BEST OF TIMES: A snapshot from the peaks...
Baylor. When Robert Griffin III first emerged as a in 2008, he seemed destined to toil as the classic "good player on a bad team": Respected by opponents, constantly referenced as one of the most "underrated" or "overlooked" players by the media, and generally ignored by everyone else. At best, he'd lead the Bears out of an extended postseason drought and into a minor bowl game.
Three years later, what Griffin has given Baylor instead is back-to-back winning seasons, its highest standing in the polls in 20 years, the No. 1 total offense in the Big 12, new every possible school record on the books and now — with Saturday night's 551-yard, 4-touchdown gem in a primetime upset over Oklahoma — arguably the biggest win in school history.
If they close with three more wins against Texas Tech, Texas and in the bowl game, the Bears will go out on their longest winning streak (six games) since 1985 and their first 10-win season since 1980, thanks to their first legitimate Heisman candidate ever. Given the sudden interest from NFL scouts, they should probably enjoy the fun while it lasts.
Virginia. The Cavaliers began the season as a rag-tag bunch of no names with almost nothing going for them. Eleven games, they're a rag-tag bunch of no names who have won six o their last seven and will be hosting their biggest rival Saturday for a ticket to the ACC Championship Game. If the Cavs were in a movie, they'd be a slightly more disciplined version of the "Bad News Bears," and coach Mike London would be a more sober version of Walter Matthau. Who can dance.
Virginia has never won the ACC championship outright, and has only had one within its grasp this late in the season on three occasions: In 1984, 1989 and 1995, all under former coach George Welsh.
Louisiana Tech. A decade removed from its only WAC championship in 2001, Tech took command of its conference fate Saturday in a 24-20 upset at Nevada, the Bulldogs' sixth straight win — five of them coming on the road. With one more this weekend against New Mexico State, they'll wrap up the WAC title and a likely bid to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, where they'll probably still be talking about what might have been: Three of Tech's losses during a 1-4 start came by a combined nine points against Southern Miss, Houston and Mississippi State, the latter in overtime.
WORST OF TIMES: …and into the valleys.
Dennis Erickson. If you've checked in on the Arizona Republic's hub page for Arizona State since Saturday's 31-27, come-from-ahead loss to Arizona — the Sun Devils' third consecutive defeat, and fourth in five games since a 5-1 start — and you might notice a certain theme to the headlines:
• What went wrong for ASU football?
• Erickson: 'I'm living in the present right now'
• Vote: Should ASU fire Dennis Erickson?
• Sources: Erickson internet report is false
• Video: Should ASU move on without Erickson?
• Erickson: 'We still have a lot to play for'
The false "internet report" in question was a one-sentence rumor on an obscure website that said ASU coach Dennis Erickson has already informed his coaching staff that he plans to step down at the end of the season, and it may not be "false" so much as it is "premature." Another loss Saturday at Cal would clinch the Devils' fourth consecutive non-winning season, and could be Erickson's swan song after five years.
It's not only that Arizona State is losing: The current skid has come against teams that sit a combined 10 games below .500 outside of their wins over ASU, one of which (Arizona) has already fired its head coach, and two of which (UCLA and Washington State) may be on the verge of firing their head coaches. This, from a team that was heavily favored to exploit a vulnerable division with one of the most veteran lineups in the conference. With a win over Cal, the Devils could still take the back door into the Pac-12 Championship Game courtesy of a) A UCLA loss at USC and b) A Utah win over Colorado. Given the expectations and the opportunities lost over the last month, though, limping into Eugene, Ore., as a sacrificial lamb on the way to a 7-6 finish isn't going to do anything to cool down the temperature in Erickson's golf cart.
The Service Academies. At 3-8, Army is eliminated from a bowl game for the 14th time in 15 years. At 4-7, Navy is eliminated from a bowl game for the first time in nine years. And even at 6-5, Air Force's five-year bowl streak depends on another win Saturday at Colorado State (two of Air Force's wins are over FCS teams, only one of which counts towards the requisite six wins for bowl eligibility), raising the very real possibility of all three academies missing out on the postseason for the first time since 2001. If the Falcons pick up their seventh win in Fort Collins, they're still staring at a fifth-place finish in a conference that only has four automatic bowl tie-ins.
Miami. The Hurricanes endured a season ravaged by scandal, suspensions, Maryland's uniforms and maddening inconsistency to pick up their sixth win Saturday in a 6-3 dud at South Florida, and now they don't even have a token bowl game to show for it. The specter of forthcoming NCAA sanctions has been looming over Miami's head all season, but that's only one of the reasons Friday's finale against Boston College is going to be one of the most depressing send-offs in school history.
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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.