Say it ain't so, Timmy T.

For as good as Saturday afternoons in the fall usually turn out, it never seems to fail that the college football season always just fades off … lost, just like every other sport, in the domination by the NFL and its take-no-prisoners empire. End of the regular season, eight teams fighting for two playoff spots, and then just a week later it’s pure chaos. And you want me to watch or care about bowl games?

It’s much like the 5-10, 325-pound, middle-age white guy at the China buffet who can overshadow any other face-stuffer in the place. When everyone else is done, he’s going back for one more plate of egg rolls, pot stickers and chicken on a stick. Damn it, that’s what he came for, and he’s going to put it away. The NFL is what people came for, and when it comes down to crunch time, that’s what we are going to consume in mass amounts.

And you know what else? It sucks. I wish it wasn’t that way. We all know there’s only one way to change that, either a six or eight team playoff, but that’s not even worth discussing here. This is more about a realization I have had since the college season disappeared. We’ll wrap it up with my Conference Championship weekend picks.

Bowling over

Something sticks out like a sore thumb, and I know I’m probably not the first one to say it: When Tim Tebow announced that he’s coming back for his senior year, it was some of the worst sports news I have heard in quite some time. I didn’t really know where to put it on the list, but I’m thinking that it has to be right below Jordan’s final comeback with the Wizards. For different reasons mostly.

After listening to Fox play-by-play guru Thom Brennaman rave about Tebow for a solid 15-minute stretch of the National Title Game, I sat there and thought if I were a first time viewer or didn’t know much about him (which is almost not humanly possible, I know), I’d think he was some type of prophet or something. THE SINGLE GREATEST HUMAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAS EVER SEEN, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN.

But, much more importantly, what the hell is going to happen next season? How will the talking heads possibly cover him? Where is this going to lead? Is he going to get his own reality show? Are we all going to start turning to Gainesville, Fla. when we pray? There are so many questions, all of them I wish I didn’t have to ask.

And you know what else? Staying at Florida was the dumbest decision Tebow could have made. If he comes out this season, someone would be dumb enough to take a third-round flyer on the kid. He would go through one training camp as a QB, then get moved to H-back or tight end and that will be that. Instead, he’ll get exposed even more as an NFL prospect. Good call, Timmy T. There is almost nothing good that can come from this entire situation. The truth of the matter is that in two years, nobody will even care who he is.

Meanwhile, speaking of not really caring, Michigan’s freshman YouTube sensation Sam McGuffie has gotten homesick (from Texas) and is transferring out. There is no need to pile on the kid, but since he had a bunch of no-talent lineman in front of him, he got his bell rung quite often this season. That ended with three concussions … so is it homesick, or headsick?

Either way, I’m not even sure if it matters. What does matter is that Michigan’s non-existent defensive coordinator from last season, Scott Shafer, resigned. He was quoted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg as saying, “I take full responsibility for the demise of where Michigan’s program is at this time.” I can’t even chew on that right now.

FUN PICKS FROM THE FUN CAR
(Sheridan’s odds; USAToday.com 1/16; Home team in caps)

Eagles (-3.5) over CARDINALS (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on Fox)
You know it’s a bad thing when your first thought about a game is, “How did these two teams even make it here in the first place?” I’m not sure, in my relatively short gambling career, if I’ve ever been more flustered by a game. And what should you normally do in that situation? Take the points. But nope, not here. Not in The Fun Car. I think I’ll just call it “Opposite Sunday.” The thing is, I’m pretty sure I see this one being close to a blowout either way, so I’m picking the team I think has the better chance to blow the other out. Good thinking? Probably not, but I’m not exactly feeling good about myself after last weekend. I think there is a decent enough chance that Philly comes out and gets a few quick defensive stops by blitzing Kurt Warner until he cries, maybe a defensive score, and a couple long plays from Donovan to DeSean. Light it up!

STEELERS (-1.5) over Ravens (Sunday, 6:30 ET on CBS)
I suppose I should just keep betting against the Ravens and hope they lose at some point. But seriously, I love the Steelers here. Maybe even in a big way, such as winning by 14 or 21 points. Listen, for all of you that didn’t watch how the Titans marched the ball on a relatively tired Raven defense last week, and didn’t see how the Steelers are finally healthy on offense with a balanced attack and Willie Parker making a difference again – open your eyes. I also noticed something else a bit surprising … I’ve never been a huge Big Ben fan (although I don’t dislike him), but he was throwing a heck of a deep ball against the Chargers. He threw a handful of deep routes right on the money – really impressive tosses, and I think he will connect on one or two of those again. Write it down, take the Steelers and thank me later. Cheers.