Houston quarterback Case Keenum — it's OK if you've never heard of him — is a little-known sophomore who leads the NCAA in total offense and is second in passing touchdowns.

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Arizona playing Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl is one of the highlights — if not the highlight — of our football season. You know what's almost better?

Once the Wildcats finish, 30 bowl games remain, stretched all the way to the Jan. 8 title game.

Here are highlights, in convenient alphabetical order:

AVERAGE — Nine teams — Colorado State, Memphis, Southern Miss, Notre Dame, Northern Illinois, North Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida Atlantic — are playing in bowl games despite having 6-6 records.

BETTER THAN AVERAGE? — Seventeen more teams went 7-5 to reach a bowl, including Arizona. Hawaii finished 7-6. All told, 27 of the 68 bowl teams failed to top seven wins.

CASE! — Case Keenum is the best player you've never heard of. Houston's sophomore quarterback leads the nation with 4,993 yards of total offense and is second with 43 passing touchdowns. The Cougars play Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

DABO — Has there ever been a better coaching name than Clemson's Dabo Swinney? William Christopher Swinney's older brother had trouble pronouncing "that boy," and the nickname stuck. Google "Dabo" and his name comes up below sites for computer desktop applications and the official Web site of actress/singer Olivia d'Abo, best-known as Kevin Arnold's big sister on "The Wonder Years." Swinney, a former interim boss, will make his full-time coaching debut against Nebraska in the Gator Bowl.

EAGLEBANK BOWL? — Say hello to Saturday's bowl, the first ever played in Washington, D.C., between Wake Forest and Navy. Saturday also is the premiere of the St. Petersburg Bowl, between Memphis and South Florida.

FELINES — Arizona and BYU are two of 12 teams with cat names playing in a bowl, and both share mascot names with other competitors. There are Tigers (Memphis, Clemson, LSU and Missouri), Wildcats (Arizona, Northwestern and Kentucky), Cougars (BYU and Houston), Panthers (Pittsburgh), Nittany Lions (Penn State) and Bearcats (Cincinnati). The Bearcat name was invented in 1914, when Cincinnati fans were cheering on fullback Leonard K. "Teddy" Baehr. At the time, a "bearcat" was a translation of the Chinese word for "panda."

GEORGIA TECH — GT coach Paul Johnson has to be the Coach of the Year. He installed his triple-option at Georgia Tech this year, making the Yellow Jackets the only BCS school to run the offense. In his first year, Tech is 9-3.

HAWAII BOWL — The Christmas Eve game has to be thrilled with Notre Dame, being that Arizona State is the only major conference school to play there. Notre Dame is not so thrilled — it's the earliest it has played a bowl. The Irish have lost nine straight bowl games.

IS HARVIN PLAYING? Florida wideout Percy Harvin, who missed the SEC title game with a sprained right ankle, has scored at least once in his past 14 games. He should play in the title game against Oklahoma.

JACQUIZZ — Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers is doubtful to play in the Sun Bowl because of a broken bone in his shoulder blade. Brother James, a wideout, is out with a broken collarbone.

KANGAROO? — Coach Brady Hoke appeared on alum David Letterman's show Dec. 8 to present the "Top 10 Highlights of the Ball State Cardinals Season." Our fave: "Only team in college football to use a kangaroo as a long snapper." Hoke left this week to take over San Diego State.

LEFT NOW — Only two historically bad teams, after Vanderbilt plays in its first bowl in 26 years. With Arizona in a bowl, only Duke and Baylor remain as BCS schools to not play in a bowl game since 1998.

MINNESOTA'S REVENGE? The Golden Gophers return to the Insight Bowl two years after blowing a 31-point lead.

NORTH CAROLINA — The state boasts four bowl teams — North Carolina, East Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina State. Only traditional powers Texas and Florida have more.

OHER — Remember Michael Oher? Michael Lewis' 2006 book "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" documented his rise from housing projects to a star left tackle recruit. This year, the Ole Miss senior was one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy. He will start his 47th straight game against Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.

PURPLE CURTAIN — Texas Christian allows only an average of 215.08 yards and 10.9 points a game, second in the nation behind USC. TCU plays undefeated Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl.

QUESTION — What is the largest city to host a bowl game? Answer: the International Bowl in Toronto.

REALLY? — This month, Texas Rep. Joe Barton said he would introduce a bill making it illegal to market the national title game as such — without a playoff system. Targeting Texas fans, Barton actually graduated from Texas A&M.

SHOWDOWN — The Texas Bowl features Rice's Chase Clement and Western Michigan's Tim Hiller, who have a combined 6,911 passing yards this year.

TWO GAMES — There are so many bowls that four cities and three metro areas get two. The New Orleans and Sugar bowls are in the Big Easy, and San Diego has the Holiday and Poinsettia bowls. Orlando hosts the Champs Sports and CapitalOne bowls. Miami's Dolphin Stadium has the Orange Bowl and the national title game. Then there are metro areas where two games are held at different stadiums. Tampa has the Outback Bowl, St. Petersburg the St. Petersburg Bowl. Glendale gets the Fiesta Bowl, and Tempe has the Insight Bowl. Dallas has the Cotton Bowl, and Fort Worth has the Armed Forces Bowl.

ULTIMATE UNDERDOG — Utah will become the first small-conference school to play in the BCS for a second time when it faces Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The 12-0 Utes had the same record in 2005.

VOTING — The five current or former Pac-10 coaches who vote in the USA Today Coaches' Poll were split on the No. 1 team. Oregon's Mike Bellotti, OSU's Mike Riley and Cal's Jeff Tedford — plus former UA coach Dick Tomey —voted Florida No. 1. UCLA's Rick Neuheisel chose Texas. For a database of who voted for whom, visit: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2008-12-08-final-coaches-ballots_N.htm

WORKHORSE — Donald Brown is the nation's leading rusher. The Connecticut running back averages 151.8 yards the old-fashioned way — with 28.1 carries a game. The Huskies play Buffalo in the International Bowl.

X's AND O's — Offensive coordinators for two of the nation's best teams have been hired away. New Washington coach Steve Sarkisian will call plays for USC in the Rose Bowl; New Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen will do the same for Florida in the title game against Oklahoma.

YAWN — Vanderbilt averaged 19.42 points — No.104 in the nation — and still reached the Music City Bowl. How impressive is that? Of the 15 teams that finished below, nine fired their coaches — San Diego State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State, Miami (Ohio), Army, Washington and Wyoming.

ZZZZZ — Without the hometown Broncos playing, Boise's Humanitarian Bowl started slowly. After one day of sales, the bowl sold 16 tickets to Maryland fans, eight to Nevada fans.