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Gator Bowl
Northwestern (9-3) vs. Mississippi State (8-4)
Jan. 1, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

About the Wildcats: This will sound strange, but the Wildcats' 9-3 record was actually a bit disappointing. That's because of what might have been. Northwestern's three losses were all blown leads. Northwestern led 28-17 going into the fourth quarter at Penn State and was outscored 22-0 in the final quarter. The Wildcats led 28-16 at home against Nebraska with less than seven minutes left, and lost. Then they gave up a 53-yard miracle pass to Michigan with just a few seconds left, allowing the Wolverines to kick a field goal to tie a game Michigan won in overtime. So while it's hard to think about Northwestern in these terms, its 9-3 campaign might be best remembered for what might have been. This team should probably have been playing in the bowl game at Pasadena a little later on New Year's Day.

When Boise State decided to go to the Big East in Dec. of 2011, the Big East was a viable conference. It had BCS automatic qualifier status, a national reputation, realistic hopes for a huge television contract and a solid membership.

On the final day of 2012 the Big East has none of those things anymore, and it doesn't have Boise State either.

Boise State will stay in the Mountain West for all sports, the school and conference announced. In the never-ending realignment game, this is an important step for the Mountain West and a major blow to the Big East, which is quickly sliding into irrelevancy.

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No athlete wants to be known as someone who makes excuses, but as it turns out, Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel had a pretty good one during the 2012 season.

Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said that Manuel's mother Jackie has been receiving chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer, according to CoachingSearch.com. Manuel did not want to reveal that information publicly, Fisher said.

"He didn't want excuses," Fisher said, according to CoachingSearch.com.

Most odd plays that include linemen running with the ball involve the same type of elements. A 300-pound man will find himself with the ball because of an interception thrown into his gut or a fumble that pops right up to him, and then he's off to the races ... at least until he gets caught by someone that can actually run, and everyone has a laugh.

There was no laughing when Cardinals right guard Senio Kelemete made his first career reception. It's hard to laugh with your jaw on the floor.

Kelemete made a "did he just do that?" play in the second quarter against San Francisco.

[Also: Megatron finishes 36 yards short of 2,000 for the season]

In NFL history, the two free-agent signings that stood above all were Reggie White to the Packers and Drew Brees to the Saints.

Peyton Manning to the Broncos makes it a top three.

Last year, the Broncos won the AFC West with a staggering amount of Tebow-fueled luck in close games. Manning was a free agent and John Elway was ready to shake things up. He knew Tebow wasn't delivering a championship contender, and he lured Manning away from other suitors such as San Francisco, which seemed at the time to be in much better shape to compete for a championship.

[Also: Five NFL coaches most likely to be fired]

Once again, Manning saw the play develop well before it happened.

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Sun Bowl
USC (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (6-7)
Dec. 31, 2 p.m. ET (CBS)

About the Trojans: USC has spent some of the time before the bowl cussing El Paso and showing up late to bowl functions, but it has only itself to blame for being here. The preseason No. 1 team lost five times this year, behind a strangely mediocre defense, a mistake-filled year by quarterback Matt Barkley and some questionable coaching. Barkley isn't a factor in this game, as he is injured and will be replaced by redshirt freshman Max Wittek, who showed some good things in his first career start against Notre Dame. The bigger loss could be receiver Marqise Lee, who appeared to hurt his knee in a bowl practice, and his status is uncertain.

At some point Adrian Peterson might lament that he came nine yards away from breaking Eric Dickerson's record, an excruciatingly close call for one of the NFL's greatest marks.

It didn't matter much to him after the game though. Minnesota won and is going to the playoffs on the back of Peterson, who didn't even know how close he came to breaking the record until Fox's Pam Oliver told him during the postgame interview. His 2,097 rushing yards is the second-best mark in NFL history.

[Also: Chuck Pagano receives warm welcome from Colts faithful in return]

(USA Today Sports Images)

Music City Bowl
Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. N.C. State (7-5)
Dec. 31, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN)

About the Commodores: With six straight wins, Vanderbilt played very well down the stretch. The only criticism of the Commodores' season was that they didn't get any signature wins (their four losses were to South Carolina, Northwestern, Georgia and Florida, and their best win was probably Ole Miss), but this is a very well coached team that was very good on defense and good enough on offense. Vanderbilt ranked 17th in total defense and 15th in scoring defense in FBS. Running back Zac Stacy is the workhorse for the offense. He finished the regular season with a 180-yard effort against Wake Forest.