• Continuing with the Hawaii theme ... WAC loyalists are hoping that the Hawaii-Boise State game on Nov. 23 becomes a winner-take-New Orleans contest. Boise is No. 22 in the BCS and would need quite a few teams to lose to get close to No. 12 before Nov. 23.

• Why New Orleans for Hawaii or Boise? The Sugar Bowl is responsible for staging two BCS games in this second season of the double-hosting format. The Superdome will be the site of the traditional Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 and the BCS title game on Jan. 7.

• The Fiesta Bowl is looking forward to a possible Oklahoma-Kansas matchup. What, two teams from the same conference meeting in a bowl game? It could happen.

OU and Kansas don't meet in the regular season. Oklahoma could go to the Fiesta as the Big 12 champion (if it doesn't play in the BCS title game). If Kansas (8-0) remains undefeated until a Nov. 24 game against Missouri and then loses, it would still be attractive as an at-large BCS team at 11-1.

The teams with the best records in the Big 12 playing to "settle" things in the postseason. Great theater. Of course, Missouri wouldn't be happy having beaten Kansas, but it would be happy with a Cotton Bowl berth at 11-2.

If Kansas gets to the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma, the deal would be off. The Fiesta folks wouldn't want the Jayhawks to play the Sooners in the rematch.

• The Death Penalty just keeps on killing at SMU.

Phil Bennett became the fourth coach to leave the program since the NCAA took football away 20 years ago. He was 18-48 in almost six seasons, which wasn't a surprise. It's still SMU. It still operates under the same constraints. It can recruit elite students but struggles to recruit elite athletes.

The problems go back two decades when SMU got that death penalty. Eight years later in 1995, the Southwest Conference broke up. The school did not make the same commitment to football as say TCU, which positioned itself after being left out of the Big 12. SMU was not only a pariah, it was losing.

"To say we're on equal footing with our competitors in a lot of areas would be a lie," Bennett told reporters. "To get this thing where it needs to be, there needs to be concessions made in a lot of areas. ... That's not a cop-out."

Bennett mentioned that the school needs a more athlete-friendly curriculum as well as the school being more accepting of transfer credits. If that sounds unseemly, it shouldn't. How do you think these athletes have time to play football? Seriously.

Bennett, 51, is one of the nicest guys in the sport. That's the shame of it. He's an accomplished defensive coordinator and has the sympathy of every coach in his profession. Bennett's wife Nancy was killed by a lightning strike while jogging prior to the 1999 season. Bennett was at Kansas State at the time and was left to care for two young children. One of those, Sam, is a deep snapper at SMU.

Candidates? Look for AD Steve Orsini to pursue 1) a coach from the NFL hoping to land the next Jeff Jagodzinski; 2) someone with Notre Dame connections (Orsini was a captain on the 1977 national championship team); 3) a former head coach currently out of work. The names of Larry Coker, Dan McCarney and Glen Mason already have surfaced.

• If you really want to get wild, figure that Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite will be brought up at SMU. Especially if 'Bama beats LSU this week. That will make Applewhite the de-facto hottest assistant in the country.

Should Applewhite interview for the job? Maybe. Could he do the job? Absolutely. Should he take the job? Absolutely not. There is something called the Chizik Effect that states you shouldn't automatically take the next job that comes along. Look what it got former Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik when he took the Iowa State gig.

• Upon further review, Bobby Bowden might be in trouble at Florida State.

The latest blow was quarterback Xavier Lee being suspended for two games due to violations of academic policy. The demerits seem to be piling up against St. Bobby.

First, the replacement of five coaches doesn't seem to be working. Then the early departure of AD Dave Hart Jr., which was worked out last week. Bobby seems to be running out of lifelines. President T.K. Wetherell, who was coached by Bowden at FSU, might have run out of patience. This is seemingly going to be the third time in the last four years that the Noles aren't going to win the ACC.

If it gets embarrassing this week against Boston College, the drums might start beating louder. Hello, Mark Richt?

• Tennessee's victory over South Carolina might have dealt a blow to the SEC's national championship chances.

The league already is one LSU loss from dropping out of national title contention. If it does win the SEC West, the Tigers supposedly would get a BCS boost by playing the conference championship game. Not so much now if the Vols follow through and win the SEC East.

A game against Tennessee could possibly hurt No. 3 LSU in its chase to overtake No. 2 Boston College (or, at some point, No. 4 Arizona State or No. 8 Kansas, the point is they're all undefeated).

Tennessee (5-3) is 29th in Jerry Palm's BCS (the official BCS only goes to 25). More importantly, it has a computer average of 21. That's OK, for now. Consider the computer averages of LSU's final four regular-season games: Alabama (15), Louisiana Tech (97), Ole Miss (85), Arkansas (51). Those numbers will get worse if and when LSU beats those teams.

• The latest weekly Heisman sampling from the Rocky Mountain News

(Ten Heisman voters polled weekly. First-place votes in parentheses)

1. Matt Ryan, Boston College 43 point (5)
2. Dennis Dixon, Oregon 42 (3)
3. Tim Tebow, Florida 27 (2)
4. Pat White, West Virginia (9)
5. Todd Boeckman, Ohio State (6)
6. Chase Daniel, Missouri (4)
Mike Hart, Michigan (4)
8. Colt Brennan, Hawaii (3)
James Laurinaitis, Ohio State (3)
Steve Slaton, West Virginia (3)
11. Andre Woodson, Kentucky (2)
12. Brian Brohm, Louisville (1)
Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech (1)
Matt Forte, Tulane (1)
Ray Rice, Rutgers (1)

Tom Osborne all but confirmed Bill Callahan's future with this slip of a tongue to a Nebraska TV station:

During an interview Osborne was asked, "Is that (the walk-on program) something that you think needs to be brought back ... ?"

Osborne's said: "Well, that will depend somewhat on the new coaching staff, because they have to implement, and I can't coach from the athletic director's position."

Oops. New coaching staff?

Osborne subsequently tried to "clarify" his statement but, come on, we all know what's going on here.

• Speaking of coaching changes, UCLA's Dan Guerrero sent a clear message on Monday.

"I will be very interested in how we finish the season," Guerrero said, "and you can use that."

The Bruins (5-3, 4-1) are still in the running for the Rose Bowl but their three losses have been by a combined 91-19 to Utah, Notre Dame and Washington State -- three teams with a combined record of 10-15.

• This phrase struck me in the AP story about LSU's Ryan Perrilloux (allegedly) being beaten up Saturday night.

Attorney Nathan Fisher said Perrilloux called him about 2:45 a.m. Friday to ask him whether Perrilloux should press charges. Fisher said he advised Perrilloux not to do so.

understanding is he got beat up," Fisher told The Advocate of Baton Rouge. "I'm confident after listening to what he had to say that he's innocent of any wrongdoing."

So, one of the first things Perrilloux does is to call his lawyer after being involved in an altercation? How many backup quarterbacks -- or any players at all -- have a lawyer on speed dial?

• Kansas has trailed for less than 21 minutes of the 480 minutes it has played this season.

• Please, no more angry e-mails from Penn Stateland. Turns out I was absolutely right about not ranking the Lions at the beginning of the season. You all officially should up for the rest of the season.

I'm all about the scandal, but this is way off the charts. Check out this blog from the Portland Oregonian's John Canzano. It seems that Mike Bellotti's wife became a press box Mike Gundy on Saturday.

This is so wrong on so many levels. A mother, apparently with alcohol on her breath, complaining about stories done on her son, who has two DUIs.

Big ups to Oregon SID Dave Williford, who had to post a security guard near Canzano's spot in the press box. Folks, that's our office, not a free-fire zone, no matter how much you've had to drink.

• LSU-Alabama is going to be soooo great on Saturday. For one, the BCS can't win. If No. 3 (in the BCS) LSU triumphs, it continues to sneak up on No. 2 Boston College. A one-loss team running down an undefeated team with a national championship at stake. If Alabama wins, that rips up everything too. We'll have a new team at No. 3 -- or higher if Ohio State and/or Boston College lose. Could it be Arizona State, Oregon, West Virginia?

All of Tiger Nation seems to have it in personally for Nick Saban, but I don't understand. It wasn't a true jilt job like Tommy Tuberville going from Ole Miss to Auburn. Saban did spend a couple of years with the Dolphins. Besides, how can you deny a man his $5 million shot at the NFL. As Sabes reminded us, he took a pay cut to come back to the college game. That had to mean cutting back on a Porsche or two.

Each team has had a week off to prepare, which means Les Miles has had time to think. Prepare to be shocked.

• No. 9 Missouri (7-1) could play four neutral site games this year. It has played in St. Louis (Illinois), it will play in Kansas City (Kansas, Nov. 24), it could play in the Big 12 title game (San Antonio) and whatever bowl game it plays in.

• Notre Dame and Washington are 1-2 in collegebcs.com's strength of schedule ratings. A lot of good that has gotten them. Combined records: 3-13.

• So, we're driving on the 205 near the Portland Airport Saturday night minding our own business. Four sportswriters loopy on gas station sandwiches and A&W root beer.

Some random slacker sticks half of his body out of the side of a beat-up Jeep Cherokee up ahead and proceeds to -- oh, what to call it? -- woof, ralph, honk, blow chunks, call the bears, technicolor yawn, all over the rental car.

Mind you, we were a few car lengths behind the Jeep Vomitorium. It's not my rental car so what do I care? Believe me, I care, especially when highway safety is involved. Check my sterling record. No speeding tickets since ... well, never mind.

I care because, for one, it was bud Matt Hayes' rental. The Sporting News' fine scribe got tired and asked for backup so I went into Papelbon mode and tried to close the last 40 miles or so.

I can't tell you how offensive this yacking thing is. It's like somebody spitting in your face. Only you're driving 60 mph and there is just a thin layer of glass between you and semi-digested bits of a 7-11 burrito. Since I hadn't had the requisite amount of training hours in Matt's Ford Escape, I fumbled for the wipers and washers. My only weapons, as scum built up in front of us, were a horn and the brights.

I know that kind of thing can get you road raged into a ditch but I was acting on instinct. You know, you get thrown up on, you fight back. After finally finding the washers, I tried to get around Team Vomit as quickly as possible. To my surprise they were flipping us off and yelling out the window as we passed.

Dude, you threw up on us. I'm missing something here.

Lessons learned: 1) Avoid Portland highways after sundown. All that microbrew has to go somewhere; 2) keep enough car lengths away from the bong-toting Eddie Vedders in front of you; 3) Always in such cases, don't try removing your XM radio magnetized antenna from the top of the car without those disposable surgical gloves.

Splatter sucks.

If that's the No. 2 team in the nation then I'm Doug Flutie.

Actually that was the No. 2 team -- for now -- and Matt Ryan was Doug Flutie for a second there.

Boston College lives but only after Ryan channeled the greatest play in BC history Thursday night. Twenty-three years after Flutie hit Gerard Phelan, Ryan hit Andre Callender. Or more accurately, Virginia Tech hit a wall.

The Hokies, figuring their work was done, let BC rally from 10 down with 2:11 left. BC is still alive in this crazy season but shouldn't be. Ryan played two series all night. Two. For the rest of the game he let the weather conditions and Virginia Tech's defense dictate. But it was enough to win 14-10 in the biggest anti-upset of the season.

For three consecutive weeks, the nation's No. 2-ranked team had lost. Virginia Tech was 11 seconds away from making it four straight weeks.

I don't know what happened on that third-and-20 pass from Ryan to Callender but it wasn't anything good. BC won improbably to stay undefeated, to stay No. 2 (at least until Sunday) and to set up one of those BCS situations that is going to make New England choke on its Samuel Adams.

If No. 3 LSU keeps winning (it is idle this week) it's very possible that the one-loss Tigers could pass undefeated BC at some point in the BCS standings. Again, that's assuming BC stays No. 2. It will still be up to the pollsters and computers to decide if the Eagles still deserve that position on Sunday after stinking it up for most of the night.

That's getting ahead of things. The Eagles, now 8-0, still have to go to Maryland and Clemson in November. There could be a rematch with Virginia Tech in the ACC title game.

One thing is certain: BC fans will eat it up. A quick check of the Internet on Thursday night showed a cheesy Phelan-Flute lithograph still selling for $73.95.

By cheesy, I mean bad quality, ugly. Sort of like BC's win.

Look for these names to be considered if Texas A&M makes a move on Dennis Franchione:

• Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans head coach: Played and coached at A&M

• Jim Leavitt, South Florida: His name will appear on a lot of lists, but Leavitt isn't leaving.

• Mike Sherman, Texans offensive coordinator: Coached A&M's offensive line in 1995 and 1996.

• Tommy Tuberville, Auburn: Mentioned from the moment Fran got on the hot seat. Depends on who you talk to. Some think Tubs would leave Auburn yesterday to get away from meddling booster Bobby Lowder. Some think he'll stay.

• Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: If Spurrier figures out he can't get it done, does he go to a more powerful program?

• The two sides have patched things up after Saturday's seemingly heinous chop block of LSU's Glenn Dorsey. Auburn freshman guard Chaz Ramsey dived at Dorsey's knee while the defensive tackle was engaged with another Auburn blocker.

After the play Dorsey left the field, never to return.

"It is important that everybody understands that kind of thing is immoral," said LSU coach Les Miles.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville told Miles that the players involved "were sick over it" and that no "malice" was intended. Miles, a former offensive lineman, seems to be at peace with the situation. No word on when Dorsey will return, although the Tigers are off this week.

• Hawaii's best chance at playing in a BCS bowl might be tied to Michigan.

Non-BCS schools have to finish in the top 12 to automatically qualify for one of 10 spots in the BCS bowls. However, Hawaii would only have to finish in the top 16 if one of the six BCS conference champions finishes below it.

Michigan is currently No. 20 in the BCS and tied with Ohio State for the Big Ten lead. Hawaii is No. 17 in the BCS but should be jumped by Michigan even if both teams keep winning.

Here's where Hawaii must root for Michigan to lose, once, before meeting Ohio State. If the Wolverines come into the Ohio State game (assuming the Buckeyes are spotless as well in the Big Ten) with one conference loss, it could claim the Big Ten BCS berth in a tiebreaker. Both teams would be 7-1 but Michigan would have the head-to-head tiebreaker.

At that point, a three-loss Michigan (9-3) could fall behind an unbeaten Hawaii (12-0) in the BCS. In that scenario Hawaii almost certainly would be ranked in the top 16. Hello, Fiesta Bowl for the Warriors?

• There is mounting evidence against Notre Dame's knee-jerk reaction to replace Tyrone Willingham after the 2004 season. The days of the el blindo domers saying the school had to do something back then are over. Using that logic, Notre Dame has to do something now.

(Numbers courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News)

Through 33 games at Notre Dame

Both coaches are 20-13

Record vs. USC

Both coaches are 0-3

Record vs. Michigan

Willigham, 2-1 Weis, 1-2

Records vs. ranked opponents

Willingham, 7-8 Weis, 4-8

Other Weis tidbits

• Worst loss to USC (38-0)

• Worst home loss in 51 games (same)

• Worst start ever (0-5)

• Worst start since 1960 (both 1-7)

• Worst opening-day loss (33-3 to Georgia Tech)

If Willingham was fired because the program had slumped, then what is happening with Weis? Start with seven years left on a 10-year contract and the promise of future recruiting classes that might -- no, better -- pay off.

Apparently there is no clause in Butch Davis' contract allowing him to leave for Arkansas as I wrote last week. At least for public consumption. As a couple of people have pointed out, that means there could be an addendum somewhere below the surface. According to a spokesman, Davis and the school deny there is any other agreement mentioned Arkansas as an out.

There is language about a $2 million buyout if he leaves for the NFL or another I-A school before certain dates.

The center of the report is still intact. Tyson CEO John Tyson still would like to woo Davis to Arkansas.

First evidence that those California wildfires are impacting college football.

"We're monitoring the air quality to tell you the truth," USC's Pete Carroll said Tuesday. "We'll try to figure it out before we go out today. They're nowhere near where we are but we are watching it."

• Carroll talked about his team in general on the Pac-10 conference call.

Why USC isn't as dominant as it once was:

"We've never played with a backup quarterback in all the time we've been here. We've never had to. The inexperience at the wide recievers. We've always had a mixture of guys to bring the young guys along.

"We had a couple of Heisman Trophy winners here that made a difference. That was a factor ... It's hard to replace those numbers.

"When we were starting up (in 2001), Washington and Oregon were the top teams year in and year out. But now all of the teams are difficult. We have had by far our most difficult games in conference. The familiarity just seems to have brought us closer together.

On injuries:

"At linebacker we're back to full strength. (Brian) Cushing played about 30 plays last week. At quarterback we'll wait and see how we're doing, John (David Booty) is going to practice today and wait and see how he's doing. Then we'll wait until tomorrow (Wednesday) to see how he responds. In the meantime, Mark (Sanchez) will take all the first team snaps."

• All is not lost for South Florida (or West Virginia) or the Big East.

In fact things are working out nicely for a league that has never had more than one team in the BCS. If South Florida and West Virginia win out (both are 6-1 overall, 1-1 in the league), there could be one of those weird BCS finishes that make people grind their teeth.

The Bulls would get the automatic BCS bid having beaten West Virginia head-to-head on September 28. However, the Mountaineers would likely be higher ranked in the BCS. This week West Virginia is No. 8; South Florida No. 10.

So high by then, it would be possible for West Virginia to play for the national championship despite not winning its conference. Technically, the teams would be co-champs but South Florida would get that automatic bid.

Not exactly Oklahoma in 2003 (which lost the Big 12 title game but still played LSU in the BCS championship game) or Nebraska in 2001 (finished second in its division, didn't even play in the Big 12 title game, but played Miami for the national championship), but still interesting. That giant hole still exists in the BCS. You don't have to win your league to play for it all.

• Big East officials are trying to make it rain at UConn. Connecticut benefited from the worst non-call this season Friday against Louisville.

Huskies' punt returner Larry Taylor clearly stuck up his right arm signaling for a fair catch in the first half. The Louisville defender Bilal Powell pulled up as did several players on both sides. Taylor didn't and raced 74 yards for a touchdown that basically was the difference in UConn's 21-7 victory.

After a few minutes of confusion, the play was allowed to stand (fair catch signals cannot be reviewed). Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe was dumbfounded and used his second timeout of the first half to argue with referee Randy Smith.

NCAA rules consider it a fair catch only if the player waves his hand above his head more than once. It's debatable whether Taylor even waved his hand once, but he did raise seemingly trying to deke the Cardinals. In that case, NCAA rules state, it is an "invalid fair catch signal" and the ball cannot be advanced.

Woops, sounds like some suspensions are in order for Big East officials.

"I really didn't put my hand up," Taylor told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I was playing a mind game with the defender."

Hilarious. What it means for now is that UConn is alone in first place in the Big East, still alive for a $17 million BCS bowl payout that wouldn't have been possible without the officiating gaffe. Given UConn's remaining schedule, it's unlikely the Huskies will win the league but who is to say in this crazy season?

More important for Louisville (4-4), the Cardinals are in danger of missing a bowl because of the botched call.

• Tulane senior Matt Forte now leads the league in rushing after a 342-yard performance against SMU. His numbers so far project to a 2,161-yard season. That would be the fourth-highest single-game total behind Troy Davis (2,185), Marcus Allen (2,342) and Barry Sanders (2,628).

Don't think it isn't possible. Tulane has only one team left on its schedule that is currently in the top 55 in rushing defense -- East Carolina (No. 55, 144.8 yards per game), Texas-El Paso (No. 77, 168.9), Memphis (No. 81, 176.4), Rice (No. 92, 191.4), Tulsa (No. 104, 206.7).

• I have to respond to this feedback from "Bubba Prohn" on my Sunday Seven story.

Les Miles should be dunked in the Mississippi? I've said it before and I'll say it again, that play call was not that big of a gamble. Dodd said (LSU's Demetrius) Byrd caught the ball with 1 second left? Not true Dodd. If anybody, including Dodd, actually watched the play CLOSELY, Byrd caught the ball and hit the ground with four seconds left, slid a ways, and as he was getting up the clock stopped at 1 second. Being as it was played in Death Valley, I would bet my life savings that had that pass been incomplete, juggled or whatever, the person running the game clock would have hit that switch a lot faster than he did. So no matter what would have happened, as long as there wasn't an INT, LSU was going to have a chance at a field goal.

Me: So Bubba you're going to base your argument on a friendly timekeeper at LSU?

That's incredibly stupid. I've heard that argument from a couple of people since Saturday night. What if Byrd had bobbled the ball and caught it? What if the defender had tipped it? What if it was a jump ball, and the players fought over it until the clock ran out? What if there was an interception?

Your argument is an incredibly ignorant one. The call was extremely reckless and should have ruined LSU's season. Not only was the decision wrong, it was doubly dumb because the ball was snapped with eight seconds left! Are you kidding me? I would have at least called a timeout to talk about it.

Using your logic, Cal's Kevin Riley was relying on a friendly timekeeper too when he scrambled against Oregon State on Oct. 13. You've got to watch the whole country and the whole game.

I'd take your life savings now but I'm not sure it would buy me lunch.

Butch Davis is having second thoughts about the Arkansas job. He's trying to decide if it's worth it to leave North Carolina after a year to take over Arkansas.

There is a larger issue here. Arkansas is stuck in the middle of the pack in the SEC because it left the Southwest Conference 15 years ago. It didn't have any choice back then as the SWC was breaking up. But it is suffering the consequences now.

No matter whom the AD is, Arkansas is stuck in the middle of a powerful conference. It's not quite good enough to win it and not quite bad enough to tank it.

Whoever the new coach is, he will have to deal with the fact that the SEC West is a mother. In any given year, the Hogs are going to have to beat out LSU and Auburn to get to the SEC title game.

• In other news, there are indications that Chan Gailey is out at Georgia Tech no matter what. Gailey has told at least one coach on his staff that he is going to be fired after this season.

• Memphis coach Tommy West and AD R.C. Johnson might be in trouble too.

• How about that on Friday? UConn is in first place in the Big East after beating Louisville.

Commissioner Mike Tranghese, though, is going to have a problem on his hands. UConn was awarded a touchdown on a punt return on a play when the Huskies returner clearly signaled for a fair catch.

Sit down for this one. North Carolina's Butch Davis apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave for Arkansas without a penalty. It's no secret that Davis is tight with Arkansas board of trustees member John Tyson (CEO of the chicken empire).

Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis played briefly for Arkansas and still has a lot of ties within the state. He wouldn't leave North Carolina after one season, would he?

Before you answer, consider that things are going very, very badly for Houston Nutt right now. The Razorbacks are 3-3 (0-3 in the SEC) heading to Ole Miss.

• It's obvious voters have to be educated about South Florida.

"They're good, that's what I know about them," Jim Tressel told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I have to learn a little bit, because I have a vote, OK, and I haven't been the greatest voter in the past."

Try last season when Tressel falsely told us he had voted Texas No. 1 before a game against the Longhorns. The "mix up" was blamed on Ohio State staffer Stan Jefferson handling the ballot. Tressel had actually voted Ohio State No. 1.

• Got a call from the Butkus people (best linebacker). They wanted my top 10 semifinalists. Look, I'm all for honoring the best and brightest, but I have this about letting the season finish! We are officially at the halfway point in the season, and we're picking the best linebacker?

Just a pet peeve of mine. Guys don't deserve recognition after six or seven games.

Another name popped up today in the Nebraska search. Navy coach Paul Johnson runs a lot of the option stuff that Tom Osborne did in his quarter century. Johnson definitely gets the most out of his players and has a small recruiting base to work with, like Nebraska.

Also, if Tommy Tuberville leaves for Texas A&M, which is becoming more and more likely, look for Bobby Petrino to parachute in from the Atlanta Falcons. Things are collapsing around Petrino in Atlanta. And he knows he is loved in Auburn.

If not Petrino, then watch for Jimbo Fisher to get a long, hard look.

Nebraska has to decide what it wants before it decides to go get it.

By that I mean does Nebraska want a head coach, a coordinator or an accomplished assistant to take over its program? That's why Tom Osborne was hired as interim AD. I heard a Nebraska flak Tuesday say that Osborne, after careful examination, might keep Bill Callahan.

That flak's acid trip will be wearing off any day now.

Osborne was hired for one reason -- to guide the football program through the Callahan transition. Period. He's not there to oversee the volleyball team's travel budget. He's there to save the Hope Diamond of Nebraska culture.

Believe or not, chasing a head coach might actually limit Nebraska's talent pool. Sure, a Terry Bowden or a Gary Barnett would come, but would they be a good fit? There's a lot of sitting head coaches who would come but the same question applies.

Assistants are, well, assistants. They've never run a program. Certainly not a program like Nebraska where the culture is different than anywhere else. Even Callahan seemed a bit overwhelmed at times.

If Nebraska hires an assistant then the guy will, in a way, have to be learning on the job. I've seen this a bunch of times. There's always this moment when a new coach sits behind his desk, sees all that he has before him and says, "OK, what do I do now?" It hits them all at once.

A head coach comes in knowing what is expected, to an extent. I use the example of Dennis Erickson who has had more jobs than I have toes. Look how quickly he turned around Arizona State.

I'm not saying Erickson is coming to Lincoln, but it might take someone like him. I had another coach tell me that the new coach would have to hire a "Gene Chizik-like" defensive coordinator because that's where most of the problems seem to be right now.

You better believe agents are burning up the phone lines to Lincoln right now. It's to the point now that some of the top assistants have their own agents. I had one call me this week to pimp his guys.

There seems to be a feeling out there that the new guy has to have some kind of Nebraska background. Big mistake. The new guy has to run the spread option (everybody does), play solid defense and recruit.

It's amazing. A couple of years ago Nebraska had a stellar 31-man class that was ranked third in the country. What happened to all those guys?

Just scatter-shooting here, but here are some names that make sense to me:

Bo Pelini, LSU defensive coordinator: Much has been written and said already. He'd be great with Nebraska. The school just has to decide if it wants a head coach.

Terry Bowden, radio analyst: He wants it, he'd take it, but I got the feeling Nebraska would have to call him first. Bowden is not going to put himself out there unless he knows he is wanted.

Steve Sarkisian, USC offensive coordinator: Turned down the Raiders at the last minute, so at least Al Davis thinks he's ready to be a head coach. Young (early 30s) but ready to take the plunge. Great quarterback coach, energetic, definitely can recruit.

Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: Why not? If I'm TO I take the shot. All Spur Dog can do is say no. Nebraska has a lot more resources than South Carolina. Spurrier would get things turned around, pronto.

Brian Kelly, Cincinnati: This year's Greg Schiano. A young, up-and-comer who has won a couple of Division II titles and a MAC championship. Still in the running for a Big East title in his first year at Cincinnati, which started 6-0 before losing to Louisville.

Jimbo Fisher, Florida State offensive coordinator: If things don't work out at Florida State (and it's looking like they won't), this bright offensive mind might next want to jump to Nebraska as head coach or coordinator.

Will Muschamp, Auburn defensive coordinator: Ready to take the next step after being the right hand man for both Nick Saban and Tommy Tuberville. In two seasons under Muschamp the Tigers defense has allowed more than 20 points in only three games.

Willie Martinez, Georgia defensive coordinator: Like Muschamp, it might be too early for Martinez to jump to a program like Nebraska. But it couldn't hurt either party for him to interview.

Turner Gill, Buffalo: I've floated his name twice already this week. It occurs to me that it's way too early for a guy who is 5-14 in his career.

• Interesting comparison between Frank Solich and Bill Callahan through their first 44 games at Nebraska.

• South Florida offensive lineman Walter Walker is trying to persuade teammates never to use the N-word. Walker, who is black, was inspired by a recent Internet column and spoke to teammates about ridding the lockerroom and field of the deragatory word.

"Being a sociology major, these things are close to my heart," Walker told the Tampa Tribune. "These issues of humanity, the human condition, I think ought to be important to everyone."

• Quick add to my midway point story: I've hit on three of the six upsets I picked in August.

Georgia Tech over Notre Dame, South Florida over West Virginia and Illinois over Penn State. Still to come, Alabama over Auburn. However, it's way too early to tell who would be favored in that game.

• Someone remind me who or what exactly is suffering at Indiana basketball. Kelvin Sampson is sacrificing a $500,000 raise, in other words money he never had and, frankly, money he hardly needs. The school also docked itself a scholarship, hardly a program breaker in a sport where the last five guys on the bench do little more than fill out practice jerseys.

And if Sampson said the three-way (still snickering at that one) calls were inadvertent, then why did he agree to the financial penalty? Either he did wrong or he didn't. By accepting the penalty, Sampson is admitting he cheated.

One e-mailer to the Indianapolis Star came up with the perfect cheer for fans in opposing Big Ten arenas. "Kel-vin, Sanc-tions (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)."

• Good for Ron Zook who was extended three years and given a $450,000 raise to $1.5 million per year. Zook's contract now runs through the 2012 season. He is the fifth-highest paid coach in the Big Ten. Charlie Weis still holds the modern record, though, for extensions. Seven games into his career at Notre Dame in 2005 he got a five-year extension and raise.

• Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhardt swears he was close to hiring Bill Parcells in 2003 before landing Rich Brooks. Who would you rather have now?

This is what a 48-point loss to Kansas will do to a guy. This was in the Waco Tribune-Herald:

By Tim Woods
Tribune-Herald staff writer

It was unclear Monday what, if any, discipline Baylor University officials will hand down to an assistant football coach cited early Sunday for allegedly urinating on the bar at a watering hole frequented by Baylor students.

Eric Schnupp, Baylor’s offensive line/tight ends coach, was issued a citation at 2:20 a.m. for disorderly conduct-reckless exposure at Scruffy Murphy’s, 1226 Speight Ave., said Waco police spokesman Steve Anderson.

The citation was a Class C misdemeanor, carrying a $258 fine, according to a Waco Municipal Court spokeswoman.

The alleged incident happened around closing time, as employees were getting patrons out of the bar, said bartender Danny Severe, who was working at the time.

Severe said an employee witnessed Schnupp urinating on the bar, and a manager told police, who were already at the bar for an unrelated matter.

“While we were kicking everybody out, he apparently thought that nobody was looking and whipped it out and (urinated) on the bar,” Severe said. “He tried to deny it, but there was definitely a puddle and there was no one else around him.”

Severe said Schnupp had taken several shots of hard liquor, most bought for him by other people. Severe said bartenders had not directly served any liquor to Schnupp between 1 and 2 a.m.

Baylor associate athletics director Nick Joos said Monday morning that a call from the Tribune-Herald was the first time Baylor officials had heard about Schnupp’s citation.

After discussions with athletics director Ian McCaw and head football coach Guy Morriss, Joos said, “We are aware of the situation involving Coach Schnupp and discipline will be handled internally. Since this is a university personnel issue, neither Coach Morriss nor Baylor Athletics will comment further on this situation.”

Joos wouldn’t say what disciplinary measures are being considered, but said “I can tell you that Coach Morriss is taking this issue very seriously.”

Schnupp, in his first year as a Baylor coach, played football for the University of Miami from 1995-2000 and previously coached at West Texas A&M University.

He traveled with the team to Lawrence, Kan., where they were defeated by the Kansas Jayhawks, 58-10, Saturday afternoon. The team returned from Kansas by 9 p.m.

Severe said Schnupp appeared to be with three or four men but didn’t know if they were associated with the team.

Anderson did not have further details about the incident, as no report was filed for the misdemeanor citation.

Editor’s note: Staff writer Tim Woods works part-time at Scruffy Murphy’s but was not present during the incident.

Is it possible to witness your own funeral?

Bill Callahan did that today, waving a fond farewell to Lincoln and Nebraska. Oh what, you didn't hear? Oklahoma State dropped a nuclear bomb on Memorial Stadium 45-14, effectively ending the Callahan era. It also ends the Steve Pederson era and everything about him.

It was Pederson who waited 47 days to hire Callahan who wasn't exactly playing possum at the time. He was out of a job having been fired by the Oakland Raiders.

The final score actually cleans it up a little bit. It was 38-0 at halftime -- IN LINCOLN. It was the worst home loss in 49 years.

So what's next? Nebraska won't wait around. No move will be made on Callahan during the season but president Harvey Pearlman could be making the next hire with no AD to lean on.

Not that it would matter. Expect the name of one Tom Osborne to pop up as either an interim or permanent AD. No administrative experience? I think being a state representative and head coach for 25 years qualifies TO.

So who IS the next coach? Bo Pelini has to top the list. The LSU defensive coordinator is the best at his job right now. He was Nebraska's DC for one season (2003) and already is the most successful HEAD coach in Husker history (1-0). Pelini coached Nebraska to the '03 Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan State.

Other names:

Terry Bowden, radio analyst -- A great hire. Bowden would be a perfect fit. Bobby's son already has made it clear he wants back in the game. He'd bring plenty of big-time recruits to Nebraska, immediately.

Turner Gill, Buffalo -- The former Nebraska great is doing great things at Buffalo in only his second season. The Bulls are 3-1 in the MAC East (3-4 overall).

Chris Peterson, Boise State -- If he wants to cash in big time this would be the job. Peterson is young, innovative and would bring 30-year-old D coordinator Justin Wilcox with him.

Brent Venables, Oklahoma -- Seven years ago he was 29 and too young to be hired at Missouri. Now, if Pelini is No. 1, Venables is 1A among defensive coordinators.

When it rains, it pours -- sleaze.

First, USC loses to Stanford. Now it seems that a sports marketer/convicted felon Lloyd Lake is ready to talk to the NCAA about the Reggie Bush situation.

Here's how this is going to go down: Lake already has threatened a lawsuit. Partner Michael Michaels settled with Bush in April.

Bush is going to settle with Lake before he ever gets in front of an NCAA investigator. According to the Los Angeles Times story, USC officials refused to sit in on a meet with Lake and the NCAA.

The school is trying to distance itself and is probably thinking like I am. Lake just wants his money. He is playing this card to force Bush to pay.

It will happen. My prediction is that this never reaches the critical stage for USC. There's too much to clean up on the football field, already.

• It looks like Mark Sanchez is going to make his first career start after USC's John David Booty broke the middle finger on his throwing hand against Stanford.

Sanchez, a redshirt sophomore, could be the savior of the season or an inexperienced newcomer. This much is certain: What Booty was doing wasn't working -- six interceptions in the last two games.

Three years ago Sanchez was the nation's No. 1 prospect but got caught behind Booty. Booty's injury seems to come at a "convenient" time. If he wasn't injured Booty's job might be on the line.

"If he went out and struggled this week in practice and wasn't very good and Mark played good, then yeah, it might be a topic of conversation," offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said.

•  How big a gambler is Les Miles? Huge, but at least he's successful. In his three seasons, LSU has converted 79 percent of its fourth-down tries. In the previous 10 years, LSU teams converted 41 percent of their fourth downs.

Much has been made of Miles going five-for-five on fourth down tries Saturday against Florida. LSU is now six-for-six for the season.

•  Way, way below the radar Louisiana-Monroe's Calvin Dawson is leading the country with 10 consecutive 100-yard rushing games.

Dawson is way below radar because the Warhawks play in the Sun Belt and are 1-4. But the Bossier City, La. native has rushed for 100-plus in five consecutive games against BCS schools (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Clemson and Texas A&M).

Only five other backs have rushed for at least 100 in all their games this season -- Mike Hart (Michigan), Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (Arkansas) and Kevin Smith (Central Florida).

• Strange. Oklahoma's Sam Bradford can take apart Miami. He can stand in against Texas, but apparently he isn't mentally tough to speak to reporters.

Bradford's only access for media, per Bob Stoops, is after games. Pity, we'd like to know more about the nation's pass efficiency leader.

•  Any biker knows not to ride on a flat tire. It can be a lot more dangerous that driving on a rim in a car.

Mike Leach isn't exactly a "biker." He broke his arm after falling off his bicycle that was running on a flat tire.

• Speaking of crazy stuff at Texas Tech. Leach complained last week his quarterback Graham Harrell and freshman receiver Michael Crabtree weren't getting Heisman attention.

This line appeared in the wire story describing Crabtree breaking the freshman touchdown-catching record (15), "Crabtree, who was not made available to the media ..."

Hmmm, that might explain when your boys aren't getting more love, Mike. You're muting them.

• Colorado has run almost half its plays (205 or 45 percent) in the opponent's territory.

• Arizona State's Dennis Erickson is tied for the fifth-best start (6-0) from a first-year coach in Pac-10 history. The record is 9-0 by Cal's Leonard Allison (1935) and Stanford's Charles Taylor (1951).

• Kansas' Aqib Talib has scored in six consecutive games. Not especially notable until you consider Talib is a preseason All-American cornerback.

• Boise State is fourth nationally in scoring defense (12.2 points) and beating opponents by 25.2 points per game. Last season's forever team allowed 17.6 points per game and beat opponents by 22 points per game.

And, no, I didn't forget Ron Zook in the Sunday 7. It's just that when Stanford beats USC it tends to limit your options for the above-ground stuff. So welcome to the underground, where blogging is so much more fun.

The Zooker teared up a little on television saying the win over Wisconsin was "the biggest since Florida State." That would have been 2004, when Florida beat FSU in Zook's final game with the Gators. Zook had been fired four weeks earlier but stayed on to finish out the season while AD Jeremy Foley hunted for Urban Meyer.

Now in his third season, Zook has pulled off what looks like a miraculous turnaround at Illinois. He coached up turnover machine Juice Williams at quarterback. Defensive back Vontae Davis came out of the Washington, D.C., are to terrorize Big Ten opponents.

"We're on our revenge tour, beating a lot of teams that beat us last year," said Rashard Mendenhall, who scored three times against the Badgers. "It feels great, and I think we're opening some eyes."

Illinois hasn't beaten ranked opponents in consecutive weeks since 1959. Zook never started 5-1 at Florida. The program hasn't started that well since 2001, and the 3-0 Big Ten start is the best conference start since 1990. Zook worked his magic once more when Illinois popped into the AP poll at No. 18 and the coaches poll at 19.

• While we're throwing roses here, both offensive coordinators called great games Saturday night at LSU. Gary Crowton and Dan Mullen kept the opposing defenses off balance all night. Crowton was clearly miscast in the pros, where offensive creativity isn't valued.

Mullen is actually using Tebow perfectly. After watching Tebow shoulder the load again, I'm realizing that's Florida's best chance to win, Tailback Kestahn Moore did rush 12 times for 79 yards, keeping the Tigers off balance. But it's amazing to me how resilient, fast and tough Tebow is. How many quarterbacks lower their shoulder trying to pick up an extra yard near the sideline?

His pocket presence is magnificent. Tebow knows when to hang in and knows just when to bust out and scramble. The Heisman is largely a function of your team's record, but if Florida goes 10-2, I could definitely see him picking up the hardware as a sophomore.

• It's time to start considering some defensive candidates. I nominate LSU linebacker Ali Highsmith, who was all over the field against Florida. It's either Highsmith or tackle Glenn Dorsey. LSU continues to be No. 1 in total defense despite giving up a season high in rushing yards and points.

• Kansas and Missouri remain the only undefeated teams in the Big 12. The last time the two schools were each unbeaten this late in the season was 1905.

• Now that Missouri is the Big 12 North favorite, it's time to consider coach Gary Pinkel's record against top 25 teams at Mizzou: 2-15.

• South Florida struggled to beat a Sun Belt team (Florida Atlantic) in a high school stadium (Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale). So what are the Bulls doing tied with Oklahoma at No. 5 in the coaches poll? Who else are you going to put up there? Eleven AP top 25 teams lost.

• It's hard to remember back that far, but Friday, Louisville melted down again. Utah survived 44-35 at Papa John's Stadium.

That's another way of asking: How bad is the Cardinals' defense? Utah had more yards in the first half (337) than it had been averaging all season (307). Utah is one of the strangest cases of the first half. The Utes beat UCLA by 38, have been shut out by UNLV and won on the road at Louisville.

• Springsteen has done it again with his new release Magic. I've been rocking to it since picking it up Tuesday.

It's his best work, I think, since Darkness on the Edge of Town in 1978. Bruce lets each member of the E Street Band stretch out and create like the old days. Clarence Clemons' sax is back like it was on "Born to Run". There are hints of Jungleland in Roy Bittan's expansive keyboards. Little Steve Van Zandt proved once again that his first vocation is a master guitarist, not necessarily a heavy on the Sopranos.

I first heard Bruce in '73-74 thereabouts on the cult hit Kitty's Back. During one of my first days on campus at Missouri in '77, I heard the Born to Run album blaring out of a dorm room, and I was hooked. On Thanksgiving 1978, I saw him live for the first time and, well, it was a religious experience. Twenty-nine years later, I can see that one spotlight shining down on Bruce as he sang Point Blank at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis.

For an entire school year in '78-79 we set speakers out on the deck of our student apartment and blasted Darkness.

I'm rambling but pay particular attention on the new disc to Girls in Their Summer Clothes and Gypsy Biker. Bruce's appeal has always been that you could listen to his music at a family picnic on the Fourth of July or jam to him at a house party in the dead of winter.

To ask the great man's question myself: Is there anybody alive out there?

Yes, and thank you.

• Sorry for the Peter King-like blog/rant/filibuster, but there you go.

You know your baseball career is over when you're in an independent league being traded from Fort Worth to Laredo.

That's the short story on Rice's James Casey, who should be leading the Heisman race going into the weekend. You might have noticed Casey on Wednesday night when he played four different positions for Rice.

Casey, a 23-year-old freshman, enrolled in January after playing minor league baseball for four years. The White Sox had drafted Casey in the seventh round in 2003.

As you can see by the independent league experience, the baseball thing didn't work out for the 6-foot-4, 245 pounder from Azle, Texas.

Football did. In a 31-29 victory over Southern Miss, Casey played defensive end, quarterback, receiver and running back. The new Roy Hobbs threw an interception, rushed 12 times for 38 yards and caught two balls for 16. On defense, he had three tackles that included 1.5 for loss.

"I'm exhausted," Casey told the Houston Chronicle. "I wasn't expecting to get in that much on defense. The coaching staff pushed me this week and I was told them I was willing."

Casey arrived as a defensive end (he's listed as a tight end in the media guide) because the staff didn't know where else to put him. He badgered coaches to try him at quarterback, which they did on spot occasions.

Casey is one of the those last-guy-on-the-field players. He'll pester teammates to play catch. When they leave, he punts to himself catching the boots one-handed.

Beats beating around the bushes.

• Rice had converted no points in getting six turnovers through its first four games. Southern Miss turned it over seven times on Wednesday. Rice got 24 points from those turnovers in winning its first game.

• This is what a blog is for. Thanks to Barry Switzer and James Carville for their help on Thursday's college football insider. Please listen to their XM Radio shows. Both appear on Channel 144, XM Sports Nation.

That's strange. On Monday, I'm talking to Florida's Tony Joiner about football and the next day Tony Joiner is talking to the cops about felony burglary.

Read the link. The owner of the tow lot says the arrest is a mistake but the cops, as of Wednesday morning, weren't agreeing. This is getting to be pretty damning stuff for Florida and Meyer. Joiner is the eighth player in the last nine months to have legal problems.

Joiner is the guy who two weeks ago was the hit of YouTube.com for kissing Tebow on the sidelines.

• Neither coach in the Florida-Auburn was upset about that bit of gamesmanship that allows coaches to ice kickers.

You saw Florida's Urban Meyer call an official over to his sideline and call timeout just as the ball was about to be snapped on Wes Byrum's field goal attempt. Byrum made the kick but timeout already had been called.

After the timeout Byrum made the kick over again to seal the Auburn win.

"That's good coaching, especially with a true freshman on the road for the first time," Auburn's Tommy Tuberville said. "I thought it was pretty heads up. Nobody's got anything new in this business.

"(That) gives them a practice shot, so to speak. To me it kind of works the nerves out a little bit."

• Brian Kelly's Big East debut was refusing to talk to a reporter at the conference's media day.

Let's put that in perspective: Here was a first-year coach in a small-market pro town trying to big time a writer who wanted to do a story on his team.

Kelly? His resume included a couple of Division II titles and a MAC championship, so to say he was big-timing the media would make the assumption that he was, well, big time.

It was up to both Cincinnati metros to send a staffer to Newport, R.I. They didn't. That's their prerogative. The reporter asking questions was a "stringer", hired by the Inquirer to write a story.

"Cincinnati doesn't get it yet," Kelly said that day. "They don't understand what we have."

Since that day, Kelly has stuck to coaching and has proven he is, indeed, big time. The Bearcats are 6-0 under Kelly (5-0 this season).

The chatty Kelly (really) has turned a dreary program that plays in a dank stadium (105-year old Nippert Stadium) into one of the season's early success stories.

The school's longest winning streak since 1954 (eight games) is on the line Saturday at Rutgers. Kelly has mixed that incredible confidence with a coast-to-coast offense. (He's stolen schemes from coast, he says) that averages 46.4 points.

Wake Forest transfer Ben Mauk was rated the fourth-best quarterback, at best, in the Big East before the season. Now he's the No. 4 passer in the nation. There's more help on the way. Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones will be in the mix next year.

The Bearcats just got through humiliating San Diego State and have a sellout waiting for them at the next home game against Louisville on Oct. 13.

Maybe Kelly was right. The media didn't know what Cincinnati had but, please, no more lectures. We'll cover. You keep winning.

• Add Washington State's Bill Doba to the hot seat list. The Cougars are sinking slowly in Doba's fifth year since he replaced Mike Price.

While Wazzu is 27-25 overall under Doba, the conference record is only 14-21. Since going 10-3 in his first season, Doba is 17-22.

The defense has seven first-year starters and ranks last in the Pac-10 in points (36.4), passing yards (288.4) and total yards (457.2).

Like Dennis Franchione, Doba has found himself having to deny he would resign during the season.

"No," he said. "I'm not a quitter."

Doba, 67, remains a sympathetic figure because he is a good guy who lost his wife a couple of years ago.

• The current BCS standings as assembled by collegeBCS.com. The first official standings will be released Oct. 14.

1. LSU .9807 2. USC .9585 3. Cal .8629 4. Ohio State .8515 5. Wisconsin .8013 6. Boston College .7525 7. South Florida .7180 8. Kentucky .6823 9. Florida .5840 10. South Carolina .5008 11. West Virginia .4965 12. Georgia .4515 13. Oklahoma .4309 14. Oregon .4227 15. Virginia Tech .4162

Observations: South Florida absolutely has a chance to play in the BCS title game. The Bulls are a surprising No. 7 this week. Two teams in front of them are guaranteed to lose. No. 3 Cal plays No. 2 USC and No. 4 Ohio State plays No. 5 Wisconsin.

How about a Cal-USC rematch in the BCS title game? Start with a close loss by either team on Nov. 10 in Berkeley. That still leaves enough time for the loser to get back into the top two.

Kentucky just about controls its own destiny in getting to the title game. Starting Thursday it plays three top 10 BCS teams in the space of 16 days. (No. 10 South Carolina, No. 1 LSU and No. 9 Florida)

No team has ever come from further back than No. 12 to get into the title game. That means Georgia, West Virginia and South Carolina are still in. Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia Tech are in danger of being out.

Hawaii is No. 18 and definitely in the hunt to get the No. 12 ranking it would need to automatically qualify for a BCS bowl. Eight teams ahead of it are guaranteed to lose because of head-to-head meetings in the top 17.

• For the first time, Andre Woodson moved to the head of the class of the Rocky Mountain News' Heisman poll. Ten media members with Heisman votes are polled each week. The total points are followed by first-place votes in parentheses.

1. Andre Woodson, Kentucky 41 (4) 2. Darren McFadden, Arkansas 35 (5) 3. Tim Tebow, Florida 21 4. DeSean Jackson, California 19 5. Matt Ryan, Boston College 14 6. John David Booty, USC 10 (1) 7. Curtis Painter, Purdue 4 8. P.J. Hill, Wisconsin 3 9. Brian Brohm, Louisville 1 10. Chase Daniel, Missouri 1 11. Percy Harvin, Florida 1

This ineligibility thing at Michigan is a bit disconcerting. The school might have to forfeit the Penn State game because an ineligible played the first four games of the season.

• Artis Chambers is a freshman from Indiana who played sparingly on special teams. The ineligibility apparently had to do with some summer school classes he took. Chambers enrolled in January.

It's not likely that Michigan will have to forfeit, but a Big Ten committee is looking into it.

This ineligibility thing at Michigan is a bit disconcerting. The school might have to forfeit the Penn State game because an ineligible played the first four games of the season.

Updating my column that is currently on the cfb home page, on Tuesday a judge has ordered the tree sitters to come down at Berkeley.

Cal had sought a court order citing "fire hazards, falling containers of excrement, and the increase of structures in the trees." If I was a judge the falling containers of excrement would do it without reading the rest of the complaint.

Cal is not out of the woods (a bad pun, shoot me). It still has to fight lawsuits filed by the city in order start construction on new athletic facilities.

I'm going to miss the naked guy, though.

Texas A&M apparently will check with the NCAA about the legality of VIP Connection, the secret website that public on Friday.

Check out some of these statements. Dennis Franchione actually addresses rumors about him retiring. These statements came from the university at 3:30 pm ET.

Texas A&M interim president Dr. Ed Davis:
"I have asked Bill Byrne and the athletic department, as well as our NCAA compliance officer, to urgently look into the matter of the VIP email list to ensure there are no violations of NCAA rules or regulations."

Director of Athletics Bill Byrne:
"I want to reinforce to members of the media and to our outstanding Aggie fans, I will not discuss matters pertaining to head coaches during their seasons. Everyone who knows me, and that includes our coaching staff, understands my goals and expectations.

I look forward to working with Coach Fran as our head football coach as we get ready to BTHO of Oklahoma State.

In regard to the VIP email list, we are gathering all of the information and we will release it in its entirety as soon as we possibly can."

Football coach Dennis Franchione:
"The last few days have produced many rumors and some misguided speculation about my status as head football coach at Texas A&M. I thought it would be helpful to address this issue today by making a statement to clear the air and leave no doubt about my intentions and status concerning this job.

Bill Byrne, as my boss and the athletic director, has affirmed me in every way, and has left no doubt that he has confidence in me and has every intention to help me succeed in building this football program, and for that I am deeply grateful.

I have no intention of resigning this position. I love this job, I love these players, I love this university, and my desire is to remain here and elevate this program to the highest level. We have a great nucleus already in place to accomplish these goals. I am confident we can get the job done.

With Bill Byrne's affirmation of my role here, and my commitment to the program, there is no more need to discuss this matter. My job is simply to coach these young men and to do the very best that they are capable of doing every Saturday on the football field. Nothing more, nothing less. I do not intend to discuss this matter further. As far as I am concerned, it's time to press on and get back to the business at hand."

I've never seen a catcher, runner and umpire all be wrong at the same time. That it occurred in the National League Wild Card Tiebreaker (all caps, baseball gets its way again), on national TV (OK, TBS) was incredible.

I'm shocked that more wasn't made of umpire Tim McClellan's blown call at home plate Monday that allowed the winning run to --- score? Well, no it wasn't that. Matt Holliday missed home plate in the Rockies' 9-8 victory. His hand was clearly blocked away by Padres catcher Michael Barrett.

Don't ask Holliday. After banging his chin in the dirt, he was halfway to Philadelphia, already woozy from whatever he did. McClellan's safe sign said he scored but with such non-conviction it was almost effeminate.

I was shocked too that the Padres didn't lose their cookies over this. At best, McClellan was out of position to make the call. He tiredly peered around Barrett to see the ball squirt free. T-Mac couldn't have seen Holliday's hand. No way.

Barrett deserves blame for not fielding Brian Giles' short-hop throw. Sure, it's a tough play but that's what catchers are paid to do. Do or die, with the season on the line, Barrett choked.

Holliday needs a lesson in sliding too. No way does he go into home plate like that head first. You've got to go in with your spikes flashing, son. Try to jar that ball loose, especially since it is the defensively-challenged Barrett.

McClellan blew the call, Barrett dropped the ball and Holliday never touched home plate. Cause for instant replay, you say? Let's go get Holliday out of the dugout. Make him stand by home plate. Put the ball five feet away from Barrett. Then turn back the clock and take away McClellan's safe sign.

As the ruling comes down from the press box -- which would be what, exactly, "No call"? -- watch the fun ensue. Holliday would be trying to juke Barrett in a scene that looks like a contrived game out of Fear Factor.

No, instant replay would not have solved this mess. This was a classic game. Too bad it was marred by a hat trick of errors.

Back to business

Now on to college football. I dug up a few tidbits before the national notes hit on Wednesday ...

•  Maryland backup quarterback Chris Turner is apparently the son of Ratt's original drummer

You remember Ratt, right? It was an '80s hair band you wouldn't be reading about right now had not Maryland QB Josh Portis been suspended for cheating on a test. Saturday's upset over Rutgers probably would have been his moment.

But what can you say about a kid with a stage mother who shuffled him from Florida to Maryland (after first being recruited by Urban Meyer at Utah)?

•  Tulsa receiver Brennan Marion has caught seven passes this season, four have gone for touchdowns. Six of the seven catches went for 35 yards or more.

More Tulsa: Gus Malzahn's offense is lighting up Conference USA. It is No. 4 nationally averaging 553 yards per game. More than that, the Golden Hurricane do not huddle which helps them average 79 offensive plays per game.

"(Linebacker) Nelson Coleman came off the field and said, 'Coach, ask Coach Malzahn if he can slow it down a bit," head coach Todd Graham said.

That's because Tulsa's offense operates so quickly that opponents are averaging 77 plays per game.

•  Tulane's 88 yards rushing Saturday were the most allowed by LSU this season. The Tigers still lead the NCAA allowing 39 yards per game.

• The Big Ten has had at least two teams in the top five of one of the polls for 13 of the last 18 weeks.

• Quick, how many of the 15 remaining unbeaten teams in I-A have played in a BCS bowl? Answer: Five -- Ohio State, Wisconsin, Purdue, USC and LSU.

• Wisconsin's Bret Bielema is only the second Big Ten coach to start his career at least 17-1. The other is Michigan's Fielding Yost who started 55-0-1 at Michigan from 1901-05.

•  The Pac-10's leading passer is Arizona's Willie Tuitama who is averaging 320 yards per game.

• Who is Hoost Marsh? The Wyoming receiver is the second-leading punt returner in Mountain West history (861 yards).

•  Stanford will make its first road trip of the season Saturday at USC. The Cardinal will be facing its third consecutive unbeaten team.

•  Not good news for Bill Doba. The Washington State coach is under increasing pressure in Pullman. His next four opponents are a combined 18-2 -- Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA, and Cal.

•  The Pac-10 has two teams in the top 10 nationally in rushing (Oregon, USC) but none in the top 10 in passing.

•  Am I the only one who thinks Memphis shouldn't be playing football Tuesday night after the shooting death of one of their players over the weekend? I've never been down with the athletics-as-healer thing.

Ball security I: Only San Jose State has not lost a fumble this season.

Ball security II: Wyoming threw five interceptions and lost two fumbles but came back from a 20-point deficit to beat Ohio 34-33 in its last game on Sept. 22.

Ball security III: What the hell does ball security mean? San Jose State is No. 18 in turnover margin and is 2-3. Wyoming is tied for 98th and is 3-1.