The Little Sisters of the Poor finally gave TCU the credit they deserved8212;sort of. Billboards in the Columbus, Ohio area read, “Congratulations to TCU for their Rose Bowl Victory8212;Little Sisters of the Poor,” shortly after TCU’s 21-19 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin, which capped off a 13-0 season for the Frogs and a likely No. 2 finish in the final BCS rankings.

The billboards alluded to comments made by Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee, who used choice words in judging the quality of competition within the schedules of non-automatic qualifying schools during an Associated Press interview in November.

“I do know, having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it’s like murderer’s row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor,” Gee said. “We play very fine schools on any given day.

“So I think until a university runs through that gantlet that there’s some reason to believe that they not be the best teams to [be] in the big ballgame.”

Gee later retracted his comments, saying he should go over to the surgical suites and get his foot extracted from his mouth.

“What do I know about college football? I look like Orville Redenbacher,” Gee told the Columbus Dispatch. “I have no business talking about college football.”

As for the actual Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic religious organization for women, Gee said he sent a personal donation to the Mother Superior of Little Sisters of the Poor and invited her to a ballgame.

To Gee’s credit, his Ohio State Buckeyes faired better than Wisconsin in the Sugar Bowl, defeating Arkansas 31-26. Arkansas, however, does not qualify as A Little Sister of the Poor.