Folks, before you start this article, please go ahead and grab a seat. I’ve got something to tell you and I’m not totally sure how you’re going to take it:

Ready? Ok, here goes: We... (//holding back tears//)...are about to enter our first Saturday in five months ...(//sniffling//)...without college football.

Yeah, I know, I’m hurting too. But we can work through this. I just know we can.

No, it won’t be easy. The idea that we won’t have any college football in our lives these next few months is a tough pill to swallow. There will be no more Johnny Football. No more of Les Miles’ hat or Charlie Strong’s hoodless sweatshirt. No more of Will Muschamp uncomfortably screaming at a third-string long snapper for no apparent reason. And I can’t lie, so far I haven’t taken it too well. Along with the death of my goldfish “Chip” (No, I swear, there was no particular reason I named him that), this is undoubtedly the toughest thing I’ve had to deal with so far in 2013.

At the same time, I will not let it keep me down. Yes, college football season may be over, but dammit, that doesn’t mean my life has to be! And without the sport consuming 18 hours of my day, every Saturday I’m free to live a little bit. Frankly, there are a number of things I’ve wanted to do over these past couple months that I simply haven’t had the chance to.

Well thankfully, now I do have that time, which is why late last night I decided to grab a pen and paper and make a list. A list of 50 Things I Plan on Doing Now That College Football Season is Over. I did it last year, and I will probably do it again next year too. They say the best way to overcome a traumatic event is to make a goofy list of ways you plan on passing the time (ok, so maybe nobody says that) and that’s what I plan on doing today.

Here is my list of 50 Things. And as always, you’re more than welcome to share a list of your own.

Although the 2012 college football season just ended a short time ago, it’s never too early to look ahead to 2013...which is exactly what I did on Thursday, when I welcomed SEC columnist Barrett Sallee to the show.

If you’re looking for your off-season college football fix you’ll get it here, as Barrett and I recapped 2012 and looked ahead to the major story lines entering 2013. Amongst the topics we discussed included the following:

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- Reflecting back on 2012, what were the biggest surprises to Barrett? Who overachieved, who underachieved and overall, did the season go as he expected?

The National Championship Game may have been played two nights ago, but it isn’t yet time to give up on the 2012 college football season. And on Tuesday, I kept the party going, by joining my good friend Justin Hull on his radio show in on WSCO in Appleton, WI.

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Justin does great work out in Wisconsin and had me on to discuss a number of the biggest story lines from Monday night’s game. We talked on a number subjects, including:

It was at this time last year, on the morning following Alabama’s 21-0 beat down of LSU in the 2012 BCS National Championship when I wrote a column proclaiming the win “Nick Saban’s Masterpiece.” That morning I explained how the victory was a beautiful convergence of a brilliant coach and talented team, executing a flawless game-plan that was as close to college football perfection as we’ll ever see.

Here is part of what I wrote following that victory:

And as I watched last night’s BCS National Championship, I couldn’t help but think back to that quote.

Because really, reflecting on Alabama’s 21-0 win, it wasn’t just about the victory itself. It wasn’t just about the Tide dominating one of the best teams we’ve seen in recent college football history. It wasn’t about sucking the life out of LSU one tackle for loss at a time. It wasn’t about Jeremy Shelley’s field goals or A.J. McCarron’s emergence. It wasn’t even about one of the best defenses of all-time finally getting their proper due.

Nope, Monday night was bigger than that. It wasn’t just about a championship, but about a team and coach achieving something that is as close to perfection on the football field as we've ever seen.

In every sense of the word, Monday night's BCS National Championship Game was Nick Saban’s masterpiece.

Well if last year’s win over LSU was a masterpiece, what does that make Monday night’s 42-14 beat down of Notre Dame? Sure Saban had a heavy hand in the victory, but he didn’t do it alone. No, no, he got plenty of supporting help from A.J. McCarron and Eddie Lacy, Barrett Jones and 11 members of a defense that made Monday night a living hell for Everett Golson and all his Notre Dame teammates.

Oh, you thought you read it all into the lead-up to Monday night’s title game between Alabama and Notre Dame? Well you had, until now.

Let’s skip the small-talk and get straight to 13 Keys to Decide the 2013 BCS National Championship.

1. Notre Dame’s Front Seven:

It’s the biggest story line entering this game, and quite arguably the biggest story line in all of 2013 outside of Kim Kardashian becoming Kanye West’s new baby momma. It is Alabama’s offensive line going head-to-head with Notre Dame’s defensive line, a battle which is quite literally the immaculate force against the immovable object.

We’ll get to ‘Bama’s offensive line in a second, but before we do, let’s start with Notre Dame, which has inarguably the best defensive front seven that Alabama has seen all year. No, the Irish aren’t quite as athletic as LSU was and don’t have a truly great pass rusher like Texas A&M’s Damontre Moore or Georgia’s Jarvis Jones. But they do have three future pros along the defensive line (you probably have heard of Kapron Lewis-Moore, Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix) and some guy named Manti Te’o filling in behind them. Not to mention that no one plays better as a unit than the Irish do. Their sum truly is greater than its parts.

College football’s championship game is now only days away, which is why it only seemed appropriate that on Friday I welcomed regular guest of the show, Alex Scarborough of TideNation.com to the podcast to discuss the 2013 BCS National Championship Game.

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Alex has covered the Crimson Tide for each of the past two seasons and always has a wealth of information concerning this emerging college football dynasty. And on Friday we discussed a handful of subjects, including the following:

- In the preseason, Alex was one of a handful of media members who actually thought the Crimson Tide could make a run at another National Championship. Now that we’re here, how much has changed from the start of the season? Did things play out as he expected?

“Dad, I’m telling you, if we ever make it back to the Rose Bowl, you’ve got to come. I will fly you out, I don’t care. No, no, no, I can’t explain it. Just trust me. The Rose Bowl is just...different.”

Those words were spoken by Craig, a Palo Alto native and Stanford season-ticket who sat next to me at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday afternoon. Granted, Craig’s words might have been a bit more slurred than they appear in print (he was easily 12 beers deep) and quite possibly just a tiny bit more angry as well (Craig told me prior to kick-off “If my wife knew how much money I had riding on this game, she might literally kill me”). Still, his point remains salient on this morning, a few days after the Cardinal beat Wisconsin 20-14 on Tuesday: There really is nothing like the Rose Bowl. It’s just... different.

I can now say definitively agree with Craig, since after years of watching the game on TV, I was lucky enough to witness it in person on Tuesday afternoon. I live in California now, got tickets the day of the game (I didn’t cover the game as a member of the media but went as a fan) and made my way down to the stadium just moments before kick-off of the “Grand Daddy of Them All.” And now, with a few days to reflect on the experience, I’m ready to give all a little insight into the experience of it all.

And ultimately, that’s what this article is about: The experience of being there on game day. By now the game has long since gone final, meaning that there really is no reason for me to provide any analysis or insight into the game. If you’re looking for that, I’m sorry, but you’ll probably have to go somewhere else.

(Be sure to follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres)

It’s another day and it’s time to preview another bowl game here on the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast, as on Thursday I welcomed my good friend and old Texas A&M Aggie Brandon Leone to the show to preview the Cotton Bowl.

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Brandon is a former Texas A&M running back and also previously covered the team for the website TexasAgs.com, and on Thursday he shared plenty of insight in the lead-up to Friday night’s match-up with Oklahoma

Brandon and I discussed the following subjects:

- The arrival of Texas A&M’s football program in 2012. When did Brandon realize the Aggies were “for real” and what was the biggest surprise (outside Johnny Manziel of course) about Texas A&M’s season to him?  

- Speaking of Manziel, will he be focused headed into this weekend’s game? Manziel has become a semi-celebrity since the last time A&M took the field and Brandon and I wonder whether he’s spent too much time away from football in recent weeks.

(Be sure to follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres)

After being on hiatus for a couple weeks, the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast is back, and ready to jump into some heavy Sugar Bowl discussion with one of my favorite guests. That man is Louisville radio host, editor of the website BigEastCoastBias.com and good personal friend, Mark Ennis.

Mark and I chatted about a number of topics in the lead-up to the game, starting with:

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- Mark’s reaction to Louisville’s departure from the Big East. No one was a bigger proponent of the conference, and Mark discusses why he was sad to leave the conference, even if he knows it’s what was best for the football program.

- Mark’s reaction to Charlie Strong’s decision to turn down Tennessee and stay with the Cardinals. Mark explains the burden it lifted off the program’s shoulders and why they can now move forward not only in preparation for this game, but also in the big picture of where the program is going. Mark also explained why he never thought Strong would leave for certain jobs, including Arkansas.

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