Digging into Carroll College's football numbers can be mind-boggling, but this one tops them all.

With its 23-7 win over St. Francis, Carroll College ran its record in NAIA football

semifinal games to 5-2 in an eight-year time frame. In many leagues that's a conference season of semifinal games.

And in some of those conferences that record would be good enough to win the league title.

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Should the Saints beat the University of Sioux Falls this Saturday, which appears to be their most daunting task yet, they along with Capital will bring two football championships to the Capital City in the same year for the second time. The two schools did this back in 2002 when Carroll won its first national title beating Georgetown (Ky.) 28-7 and Capital knocking off C.M. Russell 28-21.

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Top ranked USF is no slouch when it comes to winning. The Cougars have won two national championships and are the reigning NAIA champions. They also won in 1996.

USF has been in the national semifinals six times since 1996 and has been in the NAIA playoffs 10 times since 1988, including the last six in a row. They have outscored their playoff opponents 95-24 thus far this season.

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If there ever was a year that the BCS was a big enough mess to support having a playoff for the Football Bowl Subdivision, this was it.

The so-called shoo-in was Ohio State, but the Buckeyes - and the entire Big Ten for that matter - were thoroughly exposed last year when OSU was pummeled by Florida in the national title game and Michigan was white-washed by Southern California in the Rose Bowl. Many, mistakenly, were calling for an OSU-Michigan rematch for the national title at the end of the 2006 regular season.

If you had to hand pick the two best teams this year, it probably would've been USC and LSU according to an ESPN Web site poll, but that's very easy to debate. Unfortunately, there was no getting around allowing Ohio State, which played a cupcake nonconference schedule to go along with its weak conference slate, to play in the championship.

OSU beat up on FBS Youngstown State, Akron, Washington, and Kent State. Of those only UW was a road game and the three FCS teams in that group combined to go 11-26. UW and Kent State finished last in their conferences. Akron finished second to last in its conference to - get this - Kent State.

To the Buckeyes' credit they did look good against Big Ten foes despite the loss to Illinois.

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From the bleachers: Yes, I got another one wrong, but even worse this was a pick I really want to get right. West Virginia, embarrassingly, bowed out of the national title picture. I had the Mountaineers winning it all in a pre-season column.

Beware, New England fans. I not only had the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, but going undefeated. The Pats are my last chance to get a prediction correct.

Reporter Tom Stuber: 447-4070 or irsports@helenair.com