And so there you go. Ohio State is your 2021 national champion, winning their second national title in a row, and the American Athletic Conference goes 4-1 in bowl games to win the 2021 Bowl Challenge Cup.

On the other side of the coin, the Conference USA is held winless, going 0-5 for the bowl season to claim the "we suck" conference title of 2021.

For readers teams, East Carolina knocks off Arizona State 37-28 in the New Mexico Bowl, Nevada routs Southern Miss 30-7 in the Hawaii Bowl, Nebraska beats West Virginia 24-17 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, #22 South Carolina edges out #20 Virginia Tech 41-37 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, #18 Texas upsets #15 Auburn 29-10 in the Cotton Bowl, #24 Ohio University beats Arkansas State 21-14 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl and and #1 Ohio State claims the National Championship, topping #2 Michigan State 42-28 in the national title game.

The American claimed the Bowl Challenge Cup this year, going 4-1, though Central Florida did lose to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Because of the best record during the bowl season, the American will keep their automatic bid secured for at least the next two seasons. An abysmal 3-2 finish by the Mountain West has saved their automatic bid for another year, as they had to finish at least .500. While 3-2 is a huge improvement over last season, they will still be watched closely over the next few years.