The season has come and gone so fast. I tend to remember it by some of my bolder -- and occasionally stupider -- predictions:

The good: I said that Miami would run the table (of course, I also said Willis McGahee would be the guy leading the ground game, not Clinton Portis); that Brandon Lloyd would be the difference in Illinois surging in the Big Ten; that Oregon State would be the nation's most overrated team and its star, Ken Simonton, was the most overrated player; that Bob Davie would be gone by Christmas, and so would DeShaun Foster; that Dwight Freeney would make Heisman noise (although I thought he'd also end Bryant McKinnie's sackless streak); that Oklahoma assistant Mark Mangino would get a head coaching job by Christmas -- and that within a week some obese sportswriters would take issue with his weight.

The bad: I said that Temple would go bowling (at least they blew out UConn); that Marcus Houston would rush for 1,500 yards and lead Colorado to the Big 12 title game (I must admit I'd never heard of Chris Brown till August); that Rich Rodriguez would get West Virginia back to a bowl (I never thought the Mountaineers would score half their points in the Rutgers game); that Ralph Friedgen would get the Terps to a bowl game (but I unfortunately added that he wouldn't have a shot at an ACC title for three years); that Steve Bellisari would come around; that Kyle Boller would come around and save Tom Holmoe's job; that Oklahoma would lose two games (I got on the bandwagon later and jinxed them); that Kentucky QB Jared Lorenzen would reach folk-hero status.

The ugly: I said that Rutgers would be on the rise (for the record, I'm still on the bandwagon); that Chris Simms would lead Texas to the national title game (for the record, I'm still on the bandwagon and taking plenty of abuse from obnoxious co-workers); that UNLV would go unbeaten and Jason Thomas would be the talk of the NFL scouting world (I actually meant David Carr); that new USC OC Norm Chow would turn Carson Palmer into the Pac-10 player of the year; that Cedric Cobbs would be the SEC's top rusher (and UT's Travis Stephens would get overtaken by all the Vols' freshman runners). Oh, and I told the SportsCentury producers that Ronald Curry would become the next Aaron Brooks.

While I'm at it, I'll use this opportunity to clean out my notebook, and my head:

Coolest thing I experienced: Wandering around State College, Pa., on Sept. 1, the day of the Miami-Penn State game, with a colleague and seeing all the No. 43 jerseys in honor of Adam Taliaferro.

Most depressing thing I experienced: The Cracker Barrel en route to State College. Not sure which was worse -- the greasy food or listening to a fellow Disney employee extolling the virtues of Yankee Candle while we ate two plates of pure cholesterol.

Favorite player: Roy Williams. The Oklahoma safety was to college strong safeties what Lawrence Taylor was to NFL outside linebackers.

Favorite mediocre player: Brian Hohmann. The Rutgers linebacker looks and carries himself like a reject from a bad football movie. But I have to give him this: I didn't see a player having more fun being on the sloppy side of a 60-0 rout.

Biggest eye-popper: The size of Toniu Fonoti's head. It's like a beer keg with scars and a goatee.

Most determined fans: Marshall. God forbid some sportswriter says David Carr is a better QB than Byron Leftwich -- then that poor schmuck gets 1,000 e-mails.

Most delusional fans: Tulane. Mewelde Moore is a good running back, but enough with the Jim Brown comparisons!

Most impressive athlete during warmups: Tennessee WR Kelley Washington. Moves quicker than a jaguar and the former QB also throws lightning bolts just messing around. Washington also is so shredded up he looks like he's wearing one of those superhero costumes, the ones with the muscle-tone carved into the suit.

Next up ... predictions and commentary to spring out of the bowls:

Holtz returns to Notre Dame ... Mangino to be football's Rick Majerus ... Portis to Crouch: You should gimme the Heisman ... BYU sues own defense ... Applewhite runs for governor ... Spurrier axes defensive coordinator Jon Hoke ... Arkansas DBs predict title in 2002.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.