Dan Wolken of USA Today joins the Dan Wetzel Football Podcast to wrap up the college football regular season.

The focus is on the BCS title game between Alabama and Notre Dame, including the traditions, misconceptions and strengths of each program. The reasons Northern Illinois gained a spot in the Orange Bowl, and whether the criticism of the Huskies will make them a fan favorite is also discussed. So, too, is the strange, difficult year for the Big Ten and whether there are more than four bowl games worth watching this year. Of course there is.

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Read More »from Dan Wetzel College Football Podcast

Bret Bielema grew up on an Illinois hog farm, rising when it was still dark to help feed and care for 2,500-plus animals. Then he'd head to school. There were no frills in that life, just determination. Bielema only received Division III football interest, yet decided to walk on at Iowa, eventually working his way to a scholarship and eventually a team captaincy.

How Big Ten is this guy? He was born in Illini Hospital, has a Hawkeye tattoo and eventually became a young head coach, just 36, at Wisconsin – the handpicked successor of Barry Alvarez. He averaged 9.5 wins a year. He was the kind of guy who didn't just play and coach in the Big Ten but represents the Big Ten. He's burly, smart, funny and down-to-earth. He believes in power running, physical defenses and big meals. He was successful in maximizing what he had.

He wasn't afraid to take shots at the SEC and to hold up the supposed ethics of the Big Ten. Yet he wasn't some elitist. He wore wind breakers in the dead heat of

Read More »from As Bret Bielema heads for Arkansas, Big Ten's allure fades in shadow of SEC

Jeff Compher is the athletic director at Northern Illinois, which means he works about a million hours a week being pulled in about a million different directions. His wife, Cathy, is quite obviously patient and understanding.

Saturday was their 22nd wedding anniversary, and in appreciation and recognition, Jeff plotted out a night of rare downtime. The plan was to head to Chicago, with a reservation at the downtown Hilton and another for dinner with friends at Keefer's, the steak and seafood place just off the Chicago River. His cell phone might even get turned off, or at least put on mute.

"I had it all set up," Compher joked Monday afternoon, after his potentially quiet anniversary weekend turned into one of the craziest four days an athletic director will ever experience.

It included winning a dramatic MAC championship in Detroit, a lightning quick resignation of the head coach, a "Mario Andretti" inspired Interstate 94 chauffeur job by his son, multiple meetings, a phone

Read More »from From elation, to uncertainty to answering critics: Four days Northern Illinois will never forget

Nick Saban and Alabama are headed to the BCS title game after beating Georgia. (AP)

ATLANTA – Nick Saban stood on a stage in the middle of the field, confetti, streamers and the Georgia Bulldogs having fallen all around him.

Alabama had won another SEC championship, Alabama was headed to another BCS title game, Alabama had outlasted those Bulldogs in perhaps the most tense, tenacious title game they've ever played down here. And that's saying something considering Saban once beat Florida in a battle that ended with Tim Tebow in tears and Urban Meyer in the hospital.

This time it ended with Bulldog WR Chris Conley tackled at the 4-yard line, leaving Alabama fans exhilarated with a 32-28 victory and everyone else exhausted after nearly four hours of epic college football.

Up on the quickly constructed stage, where Saban would soon be presented the championship trophy, his players took turns smiling and hugging and pointing to the crowd. Saban did a little of that, too – a lot for him – but mostly he stood there and rocked back and forth all by himself,

Read More »from In classic SEC title game, Nick Saban again proves he's a step ahead of the competition

One day after leading Northern Illinois to its second consecutive Mid-American Conference title and into contention for a BCS bowl berth, Dave Doeren has agreed to become the next coach of North Carolina State, the school announced Saturday.

Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren celebrates after winning the MAC championship. (AP) Doeren met with a contingent of N.C. State athletic department officials, including athletic director Debbie Yow, Saturday in DeKalb, Ill. Doeren had declined to discuss job openings until after Friday’s MAC title game, but settled quickly on trying to rebuild the ACC program and declined other overtures.

Auburn and Purdue, among other schools, had also expressed initial interests, but Doeren believes in the potential of the Wolfpack, who fired Tom O’Brien after six years.

[Related: Kent State BCS dreams die in overtime]

Doeren was set to fly to Raleigh, N.C., Saturday afternoon on a university plane.

Doeren went 23-4 in two years as head coach at NIU, winning the conference both times. His current team is 12-1, with its only blemish a

Read More »from North Carolina State hires Northern Illinois' Dave Doeren as coach

One day after leading Northern Illinois to its second consecutive Mid-American Conference title and into contention for a BCS bowl berth, Dave Doeren has emerged as one of the hottest coaches in the country.

Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren celebrates after winning the MAC championship. (AP)Auburn, North Carolina State and Purdue have all expressed interest in the second-year Huskies coach, industry sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Doeren, 40, declined to discuss job openings until after Friday’s MAC title game, but will now begin meeting with schools as early as Saturday in DeKalb, Ill.

[Related: Kent State BCS dreams die in overtime]

The level of discussions and interest from both parties are varied. No offers are believed to have been made at this early stage. Additional schools also could begin to inquire, and Auburn, North Carolina State and Purdue could also focus on additional candidates.

Doeren has earned the attention. He’s 23-4 in two years as a head coach, winning the conference both times. His current team is 12-1, with its only blemish a one-point

Read More »from Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren drawing interest from Auburn, other schools

Kent State Coach Darrel Hazell celebrates with his team. (Getty)

DETROIT – Darrell Hazell was hired to coach Kent State in 2011. The idea of reaching a BCS bowl out of the Mid-American Conference was implausible enough that he didn't have a bonus clause for such an accomplishment inserted into the contract. To do so is standard in college football. Did you even consider it?

"Actually," Hazell said sheepishly on Friday, "I did not."

Well, he wasn't exactly alone.

MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said it's always been a goal of the conference, and Northern Illinois does have such a bonus in Dave Doeren's contract ("I guess I got lucky my agent thought of it," he joked), but in the 15-year history of the BCS no MAC school has ever threatened to crash the party.

This is generally a lower level league, good for producing plenty of NFL talent and wild shootouts on Tuesday nights, but rarely a super team like we've seen from the Western Athletic Conference (Boise State, Hawaii) and the Mountain West (Texas Christian, Utah.) There have

Read More »from MAC has credentials to bust into its first BCS bowl, so why keep Kent State or NIU out?

The betting public has established Georgia as a significant underdog (7.5 points) to Alabama in Saturday's SEC title game. In terms of winning outright, which is all that matters to Georgia, there is limited support. Bama is a better than 3-to-1 (-310) favorite on the money line, according to William Hill US, operators of 150 sports books in Nevada.

The majority, if not almost all, of the pundits are already aligned with the Crimson Tide and the trend is expected to continue. Does anyone expect Lee Corso to put a Bulldog on his head Saturday morning in Centennial Park? There's already plenty of talk about whether Notre Dame can score on Alabama's defense in the BCS title game, the one that's more than five weeks away. Georgia's Mark Richt is a win away from playing Notre Dame for the national championship in Miami. (Getty Images)

This isn't necessarily disrespect. Georgia may be 11-1 and ranked third in the nation, may boast a strong-armed quarterback in Aaron Murray and may have a likely NFL superstar at linebacker in Jarvis Jones. They also played just two teams with more than eight

Read More »from Mark Richt, Georgia make perfect underdawgs to upset Alabama in SEC title game