Thursday, September 7 No Hollywood ending for West Coast football By Ed Graney Special to ESPN.com

If it were a movie, it would have received two very large thumbs down. It was a collection of B-level flicks, some worse than others and none deserving of Oscar whispers.

West Coast college football this season wasn't always worth the price of admission. It often wasn't even worth a video rental.

And yet in the spirit of cinema, we look back at many from the Pac-10, Mountain West and WAC who enjoyed a bowl game:

	Oregon was the only Pac-10 team who brought home a bowl victory.

As Good As It Gets
New leading role: Mike Bellotti for Jack Nicholson.

Nick Aliotti (remember him, UCLA fans?) designed a wonderful defensive scheme against the Gophers, turning a running team into one that had to pass but couldn't do it well enough, and Oregon won its last six games to finish 9-3. The only thing better for Bellotti might have been a scene or two with Helen Hunt.

Adventures in Babysitting
New leading role: Bruce Snyder for Elisabeth Shue.

Updated synopsis: You need to work with us on the Snyder for Shue thing, visual nightmare aside. Given the choice, Arizona State's coach might opt for being chased through the streets of Chicago by thieves, street gangs and mobsters than trying to motivate his overrated bunch of Sun Devils.

Losing to Wake Forest -- a robust 3-5 in the dead-alive (minus those Seminoles) ACC -- by a 23-3 count in the Aloha Bowl? ASU in paradise had the focus of a two-year old without his nap. The players learned how to surf. They learned how to snorkel. They were a typically embarrassing Sun Devils team that thought it could show up, strap it on and beat a supposedly weaker side. It's getting so old, it's laughable.

Braveheart
New leading role: Cletus Truhe for Mel Gibson.

Updated synopsis: And you thought that Scottish guy and his ragtag army fighting King Edward made for good drama. It's nothing compared to Utah placekicker Truhe, whose 33-yarder in the fourth quarter helped the Utes beat Fresno State 17-16 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Understand, for a second, how bad Utah's kicking was a year ago. It cost the Utes three games and a bowl bid. The culprit then was a kid named Ryan Kaneshiro. We don't know his sign, but we're guessing Capricorn ...

To his credit, Kaneshiro stuck it out and returned. To the coaching staff's credit, it found someone else to kick. And when Utah needed him most, against a former WAC rival no less, he didn't disappoint. His game-winner was Truhe.

Das Boot
New leading role: LaVell Edwards for Jurgen Prochnow.

Updated synopsis: This time, nobody raises a ship from the ocean floor. The blue and white vessel sunk in the postseason for the third straight year. Is there something in the BYU Honor Code about forgetting how to play after Thanksgiving? The Cougars were dropped by Marshall 21-3 (it wasn't that close) in the Motor City game and lost their final three games in a season for the first time in 28 years.

BYU proved the final month to be very average. It wasn't very deep. Its offensive line was vastly overrated. Its shotgun offense eventually stopped fooling people. Gee, we bet BYU (with a new quarterback and a rebuilt defense) is really looking forward to next season's opener ... against Florida State.

Field of Dreams
New leading role: June Jones for Kevin Costner.

Updated synopsis: It's not a bad tradeoff -- the sands of Honolulu over the cornfields of Iowa. And what's more improbable, the ghost of Shoeless Joe or Hawaii going from zero wins to nine and a 23-17 victory in the Oahu Bowl?

The Rainbows beat Oregon State (which owned a little magic itself in 1999) to cap off an incredible season, one that saw Jones transform the country's worst Division I program into an exciting, imaginative team that will only get better once he's allowed to recruit players that fit his system. Not that the current group was too shabby.

The Running Man
New leading role: Ron Dayne for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Updated synopsis: Wisconsin's senior is more throwback than futuristic, but his 200 yards were enough to spoil Stanford's upset bid in the Rose Bowl. The Cardinal may have lost 17-9, but some time will pass before we forget the gutsy efforts just get on the field made by wide receiver Troy Walters (dislocated wrist) and defensive lineman Willie Howard (torn knee ligaments).

Stanford's journey to Pasadena was fueled by the implausible, so perhaps it makes sense that Tyrone Willingham's team came so close to pulling off an all-time Rose Bowl shocker. The defense that supposedly couldn't stop a cat from sleeping played its heart out.

Do not consider this a moral victory for Stanford. The Cardinal proved much better than that, much better than a 14-point underdog. Moral victories are for those not good enough. Stanford was.

Nothing to Lose
New leading role: Marques Tuiasosopo for Tim Robbins.

Updated synopsis: Ultimately, it is a story of risk. Tuiasosopo is the Washington quarterback who took his share this season, and in doing so helped the Huskies overachieve in going 7-5 and reaching the Holiday Bowl. Kansas State prevailed 24-20, but not before Washington gave the nation of glimpse of future promise.

This was a 4-7 team on paper, hardly close to the once-dominant purple and gold. Didn't have much speed. Didn't have much size in key places. But few teams across the country got more of their ability than Rick Neuheisel's side.

Zero Effect
New leading role: Matt Newton for Bill Pullman.

Updated synopsis: Like the zany detective, Colorado State quarterback Newton lost his focus at a critical time. The Rams lost their Liberty Bowl matchup against Mississippi State 23-17 because they couldn't take advantage of favorable field position after halftime.

CSU's athletic department does deserve kudos for extending coach Sonny Lubick's contract five years. The Mountain West's best head coach has won or shared four conference titles since 1994. No attorney. No agent. Just athletics director Tim Weiser and Lubick at a table. How it should be.

Ed Graney, a college football writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.