The ADT (Parent company: Tyco International) National Trophy goes to:

The team ranked No 2 by the BCS, LSU. I don't really mind companies sponsoring these things, but this is getting kind of ridiculous. There seems to be something incongruous about the NCAA rules enforcing the "amateur" status of college athletes, then plastering "Nokia Sugar Bowl" on their uniforms, and selecting the Ford Built Tough play of the game, awarding the ADT National Trophy, yadda, yadda, yadda.

And, by the way, Nick Saban is now the highest paid coach in college football, with a clause in his contract awarding him one dollar more than the previously highest paid coach, Bob Stoops of OU, if he wins this game, and both will surely be offered much more to coach in the NFL.

I'm sure that some of his players will make some money by going pro, but most won't. In the arguments over who's really Number One, maybe someone should question whether a system so awash in cash has any business being so puritanical about the financial purity of its athletes. I don't know why it matters, except as a sociological curiosity and a marketing ploy. If you're a Big Ten fan, do you really care whether USC or LSU is No. 1? Ultimately it boils down to a means of attracting interest and advertising revenues, and nothing more.

When I see the huge crowds that show up for NFL games, especially in outdoor stadiums in Green Bay, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New England in December and January, and pay a lot of money for the privilege of yelling themselves hoarse