College football’s postseason included a record 32 bowl games, capped by the inaugural BCS National Championship Monday night. Florida is the national champion and looks very strong headed into next season. But who were the other winners and losers to come out of bowl season?

WINNERS

FLORIDA A bit obvious, perhaps, but the Gators’ dominating performance in a 41–14 trouncing of favored Ohio State in the title game makes Florida the first school to hold the basketball and football titles simultaneously. Better yet, the Gators are a young team with plenty of talent returning next fall. They won’t have quarterback Chris Leak, but Tim Tebow looks plenty able to assume the full-time starter’s role and the schedule is more favorable than 2006 with Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida State all coming to Gainesville.

URBAN MEYER/PETE CARROLL Both coaches should put Alabama athletic director Mal Moore on their Christmas card lists. The enormous contract to which Moore signed Nick Saban means both Meyer and Carroll could be in for hefty raises. After all, Saban earned that deal based on one national title and two SEC championships. Meyer has nearly equaled him in just two seasons in Gainesville, and Carroll has won two national titles, played in five straight BCS games, and has the likely preseason no. 1 team for 2007. Florida just has to hope that Meyer, who has stayed but two years at each of his two previous coaching stops, doesn’t have his eye on an NFL job.

THE BIG EAST No conference enjoyed a better bowl season than the Big East, which went 5–0, capped by Louisville’s win over Wake Forest in Orange Bowl. Granted, not all the wins came over top-notch competition (10–2 Rutgers beat 7–7 Kansas State in the Texas Bowl, for example), but the results help the league further dispel the weakconference label that followed the defections of Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech to the ACC. They should also help Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese negotiate stronger bowl tie-in deals. In Rutgers, West Virginia, and even South Florida, the Big East has programs that are on the upswing. (For reasons why Louisville isn’t on that list, see the Losers column.) Both the Scarlet Knights and Mountaineers were able to hang on to hot coaches who were courted by bigger-name programs.

BOISE STATE The Broncos’ 43–42, overtime upset of Oklahoma in the January 1 Fiesta Bowl was the story of the postseason. Not only did Boise pull out a victory with a stunning, water coolertalk inducing trio of trick plays, the Broncos went toe-to-toe with their Big 12 opponent for 60-plus minutes. Despite the wacky ending, it was Oklahoma that needed the miracle comeback to force overtime after trailing by 18 points in the third quarter. Boise’s performance helps to solidify the place of the “mid-major” conferences at the BCS table.

JAMARCUS RUSSELL The LSU quarterback opted to declare for the NFL draft after dismantling the Notre Dame defense in a 41–14 Sugar Bowl win. Granted, many passers have done that to the Irish’s suspect secondary, but Russell’s (21–34, 332 yards, 2 TDs, 1 Int.) head-to-head performance against Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn (15–35, 148 yards, 2 TDs, 2 Int.) could push him to the top of round one, perhaps even ahead of the Irish signal-caller.

LOSERS

THE BIG TEN The traditionsteeped conference spent much of the season in the national spotlight as Ohio State and Michigan headed for a no. 1 vs. no. 2 undefeated showdown in November. Ohio State won that game in a 42–39 thriller, sparking talk of a rematch. Not only was Michigan jumped by Florida as poll voters opted against a rematch, but both the Wolverines and Buckeyes were embarrassed in their BCS games, losing by a combined score of 73–32. The league’s teams were just 2-5 overall in bowl season.

ALABAMA Sure, Alabama is all smiles now as it has landed its savior coach, Saban. But Moore should ask Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich what its like to deal with a coach with a perpetual wandering eye. Saban should be content at Alabama, but what happens if he can’t dominate recruiting the way he did at LSU? What if he comes to realization that the program he left behind in Baton Rouge is better than the one he takes over in Tuscaloosa? Will he desire to go elsewhere? Plus, the precedent-setting contract Moore gave Saban is sure to making him a pariah to athletic departments across the sport.

LOUISVILLE The Cardinals are coming off a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl win, yet still fall in the loser’s column after coach Bobby Petrino finally found a job he couldn’t say no to. Petrino, who has been courted by Auburn, LSU, Notre Dame, and the Oakland Raiders during his time at Louisville, accepted the head-coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons. His departure — which comes just one year into a 10-year deal — could affect whether standout junior quarterback Brian Brohm decides to enter the NFL draft and whether recruit Matt Simms (son of Phil) wants to play for a new coach. Louisville named former Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe as Petrino’s replacement yesterday.

PLAYOFF PROPONENTS Consider: Boise State is the nation’s only undefeated team, yet never had a chance at the national title. Florida earned its title-game bid despite similar credentials to other one-loss teams. The bowl season was bloated by 32 games, many featuring 6–6 teams. How does this not add up to a push for a playoff? Because despite all the criticism, the BCS games played to full or nearly-full houses, as did many of the non-BCS games. Thrilling finishes and huge comebacks were commonplace. If nobody cares about the lesser games, as we are often told, then why were players and fans celebrating to such an extent? And then their was Boise’s “did you see that?” win. Bowl season allows 32 teams to have a satisfying conclusion to their seasons. Would Boise’s upset of Oklahoma be remembered in 10 years if the Broncos went on to lose in the next round of a playoff? For the decision-makers (university presidents, athletic directors, coaches, boosters) bowl season works. And it’s not going anywhere.

TROY SMITH The Heisman-winning quarterback from Ohio State had inspired talk of being a firstround draft choice after his flawless play in the Buckeyes’ biggest games this season. But after his meltdown against Florida in his final game (four completions, 35 yards passing, no touchdowns), it’s hard to imagine that Smith (who’s generously listed at 6-foot-1) can overcome his stature to be taken anywhere near round one.

Mr. Levine is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.