Stanford 45, Notre Dame 38. If Charlie Weis is even half as fired as everyone says he is -- as even Weis himself seems to think he is -- then you wouldn't think there was anything that could have happened tonight that could have saved him, or done much for his morale on the way out of the most high profile job in the country. The hay was already in the barn, as they say: There wasn't even all that much pride at stake in beating the Cardinal.

I hope for Weis' sake that was true, because imagining any coach in his unenviable position who still really, deeply cared about salvaging a winning season -- or, worse, his job -- only to watch his team blow a double-digit lead by being outscored 25-7 over the last 24 minutes en route to its fourth straight loss is too depressing, especially when that coach has gone through as much as Weis has over the last month. It would be one thing if the Irish had "quit," or come out flat and been steamrolled like they were in this spot last November, when they closed out a November fade to 6-6 by failing to gain a single first down in a 38-3 bludgeoning at USC. And in fact the Irish defense was bludgeoned, repeatedly, by Mack truck tailback Toby Gerhart, whose All-American persona and thundering style may have vaulted the West Coast's answer to the Hulk into the Heisman lead with a 200-yard, three-touchdown rampage through the ND defense.

But the effort was all there from the offense, which delivered probably its best performance of the season behind a 340-yard, five-touchdown assault by Jimmy Clausen, three of those strikes to Golden Tate, who probably (or should have, anyway) locked up the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's best receiver. These guys -- along with the freakish Michael Floyd, who hauled in Clausen's other two touchdowns -- who Weis recruited and is directly responsible for as de facto offensive coordinator and play-caller, have lived up to every ounce of the hype this year; this is a team averaging almost 29 points and 450 yards in its losses, with myriad late comebacks staving off more early in the year.

Relevance when the sun rises for Sunday Mass in South Bend: By all indications, zero. The numbers that matter are six (the number of losses each of the last two seasons), 27 (the number of losses Weis has accumulated in five seasons), four (the length of the Irish's latest losing streak) and one (the number of wins Weis earned over teams that finished in the final AP top 25). And beginning Sunday, those will all give way to the new big number this week, the countdown of the days until Weis is officially sent packing.

Washington 30, Washington State 0. There's no dignity in getting trounced 30-0 by your cross-state neighbor, or putting the finishing touches on another nightmare "rebuilding" season with no apparent positives of any kind. For Washington State, I suppose there's a quiet dignity in just continuing to show up every week when this is the reality of your season as it comes to a close:

• The Cougars finished 0-9 in Pac-10 play, by an average score of 40-9, and were doubled up in total yards per game in league games. Their best Pac-10 effort was a 27-14 loss to Arizona State in which more than half of their total offense for the game came on a 99-yard touchdown bomb in the fourth quarter.

• Wazzu finished among the bottom seven teams nationally in every major defensive and dead last in the Pac-10 in scoring offense, total offense, scoring defense, total defense, rushing offense, passing offense, pass efficiency offense, rushing defense, passing defense, pass efficiency defense, turnover margin, sacks, sacks allowed, third down offense, red zone offense, time of possession, iTune downloads of The Cure and self-inflicted wounds to numb the pain.

• WSU started three different quarterbacks, Jeff Tuel Marshall Lobbestael and Kevin Lopina, who combined for 15 touchdowns to 11 interceptions and the lowest team pass efficiency rating in the conference by a full 25 points while being sacked 53 times.

• The Cougars' only win was a 30-27 overtime clunker against SMU that they probably should not have lost, if not for five Mustang turnovers negating their 228-yard advantage in total yards.

• Tonight's loss closes an eight-game losing streak in which the Cougars failed to score 20 points in any game and allowed at least 40 in all but one of them prior to tonight, they're sixth straight loss by at least 26 points.

The whole point of last season's epic collapse was that it "can't get any worse" than the worst season in school history ... until you set new standards for futility two years in a row.

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Florida 37, Florida State 10. Of the "Big Three" at the top of every set of BCS standings this year, Florida has taken by far the most heat for its general failure to incinerate opponents on the level of the '08 storm troopers -- the Gators' average margin of victory in SEC games this year was barely half what it was in last year's parade of blowouts en route to the conference and national championships. In relative terms, defensive slogs against Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi State and South Carolina don't quite scream "championship material" in the same way that, say, closing the regular season with eight straight wins by at least 25 points does. These Gators have occasionally failed to score 25 points, period.

But on the same weekend that Texas and then Alabama were forced to give everything they had to put away seemingly overmatched instate rivals, it's Florida that finally breaks out the long knives for the hated Seminoles, gashing FSU for vastly more yards (541) than the Gators have put on anyone who's not Charleston Southern, Troy or Florida International, and more offensive points than they've run up since Tim Tebow's concussion at Kentucky. If the knockout in Lexington has had anything to do with the offense's malaise from that point on, count the cobwebs officially shaken today -- Tebow had his best game with a 17-of-21, three-touchdown effort that included 86 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground, and the Gators returned to their explosive ways with six plays covering at least 25 yards on a clearly outmanned and outsmarted 'Nole defense. There was never any chance Florida would have to deal with anything like the drama the Longhorns and Crimson Tide had to endure to get out of their rivalry games unscathed.

One defense that will be neither outmanned nor outsmarted, of course, is Alabama next week, which waits for the Gators with rocks in its glove next week in Atlanta. The narrative of the season has been built around the blockbuster showdown of undefeated powerhouses in the SEC Championship, and both have officially lived up their obligations. Embrace the hype now, children, let it wash over you like a waterfall of champagne and Red Bull, and take in the coming week like a glutton finally getting his round at the smorgasbord. Behold: Florabamageddon is upon us.

Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 0. Oklahoma State opened the season with visions of the best team in school history, and as far from that ideal as the Cowboys have looked at times -- as in double-digit losses to Houston and Texas and a lackluster win over struggling Colorado on national television, all at home, while losing their best player under bizarre circumstances and failing to beat a ranked team -- the big goals were all intact today. With a win over an injury-riddled, struggling rival fresh off possibly its worst defensive effort of the last decade, OSU could have secured 10 wins for the first time in 20 years, possibly punched its ticket to the BCS and set itself up for its first top-10 finish since World War II. Those are higher, more tangible stakes than Oklahoma State has had on the line post-Thanksgiving in decades, on top of ending a six-game losing streak to the hated Sooners.

They're certainly too high for anyone associated with the program, from high-rollin' sugar daddy T. Boone Pickens on down, to excuse this kind of performance -- not just because it's a loss, but because it's basically impossible to show up to a game and try and come out with zero points, zero third conversions and more penalties (six) than offensive first downs (four, two of which came via Oklahoma penalties themselves). The Cowboys punted on every possession except one, on which senior quarterback Zac Robinson was intercepted to set up a short touchdown, and didn't earn a first down in the second half by any means. Robinson's longest completion of the game covered all of 10 yards, and his final regular season snap ended in a sack, moments before Ryan Broyles added insult to injury with an 87-yard punt return to close the scoring and effectively commence the Brandon Weeden era for OSU's offense.

In other words, Mike Gundy's team had a chance to secure unprecedented spoils in Stillwater, and laid quite possibly the biggest egg of Gundy's five-year tenure. Have fun preparing for the Cotton Bowl, guys.

And on that note, welcome back to the big show, Boise State -- no schmoozing necessary. The Broncos' 44-33 win over Nevada Friday night effectively secured their fourth undefeated season in six years (barring impossible catastrophe against New Mexico State on the blue turf, where Boise hasn't lost in four years), and with it a certain BCS at-large bid, probably in the Fiesta Bowl. That slot might have gone to Oklahoma State, which could promise a bigger fan base for ticket sales and, based on past results, a bigger TV audience for sponsors. But since the Cowboys seem so uninterested in the trip, you can book the Broncos for another shot at one of the big guys.

Mississippi State 41, Ole Miss 27. Other than the general, cowbell-fueled revelry of the home crowd in a particularly satisfying upset, my favorite scene from Starkville was Ole Miss' beloved Colonel Reb, banned from the sideline, checking the action from one of the ramps in Davis-Wade Stadium:

At least one Rebel decided to show when the actual team, for the most part, did not. The final score doesn't remotely indicate how thoroughly Ole Miss was run out of the building in the second half, the final insult on a frustrating regular season that began in the top 10, descended into chaos with a pair of losses in ther first three conference games, looked alive again with the emergence of Dexter McCluster and wins over Tennessee and LSU and finally ends with a thud, with a bad loss that will knock the Rebels out of the polls energize their struggling rival's long-suffering fan base for the next nine months. Jevan Snead, the hero of last year's November revival, capped his season by throwing three interceptions, one run back for a touchdown, sealing his fate as the SEC's interception leader for 2009.

None of which should obscure the best overall game Miss State has played in probably 10 years. The Bulldogs have been close all year, with the last second loss to LSU on the goal line and the best defensive effort yet against Tim Tebow, and finally broke through with rare vital signs on offense, courtesy of sophomore quarterback Chris Relf, who clinched his transition from "change of pace/Wildcat" option to "quarterback of the future." Relf, alternating with game but very limited starter Tyson Lee, set up the Bulldogs' only touchdown of the first half on a 22-yard run inside the Ole Miss five, and led MSU on three sustained touchdown drives operating Dan Mullen's spread option full-time in the second half, including two touchdown passes on four attempts -- one of them on an off-balance, 4th-and-10 heave into traffic that broke the game open -- that proved Relf is at least a threat to throw. MSU finished with 300-plus yards rushing for the third time in the last four weeks, and even excluded the defensive touchdown that pushed the final number to 41, the 34-point effort by the offense was the most the Bulldogs have scored against an SEC defense since 2005.

At 5-7, State's record is only one game better, but it couldn't end the season in a more different state of mind today than it found itself in a year ago, when the Bulldogs finished with 24 total yards in a 45-0 rout in Oxford that slammed the coffin on the Sylvester Croom era. By all appearances, MSU has what it bargained for in Mullen -- an offensive mind who can build a competitor people are actually willing to pay to see do something other than drag games into the mud -- and may have its own, poor man's version of Tebow in the 6'3", 235-pound Relf, whose status as a two-star recruit two years ago looks preposterous with his potential as a running quarterback in this kind of offense. If he makes it back with a full offseason as the focal point in Mullen's system and develops as a credible passer to keep safeties out of the box, this could be a dangerous offense in '1o, which may be the first time in my lifetime anyone has floated that notion as a realistic possibility.

No live blog today as the Doc is out of pocket for much of the afternoon, basking in the splendor of the Egg Bowl. In lieu of the chat, we give you instead the opportunity to use the love fest that is Tim Tebow's final regular season game to leave your -- civil, printable -- thoughts on The Tebow Child from whatever perspective you happen to share on the premiere player of the last half of the decade.

Enjoy the games, kids, and play nice.

Inside the day's key match-ups.

The persistent question for Florida throughout the SEC season has been something along the lines of "Can the Gator offense get untracked?" In this case, "untracked" really means "explode" on the order of the '08 attack that averaged 421 yards and 43 points in SEC games. Minus play-caller Dan Mullen and all-purpose ninja Percy Harvin, this edition of the Gator O is averaging 375 and 28, respectively, and has gone off only once against decent competition, with 41 points against Georgia. But UF is still ranked in the top 15 nationally in total and scoring offense, against a sad-sack Seminole D sitting at dead last in the ACC and among the bottom 25 teams nationally in almost every major defensive category. That's a battle Tebow and Co., whatever their relative struggles, are going to win.

That's nothing new for the FSU offense, which seems to have accepted the burden of bailing out the defense a long time, and with some pretty impressive aplomb over the second half of the season: The 'Noles are averaging more than 460 yards and 35 points over the last six games, and won four of the last five since a mid-October bye week, all in wild shootouts, running up 30 points in the season-saving Thursday night comeback at North Carolina, 45 against N.C. State, 41 at Wake Forest and 29 last week against Maryland, the last two with scrambly backup E.J. Manuel at the helm in place of injured MVP Christian Ponder.

Manuel has been mostly fine in his first significant action, hitting two-thirds of his passes with a pair of 200-yard games (and a pair of wins) in his only two starts, but the story of salvaging the season over the last month has been one of balance -- the FSU ground game has averaged more than 205 yards in its last four. There's a reason you haven't heard as much lately about the vultures circling Bobby Bowden: Even with Manuel, this has been a much more formidable attack since that bye week than it was through the three-game losing streak that threatened to send Bowden to a premature retirement.

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Nick Saban is a passionate man, and Alabama is 12-0. But what is he trying to communicate during Saturday's dramatic win in the Iron Bowl?

• Our invisible center is way too tall.

• Nick Saban, head coach of the University of Alabama, describes to assistants precisely how to construct his post-game pastrami sandwich.

• Get out of Mark Ingram's hip, foul demons!

• I knew we never should have let coach hold that priceless crystal bust of "The Bear Looks to Heaven."

• At long last the Messiah Recruit is birthed from the spirit realm into my possession!!! Bwahahaha!!

• Patty-cake!

Leave your best guesses below.

Alabama 26, Auburn 21. When Alabama escaped an upset bid by Tennessee last month, I argued that every championship team at some point has to win those kinds of games, when the offense is stagnant, the situation looks bleak down to the closing seconds and the only "style points" are relative to losing. After Tennessee and the fourth quarter comeback against LSU and the epic touchdown drive to put away the hated Tigers today, count Alabama the reigning master of pulling out games that, technically, it probably should not win.

I don't know if 'Bama fans will protest that characterization, but this one carried the stench of impending doom almost from the opening kickoff. Auburn followed the same script Utah wrote for its Sugar Bowl upset over 'Bama last January, with nearly identical results. Just like the Utes, the Tigers came out fast, flooring the pedal with a surprise end-around that broke big for a 67-yard touchdown on their fourth snap from scrimmage, immediately followed by a shrewd onside kick and a subsequent touchdown drive that put the Tigers up 14-0 before 'Bama had even had a chance to catch its breath -- or, you know, get its offense on the field.

They weathered the Tide's counterpunch in the second quarter and struck big again to back on top in the second quarter. They literally took the Heisman frontrunner out of the game, limiting Mark Ingram to a long run of eight yards and relegating him to the sideline in the second half in favor of freshman Trent Richardson, who didn't fare much better. They pressured Greg McElroy, dropping him three times. They held the Tide to a pair of field goals to preserve the lead following an interception and punt return on consecutive drives that set up the 'Bama offense in Tiger territory and threatened to turn the mounting momentum. With the lead in the fourth quarter, they forced the struggling Tide attack to start its final two drives at its own three and own 21, respectively.

The Tigers held 'Bama to fewer yards than all but one other defense this year, gained more yards against 'Bama than all but one other offense and outgained 'Bama by more than a yard per play. They hit every note in the script, ticked off every line on the checklist ... and still lost. Whatever else they may be missing in the way of panache, you can't accuse the Tide of lacking resiliency.

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Cincinnati 49, Illinois 36. It's a shame for his sake that Tony Pike had to sit for all or most of the last four-and-a-half games, because it's obvious he'd be surging right about now as an All-American and Heisman candidate if he'd been in the pocket shredding defenses at a record pace instead of Zach Collaros as Cincinnati closes in on a BCS berth. As far as his own personal standing is concerned, Pike's absurd afternoon in his first full game back in the fold -- 32-of-46 for 399 yards and a school-record six touchdowns, with four different receivers bringing in at least six catches -- is just another prolific footnote in an offense that can do no wrong regardless of the triggerman.

It's not like anyone was paying rapt attention after the Bearcats went ahead 21-7 in the first quarter, anyway, effectively ending the only chance this game had to be interesting outside of Ron Zook being summoned to midfield by a messenger in grim reaper garb bearing a pink slip. In fact, the only drama at all was ABC color analyst Bob Griese's cryptic aside in the first half that America's Next Top Coach, Brian Kelly, told him before the game that "something will be decided in the next 7-10 days" about his future at Cincinnati -- although Griese seemed entirely in the dark as to whether Kelly was referring to a possible contract extension at Cincinnati, a prospective offer from Notre Dame specifically or a break with UC generally over his longstanding issues with facilities and support. It's not clear who's making the decision, or what they're deciding -- did Griese ask a follow-up question, by any chance? -- but it does put Kelly on the clock for a move that could make his career.

Whether Kelly is or is not bound for South Bend, he very likely already knows it, and the Bearcats' effort in the de fact Big East championship game next week at Pitt probably won't have any bearing on his fate with the Irish. It will mean everything, though, to the Bearcats' wrapping up the only perfect season in school history with another BCS bid, and -- just like Rich Rodriguez in his surprisingly contentious exit from West Virginia after blowing a national title shot against Pitt in the season finale two years ago -- how they handle the storm this week and show up next Saturday with all of the season's tangible rewards on the line could play a big part in how Kelly is remembered at Cincy if he really is on the way out.