Cats can't rally past the Bruins, fall 65-58

You don't have to be a college basketball expert to figure out how important Thursday's game against the Ucla Bruins was for the Arizona Wildcats. Beating a preseason favorite (that has faded badly) was important for Sean Miller's squad since it would put them in the upper echelon of Pac 12 basketball, unfortunately they fell short in Anaheim. The Honda Center, an arena with both great and awful Cat's memories from last year's tournament had another poor memory for Arizona. The Bruins fed the ball to their to headed center combo of twins: the Wears. And boy, did they wear down the Cat's will in the paint. Travis Wear had 20 points while his brother David had 14 points. The two combined for 34 points and an astonishing 13-16 as they gave the Cats their fifth loss of the season.

Orange crush! West Virginia dominates Clemson in the Orange Bowl, 70-33

I wasn't surprised that the game had a total of 103 points, but I was shocked at how the Mountaineers scored 49 first half points and really gave the Tigers no time to get their act together on defense. Geno Smith passed for 6 TDs, which set an Orange Bowl record. The combined 103 points was the highest ever in a BCS game too, but the game was truly decided when West Virginia stripped the ball at the one yard line and returned it 99 yards for a 13 point lead and a 14 point swing. Clemson would never recover and the Big East tri-champs would walk away with the Oranges.

The Wolverines top the Hokies in the Sugar Bowl, 23-20 OT

It sure is sweet for Denard Robinson and the Michigan Wolverines as they return to national prominence with a Sugar Bowl win. While I don't think either team was the best choice for an at-large bid in New Orleans, they still put on a show. This BCS game also came down to FGs and missed opportunities as the Virginia Tech Hokies kicker, Justin Myer, went perfect in regulation, including the game tying kick. However, Myers missed a kick in OT, which proved to be the difference as Michigan capitalized.

Oklahoma State gets past Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl, 41-38 OT

So far, 2012 has been the year of the kicker. The day before in the University of Phoenix stadium, Jay Feely of the Arizona Cardinals nailed a game winner in OT. A day later, RS freshmen Jordan Williamson botched key FGs for the Stanford Cardinal as they lost in OT to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 41-38. Stanford started off well as they leapt out to a 14-0 lead. Brandon Weeden started off slowly by throwing an INT on his first attempt, but OSU tied in the game after two big touchdown plays by Justin Blackmon. With 3:12 to go in the game, Joseph Randle tied the game once again for the Cowboys in a back and forth game, meaning 3:12 for Andrew Luck to work with. Luck would set up a 35 yarder for Williamson, which the freshmen pushed wide-left. The kicker would miss the FG again in OT, and OSU would capitalize with a Quinn Sharp chip-shot. The true irony of this game is that both kickers missed key FGs that would've changed their seasons: Williamson missed the Fiesta Bowl game winner and Quinn Sharp missed a would-be game winner against ISu, their only loss of the season. It seems kicking affects football in all the wrong ways. This is how Andrew Luck's stellar college career will end. Breaking John Elway's records doesn't get you Rose Bowl berths as Stanford has finished second in the Pac 12 to the Ducks. Luck finished as runner-up for the Heisman twice. All he can hope for is being drafted 1st.

Ducks outscore the Badgers in the Rose bowl, 45-38

The 98th Rose Bowl featured two of the best offenses in college football but with different styles. The Bucky Badgers relied on Montee Ball to run the ball and set up big pass plays for Russell Wilson. The Ducks fast-paced spread running attack was not slowed down at all as they ran past the Wisconsin defense. The game was back and forth, till Darron Thomas threw a pick-six to give the Badgers a 28-21 lead. Oregon would tie and take the lead in the next half. The game's turning point was when Jared Abbrederis fumbled the football when Wisconsin was driving for the tie. Wisconsin would get the ball back, but with no timeouts and only 16 seconds left. Wilson would lead the Badgers to the 28 yard line, but the time expired when he tried to spike the ball. Oregon would win their first Rose Bowl in 95 years. De'Anthony Thomas showed that the Ducks running attack won't miss a beat without LaMichael James as he ran for 155 yards on only two attempts to score two TDs. Montee Ball would only tie the record for TDs in a single season as he scored once to tie Barry Sanders at 39. This was Chip Kelly's first BCS bowl win in three appearances.

Spartans comeback to top the Bulldogs in Triple OT, 33-30

Blair Walsh was college football's best kicker last year. This year, he botched two costly field goals for the Georgia Bulldogs in the Outback Bowl. Georgia jumped out to a 16-0 lead with the help of Aaron Murray and Brandon Boykin. Kirk Cousins led a fourth quarter comeback to tie the game at 27 to force OT. Cousins was intercepted in the first possession of OT, but Walsh missed the game winner. In the third OT, Walsh's game-tying field goal attempt was blocked and the Spartans capped off a big comeback.

Cardinals finish the season with an OT win against the Seahawks, 23-20

Fitzgerald left his best for last and started 2012 off with a bang. The Japanese Fighting Fish snagged two of the greatest catches this NFL season in a 9 catch 149 yard performance against the Seattle Seahawks. The Cards pushed out first to a Get a comfortable 20-10 4th quarter lead, however the Seahawks were the team that forced OT with a late comeback. In OT, Fitzgerald made a great one-handed catch to set up a 28-yard Jay Feely game winning FG. The Cardinals finish the season with an 8-8 record and 2nd place in the NFC West. Arizona showed vast improvement in close games as they were 1-6 in the first 7 games, but finished 7-2 with an improved defense and some fourth quarter/OT magic from Skelton. If Skelton can improve his accuracy, he'll give Kolb a run for his money in the off-season. If Kolb can stay healthy, the offense will improve. If the Cards can keep most of their roster and coaches and get a few offensive linemen, they should really improve next year.