That heart-sinking, heart-rising paradox that hit you Sunday? That was the realization that the college football regular season is essentially half over. It’s both slightly disappointing and slightly uplifting, but most certainly telling of just what the college game means to so much of the country.

Seemingly overnight, college football 2011 is at the midway point. Who takes home the midway awards?

**Heisman Trophy**: _Robert Griffin, quarterback, Baylor_. They seem like numbers generated from six games of an NCAA 2012 season on “varsity” difficulty, but they’re as real as the entire Baylor Bear offense: 19 touchdowns, 28 incompletions, one interception. With a defense that has surrendered 35 points per game against Football Bowl Subdivision competition, Griffin — who places top five in total offense and pass efficiency — has been asked to outpace opponents. He’s done precisely that.

**Coach of the Year**: _Dabo Swinney, Clemson_. A perpetually underachieving program, Clemson is already 6-0 (ascending from unranked in the preseason to No. 8 in this week’s AP Poll) and has done so by running through the gauntlet of Auburn, Florida State and Virginia Tech. in consecutive weeks.

**Biggest Surprise**: _No. 16 Illinois (6-0)_. Illinois takes this honor with a very surprising start. Behind a surprisingly balanced offense, the Illini — unranked in the preseason — are already off to a 2-0 start in the Big Ten and gave No. 18 Arizona State its only loss prior to conference play.

**Biggest Disappointment**: _Florida State (3-3)_. The Seminoles entered this season with the most hype (and arguably the most justified hype) they’ve had in years as the AP Preseason Poll’s No. 6 team. It just hasn’t panned out. Florida State dropped out of the Top 25 with a loss to unranked Wake Forest on Saturday, its third consecutive loss. The Atlantic Coast Conference favorite is already in an 0-2 hole in conference play.

Since it wouldn’t be appropriate to conduct a midseason look without addressing the future, here are some BCS bowl picks for how the second half will pan out:

**Fiesta Bowl**: _Oklahoma vs. Oregon (Big 12 vs. At-large)_. If the foursome of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon doesn’t net BCS bowl games, I will be surprised. This first matchup features an offensive shootout between two squads that have not been strangers recently.

**Orange Bowl**: _Virginia Tech. vs. West Virginia (ACC vs. Big East)_. The alignment of future schedules gives Virginia Tech an inside track to a BCS return. The same goes for West Virginia, which doesn’t have much competition left. Renewing this rivalry might spark some ratings.

**Rose Bowl**: _Stanford vs. Oklahoma State (PAC-12 vs. At-large)_. The second pairing of the PAC-12 vs. Big 12 matchups pits another battle of premier offenses and elite quarterbacks (Stanford’s Andrew Luck vs. Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden) but with very different styles.

**Sugar Bowl**: _Alabama vs. Boise State (At-large vs. At-large)_. Boise State has proven its legitimacy in recent seasons, both in BCS bowl games and in non-conference match-ups (such as a 35-21 victory over one of Alabama’s SEC competitors, Georgia, earlier this season). Although incredibly talented, Alabama hasn’t forgotten the last time it faced a mid-major in this game, a 31-17 loss to Utah in 2009.

**National Championship Game**: _LSU vs. Wisconsin (BCS No. 1 vs. No. 2)_. These two teams have been arguably the most dominant so far. Expect a matchup of Big Ten vs. SEC, fast v. big, in the National Championship Game for yet another year.

Stay tuned.