Season finale catch-up

Similar to my blogging cohort, finals plus the trip to Frisco itself left me in blog-Purgatory and thus unable to give you the juicy, tender pontification you love so much. That said, here's a few thoughts on the season past, the repeat national champion, and what's in store for next year. First off, the Bison won with a very simple formula both in the playoffs and in their 39-13 walloping of Sam Houston State: ball control on offense, stinginess on defense. It's a point exemplified by the fact that the Bearkats started four of their first six drives, marking all of their possession of the ball in the first half, ahead of their own 25-yard line or better, yet the Bison got that same starting position just once in their first five series. Bell's mistakes in the game ultimately will go down as the catalyst for the second-straight championship-game loss for SHSU, but the Bison were so effective at choking them up anyway that it might not have mattered. Four interceptions certainly helped, though. The fact that the Bison stomped the Jackrabbits in the second round makes me wonder what the NCAA's attitude toward scheduling same-conference teams like that in the future. With the impending move to 24 teams coming up very soon, is regionalization going to be more of a factor in the playoffs? Good news for teams like Wofford whose small-school status lends itself to a poorly-traveling fan base (though credit to those fans that did show up for the NDSU-WC game), but it also means that playing conference mates, especially for teams west of the Mississippi, is a greater likelihood. I would cite the wild change in score from the first meeting of NDSU-SDSU to the second as evidence that a quality team can absolutely overcome the edge that a conference mate might have in a potential playoff scenario, but it had to have Coach Bohl just a little worried to play a team that knows NDSU so well in the team's first playoff game of the year. All that said, will that result encourage the committee to do more of the same in the future, or dissuade them? Or do they even care? Without much else to mash on at this point, here's my anticipatory rankings for the conference coming up next year. I'm not sure what we have planned for coverage during the off season, but doubtless one of us will make a post every so-often on something relevant, so keep your eyes peeled on here and by all means leave a comment somewhere if there's something you're curious about or want to see coverage on. Thanks for a great 2012! 1. North Dakota State 2. South Dakota State 3. Northern Iowa 4. Youngstown State 5. Indiana State 6. Southern Illinois 7. Illinois State 8. Western Illinois 9. South Dakota 10. Missouri State