Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Random ramblings from the comfy, tan recliner, now out of place to make room for the Christmas tree and sharing space with a wax mouse with a hat ...

• So UCF is your 2010 Conference USA champion. That may not mean a lot to most people, and that’s understandable.

But Saturday they proved — on the field — that they are the best of the company they keep. Can’t do any more than that, no matter how much they’d like to run with different company.

• I just hope the weather’s better in Memphis than it was for the  2007 Liberty Bowl trip. It was 38 degrees at kickoff and it got breezy — was that supposed to be a reward for a good season?

Georgia will bring a few folks this year, I imagine. UCF last played the Bulldogs in 1999 in Athens. The Knights trailed 24-17, scored, but missed the PAT. They got the ball back on the Georgia 20 with a minute left. UCF receiver Charles Lee was flagged on the next play for offensive pass interference in the end zone — while falling backward.

• SMU lost in Orlando Saturday, and plays in the Armed Forces Bowl. In Fort Worth. The Mustangs lost Saturday and get to go across town for its bowl. Had UCF lost, it’d be Hawaii bound and going halfway across the Earth.

• FSU and South Carolina will play in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Both had great seasons, but one will end by losing its last two games. The Seminoles, by the way, are two spots higher in the BCS than UCF despite losing their conference title game — to a team that lost to James Madison.

• Last note on UCF; it scored a big basketball win last week over Florida. The reaction was, “Hey, that’s pretty cool.” Imagine if that happened during the regular season in football? It’d be the be-all, end-all of its seasons. Do you now see why we don’t need a bracketed playoff in college football?

• Auburn: 56-17 to win the SEC, 13-0 and the Heisman winner. So, Charles Barkley, still upset about Gene Chizik getting the job? (Is it still so trrrrrbull?)

• Find me the AP pollster who has been giving TCU a first place vote. It’s your opinion, but it’s fact that the only  kind of defense that can stop Cam Newton plays on Sundays.

• Boise State’s bowl trip after a disappointing season finish? Las Vegas. Boy, that’s some kind of a cure for a letdown.

• Notre Dame and Miami will play in this year’s Sun Bowl. If this was 1990, nobody’d care about that Auburn-Oregon game.

• The official names of two of the 35 bowl games: the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, and the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. One letter for each person who will watch them.

• If you weren’t footballed out by Sunday evening, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Indianapolis Colts in a very good NFL tussle. That matchup, by the way, was my preseason Super Bowl pick. They are now 4-8 and 6-6. Tell me again why you read this space, exactly?

• I think there’s two ways to get Ben Roethlisberger out of the game — litigation and shooting him. And prepare to empty the clip.

• For the Denver Broncos, QB Kyle Orton was an awful 9-for-27 for 91 yards. The Mile High Guys are 3-9. Dare I say, is it Tim Tebow Time? If not, maybe he can coach.

• My fantasy football hint of the week — Dallas tight end Jason Witten. He plays the Eagles on Sunday night and Philly hasn’t stopped a tight end since ... hang on, lemme think, there was, no wait ... um ...

• The Miami Hurricanes were all hot and heavy on hiring Jon Gruden to coach. I think the other team that plays at Dolphins Stadium (or Sun Life, whatever) might want to kick those tires.

• The final four in the FHSAA Class 5A football playoffs are Lakeland, Tampa Plant, Bradenton Manatee and St. Thomas Aquinas. Memo to the folks at Osceola (and maybe Liberty): petition and play up a class.

Thought for the Day: I started out with nothing. I still have most of it.