It got hit on by NDdomer2, and I obviously know your logical answer to this already, but it is a funny observation to note that in 2009, your post could have said "The fact that Cincinnati was even a national championship contender is what makes Kelly special."
I still wonder what would have happened if the refs hadn't put that 0:01 back on the clock for Texas... would they have had the balls to put Cincy in the national championship game? Boise and TCU both finished the regular season unbeaten, as well, but neither had been as impressive or as tested as Cincy. Also, Florida's only loss was a convincing defeat at the hands of Bama during conference championship week... would they have given Tebow a shot at redemption, even though Bama had won the first matchup decisively?
Based on what Houston fans are saying, they're laying their disappointment at the feet of the coordinators. Apparently the playcalling against SMU was terrible at best, and has been suspect all year... having been at the UC-Houston game earlier in the year, I can confirm that I was scratching my head at Houston's first-half gameplan that kept UC in the game (and even had UC leading late in the game).
If the Houston fans are right in their criticism, then you can't blame the players for lack of motivation if their lame-duck coach and his coordinators are air-mailing their gameplans, looking at greener pastures.
