Bowl Party! Everyone Invited!

The math is enough to warm the hearts of money-hungry athletic departments and desperate alumni alike: 56 of 117 Division I-A teams -- a whopping 47.9% -- will play in a bowl game this season, seemingly a win-win situation for everybody.

Alumni can now add to their shot-glass collection with a hand-picked selection from the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl.

Coaches can fire up players by reminding them they’re one victory away from playing in the Continental Tire Bowl.

Athletic department officials can light their cigars with money earned from the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl.

And one lucky team can fill next year’s media guide with stirring highlights from a victorious trip to the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl.

Really, all you need to know about the existence of 28 bowls is this: Five teams from Conference USA are eligible to qualify, making it possible for Southern Mississippi (6-5, 4-3 in conference play) to sneak into the New Orleans Bowl as the conference’s fifth-place team

The bowl-qualifying madness even has some coaches confusing victory over Temple with actual achievement.

“This is just a great accomplishment for our football team,” Boston College Coach Tom O’Brien said after a 36-14 victory over the hapless Owls guaranteed the Eagles a fourth consecutive bowl game.

Boston College improved to 2-4 in the Big East, a conference mark that would have thrilled Wisconsin.

The Badgers finished 2-6 in the Big Ten -- a .250 winning percentage -- but became bowl-eligible, of course, by defeating Minnesota, 49-31, and improving to 7-6 overall.

“It is a beautiful feeling knowing we’re going to a bowl game,” said Wisconsin running back Anthony Davis. “It’s a great feeling to play well and win with everything on the line.”

This reaction comes from a program that just two years ago became the first Big Ten team to win consecutive Rose Bowls.

Not everybody was so happy with their bowl prospects.

You wouldn’t want to have been stuck sitting next to Florida State defensive tackle Darnell Dockett on the flight home Saturday from North Carolina State.

Before the game, Dockett bellyached about going to the Gator Bowl last year, hinting not-so-subtly at how important a victory would be Saturday.

“I tell you, I don’t want to go to Jacksonville [for the Gator Bowl],” Dockett told the Tallahassee Democrat. “That’s just the most horrible bowl I went to in my life. I want to go to a big bowl.”

Florida State had 162 total yards and lost to North Carolina State, 17-7.

(Hours later, however, Florida State backed into a BCS bid as the Atlantic Coast Conference champion when Maryland lost to Virginia.)

Perhaps Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz had the best idea.

The Hawkeyes are probably going to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1991, but some Iowa fans worry that the Hawkeyes could wind up in the Capital One Bowl.

But Ferentz wasn’t concerned.

“The great thing now is we can put our feet up and watch everybody else sweat,” he said. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Needed: More Incentive

The many reasons Texas Tech wanted to beat Oklahoma:

* Coach Mike Leach would have earned $87,500 in contract incentives if the Red Raiders defeated the Sooners.

* Senior quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, the Big 12 Conference’s all-time passing leader, could have led Texas Tech to its first conference championship game.

* The Red Raiders could have ruined the BCS chances of two top-five teams in consecutive weeks.

So what happened?

Texas Tech lost, 60-15.

Who Called That One?

Rivalry week brings out the best -- and worst -- in teams. Here’s a nomination for the worst play in Saturday’s games.

Northwestern trailed Illinois, 24-10, midway through the third quarter and failed to convert on fourth and goal from the one when quarterback Brett Basanez faked a run to the right, then threw a lateral across the field to offensive lineman Trai Essex.

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Essex caught the ball, stumbled forward a few steps and was tackled for a three-yard loss.

Illinois assumed possession on downs, marched 96 yards for a touchdown and ultimately won, 31-24.

See You on Graduation Day?

Tennessee defeated intrastate rival Vanderbilt for the 20th consecutive time, this time by a 24-0 score.

But the Commodores didn’t seem too perturbed. After all, an NCAA study earlier in the season showed that 100% of Vanderbilt football players who entered the university in 1995-96 graduated within six years. Tennessee graduated 8% of its football players over the same span.

“I’ve made some really good friends and had some good times here and that’s what college football is all about,” said Vanderbilt senior receiver Dan Stricker.

He Won it for Ma Ragone

Dave Ragone has been throwing passes for a long time at Louisville, so long that he set the school record for victories by a quarterback by defeating Alabama-Birmingham, 41-21.

He threw three touchdown passes, earned his 27th career victory and, perhaps most important, played for the first time in front of his mother at Louisville.

Aurelia Ragone does not like watching her son play because “I get so emotional ... I worry too much,” she said.

But she changed her mind to see Ragone play against UAB in his final home game.

“This is the biggest game of my career,” Dave Ragone said.

Ragone wasn’t so successful in pursuing the school’s career rushing record for quarterbacks.

He needed 11 yards to get the record, but had minus-nine in six carries.

Did Everyone Get a Record?

San Diego State receivers J.R. Tolver and Kassim Osgood combined for two NCAA season records in the Aztecs’ 38-34 victory over Air Force.

Tolver and Osgood have 213 catches between them, the highest total for two teammates, and have a combined 2,928 yards receiving, also a record for two teammates.

Not wanting to be left out, Air Force’s Chance Harridge scored three times and set the NCAA season record for touchdowns rushing by a quarterback with 22, passing Chris McCoy of Navy, who had 20 in 1997.

Train Stopped

Texas Christian running back Lonta Hobbs is known as the Fast Train From Clarksville, but his team was derailed by East Carolina, which had the nation’s 106th-ranked defense.

Hobbs had 158 yards rushing, but the Horned Frogs, ranked No. 22, had seven turnovers in a 31-28 loss.

“That was a superior effort on the defensive side of the ball, absolutely superior,” East Carolina Coach Steve Logan said. “One of the best I’ve seen in my years here.”

Lesser-Known Rivalries

Montana State halted a 16-game losing streak to rival Montana, defeating the Grizzlies, 10-7. Montana quarterback John Edwards, obviously affected by the swirling wind and snow conditions, completed one of 19 passes for 11 yards and threw an interception in the first half.

The third-oldest rivalry of them all -- Yale and Harvard -- was won by Harvard, 20-13, but only after Coach Tim Murphy lit into his team before the 119th game between the schools.

Murphy’s pregame words of wisdom: “You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you earn.”

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Is It 2002 A.D., or 1972 A.D.?

Wisconsin sophomore Anthony Davis set career highs with 301 yards rushing and five touchdowns Saturday in a 49-31 victory over Minnesota, leading us to wonder what similarities, besides uniform No. 28, he shares with the former USC great of the same name.

USC’s Anthony Davis -- Holds NCAA career record with six kickoff returns for touchdowns.

Wisconsin’s Anthony Davis -- Holds NCAA freshman record with 10 100-yard rushing games last season.

USC’s A.D. -- Born in 1952.

Wisconsin’s A.D. -- Born in 1982.

USC’s A.D. -- Ran through Notre Dame for six touchdowns in 1972.

Wisconsin’s A.D. -- Hit the 200-yard mark against Penn State and Minnesota last season.

USC’s A.D. -- Went 5-1 against Big Ten teams, including two Rose Bowl victories.

Wisconsin’s A.D. -- Is 5-11 against Big Ten teams.

USC’s A.D. -- Ignited 55-point outburst in 17-minute span against Notre Dame in 1974.

Wisconsin’s A.D. -- Played on team that scored three points in 60 minutes against Iowa on Nov. 2.

USC’s A.D. -- Led Trojans to Victory Bell three times in three years against UCLA.

Wisconsin’s A.D. -- Helped Badgers regain Paul Bunyan’s Axe Saturday against Minnesota.

Next week: Penn State running back Larry Johnson and former NBA player Larry Johnson: A comparison.

-- Mike Bresnahan