Andy

How much more money does LSU get for a Sugar Bowl bid than a Cotton Bowl? That's basically what John L. is handing LSU.

Mark Ingram, Gino Torretta, Chris Weinke, Jason White and Eric Crouch can't believe it's being alleged that the best players on the best team have a leg up on potentially more deserving candidates in Heisman voting.

Obvious holding there. (I'm kidding)

In less important but equally odd news, Boise State, San Diego State and BYU are talking about rejoining the Mountain West - in the former two's case, before they've even officially left.

9 conference games and drop ND for those that had them on the schedule. There's 12 other teams in the league besides those that have games scheduled with ND past 2014. Are none of them going to play a a marquee non-conference game?

Wait, before this, PSU and Illinois were the only teams in the Leaders division? Why are you mentioning PSU? I just pulled that from the "Onward State" Twitter feed, which is why it mentioned PSU.

With Miami self-imposing another bowl ban, Georgia Tech will play in the ACC title game, probably at 6-6. I legitimately can't believe that craptastic team won its division.

I was thinking they could dump the Kid Pix logo too. Surely some enterprising soul could cleverly fit 14 into a logo.

Maryland board has unanimously approved a B1G move, says Brett McMurphy on Twitter.

Lane Kiffin just confirmed Matt Barkley won't play Saturday.

Top 25 games ------------------------ (1) Notre Dame at USC (8 pm, ABC) Auburn at (2) Alabama (3:30 pm, CBS) Georgia Tech at (3) Georgia (12 pm, ESPN) (4) Florida at (10) Florida State (3:30 pm, ABC) (19) Michigan at (4*) Ohio State (12 pm, ABC) (5) Oregon at (15) Oregon State (3 pm, Pac-12 Network) (7) LSU at Arkansas (2:30 pm Friday, CBS) (8) Stanford at (17) UCLA (6:30 pm, FOX) Missouri at (9) Texas A&M (7 pm, ESPN2) (12) South Carolina at (11) Clemson (7 pm, ESPN) (21) Oklahoma State at (13) Oklahoma (3:30 pm, ESPN) (14) Nebraska at Iowa (12 pm Friday, ABC) TCU at (16) Texas (7:30 pm Thursday, ESPN) (18) Rutgers at Pittsburgh (12 pm, ESPN2) UConn at (20) Louisville (12 pm, SNY/ESPN3) Ohio at (23) Kent State (11 am Friday, ESPNU) Arizona State at (24) Arizona (10 pm Friday, ESPN) (25) Washington at Washington State (3:30 pm Friday, FOX) * Denotes AP ranking, ineligible for BCS Other nationally available games --------------------------------------- Akron at Toledo (7 pm Tuesday, ESPN2) Syracuse at Temple (11 am Friday, ESPN2) Ball State at Miami (OH) (1 pm Friday, ESPN3) Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan (1 pm Friday, ESPN3) Marshall at East Carolina (2 pm Friday, CBS Sports) Buffalo at Bowling Green (2 pm Friday, ESPN3) Utah at Colorado (3 pm Friday, FX) Central Michigan at UMass (3 pm Friday, ESPN3) West Virginia at Iowa State (3:30 pm Friday, ABC) South Florida at Cincinnati (7 pm Friday, ESPN) Tulsa at SMU (12 pm, FX) UAB at Central Florida (12 pm, FSN) Indiana at Purdue (12 pm, BTN – Regional) Illinois at Northwestern (12 pm, BTN – Regional) Virginia at Virginia Tech (12 pm, ESPNU) Kentucky at Tennessee (12:20 pm, SEC Network/ESPN3) Miami at Duke (12:30 pm, ACC Network/ESPN3) North Texas at Western Kentucky (1 pm, ESPN3) Baylor vs Texas Tech – in Arlington, TX (2:30 pm, FOX) Idaho at Utah State (3 pm, ESPN3) Maryland at North Carolina (3 pm, FSN South/ESPN3) Boston College at NC State (3 pm, ESPN3) Wisconsin at Penn State (3:30 pm, ESPN2) Michigan State at Minnesota (3:30 pm, BTN) Air Force at Fresno State (3:30 pm, NBC Sports) Tulane at Houston (3:30 pm, FSN) Vanderbilt at Wake Forest (3:30 pm, ESPNU) BYU at New Mexico State (3:30 pm, ESPN3) Troy at Middle Tennessee (3:30 pm, ESPN3) South Alabama at UL Lafayette (5 pm, ESPN3) Mississippi State at Ole Miss (7 pm, ESPNU) Louisiana Tech at San Jose State (10:30 pm, ESPN2)

Speaking as someone who was in that spot three years ago, I can tell you there is pretty much no shot. Stoops and/or his agent seem to love inserting his name into any high-profile college football job opening, then staying at Oklahoma.

Ron Rivera and Cam Newton are now 8-18, 1-12 in games decided by 7 or less.

Carolina is just wildly impressive at finding ways to lose. 10-32 the last two-plus seasons.

Crush? Maybe. But I think the general consensus - or at least it seemed to me - was that Bama was the better team in the first matchup, so them winning was hardly surprising. By that logic, it was silly to think Kansas State would beat a 4-5 Baylor team that can't play defense. I'm not sure why you think your second paragraph supports your argument and not mine. In a sport where blowouts sometimes happen for seemingly no reason, one would think a blowout would be, at least, on the table when: (1) the computers like one team better; (2) the eye test supports that same team; (3) the same team crushed a common opponent on a neutral field while the other team barely beat the common opponent at home; etc. For the record, if Alabama plays Notre Dame, I don't expect a "crushing" because I think Notre Dame's defense is too good for that. I think Alabama by ten-ish points would be likely though. You act as if I say there is no possible set of circumstances under which Alabama would destroy Notre Dame in a football game. That isn't what I said. I said it shouldn't be expected or assumed that they would, which several people seem to be doing.

I like Deshaies based on what little I've listened to Astros' broadcasts in the past. He'd probably get along well with Len.

He went to San Diego State. Beyond that I've got nothing.

Crush? Maybe. But I think the general consensus - or at least it seemed to me - was that Bama was the better team in the first matchup, so them winning was hardly surprising. By that logic, it was silly to think Kansas State would beat a 4-5 Baylor team that can't play defense.

I'm not arguing against any computer ranking. I'm saying that to think a team with a loss and only 2 wins over legitimately good teams is going to crush an unbeaten team with wins over three BCS-ranked teams, two of them likely to finish in the top 10, because of the conference they play in or the 'eye test' or whatever, is probably a misguided idea.

3 coaches did give 1st-place votes to SEC teams, 2 to Alabama and one, perplexingly, to Georgia.

I'm not trying to put down A&M's 2012 team. Just saying, if Texas A&M can come into the SEC after years of being a solid but unspectacular Big 12 program and come within a few missed FGs against LSU of playing for the conference title in year 1, maybe the college football viewing public and media should cool their jets a bit about the SEC being head and shoulders above everybody else. ETA - I'm starting to realize that I'm kind of preaching to the choir on that topic, so I'll refrain from beating it into the ground.

Alabama has 2 good wins this season, 1 over a team that damn near lost to Ole Miss today and got taken well into the 2nd half by FCS Towson, and the other to a team ND also beat. It seems really odd to use close wins to poor teams as reason to discredit someone on Alabama's schedule in an attempt to make a relative comparison to Notre Dame. Alabama's played three teams that could be described as 'not crappy' this year, struggled with one, creamed one and lost to one. The narrative of Alabama as an invincible force of college football when their most recent FBS game was a home loss to a team that was a middle-tier Big 12 team last season needs to be discredited, even if it means making a comparison you find odd. It's not narrative that has Alabama the head and shoulders #1 in Sagarin's Predictor, or their SOS the best of any title contender save Florida. If the point is one of "any given Saturday", or "Alabama's not invincible", I don't think that's one that anyone's arguing against. If the point is that Alabama is equal or less worthy than the alternatives(especially since their title game appearance is dependent on beating UGA), then I think you're reaching in backlash to their reputation. Why would I argue that Bama ought not to be in the title game if they beat Auburn and Georgia? They're a terrific football team, and they'll have earned it. I'm just tired of hearing about how much better the SEC and Alabama are than anyone else in the country, about what a tragedy it would have been if the SEC streak had ended without them playing in the title game, and on and on.

Alabama has 2 good wins this season, 1 over a team that damn near lost to Ole Miss today and got taken well into the 2nd half by FCS Towson, and the other to a team ND also beat. It seems really odd to use close wins to poor teams as reason to discredit someone on Alabama's schedule in an attempt to make a relative comparison to Notre Dame. Alabama's played three teams that could be described as 'not crappy' this year, struggled with one, creamed one and lost to one. The narrative of Alabama as an invincible force of college football when their most recent FBS game was a home loss to a team that was a middle-tier Big 12 team last season needs to be discredited, even if it means making a comparison you find odd.

Alabama has 2 good wins this season, 1 over a team that damn near lost to Ole Miss today and got taken well into the 2nd half by FCS Towson, and the other to a team ND also beat. That is a cool story, I'd keep my money on Bama if that game occurs. Oh, I'm not telling you you're wrong to think Bama would win the game. The next time it makes sense to bet against Saban in a big game will be the first. Just don't expect ND to get 'spanked'.