For college football fans, this week presents our most sacred Holiday (or week’s worth of holidays, depending upon how you look at it). It is finally time to crown an *scoff* “undisputed” national champion, and time to put another fine season bed until August.

Before we complete our grand gridiron feast, I thought it completely appropriate to use the game that we have been wasting our lives upon since July, to simulate the outcome of this season’s BCS matchups.

To do so, I have used NCAA Football 08’s new SuperSim system, going through each game one play at a time. While SuperSim does have some annoying anomalies (namely fumbles and injuries), I was not completely displeased with the results. After all, with the topsy-turvy nature of this year’s college football season, who knows what could happen. Here is what NCAA Football 08 had to say about this year’s BCS Bowl Games:

Rose Bowl:  USC 27, Illinois 11

The Trojans managed to cover the spread, but not in quite as spectacular fashion as many were anticipating come Tuesday afternoon. The Trojan offense stole the show, with John David Booty throwing 2 TD passes and rushing for a third, and Bellcow-back Chauncey Washington eating up the clock, racking up 116 yards on 28 carries.

The injury bug struck the Illini early and often, with freshman phenom Arrelious Benn leaving the game in the first with a separated shoulder, and Buckeye-killer Isiah “Juice” Williams leaving in the third with a bruised sternum. The athletic Trojan defense was up to the task of containing standout Illini tailback Rashard Mendenall, holding him to 85 yards on 16 carries. It was a bitter end to Ron Zook’s Cinderella season, but they WILL be back next year, Big Ten. (Pardon my blatant homerism)

Fiesta Bowl:  West Virginia  28,  Oklahoma 25

Again, the SuperSim injury bug rears its ugly head. West Virginia lost not only star tailback Steve Slaton, but also backup (and YouTube high school highlight king) Noel Devine to injuries.  But the Mighty Mountaineers found a way to pull a huge upset, behind the arm of Pat White (2 TD passes), and a superb team rushing effort, accumulating over 250 rushing yards. Fullback Owen Schmitt was a surprise standout, rushing for 95 yards and a TD in the absence of both Slaton and Devine.

In a back and forth battle, the Mountaineers managed to hang on for the upset victory, with OU kicker Garrett Hartley missing a 52-yard potential game-tying field goal with less than a minute remaining. 

Sugar Bowl:  Georgia 21, Hawaii 20

This was easily the most exciting game of my simulated BCS. Heisman second-runner-up Colt Brennan set off the fireworks, throwing for 493 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, this record-setting performance was overshadowed by the Brady-esque performance by Georgia sophomore QB Matthew Stafford.  Trailing by 6 with a mere three minutes remaining in the game, Stafford crafted an elegant 79 yard drive, finishing it off with a 7-yard strike to receiver Mikey Henderson with 30 seconds left on the clock.   

Stafford’s waning-moment heroics kept the Warriors from their perfect season, and prevented even more BCS controversy.

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech 45, Kansas 20

Could someone please clue-in the KU defense as to how to stop Brandon Ore? The junior RB put up a season high 310 rushing yards on 30 carries, and reached paydirt on five separate occasions. With Mangino and company unable to cook up a scheme to slow down the suddenly-devastating Hokie rushing attack, VT marched to an easy victory, and did not allow a KU touchdown until the final seconds of the third quarter, when Todd Reesing found Dexton Fields in the back of the endzone for an 11 yard strike. However, it was too-little too-late, and the Hokies beat the spread by an embarrassing margin. 

There you have it, NCAA’ers, your favorite game’s answer to this year’s BCS Bowl games. I wouldn’t be calling your bookies just yet, but with the way this season has gone, you never know. Next week, I will have an in-depth review of the BCS Championship simulation. Until then, Happy New Year,  and continue to enjoy the holiday pigskin!