Consider these nouveau conference favorites you never thought of before the season.

Big 12: Kansas State. Really, who's playing better in the Large Dozen, unless you want to discuss the leagues only two unbeaten teams (Missouri and Kansas, which both had byes)?

Big East: South Florida. Who would have thought on Oct. 1 that UConn, Syracuse and the Bulls would sit atop the Big East standings? Oh, and Cincinnati is 5-0 going into the conference season.

Big Ten: Ohio State. C'mon, really. No one was picking the Bucks before the season. How about that for irony? OSU winning the national championship this year.

ACC: Virginia. A stretch but the Cavaliers -- 4-1 after a horrible season-opening loss at Wyoming -- are already 3-0 in the Coastal Division and get Virginia Tech at home.

•  The perfect replacement for Dennis Franchione is out there.

Auburn's Tommy Tuberville is still one of the most savvy game planners and in-game coaches in the game. He showed it again Saturday in the upset of Florida.

If Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne is weighing his options with the embattled Coach Fran, he could do worse than go after Tubs.

Fran's job security became a topic of conversation Friday with the revelation of the unfortunate VIP Connection website.

A&M has resources, money and talent, and probably a bit less pressure than Auburn.

You interested Tommy?

•  Doyel and I (see below) already have weighed in.

•  FYI, here are a couple of items regarding FranScam that are interesting: First a message uncovered by the Dallas Morning News from Fran's personal assistant to subscribers of VIP Connection

Gentlemen, I have sad news.

Coach Fran asked me to let you know he learned that some members of the media have obtained a copy of one or more of our VIP Connection reports, and some are upset that it exists. Therefore, Coach Fran has decided it is best to shut it down.

He said to let you know how grateful he is for your extreme loyalty and support, and that you represent in every way the reasons that he and Kim feel so at home among Aggies.

Coach said that Jeff Keys, whose company operates CoachFran.com, will be in touch with you to return any pre-paid accounts. Thank you again, and please stay in touch any time.

One of my great pleasures is having you as friends, so please stay in touch regularly. This e-mail address remains an open door at all times, and Coach Fran welcomes you to stop by whenever you can.

You have been, and shall remain special to us in so many ways. Be of good cheer, Mike (McKenzie(

•  Here's reaction from A&M quarterback Stephen McGee, who said he would follow Franchione, "to the death, and I mean that."

"And I don't care if you, and the rest of the Aggies or anybody else wants to doubt him. We stick behind our man."

Franchione spoke to the team Friday and apologized for selling injury information and game plan tidbits to subscribers to VIP.

•  By the way, VIP Connection? Sounds more like a strip club membership.

•  Four of the last five Oklahoma losses have been decided on the game's final play:

Saturday at Colorado (Colorado field goal as time expire)
Jan. 1, Fiesta Bowl (Boise State two-point conversion in overtime)
2006 at Oregon (blocked Oklahoma field-goal attempt)
2005 at Texas Tech (Texas Tech touchdown).

The four losses were by a total of seven points and all were on the road.

•  OK, so Florida had an excuse.

Offensive coordinator Dan Mullen underwent an emergency appendectomy Friday night before the Auburn game.

"He told me at dinner (Friday) they wanted to do a blood test," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "I get a call at 11:30 at night, they did an appendectomy. He missed the first walk-through, made second walk through. He's a tough guy. That didn't impact the game."

Mullen made it to his usual perch in the coaches box to call plays.

•  Colorado fans have been known to party a little bit. Makes sense at stadium that used to sell cold, pure Coors Light. Sounds like CU quarterback Cody Hawkins had fun in the postgame scrum on the field after beating Oklahoma.

"My helmet got jacked," the coach's son said. "and (teammate) Stephone Robinson took one in the eye. I've been to some crazy concerts but that was worse than all of them. I think people smelled a lot better at the concert. Those people had been sweating for a long time."

•  In the interest of preserving the electricity it takes to power your computer or PDA, I'll keep this short.

Notre Dame got shut out in the first half at Purdue. Charlie Weis yelled at halftime. Notre Dame made it respectable, losing (again) 33-19.

Jimmy Clausen's hip might keep him from playing next week against UCLA. Evan Sharpley finished up and might play this week.

You may now power down.

Hello, Office of Civil Rights? I'd like to file an HIPAA complaint.

The violator? Name is Dennis Franchione. Don't worry, he's a fairly big deal in college athletics. Don't exactly know for how long, though.

It seems that the Texas A&M coach -- folks call him "Coach Fran" -- was selling detailed injury information on his players. The San Antonio Express-News broke the story on Friday.

It said Fran had set up a secret website available only to boosters who ponied up $1,200 each.

By now you're asking what is HIPAA? The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 provides "security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of individually identifiable health information past, present or future." This federal law specifically includes universities.

This goes beyond an indiscretion. This is a big exclamation point on Coaches Behaving Badly Week.

What started with Mike Gundy's rant, ended (for now) with a troubling, seemingly off-the-books web scheme. For a while now, Fran's assistant operated the site called VIP Connection, accessible only to big boosters who paid to get that secret injury information.

There are several issues here:

• Giving out injury information seems to be a clear violation of HIPAA. Parents of players under 18 have to sign a waiver to release injury information. Over 18 and the player himself signs the waiver. But selling the information, according to a major-college source familiar with the law, is "completely illegal."

• Which leads us to the gambling angle. What's the difference between selling injury information and calling a 900-number for the latest injury updates for NFL games?

So the information only went to boosters? Then where did it go?

• I'm sure the IRS might be interested, too, since the school was unaware of the website.

• Because AD Bill Byrne did not know, Franchione was called into Byrne's office and it was strongly recommended that the site be taken down.

The obvious question was posted by a poster on TexAgs.com: "2 million a year and he does not have enough money to operate it, he should look for a higher paying job!"

For Fran that might be sooner than later. If things go sour at A&M I could see Byrne using this indiscretion as a way to exercise an ethics clause in Franchione's contract (all coaches have them). That way, Texas A&M could save on the buyout if it decided to fire Franchione.

If we could somehow merge Texas Tech's offense with Penn State's defense, a lot of problems would be solved.

While Mike Gundy was ranting, Tech coach Mike Leach was in the opposing locker room lamenting his defense surrendering (good choice of words) 718 yards to the Cowboys. A day later, Lyle Setencich resigned as defensive coordinator.

Setencich is merely the latest embodiment of a defensive problem that has existed at Tech for all of Leach's eight seasons. As good as the Red Raiders are on offense, Leach hasn't been able to recruit the defensive talent needed to compete consistently in the Big 12 South.

" ... I want ... our defense to be known as a swarming defense that's physical and aggressive," said new coordinator Ruffin McNeill.

Leach suggested there was a softness ("poor tackling") to his unit. Poor players, a lot of times, make poor tacklers. As Joe Paterno can tell McNeill, you can't change the personality of a unit in a week, or even a season.

One-time golden boy quarterback Anthony Morelli is coming under increasing fire for an unproductive Penn State offense. We're just finding that out since it was hard to evaluate in games against Florida International, Notre Dame and Buffalo.

Michigan held the Nittany Lions to nine points and 270 yards, continuing a disturbing trend. In the last four games against Big Ten "powers" (Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin), Penn State is averaging seven points and 226 yards.

"When you lose a game like that, you can only point the finger at one person," Paterno said after Michigan. "You've got to point at the head coach."

• The Rocky Mountain News compiles a mini-Heisman vote each week, canvassing 10 Heisman voters. Here is this week's list with first-place votes in parentheses.

Tim Tebow, Florida 35 points (4 first-place votes) Darren McFadden, Arkansas 27 (4) Andre Woodson, Kentucky 18 John David Booty, USC 15 (1) Dennis Dixon, Oregon 12 (1) Matt Ryan, Boston College 12 Pat White, West Virginia 12 Steve Slaton, West Virginia 9 Brian Brohm, Louisville 4 Colt Brennan, Hawaii 3 Sam Bradford, Oklahoma 2 Mike Hart, Michigan 1

• For all of you in (and out of) Oklahoma worried about getting jobbed by Pac-10 officials, you'll be interested in a move toward truly neutral officials.

The officiating supervisors of the Big 12, Mountain West and WAC have pooled their officials with the hope of assigning neutral crews to games. A "blended" crew is working anonymously this season.

"We need to get away from the conference affiliation," Mountain West Bret Gilliland told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It's perceived that you can get homered. That's not the reality, but it's the perception."

• Howard Schnellenberger has used his considerable clout to push for three new stadiums at three different schools. But he has never played in one.

That might change after Florida Atlantic's board of trustees approved a 30,000-seat stadium for its Boca Raton campus, due to be completed in 2010.

Schnellie pushed for a new stadium at Miami. It never got built and only recently have the Hurricanes decided to move to Dolphins Stadium in 2008. At Louisville the momentum he created helped get Papa John's Stadium built.

• Here's another way to look at the Notre Dame situation (thanks to the Seattle Times): Of the top 50 players on the ND roster, only 14 are Ty Willingham recruits. However, eight of those 14 start on defense, three on offense.

• Those knuckleheads in Rice's Marching Owl Band (M.O.B., get it?) sunk to a new low Saturday at halftime. Three band members dressed as Texas player Henry Melton, Sergio Kindle and James Henry were chased by three cardboard police cars.

Melton, Kindle and Henry each have run into legal problems.

An M.O.B public address announcer said: "The Longhorns' demeanors and misdemeanors have changed. So be sure to get a program to look up all of Texas' All-Americans and America's most wanted."

Oh yeah, all this was in Texas' Royal-Memorial Stadium.

• You've probably figured it out, but that "passenger" next to Jagodzinski in the lead note was me. Jags is a cool dude. He offered me a cigar that day. We chatted about Michael Vick (he coached in Atlanta).

He is running an NFL-like ship at BC which is both good and bad. BC needs all the attention it can get in a market where it is sometimes the fifth option. That means you've got to go out in the streets with a sandwich board at times. But the team on the field is creating positive buzz on its own. As I wrote, Logan is a hoot and Matty Heisman is a legit Heisman candidate.

I'm not kidding when I say Boston College has a shot at a national championship berth.

• Random rumblings from former Boston College linebacker Tom McManus. He played from 1989-92 and went on to play in the NFL.

"To be honest with you I don't know if BC wants to be a football powerhouse ...

"Jeff Jagodzinski walked into a great situation. I was at the Florida State-Boston College game last year. Matt Ryan was such a stud. He reminds of a Brady and a Manning. He's got that kind of presence. then I find out he was playing with a cracked foot. It's nice this new coach is so offensive minded."

• Just found this quote from BC offensive coordinator Steve Logan. It's a couple of years old, but it's Logan talking about Charlie Weis going from the Patriots to Notre Dame:

"Charlie said something like, 'There aren't any college coaches who can X-and-O with me.' When I heard that, I said to myself, 'Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. Don't say that. Just don't say it.' It was a bad mistake."

• Phil Fulmer is my new hero. If you have to ask what these comments are about, you have been brain dead this week. Ladies and gentlemen, submitted without comment, the Tennessee coach: "The game of football is a very emotional and passionate game. We establish bonds with players and coaches, much as a parent and child. We see them with their helmets off, as young people growing and learning with experience.

"However, it is important for us to know where emotion should end, and composure and good example and representation takes control.

"I enjoy some columns more than others, and if a coach should critique the columnist you may have a columnist going on a tirade as well. In either case (coach or columnist), tirades are usually not the right course to take or the correct example to the very young men we are trying to influence."

• Anything to defile Bonds' home run ball is fine. You go, Marc Ecko. Brand away.

Time to let this go but here are a couple of final things on the Gundy outburst:

• First the statement from the FWAA ...

Last Saturday, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy used his postgame news conference as a platform to criticize an FWAA member for a story written about a player in his program. The following is a statement from FWAA president Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News Sentinel after a review of the press conference comments and the story written in The Oklahoman by Jenni Carlson: "I consider Coach Gundy's behavior completely inappropriate. It shows a lack of respect for the media and doesn't speak well for the university and the fans that he represents. Coach Gundy's actions have brought national attention and further scrutiny to the situation that could have been handled in a more private and appropriate matter."

• Next, here's the link to Gundy's press conference on Monday and a Q&A with columnist Jenni Carlson. Note that Gundy refuses to identify the parts of the column that were "three-fourths inaccurate."

With that, I throw up my hands. Gundy attacked Carlson's integrity as a professional then refuses to identify what was inaccurate. The fact is there was nothing inaccurate. It was her opinion and interpretation that makes it a column.

Who is running the ship at Oklahoma State, or should I say Boone Pickens University?

• Don't go crazy. Tim Tebow isn't going to carry 27 times each game like he did against Ole Miss. The Florida coaches are aware of the wear and tear on their quarterback.

• If Florida beats Auburn on Saturday, it will tie a school record with its 12th consecutive victory.

• His name is Mike Cassity and if Louisville fans are smart they will start shifting the blame for head coach Steve Kragthorpe to his defensive coordinator. After viewing film, insiders are saying that the Louisville defense still isn't lining up right.

• Eighteen teams had more yards Saturday than Notre Dame has gained all season (548).

• Is Ohio State coming on? The Bucks scored more at halftime (45 points) against Northwestern than it had in any of its first three games.

• Anybody else notice that Spurrier got Out-Ole Ball Coached on Saturday? Staid, conservative Les Miles called the over-the-shoulder flip from holder Matt Flynn to kicker Colt David that resulted in a touchdown.

• Has any team (besides Notre Dame) fallen so far, so fast? Central Michigan has gone from a 10-win MAC champion in 2006 to 1-3 in 2007. The Chips lost their coach (Brian Kelly) and, on Saturday, to I-AA North Dakota State.

• Biggest turnaround of the week: Utah went from beating UCLA by 38 to losing to UNLV 27-0. That's a drop down in competition and a 65-point differential.

• UCLA, by the way, is 1-1 in the Mountain West (losing to Utah, beating BYU) and 2-0 in the Pac-10.

Steve Kragthorpe, Dave Wannstedt, Mike Stoops and Houston Nutt are all going to hear it this week.

Kragthorpe's Louisville defense has melted into a puddle. The Cards haven't been lined up right all season. Say goodbye to Brian Brohm's Heisman candidacy.

Nutt's Arkansas defense doesn't look so hot either. Alabama and Kentucky have scored a combined 31 points in the fourth quarter.

And what about Stoops? He was hired because of his defensive prowess. Cal was ahead 38-10 before Arizona made it respectable.

Pitt's Wannstedt is now in a huge hole after losing to Connecticut at home. A 6-6 season would be a gift right now.

• If you were watching TV this weekend like I was, you heard a curse Friday during the Oklahoma-Tulsa game, and a quip that might earn Iowa's Kirk Ferentz a reprimand.

A sideline reporter was caught cursing in Tulsa after a microphone snafu. An apology was later issued by the play-by-play man.

"Did we have a mike issue," the sideline guy said, "S---, I'm sorry."

A strange ruling at the end of the first half in the Iowa-Wisconsin game caused Ferentz to issue a backhanded compliment. Wisconsin's P.J. Hill had fumbled into the end zone. An inadvertent whistle blew while the ball was rolling around. The officials awarded Wisconsin the ball where it left the field, at the 3-yard line.

Ferentz told a sideline reporter at halftime the officials got it right.

"I hate to admit that," he said.

Will Ferentz hear from the Big Ten office on Monday?

• South Florida's George Selvie had three sacks and five tackles for a loss in a 37-10 victory over North Carolina. He came into the game leading the country in both categories. We'll wait for the official numbers on Monday, but for now Selvie has 8½ sacks and 15 tackles for loss in three games.

• Iowa was the last I-A team to allow a touchdown.

• I don't know about you but my favorites to win the Big Ten are Ohio State and Michigan. Surprised?

• Free Demetrius Jones

• Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore is trying to cash in on that Michigan upset. He has contacted at least one agent to poke around for jobs after the season. If he doesn't land a I-A gig, Moore should have sufficient leverage for a significant raise.

• Idaho coach Robb Akey took a shot at former Vandals coach Dennis Erickson this week without mentioning the Arizona State coach's name.

There's always turnover when a new coach takes over but Akey told the Seattle Times that all of the 19 players who could have returned in 2007 left. Seventeen of those were asked to leave because of character issues.

"I was amazed at some of the things that we dealt with in regards to drug involvement, cheating, stealing -- things like that," Akey told the newspaper. "Did it cost us some guys who might be a little bit faster, a couple who might be a little bit bigger? Yes, it did. But I also look at this way: If I can't trust a guy on Saturday night in town, or in the classroom -- if I can't trust them in the community, I can't trust them on third down either."

Erickson with character issues among his players? Nah, couldn't be.

• Seven of UCLA's 20 starters sat out practice early in the week, while the team tried to regroup from the Utah loss. Better days are ahead: Quarterback Ben Olson is out of the Washington game suffering from headaches and nausea. Patrick Cowan will take over.

• So Texas Tech hasn't played anyone yet (SMU, Texas-El Paso, Rice)? The trend continues. The nation's leader in total offense, Graham Harrell, should make it ugly against Oklahoma State's No. 93 pass defense.

• Bad karma: You leave Pete Carroll's side, you pay the price. Former Carroll coaching protégés Ed Orgeron (Ole Miss), Greg Robinson (Syracuse) and Lane Kiffin (Raiders) are a combined 1-7.

• Bill Callahan is now 0-6 against top 10 teams at Nebraska. The Huskers try to get over the USC debacle by playing Ball State.

Now that looked like old-school Miami!

That Thursday night evisceration of Texas A&M brought back some memories. The Orange Bowl was rocking. The defense was flying around. The offense was efficient. Randy Shannon may have even found himself a quarterback. Kyle Wright threw for 275 yards.

Depending on what happens this weekend, it might be time to rank the Canes (3-1). If they keep playing like this, they might even be an ACC factor.

Dennis Franchione's Aggies once again disappointed in a big game. A&M looked practically fraudulent. The big three of Stephen McGee, Mike Goodson and Jorvorskie Lane combined for only 69 rushing yards.

For a while there Miami was doing whatever it wanted. A&M looks locked in as a No. 3 team, or worse, in the Big 12 South.

Is this the best Sun Belt week ever? The league is coming off its first non-conference wins of the season, two of three came against BCS-conference schools

At last report, Troy is still running up and down the field on Oklahoma State. The Cowboys' 41-23 loss was one of the more embarrassing for the program in recent history, certainly the worst of the Mike Gundy era.

Florida Atlantic beat Minnesota 42-39 with Rusty Smith throwing five touchdown passes. Arkansas State also beat SMU 45-28 a year after losing to the Mustangs by 46.

The league that has to schedule guarantee games against more powerful opponents in order to pay the bills is now 48-191 all-time in non-conference games.

"In many ways this is not the end of the road, it's a step in the right direction," commissioner Wright Waters said.

• South Carolina center Web Brown had better figure out his flop sweat problems this week before heading to LSU. Gamecocks quarterback Blake Mitchell fumbled on the third play of the game against Georgia on Sept. 8 because Brown's sweat had made the football wet.

"We change his pants two or three times a game, because Web sweats a lot," Steve Spurrier said. "A lot of teams do that. That's what you do. If his butt's soaking wet, he's going to give him a wet ball."

Uh, too much information, Steve.

• San Jose State's Dick Tomey followed through on his threat to practice at 6:30 Sunday morning after a 37-0 loss to Stanford.

"It was dead dark when we went out there and it was good," Tomey said.

• How deserving is Hawaii of a BCS berth if it goes undefeated? Because of scheduling problems, it is playing two I-AAs, including Charleston Southern this week.

Quarterback Colt Brennan is expected to play only the first half because of an injury.

"Whether it's the WAC, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt or the Mid-American, a team that goes undefeated ... I'm convinced that team will get to the top 12," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said referring to the BCS qualification standard. "The system is set up to reward an undefeated team. I hope it doesn't become an issue."

• Is LSU at the point where it can rest players against inferior opponents? Quarterback Matt Flynn didn't play against Middle Tennessee because of an ankle injury suffered against Virginia Tech. That allowed Ryan Perrilloux to make his first career start.

"Matt is improving," coach Les Miles said. "We could have used him last Saturday if needed, and certainly we could use him this Saturday."

Make that will use him Saturday against South Carolina.

• More evidence that Central Florida is making a push. Despite its loss to Texas, tailback Kevin Smith gained 149 yards and leads the nation this week averaging 183 yards per game.

• This falls somewhere between body bag games and trying to enhance the profile of a conference. Conference USA is the only league to play host to a top five team in four consecutive weekends.

On Friday, Oklahoma is at Tulsa. LSU visits Tulane on Sept. 29. West Virginia beat Marshall on Sept. 8. Texas won at Central Florida on Saturday.

• For the first time in four years San Diego State has gone consecutive games without a fumble. It is one of eight teams not to have lost a fumble this season. The others: Arkansas State, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, San Jose State. Combined records of those teams -- 9-13.

• Karl Dorrell isn't the only Pac-10 coach under scrutiny. Arizona's home loss to New Mexico won't help Mike Stoops, who is having trouble making progress in the desert. In three plus seasons Bob Stoops' brother is 14-24.

The early Pac-10 schedule doesn't provide much relief (considering the Wildcats, 1-2, struggled against the Lobos). Three of the first four conference games, starting this week, are on the road: at Cal, at home for Washington State, at Oregon State and at USC.

• Xavier Shannon has started at every offensive line position in his career at Florida International. Xavier, a junior, is the son of Miami coach Randy Shannon. Father leads son 2-0 in the series after last week's victory in the Orange Bowl.

• You've been waiting for this: Ascension fell to 0-2 last week after a 14-8 loss to Holy Spirit in the fifth-grade CYO league.

Two years ago it was Tennessee. Georgia had its spate for a while. Jim Tressel certainly wasn't immune, nor was Bob Stoops.

Coach long enough and you're going to be accused of running an out-of-control program. That being said, what the Sam Houston is going on Texas?

On Tuesday, James Henry became the sixth Longhorn to have a run-in with the law in the last few months. Henry was slapped with a sampler platter of charges: Two felonies as well as tampering with evidence stemming from an alleged home invasion this summer.

Worse, Henry had been questioned by police as late as Aug. 20 and was still allowed to play. Authorities learned about Henry's alleged involvement during taped conversations from jail with a teammate who had already been arrested.

There is a way to handle these things. Mack Brown has done it the right way so far, taking responsibility. To a certain extent coaches can only do so much, but when something like this happens the public wants to hear contrition.

"It's really all on me," Brown said, "It's on me alone."

The coach said he'd endured more off field problems in the last few months than he had in 23 years as a head coach.

Here's how not to handle the same situation: Iowa AD Gary Barta is openly blaming the players, to the point that it sounds like his coach doesn't bear any responsibility.

A backup safety was picked up Sunday morning for DUI. That makes five run-ins with the law since mid-July for the Hawkeyes.

"You spend all this time talking about getting better as a team and focusing on those things that are important, then someone makes a bad decision," Barta said. "You have rules and you have team policies, (but) at the end of the day, we can only say as coaches and administrators what we can say, and then it becomes peer to peer.

"We need teammates to put pressure on their teammates to say, 'Look, enough is enough.'"

Coach Kirk Ferentz has instituted curfew. Hopefully it's earlier than 2:11 a.m. That's when Lance Tillison was picked up by the cops on Sunday morning.

•  It's clear Boston College is now the class of the ACC after beating Georgia Tech. It's funny how no one in the Northeast is getting Les Miles Disease. You know, Jeff Jagodzinksi is winning with Tom O'Brien's players.

They're just winning! That should be enough.

"We haven't seen a quarterback like that since Brady Quinn," Georgia Tech safety Pat Clark said of BC's Matt Ryan, who threw for a career-high 435 yards.

•  Don't know what this means: Notre Dame lost by the exact same score in the exact same place (38-0 at Michigan) four years after Quinn made his debut at The Big House.

•  Training camp begins tomorrow. Those were Charlie Weis' words after Notre Dame stunk it up at Michigan. San Jose State's Dick Tomey probably beat Weis out of bed Sunday after a 37-0 loss to putrid Stanford. Tomey scheduled practice for 6:30 Sunday morning.

"Anybody who is not there is cut and any coach who is not there is fired," Tomey said. "We've got a short time to put this thing together. Stanford really improved their game and that just shows how much better their coaches are than we are. How much better their players are than we are. They've done a great job...They kicked our ass, physically."

The Spartans are 0-3 for the first time since 2001.

•  Celebrity sightings at the USC-Nebraska game: Will Farrell, Larry the Cable Guy, Keanu Reeves and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

•  Duke's 22-game losing streak that ended Saturday at Northwestern wasn't even the program's longest this decade. A 23-game streak was halted in 2002.

•  Even Peter Vaas couldn't have expected to have more success than Notre Dame at this point. Vaas is the Duke running backs coach who was Notre Dame's quarterbacks coach the past two seasons.

Vaas is 1-2 this season. Notre Dame is 0-3.

•  Thirty-one-year-old former Marine Brandon Crawford blocked a Navy field goal helping Ball State defeat the Midshipmen 34-31.

"It's a dream, I'm living a dream right now," Crawford told the Baltimore Sun. "To be serving my country for four years, honorably discharged. I just wanted to give it my all. I have respect for the Navy and all that they give."

The teams combined for 1,124 yards, with Navy alone rushing for 521 yards. That doesn't compare to the offensive display in Tulsa's 55-47 victory over BYU. In that game both quarterbacks threw for career highs: Tulsa's Paul Smith (454 yards) and BYU's Max Hall (537 yards).

Tulsa and BYU combined for 1,289 yards. In both games, the team with the most yards lost.

•  Let's just hand Iowa State kicker Bret Culbertson the national offensive player of the week -- out of sympathy more than anything else. He kicked home five field goals against rival Iowa, including the game winner with one second left.

Culbertson entered the game 0-for-3 this season. More than that, he had missed field goals in 2004 (vs. Missouri) and 2005 (Kansas) that would have sewed up the Big 12 North title for the Cyclones.

This is important because Iowa State has the longest streak in the country having never won so much as a division title -- 95 years.

•  As for defense, we like Florida Atlantic defensive back Tavious Polo.

In an upset of Minnesota, Polo intercepted three passes, the last preserving the Owls' first victory over a BCS-league school.

•  The front-page picture on the Opelika-Auburn News was of American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, accompanied by the headline: "Well ... halftime was fun."

Auburn lost to Mississippi State, dropping to 1-2.

•  "I think Penn State is going to play LSU for the national championship," Beano Cook told the Philadelphia Daily News.

Oh, Beano, please. Next you'll be telling us that Jimmy Clausen is going to win two Heismans.

•  San Jose State fifth-year senior special teams David Marrero spent three years of his career playing for Stanford. On Saturday, he played against his former teammates. Marrero graduated from Stanford in June, then transferred to San Jose State taking advantage of a since-rescinded NCAA rule that allowed undergrads to transfer immediately in order to pursue their graduate studies.

•  The phones are now open for the question of the day. Was this the worst Notre Dame week ever? Forget no wins and no offense. Quarterback Demetrius Jones transferred to Northern Illinois, which at last check has, you know, actually scored this season.

Weis basically found out that Jones had left the program when the quarterback didn't show up for Notre Dame's team bus on Friday.

The TCU story is officially dead. The Horned Frogs lost an inexcusable overtime game Thursday at Air Force.

Inexcusable because Gary Patterson had never lost to a service academy and because Patterson threw his offensive coordinator under the bus.

With a couple of minutes left and TCU at the Air Force 22 in a 17-17 game, OC Mike Schultz called for a pass that was intercepted. Air Force ran out the clock and kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime.

"We should have run the football," Patterson was quoted as saying. "Why we threw the football, I don't know. I don't call that side of the ball."

How about some accountability, Gary. Given that rationale, you should be under the bus with Schultz. It was your defense that allowed Air Force to tie it on a 71-yard run on fourth-and-1.

Don't call that side of the ball? Why wear head phones? Coaches all over the country let their OC's call the plays, then interject if they have to. Plus, you run the friggin' team, Gary. This loss goes on your record, not Mike Schultz'.

• USC safety Kevin Ellison will remember facing Nebraska's Sam Keller. Ellison was a freshman two years ago when Keller, then at Arizona State, threw one of his five interceptions against the Sun Devils. The pick by Ellison saved the day for the Trojans, but on the play he tore ligaments and fractured his knee. He was lost for the season.

• Don't go crazy but I'm just telling you to watch Kansas. No, Bill Self hasn't rolled the balls out yet. KU is 2-0 and should finish the non-con 4-0. Toledo this week and Florida International next week.

This is the first KU team to score 50 in back-to-back games. The Jayhawks have not committed a turnover or allowed a first-half point. The schedule looks easy but really isn't. Central Michigan is the defending MAC champ. KU lost to Toledo last year. Florida International is what it is, a chump. But rival Kansas State played much worse non-conference schedules during the Bill Snyder days and got to the top 10 doing it.

• Try not to diminish South Carolina's victory last week at Georgia, because Steve Spurrier is doing his darndest. "It wasn't like they were some big, powerful team," Spurrier said on his TV show. "They've actually lost five in a row to Eastern Division opponents. Kentucky and Vandy beat 'em last year."

• Who is the SEC's leading rusher? Answer below.

• Welcome to below: It's Alabama's Terry Grant who has 307 yards through two games. Grant goes against Darren McFadden, the guy who is supposed to be the leading rusher at the end of the season.

• Urban Meyer is keeping his promise: Seventeen true freshmen have played this year. Forty-seven freshmen or sophomores have seen action.

Watch out Tennessee: Florida's 108 points in its first two games is the best start since 1999. Going back to the SEC title game, Florida has scored at least 38 points in four consecutive games.

• Crummy game of the week: Buffalo at Penn State.

•  You expect a paunch on an Oklahoma offensive lineman, not Britney Spears.

•  Q: How many batteries does it take to shock a Wolverine? A: One Double-A.

Enjoy your weekend.

There is hushed talk about the so-called "gap" in recruiting that is supposedly undermining Notre Dame's season.

Before giving you the numbers, understand that any coaching change is, in general, not a positive for recruiting. New coach, new assistants, all hustling to sign a respectable class.

And ND has been changing coaches frequently. Weis is the fourth coach since December 2001.

The top 100 barometer is a good place to start. In 1998, Bob Davie was able to land 11 of the top 100 recruits, out of a class of 22. Four years later those players were the foundation of a 5-6 season that cost Davie his job.

In 1999, Davie got eight top 100s (out of 21). That class produced keepers such as Julius Jones and Jeff Faine. Those seniors finished 10-3 under Willingham in '02.

In 2000-'01 combined, Davie signed only 11 top 100s. Smack in the middle of the 01-02 recruiting season, Davie, and subsequently, O'Leary were fired.

However, Willingham's first two classes in '02 and '03 were strong. They produced tight end Anthony Fasano, receiver Rhema McKnight, safety Tom Zbikowski and quarterback Brady Quinn. Those are the players Charlie Weis was able to win with. Nine fifth-year seniors from that '03 class still remain.

Where it goes bad is 2004. Only seven of the 17 players Willingham recruited are still around. Three of those players are starting -- linebackers Maurice Crum and Anthony Vernaglia and cornerback Terrail Lambert.

Weis tried to salvage the 2005 class after Willingham's firing. Still, no top 100 players signed. Weis made a comeback in 2006 with nine top 100s. The 2007 class might have been better. It was topped by Jimmy Clausen.

The "gap" occurs with the current four-year seniors (there are only seven) from the 2004 class and a mediocre 2005 class (14 current juniors).

Notre Dame's best recruiting days are ahead but it might take a couple of years. Weis' 2008 class is currently rated No. 1 by Rivals.com. It has 14 four-star commits and counting.

Thanks, by the way, to Irish Sports Report for the numbers.

• Willingham's reaction Saturday on a national radio show upon hearing the Oregon-Michigan score: "Wooooeeee!"

• How did South Florida's Jim Leavitt deal with kicker Delbert Alvarado missing four kicks against Auburn: "What are you going to do? Are you going to rip him? It's never going to help just ripping somebody? The first two times I was really nice to him. He said, "I really let my teammates down. I said, 'If you miss another one you're going to really let them down.' "

• Other errant kicks: Minnesota's Jason Giannini missed three field goals in an overtime win against Miami (Ohio). Not to be outdone, Miami's Trevor Cook missed an extra point and three field goals, including a 33-yard kick that would have won the game in overtime.

• Field goals are actually up so far this season compared to all of 2006. The average is 1.15 per team compared to 1.00 in 2006. Accuracy is down only slightly -- 69.2 percent to 70.3 percent in 2006.

• With the Miami-Florida International rematch upon us, I pulled out these quotes from Miami center Derrick Morse. He was one of those suspended after last year's brawl.

"You'll start to think rather than just act. Like that FIU fight, I got kicked out. Now, looking back, if it happened again this year I'd pull somebody off. I'd go tackle one of our guys and beat him up versus another team (and say) 'Hey, you're not going to go fight. Just because of the repercussions you're going to miss a game or get suspended the rest of the year.'

"I was lucky, I got suspended one game ... It makes you think, 'Wow, 15 hours community service.' ... That was just a little fight. That's not outside of football where you're in a club or in a bar or in the movies or in a mall; where people go, 'That's a Miami football player ... I'm going to test him.

"It's kind of sad they have to blow it out of proportion like that. I can't see that happening again. We just all want to play football. You just want a good, clean, fun game. They were taunting us even before the game. We were hoping that could be a good, clean in-town game."

What does one do during 15 hours of community service?

"You pick up trash after toy giveaways. You talk to schools for an hour or two. You help paint recreation centers. Pick up garbage on the side of the road.

"The only thing you're thinking is, 'Those are my guys and I've got to have their back.' IT never should have happened. Especially with Coach Shannon here, I can't see that happening.

• Texas' victory over TCU ended the Big 12's 17-game losing streak to ranked teams in non-conference games.

• Temple made its MAC debut Saturday by losing to Buffalo. Counting its last three years in the Big East ('02-'04), Temple is 2-17 in conference games and has been outscored by an average of 35-16 in the losses.

• Oregon shouldn't get too excited. The Ducks beat No. 3 Michigan in 2003 then lost four of their next five. After a 7-2 start last season Oregon lost its final four games, three by at least 25 points.

• Florida, Arkansas, Hawaii and Rutgers are the only teams not to allow a punt return this season.

• Penn State's first two opponents (Florida International and Notre Dame) have combined to convert three of 31 third downs.

• Thoughts and prayers to Jack Mildren, a source for this week's national notes lead. The old OU quarterback is in remission, fighting cancer near his sternum.

So, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa is blaming the media for fanning the flames over Rick Ankiel's purchase of HGH.

Sorry, Tony, but your sport has lost all benefit of the doubt when it comes to performance-enhancing substances. When I first heard "HGH" connected to Ankiel, it ruined the comeback story for me.

I don't care if HGH wasn't on the banned list back in 2004, Fact: Ankiel's name is still linked to a wide-ranging drug investigation. Fact: Ankiel got his supply from a pharmacy that was allegedly part of an illegal-prescription drug ring.

Tony, the players association has stone-walled all along on performance enhancers. Barry Bonds shoved it in our faces, climbing a faux ladder to the faux home run record. You, Tony, defended Mark McGwire.

I can't believe I read this sentence in USA Today on Tuesday: "With steroids seemingly under control..." Huh? At best the steroid abusers have moved on to the new drug of choice: HGH.

Here's the clincher, Tony: Baseball doesn't test for HGH. Even for the Olympics, which does test for it, the substance is virtually undetectable. Ankiel could be on the stuff right now, Tony, laughing at us all.

The substance has a "fountain of youth" quality to it. Anaheim's Gary Matthews Jr. had a career year after allegedly being sent the stuff by a Mobile, Ala. pharmacy that is part of the same investigation that is tied to Ankiel. The Cardinals outfielder certainly had a fountain of youth comeback from pitching woes and Tommy John surgery.

Blaming the media for reporting the facts is weak.

• This just seems strange to me: Joe Paterno is 24-5 in his last 29. Les Miles is 24-4 at LSU.

• Much ado about nothing: After the Associated Press allowed "lower division" teams to be ranked, Appalachian State was on four ballots and received 19 points in the top 25. That places it 33rd.

• This just in: AP is notifying voters that Michigan is eligible for the top 25.

• Did Gene Chizik make the right decision: The former uber-defensive coordinator is 0-2 in his first season as Iowa State's head coach. The losses are to Kent State and I-AA Northern Iowa.

• Urban legend of the week: A caller on the Jim Rome Show said his son chatted with Colt Brennan on the Hawaii bench during Saturday's game at Louisiana Tech. Brennan then met the kid after the game. And no, Brennan didn't have his pads off in the middle of a blowout. This was a tight game throughout that ended in overtime.

During the game? This kid is loose.

Michigan and Notre Dame is suddenly appointment television.

In other words, make sure you've got an appointment when the schools play next Saturday. That's when the No. 1 (Michigan) and No. 2 (Notre Dame) programs in all-time victories and winning percentage meet with a goose egg on the line.

Twelve or so decades of football for each school and they've never started a season 0-2 together -- until now.

Michigan followed up on participation in The Biggest Upset In College Football History (trademark pending) by rolling over and exposing all its vital organs to Oregon.

I don't want to say Michigan quit but ... Michigan quit. I've lived through Bo, Woody, The 10-Year War and a drunk Gary Moeller but I've never seen Michigan quit.

The once-proud Wolverines mustered no more than a touchdown on an Oregon defense that gave up 545 yards last week to Houston. The kind thing to say would be that a lot of that had to do with injuries to Chad Henne and Michael Hart. But the issue was decided long before those two former Heisman candidates (snicker) were knocked out.

We knew that Michigan had lost nine starters on defense. It's apparent the Wolverines need 11 new starters.

This is so bad that you should expect the AP to remind voters Monday that Michigan is now eligible for the top 25 poll.

LSU should make Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon public enemy No. 1. Now that it is all but assured that this will be Lloyd Carr's last season, Michigan AD Bill Martin could do worse than lob an immediate (and clandestine) phone call to LSU's Les Miles.

You know Les Miles. The former Michigan letterman who was a part of six Big Ten titles as an assistant coach. It doesn't suck to be at LSU but when home comes calling ...

Until the Big Ten Network signed the Dish Network deal this week, this was my last item in the Weekend Watch List ...

Rumored Big Ten Network games of the week: Or what you would have seen if you spent $49.95 a month on DirecTV.

Noon ET: Akron at Ohio State. Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis break down why this game is being seen in all markets, except (according to the BTN release) Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota.

Bowling Green at Michigan State. Markets include: Michigan. Hurray!

Nevada at Northwestern. Coming off their first shutout in 10 years, the Wildcats are shut out by Comcast in major markets.

Miami (Ohio) at Minnesota. Roger Twibell ducks out for a pancake and smoke during the first quarter and nobody notices.

Eastern Illinois at Purdue. Keeping in the spirit of the BTN, few will see a I-AA upset of a Big Ten team at home for the second straight week.

7 p.m. ET: Western Illinois at Illinois. BTN describes Illinois quarterback Juice Williams as "electrifying". This game, however, is Football Unplugged.

8 p.m. ET: Syracuse at Iowa. All markets except Illinois. Illinois is electrified.

•  Miami-Oklahoma has another NCAA relationship (see the Weekend Watch List). Both schools have had high-ranking administrators serve as chairmen of the NCAA Infractions Committee.

Former Oklahoma law school associate dean David Swank served on the committee in the 1990s. Miami AD Paul Dee is the current chairman of the infractions committee. In fact, Dee oversaw the penalties handed out to Oklahoma earlier this year.

•  It's always nice to be recognized. It means either people like you or are about to throw a beer in your face. Anyway, great night at Walk On's, just a JaMarcus Russell heave from Tiger Stadium.

The recognition thing seems to happen more in SEC country than anywhere else. Nice meeting Tiger fans Denis Simon, his buddies and Kamie, who claimed to be Les Miles' former babysitter.

•  I'm going to try to take a camera phone picture today of Mike the Tiger and post it in this space. A friend and I wandered by Mike's compound Friday night. The new, playful Mike went swimming and pawed at the glass as fans oohed and aahed. Best mascot in college football.

A copy of the AP memo that went out to voters announcing the inclusion of all teams in the AP football poll:

Dear Poll Voters:

The Associated Press is announcing a change today in the voting for its college football poll.

We have decided there should be no rule against ranking a lower-division school, as long as that team competed against a I-A opponent. Appalachian State's victory over Michigan last weekend presented an issue we never had to face before.

The poll was always intended to measure teams that compete against each other, regardless of division, based solely on on-field performance. If two schools compete against each other on the field, they should have the right to be compared to each other in the poll.

Below, you'll find a copy of the story we're moving on the wire.

As always, thank you for helping us compile the poll.

Regards,

Terry Taylor

Pretty cool how USC honored deceased kicker Mario Danelo on Saturday.

After his team scored its first touchdown against Idaho, Pete Carroll intentionally took a delay of game penalty. Kicker David Buehler remained on the sidelines. The 10 men on the field represented a sort of "missing man" formation.

Buehler then entered the game and kicked the extra point that give USC a 7-0 lead.

• Big 12 officials pull another Fiesta Bowl: Turns out Texas was dangerously closer to blowing the Arkansas State game last week than previously thought. You had to pay attention this week to notice that Indians coach Steve Roberts quietly said he was notified of the error by the Big 12 office.

Arkansas State was flagged for illegal formation on an onside kick late in the game. It was forced re-kick, Texas recovered and was able to run out the clock. Still checking to see if Terry Porter worked the game. Who is Terry Porter? Ask Miami fans.

• You asked for it, you got it. The Ascension fifth-grade football team kicks off the season Saturday against St. Michael. A full postgame analysis will follow in this space.

Just so you know: Notre Dame is 94th nationally in passing and freshman Jimmy Clausen is the answer, after one week.

Aw hell, might as well pile on when I get the chance. Notre Dame is:

110th (out of 113 teams so far) in total offense

Tied for 104th in scoring
103rd in rushing defense
89th in scoring defense
Tied for 77th in total defense
64th in pass efficiency

• Sonny Lubick was coy. Either that or high.

"Well, we'll probably punt to him," Colorado State's coach said of Cal's DeSean Jackson. That's what most of you would like to see. The fans come and pay. I don't want you booing if we punt it out of bounds."

Lubick was the second of his kind in as many weeks to say he would punt to Jackson. Tennessee's Phil Fulmer made that mistake last week and got burned by a 77-yard punt return by Cal's All-American.

Jackson has six career returns for touchdowns on only 27 returns. The career record is held by both Texas Tech's Wes Welker and Oklahoma's Antonio Perkins (eight each).

It took Welker 152 career returns. Perkins got his eight in 113. At his current pace, Jackson would break the career record by his 41st return.

If he ever gets that far. No offense Sonny, but coaches have to be stupid to punt a ball anywhere near Jackson for the remainder of his career.

• It's a slow process in the Sun Belt Conference. In May, the league adopted a set of initiatives to improve both football and basketball.

The league hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 1995. Football? It is generally thought of as the weakest of the 11 I-A leagues and started out by losing all six of its non-conference games last week by an average score of 45-13.

Troy (vs. Arkansas), Louisiana Lafayette (vs. South Carolina) and Arkansas State (vs. Texas), though, were surprisingly competitive.

However, three games this week against ranked opponents, all on the road, will bring the loss total to at least nine: Middle Tennessee at Louisville, Louisiana-Monroe at Clemson and Troy at Florida.

The football initiatives are meant to keep teams from taking those body-bag games. Last season, Sun Belt teams made a total of $9.8 million in guarantee money. It also mostly got its brains beat in.

Here are the initiatives:

• Schools must play at least 11 home games over a two-year period.

• No more than two non-conference games annually with a school that doesn't include a return game.

• Only I-AA opponent per year, and only at home.

• Average home attendance must reach 75 percent of capacity over a period of years.

• Season ticket sales should reach 25 percent of stadium capacity.

• The conference office is working on securing two guaranteed bowl berths.

Q: What well known football guy said this about Florida State:

"They've got a bunch of guys who run fast and look good in shorts but can't do anything. They don't have any offensive linemen. When you evaluate their guys (for the NFL), their linemen, none of them turn out to be much at all."

A: I'm not telling.

The NFL and MLB don't place high when ranking the greatest upsets of all time.

Baseball, by its nature, doesn't have many upsets with a 162-game season and lengthened postseason. The NFL in the modern era is legislated into perpetual parity. That leaves this list of the greatest upsets

1. USA over USSR in Olympic hockey, 1980

2. Chaminade over Virginia in college basketball, 1982

3. Appalachian State over Michigan in college football, 2007

4. Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson in boxing, 1990

5. Temple over Virginia Tech in college football, 1998

6. Francis Ouimet winning the 1913 U.S Open as an amateur.

7. Montreal over Boston in the 1971 Stanley Cup playoffs

8. San Jose over Detroit in the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs

9. Jets over Colts in Super Bowl III, 1969

10. Denver over Seattle in 1994 NBA playoffs

• Hey how about App State's Jerry Moore at Duke, now losers of 21 in a row after a season-opening blowout at the hands of Connecticut?

• The final word on Appalachian State (for now).

This video is making the rounds on YouTube. A little too sugary sweet for some tastes but you can imagine it's making Michigan fans vomit.

• Oklahoma's Bob Stoops requested a running clock at the beginning of the fourth quarter in Saturday's rout of North Texas. His request to officials went unheeded. There is an NCAA procedure that allows such an adjustment. It is believed that both coaches have to agree to allow a running clock

• Georgia is recruiting Michael Bowman of Chattanooga, Tenn. Brother Adarius played for Oklahoma State Saturday at Georgia.

Their parents came on Michael's official visit Saturday dressed in Oklahoma State garb. Georgia officials were asked to change their shirts or leave the section reserved for recruits and their parents.

So they left.

"What should they expect," Tara Bowman told the Anderson (S.C.) Independent Mail. "Our son's out there."

No word if Georgia was able to find tickets outside the recruiting section.

• Freak stat of the week: Memphis ran a school-record 96 plays, threw 60 passes, gained 467 yards and lost by two at home to Ole Miss.

• Division III Mount Union set an NCAA record by scoring 52 points first quarter against Averett. Alabama State had the old record, 50 points, since 1991. The defending D-III champions won 75-7.

• It will be very interesting to see the polls on Tuesday. Even if Michigan wins out how does a voter in his or her right mind rank the Wolverines high enough to play for a national championship?

• For the first time in eight years, New Mexico lost despite not committing a turnover. Prior to Saturday's 10-6 loss to Texas-El Paso, the Lobos last lost in 1999 without committing a turnover.

• Beware Texas? TCU is 5-0 against the Big 12 since the beginning of the 2005 season. In those games the Frogs have allowed only 8.8 points per game. TCU is 9-1 in its last 10 games against teams from BCS conferences.

• What three coaches have had teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll since 2001 while averaging more than two rushing and two passing touchdowns per game?

Answer: Urban Meyer, 2.18 rushing, 2.02 passing; Pete Carroll, 2.01 rushing, 2.36 passing and Bob Stoops, 2.00 rushing, 2.01 passing.

• The Cal-Tennessee game featured Pac-10 head linesman Dan Antonietti who was one of those suspended following the Oklahoma-Oregon game last year.

• Arizona State believes it has a Heisman candidate senior tailback Ryan Torain. His 1,229 yards last season were the most by a Sun Devils back since the school joined the Pac-10. In the opener against San Jose State, he rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns in only two quarters.