10 college football things, including hamstrung Beathard

Given I voluntarily came home from Florida to face Iowa's cold January conditions, maybe I'm not the best person to go to for opinions on anything.

But here are 10 notations from the end of the college football season, other than for that little shindig they're holding back in Tampa next Monday night. 

1. From the press box of Raymond James Stadium, you could tell Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard wasn't physically right, but ... oh my gosh.

Look, the guy was playing with a knee brace all season, so who knows how right he ever was?

But I admit I didn't have a full grasp of just how beaten up Beathard was until Tuesday when I watched the fourth quarter of a replay of the Hawkeyes' 30-3 loss to Florida in the Outback Bowl.

Beathard was hamstrung in the game by a pulled hamstring, and hamstrung this season by a receiving corps that was brutally overmatched against Florida's.

The Senior Bowl is just 24 days away. Here's hoping Beathard heals quickly and is mobile in Mobile, because he'll have some receivers there. Like Michigan's Amara Darboh.

2. The world got to see what Beathard could do last season when he had Tevaun Smith, Matt VandeBerg, Henry Krieger Coble and a healthy George Kittle.

This season, Iowa finished the season 118th in the nation in passing offense. That was with 310 passes thrown. Five of the 10 teams ranked below the Hawkeyes passed 179 times or fewer.

3. Florida, by the way, is 116th in total offense

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At least Iowa can say it is 3-1 all-time against Gators quarterback Austin Appleby.

4. My Big Ten power rankings of Nov. 28 were these: 1. Penn State, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Michigan, 4. Ohio State.

Let me now offer my postseason Top Four: 1. Penn State, 2. Wisconsin, 3. Michigan, 4. Ohio State.

I got it a lot more right than the College Football Playoff selectors did the following Sunday.

This isn't hindsight. I didn't see how the Buckeyes lose at Penn State, how Penn State wins the Big Ten title, how OSU struggled to beat Northwestern at home and Michigan State on the road in the latter part of the season, and how the Buckeyes were the playoff pick instead of the Nittany Lions.

Clemson would have defeated Penn State. But not by 31-0.

5. Many think Minnesota should or will hire Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck.

It would be a sound choice. But don't discount Wyoming's Craig Bohl. He knows the terrain and he wins.

Wyoming went 8-6 in Bohl's third season there after he had won three straight FCS national titles at North Dakota State. The Cowboys beat five bowl teams, including Boise State.

Iowa opens the 2017 season at home against Wyoming. Returning Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen passed for 28 touchdowns and 3,203 yards this season as a sophomore, and rushed for 512 yards. Brian Hill rushed for 1,860 yards (sixth in the nation in yards per game), and has 4,287 yards in three seasons, but has announced he's entering the NFL draft as a junior.

So, media mopes like me can't complain the Hawkeyes are playing some dogs in Week 1. Given how Iowa has been known to struggle coming out of the chute when the opponents are competent, expect plenty of drummed-up fear in these parts come late August.

6. Conferences' bowl records are overrated

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Yes, the ACC is 8-3 and the Big Ten is 3-7. But the ACC isn't better than the Big Ten.

It is, however, as good. Which wasn't the narrative we got in November when the Big Ten had four of the top eight teams in the final playoff rankings.

The two best games of the bowl season were Michigan-Florida State and Penn State-USC. The Big Ten lost both, but you can't trash either the Wolverines or Nittany Lions for their efforts.

Ohio State against Clemson, meanwhile ... Stink-o.

And don't forget Northwestern won the Pinstripe Bowl against Pittsburgh, which knocked off both Penn State and Clemson.

7. If Iowa running back Akrum Wadley goes pro, he goes pro. If he stays, he stays.

No matter which is the case, what Wadley did against Michigan with help from his offensive linemen — whom he praised to the hilt after the Outback Bowl — is one of the all-time great Iowa performances by a running back.

8. Bo Pelini is coaching Youngstown State against James Madison in Saturday's FCS championship game Saturday.

Say what you will about the former Nebraska coach, he has his team in the national final in just his second season at Youngstown.

All seven of Pelini's Nebraska teams went either 9-4 or 10-4. The Huskers were 9-4 this season in Mike Riley's second year there, and closed the year by getting soundly beaten by Iowa and Tennessee.

That isn't to suggest Nebraska shouldn't have made a coaching change after the 2014 season. It's just to say doing better than four losses is hard at Nebraska. And at Iowa, for that matter.

Wisconsin has gone 11-3, 10-3 and 11-3 its last three years. That's hard.

It's all hard, really.

9. Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell tweeted this about his program on Wednesday:

The foundation is set on one of the greatest stages in college football. Greatness is coming. January 4, 2017

The foundation is set on one of the greatest stages in college football. Greatness is coming. #RaiseTheStandard pic.twitter.com/kN9HycOhuH

— Matt Campbell (@ISUMattCampbell)

Former Cyclones/NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels responded to Campbell's tweet with this one of his own:

Iowa State Football is a sleeping giant. So much possibility. Unreal fans. Great facilities. Fantastic school. Gorgeous campus. January 4, 2017

Iowa State Football is a sleeping giant. So much possibility. Unreal fans. Great facilities. Fantastic school. Gorgeous campus. #justwin https://t.co/3oyg0Fdz3Z

— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18)

I don't read tea leaves. I don't even drink tea. But I've always said you can win anywhere in major-college football. Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Kansas State, Temple, Duke and Baylor were all football graveyards at one point.

And if nothing else, including those two tweets will get some of you all stirred up. Just want a little buzz here, you know.

10. North Carolina State missed a 33-yard field goal at the end of regulation that would have beaten Clemson in October.

Had that kick been good, would Alabama even have an opponent in the national-title game?