All Alabama


Alabama won it second consecutive BCS championship and third in four years with a ho-hum, 42-14 drubbing of Notre Dame, which looked overwhelmed from the start against Nick Saban's squad.


Manti Te’o


In the sports world's most bizarre story of the year, Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o was led to believe a girl he'd met online that he considered his girlfriend had died. As it turned out, not only had she not died, she did not exist. Deadspin.com uncovered a story full of strange twists that ended with someone fooling Te'o about the existence of a girlfriend, whom he'd never met.


National Signing Day: Ole Miss


Alabama had the top signing class (again), but it was Ole Miss that was the talk of the recruiting world in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day. Coach Hugh Freeze signed the nation's top recruit in DE Robert Nkemdiche, whose brother, Denzel, was a linebacker with the Rebels. Ole Miss also got 5-star players OT Laremy Tunsil and WR Laquon Treadwell and finished with a consensus top-10 class.


Everett Golson


Everett Golson led Notre Dame to the BCS Championship Game against Alabama. But in May, it was revealed that Golson had been dismissed from school for an academic issue. He missed the entire 2013 season. He recently was readmitted and hopes to return as the Irish's starting quarterback in 2014.


Johnny Manziel


Johnny Manziel electrified the nation in 2012, becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. But between the end of 2012 and the beginning of the 2013 season, it was anything but fun for Manziel. His every move — from showing up courtside at an NBA game to being seen at clubs — was under the microscope. To top it off, he was investigated by the NCAA for possibly being paid for autographs. He was cleared, but the story consumed Texas A&M football into the start of the season.


NFL draft: FSU has 11 drafted


When EJ Manuel was taken 16th overall by the Buffalo Bills, it began an impressive FSU-to-the-NFL run. DE Bjoern Werner and CB Xavier Rhodes joined Manuel in the first round and eight more Seminoles were drafted, bringing the total to 11.


Jameis Winston


Everyone knew Jameis Winston was talented. The redshirt freshman was named starting QB at Florida State. He hit the ground running, led FSU to an ACC title and undefeated season and won the Heisman Trophy. His season was nearly derailed as he was the subject of a sexual assault investigation. But the District Attorney decided no charges would be filed just before the ACC title game. Winston played, the Seminoles won and now they’re in the BCS Championship Game.


Alabama’s Christion Jones


To open the season, Alabama WR Christion Jones returned a punt 72 yards to give the Crimson Tide a 7-0 lead against Virginia Tech. He then returned a kickoff 94 yards late in the second quarter and added a 38-yard TD reception to cap the scoring in Bama's 35-10 win.


Jadeveon Clowney


You could almost sense that it would happen. The Hit that Jadeveon Clowney delivered to Michigan RB Vincent Smith in the 2012 Outback Bowl that dislodged Smith's helmet was shown over and over and over. Clowney was named a preseason Heisman candidate. The expectations were too high and Clowney was picked apart by critics from Game 1. Clowney was good in 2013, but not Heisman good. Still, he's projected to be a top-5 pick in the NFL draft.


At quarterback, No. 98 …


On Sept. 7, Devin Gardner dropped his usual No. 12 and the Michigan QB wore No. 98 — a very un-quarterback number — for the Wolverines' game against Notre Dame. It was done in honor of Michigan Legend Tom Harmon, who won the Heisman in 1940. Gardner will wear 98 for the rest of his UM career.


Mack Brown


There's no place bigger than Texas and the penalty for not winning big every season is big. Brown found that out. The Longhorns had struggled since reaching the 2009 BCS Championship Game. When Texas lost two in a row early in 2013 to BYU and Ole Miss, the seat was officially hot for Brown in his 16th season at Austin. After losing to Baylor with a Big 12 title on the line in the season finale, Brown decided he would step down after the Alamo Bowl, leaving vacant college football's best head coaching position.


Lane Kiffin


Just hours after USC suffered an embarrassing 62-41 loss to Arizona State (it wasn't that close), Kiffin was fired. He was 28-15 in four-plus seasons, but the 0-2 start in Pac-12 play and overall discontent among the USC fans was too much to overlook. The Trojans found their next coach in Steve Sarkisian, a former USC assistant who was head coach at Washington.


Arizona State vs. Wisconsin


With Wisconsin positioning itself for a game-winning field goal attempt, Badgers QB Joel Stave ran to the center of the field and took a knee. Confusion ensued as to whether Stave's knee touched or if he's simply dropped the ball. Arizona State players pounced on the ball and the final 13 seconds ticked off the clock before a field goal could be tried. The Pac-12 later reprimanded the officials working the game for how they managed the final sequence of events.


J.J. Worton


With UCF clinging to desperate hopes of reaching its first BCS game, QB Blake Bortles found J.J. Worton in the end zone with 1:06 left against Temple. But it was no ordinary catch. Worton stretched out and hauled in the throw with one hand as he dove to the ground. The catch and extra point tied the game and UCF won, 39-36, and reached the BCS Fiesta Bowl.


UCLA freshman linebacker


Myles Jack began the season at UCLA as a linebacker and a very good one at that. But the versatile freshman found another role for Jim Mora — running back. He burst onto the scene with a six-carry, 120-yard rushing effort in a win against Arizona that included a 66-yard TD run. The following week he set a UCLA freshman record with four TD runs.


Jerry Kill


Twice this season the Minnesota coach suffered a seizure and was not able to coach the Gophers. The second time — prior to the Oct. 5 game against Michigan — caused Kill and the Minnesota athletic department to consider Kill's long-term health. So he announced that he would take a leave to focus on his epilepsy. He did not coach again in 2013.


Andre Williams


In 2012, Andre Williams ran for 599 yards and four TDs for Boston College. Modest numbers — numbers that would give you no idea he'd run for as many yards as he did in 2013. He had a three-game run late in the season of 295, 339 and 263 yards to push him beyond 2,000 yards. He was invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony and elevated to one of the nation's top backs.


Duke


Last season, David Cutcliffe got Duke bowl eligible for the first time since 1994. Mission accomplished, right? Wrong. After losing seasons in each of his five years in Durham (a loss in the 2012 Belk Bowl dropped Duke to 6-7), Cutcliffe took the Blue Devils to new heights in 2013. They won the Coastal Division and played — and lost to — FSU in the ACC title game. But with 10 wins — a school first — Duke celebrated unprecedented success and will play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Texas A&M.


Georgia Southern


It wasn't of the magnitude or Appalachian State stunning Michigan at Michigan Stadium in 2007, but it was impressive, nonetheless. In Gainesville, at The Swamp, against a struggling and beat-up Florida team, Georgia Southern pulled off the upset, 26-20. But it was how GSU did it. The Eagles didn't complete a pass. They threw the ball just three times. Instead, they ran it 54 times for 429 yards and averaged 7.9 yards per carry.


Stanford beats Oregon


For the second consecutive season, Stanford derailed Oregon's national title hopes. The Ducks were in the driver's seat to reach the BCS Championship Game. Playing at Stanford was their biggest hurdle. It turned out to be too big. Stanford led 26-0 early in the fourth quarter before Oregon mounted a run to bring it to 26-20, but by then the damage was done — and so was Oregon's title hopes.


Nebraska’s Hail


With 1:20 left in the game, Jeff Budzien's field goal broke a 21-21 tie and gave Northwestern a three-point lead. It looked like it would hold as Nebraska was on the 49 with one final play. QB Ron Kellogg heaved a pass toward the end zone. It was tipped short of the goal line, but catapulted over a group of players and into the hands of Jordan Westerkamp, who was in the end zone. The Hail Mary gave the Cornhuskers a dramatic, 27-24, victory.


James Franklin and Vanderbilt


When James Franklin arrived in Nashville three seasons ago, the Commodores had never played in bowl games in consecutive seasons. Three years later, Vanderbilt is three for three under Franklin. A long-time breather for SEC opponents, Vanderbilt owns wins against Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, among others, in his three seasons.


Auburn vs. Georgia


Auburn blew a 20-point fourth quarter lead. Georgia led 38-37 and the Tigers were down to a fourth-and-18 play on their own 27 with less than two minutes to play. Quarterback Nick Marshall looked downfield. Receiver Sammie Coates broke open near the 50, but Marshall didn't see him. Instead, he lofted a pass further downfield toward Ricardo Louis. Problem was, he was being double covered. But that's when the stars began to align in favor of the Tigers in 2013. Josh Harvey-Clemons tipped the as he and teammate Tray Mathews converged on the ball. The change in trajectory dropped the ball over Louis' shoulder, who bobbled it, then caught it and raced in for a 73-yard game-winning TD.


Auburn vs. Alabama


The Iron Bowl had never been bigger. No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Auburn with a place in the SEC Championship Game on the line. The previous season, the Crimson Tide shellacked the Tigers, 49-0. That simply was too much ground for the upstart Tigers to overcome in a year's time, right? Not for the team with everything falling into place for it. After Nick Saban argued for one second to be placed back on the clock to attempt a game-winning field goal with the game tied, 28-28, Auburn's Chris Davis caught the 57-yard attempt in the back of the end zone. With time expired, Davis raced up the sideline 109 yards, setting of a celebration of all celebrations in Auburn as the Tigers won, 34-28, and eventually landed in the BCS title game.


Big Ten Championship


The scenario was simple: Beat Michigan State in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis and Ohio State secures a spot in the BCS championship game against FSU. But the Spartans had other plans. They led 17-0, fell behind 24-20, and then scored the game's final 14 points to shock the Buckeyes and keep them from playing for the final BCS title.