowl, aka the Boise State Appreciation Bowl or perhaps the Arizona State Scum Devil Fan Club Bowl.

 In what is by far the weirdest coaching story this season, both teams’ coaches were offered the head coaching job at Arizona State. SMU’s June Jones was all but set to accept the position in Tempe before the university rescinded its offer, supposedly under pressure from boosters. Instead, the Sun Devils turned to Pitt’s Todd Graham. Graham accepted the job after his AD at Pitt denied him permission to interview for it. Graham then notified his players of his departure via mass text message.

It didn’t go over real well.

Now, we are left with a bowl game between one team whose coach abandoned it and another whose coach wanted to leave but was forced to stay.

Talk about awkward.

Maybe The Reality TV Bowl would be a more apt title because you can’t make this stuff up. Oh, did I mention that Pitt is the defending BBVA Compass Bowl champion, having won last year’s game under, you guessed it, yet another interim coach? 

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Arguably the most prestigious of the non-BCS bowl games, the Cotton Bowl also offers one of this year’s most intriguing matchups: #8 Kansas State against #6 Arkansas in a matchup of 10-2 teams whose only losses came to national title contenders.

 Surprisingly under the radar, considering it’s a BCS bowl game, the Discover Orange Bowl has the potential to be another high-scoring classic like the Fiesta and Rose Bowls. ACC champion Clemson makes it first-ever BCS bowl appearance and will face Big East champion West Virginia.

Like the Fiesta and Rose Bowls, the Sugar Bowl offers a matchup between two teams that are very similar to one another. Oregon and Wisconsin both like to run all over their opponents. Oklahoma State and Stanford featured balanced, prolific offenses with elite quarterbacks.

West Virginia and Clemson have high-scoring offenses, potent passing attacks, and shaky defenses.

You’re in good hands with Allstate… not so much with Michigan receivers as the Wolverines are 90^th in the country in passing offense.

The Sugar Bowl is arguably the most controversial bowl this season and is certainly received the most backlash out of all the major bowl games. The Sugar Bowl bypassed higher-ranked Kansas State and Boise State to select Michigan and Virginia Tech. Neither team won its conference; only the Hokies reached a conference championship game. The selection of Michigan made some sense, as long as you realize that the non-championship bowl games are out to make money: Michigan is one of the most storied programs in football and has a large, rabid fanbase that is itching to go to a major bowl for the first time in a few years. Virginia Tech was selected based on its relationship with the Sugar Bowl and its reputation for fans that travel well.

Naturally, the Hokies struggled to sell their allotment of tickets, and school officials were encouraging fans that couldn’t attend to buy tickets for others.

 Sponsored by ticket broker TicketCity, the second-annual TicketCity Bowl is played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas and offers an intriguing matchup between 12-1 Houston from Conference USA and Big 10 power Penn State in a non-AQ vs. AQ battle. It’s a matchup of unstoppable force against immovable object as Houston’s prolific offense squares off against Penn State’s sturdy defense.

Houston looked to be headed towards a berth in a BCS game, but a loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA championship game thwarted those hopes. Still, it was a memorable season for the Cougars as quarterback Case Keenum became the NCAA’s all-time leader in touchdown passes, passing yards, and total yards.

Penn State has had a memorable season as well, but for all the wrong reasons. The Nittany Lions had a seven-game winning streak and were 8-1 at the end of October, but former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested on November 5 and charged with sexually abusing eight young boys. As the sordid details began to emerge, many believed that Penn State administrators were guilty of a cover-up.

The fallout caused legendary coach Joe Paterno to be fired, leaving defensive coordinator Tom Bradley to take over and try to salvage what remained of the season. The scandal also caused several bowls to pass on the Nittany Lions. The hits keep on coming for Penn State and starting quarterback Matt McGloin got into a fight with receiver Curtis Drake following practice and suffered a seizure and possible concussion. His availability for the game is in question. McGloin’s backup, Rob Bolden, apparently stole a bottle of Gatorade. The Nittany Lions have certainly seen better days.

 G’day mates! The Outback Bowl is a matchup of two 10-3 teams from power conferences. Michigan State finished the season ranked 17^th in the BCS standings and will go up against the 16^th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.