Every year, the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry begins in the offseason when one coach starts making ridiculous comments about the other school to impress (and often humor) boosters and fans. Then the other coach hears about it and decides to make comments of his own, and suddenly, six months go by and the two teams haven't stopped talking about each other.

Lucky for us, all that smack-talk creates a boiling point so that when the two teams do actually meet on the field, things get a little nasty.

(US Presswire)

Oh my, were there ever upsets brewing for us last week.

Throughout the college football season, motivation is a major factor in figuring out who will win. That's very true late in the season, and especially during all of the late-season chaos.

(US Presswire)Notre Dame was unranked in the preseason AP poll. USC was No. 1.

Funny that it's the Trojans in the spoiler role this week.

Even if you've grown up hating Notre Dame, you have to admit this is a pretty cool story.

(US Presswire)What is it with coaches being conservative this week? Jim Schwartz settles for a 47-yard field goal in overtime on third down and the Detroit Lions end up losing. Kirk Ferentz does everything but go to victory formation in the second quarter against Nebraska, and Iowa loses.

Oh, and then there's John L. Smith. He refused to let anyone top his conservative decision making.

Arkansas has had a truly awful season. The Razorbacks were 4-7 coming into a season-ending game against LSU. They had nothing to lose.

[Related: LSU's Jarvis Landry makes college football's catch of the year]

And yet, with fourth and goal at the half-yard line and a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Smith sent the field-goal unit on for a 17-yard field goal.

The competition for the best catch of the college football season was decided today, when LSU's Jarvis Landry decided he could make a one-handed catch on a pass thrown about three feet behind him.

Landry was running a post route to the end zone in the first half against Arkansas, and quarterback Zach Mettenberger threw it well behind him. For most receivers the ball would have been too far behind to catch it, but Landry gave it a shot.

[Dr. Saturday's bowl projections: How much more chaos is on the way?]

(US Presswire)At some point, the murmurs in the Iowa crowd were quite obviously imploring the Hawkeyes coaches to do anything to try and win the game against Nebraska. The coaches didn't listen.

How conservative was Iowa? The Hawkeyes once punted from Nebraska's 30-yard line. Yes, it was fourth and 13 and there was a strong wind, but that decision was one of the many flabbergasting ones by a team that came in with a 4-7 record. Iowa punted into the end zone, giving it a whopping 10-yard net gain. Have we mentioned Kirk Ferentz has one of the most coach-friendly contracts in sports?

Nebraska deserves credit for winning a tough, hard-fought victory. Rex Burkhead played after missing four straight games due to an injury, and ground out 88 yards as the Cornhuskers got a 13-7 win that clinched a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game next week against Wisconsin.

[Dr. Saturday's bowl projections: How much more chaos is on the way?]

(US Presswire)Kent State doesn't have a ton of great football history, and the MAC is really tough this year.

So as the Golden Flashes finished an 11-1 season with a 28-6 win over an Ohio team that came in with an 8-3 record, athletic directors around the country who already have openings or are considering firing their coaches should have been taking notes on Kent State coach Darrell Hazell.

We all love college football. We all want to see more of it.

The game production has never been better. No issues there. What enhances that experience is getting a peek behind the curtain. And for that we thank Vanderbilt.

We're in an era in which coaches are paranoid and afraid to share anything. No injury reports, no interesting quotes, nothing. They apparently think that helps them win games, which is ludicrous. But James Franklin at Vanderbilt has gone the other way and given access to the locker room before and after games, and that has made for a riveting series called Vanderbilt reVealed, which is posted by the school on YouTube.