Well, dear readers, the holidays have come and gone and we all know what that means.

Yes, college football season is over.

If you've been able to wake up from the nap you likely took during the national championship game on Monday, you've probably been trying to make sense of everything we saw in the past few months. Far be it from me to tell you what you saw or thought, but I'll take a shot at it anyway.

Starting at the local level, University of Iowa fans saw one of the most disappointing Hawkeye seasons in recent memory. Senior quarterback James Vandenberg's career came to an unceremonious end and the team's running back curse continued to become that much more real.

Understandably, a lot of the criticism of the team landed in the lap of coach Kirk Ferentz. The two camps of pro- and anti-Kirk then formed, and the battle over whether he should continue coaching has basically been raging non-stop since the season ended.

Over to the west, Iowa State completed a 6-6 regular season and reached a bowl game for the third time in four years under Paul Rhoads. Unceremonious would be a kind word to describe the Cyclones’ season finale in Memphis. In the days after the game, ISU received just as much criticism for not being able to perform in the postseason, and especially when all eyes were on them.

Yes, there has been some negativity around our state’s two biggest programs, but there is a silver lining to it all. When there’s this much talk and debate over unmet expectations, that means that there are at least high expectations both programs are expected to meet.

Iowa fans have become used to success on the football field, and that’s why this year’s 4-8 record was such a letdown. On the other side, ISU fans are beginning to expect more out of the program, and 6-7 apparently won’t cut it for them for much longer, even if they do qualify for bowl games.