Well, we're damn glad this season is over. Best performance of the year goes to Cal, even if they did get upset by Texas Tech in San Diego last week. Fact is, this is Cal we're talking about here. Why is nobody accusing them of choking, of not being able to handle the pressure of big games? Because they have no history of big games to compare with! The fact that Cal got to the Holiday Bowl, even if they were then somewhat embarrassed by the Red Raider's run-and-gun attack, means that the program is twenty times better than it has been for the last thirty years. What SFist finds ironic is that this season for Cal has been nearly a mirror image of the Texas Longhorns' season last year -- snubbed by a bigger bowl, Texas went to the Holiday Bowl only to lose to the underdog -- and since we're superstitious to the extreme, we're willing to bet all comers one expired AC Transit transfer that Cal wins the Rose Bowl next year. Stanford, well...good luck, boys!

So who had the worst season? As much as we'd like to say the San Francisco 49ers, they're at least walking away from their loss to the Patriots with a first round draft pick and they'll probably get rid of at least one of the three stooges -- Moe (John York) should poke Larry (Terry Donahue) and/or Curly (Dennis Erickson) right in the eyes. Whoowhoowhoowhoowhoo, snyak, snyak, brbrbrbrbrbrbr. Speaking of which, worst season of the year goes to our beloved Silver and Black, the Oakland Raiders, who finished the campaign with two field goals against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The coaching was uninspired, certain free agents were both overweight and overpaid, there were few if any young players providing a spark of talent, the offensive coordinator treated Jerry Rice disgracefully and Rich Gannon has probably played his last game for the Raiders. They still probably would have had a slightly better season than the Niners . Somewhere, Ray Guy weeps.

Photo by Chris Stewart, Chronicle.

if the only Raider pro-bowler selected wasn't the punter