The Atlantic Coast Conference was one of three leagues which had three teams ranked among the top 15 in the final Bowl Championship Series with No. 9 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 15 Miami.

That was the good news for a conference still searching for respect. Sing it Aretha!

The ACC's 2009 bowl season was reflective of the league's regular season -- average, at best. The conference finished 3-4 overall -- its fourth straight season without a winning bowl record -- and dropped to 2-10 in BCS bowls.

The line to replace ousted Mike Leach at Texas Tech seems to be getting awfully long.

In addition to interim head coach and defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers has now added former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville and former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden to his radar, according to a story appearing in Tuesday's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Both highly successful coaches are set to interview, with Tubervillle slated to talk about the job with school officials Wednesday.

When reached by FanHouse Tuesday morning, Tuberville's agent Jimmy Sexton declined to discuss his clients interest in the job. Tuberville has been out of coaching for a year since being ousted by Auburn last year following his first losing season in 10 years.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With the wind swirling at up to 435 miles an hour -- potentially inflated due to my lack of meteorological training -- the Kentucky Wildcats and Clemson Tigers kicked off for the always exhilarating night game in late December. In Nashville. Between two Southern teams. The only thing less popular among these collective fan bases was the drive to legalize gay marriage via state constitutional referendum.

As I walked across the Cumberland River buffeted by the strong air current, suddenly two small children were swept from their parents' grasp and floated, like tiny mewling dirigibles, slowly across the dark ribbon of the river to the east bank of Nashville. There the children, jaws still agape from their ride on the wind, sat in the shadows of the stadium awaiting the arrival of their stunned parents.

OK, that didn't happen.

But if it had it would have been indicative of the game to come: the wind was the MVP of the Music City Bowl. Ultimately, Clemson withstood the wind better than Kentucky did, pulling away for an uninspiring 21-13 victory and sending Kentucky's Rich Brooks into retirement. "I told my team, [there's] probably [an] 80 percent chance that I'm not coming back," Brooks said immediately after the loss.

Let's break down how the game played out:

ORLANDO -- Clemson running back C.J. Spiller will watch the Heisman Trophy presentation at home on television Saturday night, still thinking he should be in New York as one of the five finalists.

He still considers himself the best player in college football -- and he might be right.

"I still have that mindset, that I'm the best player out there,'' he said before the College Football Awards ceremony Thursday night in Orlando. "I went into every game thinking I wanted to be the best player on the field. And I came out of the games thinking the same thing.''

Spiller certainly played the role last week at the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game when he rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns on just 20 carries.

Although his season-long rushing totals -- 1,145 yards and 11 touchdowns on 201 carries -- weren't spectacular enough, the explosiveness of his all-around game definitely was.

He had six games of at least 200 all-purpose running yards. He went seven consecutive games with a single play of at least 60 yards. He had 20 touchdowns this season -- either a rush, a reception, a kickoff or punt return -- and he was the only player in college football to score at least one in every game.

"I don't know if there was any player in the country who's more valuable to his team than C.J. Spiller,'' said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

Spiller's versatility -- his ability to do it all -- may be what cost him a shot at the Heisman. After his 96-yard kickoff return against Middle Tennessee on the opening play and his 50-yard punt return soon afterward, he hardly played in a lopsided game. Had he not played in a another rout against Coastal Carolina, in which he had carried only five times for 27 yards before leaving early, he would have led the nation in all-purpose running at 206 yards per game. Instead he finished fourth.

"I'm not going to let one trophy define my career. It would have been an honor to be there (in New York), but I don' t hold any grudges against any of those guys there. Maybe if we were 11-1 or 12-0, I'd be there.''

What also hurt Spiller's chance were the five losses Clemson endured. The defense allowed at least 30 points in three of the losses. And too many times teams would kick away from him. Five of his 28 kick returns this season went for touchdowns.

He is one of the three finalists for the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top running back. The other two finalists are Mark Ingram (Alabama) and Toby Gerhart (Stanford), who will leave for New York as Heisman finalists Friday.

"Every week, I went out to prove I was the best,'' Spiller said. "That's all you can really do, then let others decide.''

The Heisman Trophy votes were due Monday. To borrow a phrase from the last major U.S. election, it was time to hit the reset button.

No, I didn't vote for Barack Obama. He hasn't been nearly as dominant lately as the players on my ballot.

They represent true hope and change. Hope that a Heisman win will change the way people think about white running backs and grunts of all color.

I pulled the lever for Ndamukong Suh. Sorry, Colt McCoy fans. I double-checked Suh's birth certificate and he was born in the United States.

At least this will be the most preparation time Dabo Swinney has had for Georgia Tech.

Swinney's No. 25 Clemson Tigers play No. 12 Georgia Tech in Saturday's ACC Championship in Tampa, Fla. Talk about kissing cousins. It marks the third game between the schools since Oct. 18, 2008, or more precisely, the third time in 20 games under Swinney.

Last year, Swinney was named interim head coach on a Monday prior to the Tech game, and this season the Tigers played the Jackets five days after the season opener in a Thursday night game. Naturally, Swinney will be looking for a different result as Tech has won the last four in the series. And let's not forget this fun fact:

"The other thing about Clemson-Georgia Tech is these games for whatever reason have been some humdingers," Swinney said.

Swinney's so right.

Even with 10 gallons of Gatorade – orange, naturally – dripping off him, and clad in a gray Clemson sweatshirt right out of George Costanza's wardrobe, Dabo Swinney may still have been the most neatly manicured man in Memorial Stadium.

Consider that a lesson about the unflappable nature of bookish Clemson coach. Not even a Gatorade ambush can stray so much as a hair from the coach's gameplan.

"This is just an extremely special day," Swinney said of the Tigers' 34-21 victory over Virginia, a win that came hours after they clinched the ACC's Atlantic Division, Clemson's first title of any sort since 1991.

It was a belated birthday present for Swinney, who turned 40 Friday and was serenaded with "Happy Birthday" by 77,000 purple-and-orange well-wishers, a going away gift for C.J. Spiller and Clemson's talented senior class, and something of an anniversary present for all involved.

Much of the credit for Clemson's turnaround this season goes to its offense. Let us count the ways.

During Clemson's current five-game winning streak -- the program's longest in three seasons -- the Tigers have scored at least 38 points in each game, a program first. During that span, Clemson has averaged 42 points per game, 425 total yards per game, 6.87 yards per play and 220 passing yards a game.

No wonder the Tigers, who had lost three of their first five games by a total of 10 points, are positioned to clinch their first trip to the ACC title game with a home victory Saturday against struggling Virginia.

Of course, Clemson's success on offense revolves around all-purpose back and Heisman Trophy hopeful C.J. Spiller. Spiller needs 103 all-purpose yards to break the ACC single-season record of 2,054, held by Virginia's Thomas Jones.

In last Saturday's victory over N.C. State, Spiller had a 16-yard touchdown run, caught a 34-yard scoring pass and threw a 17-yard touchdown to Xavier Dye, becoming the first Clemson player to do all three in one game.

Closure.

That's what we may get from the ACC this weekend in terms of divisional winners advancing to the title game in Tampa, Fla., next month.

Clemson could clinch the Atlantic Division Saturday if the Tigers beat North Carolina State and Boston College loses at Virginia. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, can clinch the Coastal Division by beating Duke in its last league game. Of course, keep an eraser handy, just in case.

Bobby Bowden turned 80 on Sunday, but he wasn't in the mood to celebrate.

Bowden's Florida State Seminoles lost a key ACC game at Clemson and also their starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, possibly for the season with a separated shoulder in the process on Saturday. Talk about a family funk.

Bowden's son, Terry, whose coaching staff includes younger brother Jeff, saw his undefeated and top-ranked Division-II North Alabama Lions tumble in four overtimes on Saturday, too. And Bowden's son-in-law, Jack Hines, the defensive coordinator at Colquitt County High (Ga.), opened the weekend with a defeat on Friday.

"Our whole family got whipped. We ain't celebrating nothing," Bowden quipped Sunday.