For any fantasy gamer who dreams of bringing home the office football championship in December, college bowl season is where the quest begins.

It's the perfect time to evaluate next season's talent pool now, in the biggest and final games of their careers. If someone can shine on the big stage of say, the Fiesta Bowl, then he's got big-game potential next fall.

Rookies always prove to be the toughest players to evaluate. When do you draft them — or do you take that risk at all? At Update! we believe rookies are essential. Anyone who has won a football title knows it wouldn't have been possible without that rookie steal.

Obviously, there's a bit of fate involved. San Diego put Philip Rivers on ice for two seasons while Arizona, which had every intention of letting Matt Leinart sit and learn, instead handed him the starting job by Week 5.

Flash back to the 2006 Rose Bowl. If that were the only time you saw Leinart, Reggie Bush or Vince Young — two Heisman Trophy winners and a runner-up — you would have thought long and hard about drafting them high when the time came.

Bush has had a very solid rookie season with the New Orleans Saints while former USC teammate Leinart has endured the ups and downs of any rookie quarterback. Young, on the other hand, has at times been electric for the Tennessee Titans.

Who will make a splash in the NFL next season? Tune in to bowl season. So get the TV schedule and start making mental notes.

First, grab the essentials: a quiet room, HDTV, the remote, chips and dip within easy scooping range and then crack open a beer. Friends are OK, but please leave the significant other out of this.