Even though all losses go in the L column, not all are created equal. This year's bowl schedule proved that very neatly. From failed comebacks to totally failed games, this year had some of everything for bowl losers.  

The monumental comeback is a staple of sports lore – anyone who pulls one off will be remembered forever for it. But what people don’t remember forever is failure to pull off a monumental comeback. UCLA nearly pulled off an dramatic game-ending comeback drive against BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, but the Bruins were stopped by a game-ending blocked field goal. UCLA had that last chance to go for the game-winning points and it didn’t work out; as a result, BYU gets the win and the memory. In short, they get remembered and UCLA doesn’t.  It hurts, but in a consolation, at least it’s honorable. The Bruins played hard, but just weren't good enough.

The Gator Bowl's loser was much less respectable. Texas Tech's Alex Trlica capped off a 17-point fourth quarter turnaround with a successful game-clinching field goal. Virginia, the stunned losers, left with a sinking feeling that hit when that ball flew straight and true, up and through for the Red Raiders. That feeling burns, because they had that game - it was all theirs until they collapsed in the face of Texas Tech's magical comeback. They snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory, and there’s nothing honorable about that loss. It’s a head-in-hands-on-the-bench loss, and it makes you feel about 8 inches tall. That’s a terrible way to lose a game.  

As a fan or a player, both of those nail-biter scenarios are rough on a nervous system. Either way you lose the game, your pumped-up body goes limp. All that adrenaline that you had built up for the screaming and jumping and hugging and hollering and running out into the street to fall on your knees turns into a monumental empty feeling. The huge sigh that goes up is not the sound of relief – it’s the sound of the wind being kicked out of you, not to return until the next time you and your team have the guts (and the schedule) to go up and try it again. Even if you did have the Heisman Trophy winner on your team.

But the blowout losses – they hurt even more. One of the most frustrating is the bad performance blowout. The ball bounces against you, the calls go against you, the hands go against you in dropped balls and dropped fumbles. That’s bad. There’s nothing you can do but sit back and just scream, because your team “hasn’t played like this all season,” yet for some reason the wheels are coming off the car. It’s a game that’s painful to watch because your team is just doing so badly. It’s merciful when the final seconds tick off, so you can start forgetting it immediately. In fact, I bet Arkansas fans started forgetting the first quarter of the Cotton Bowl in the third quarter and started erasing the second quarter in the fourth. Missouri helped, but Arkansas ensured that their 38-7 Cotton Bowl loss was ugly as sin.