Thursday Hoops Notebook: Big 12 Girls Gone Wild

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Turns out female thuggery isn't reserved for college soccer. Check out this gem from Wednesday night, when Baylor's Brittney Griner, already a Youtube sensation for her dunking, clocks Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle.

One thing I never get about cry-baby athletes is the rage-fueled quest to retaliate. Moments before the punch, Barncastle certainly fouled the hell out of Griner, but the refs made the call. Quit acting like a 2-year-old and go to the line and sink the free throws. Or, if you really have problems managing your hate, wait until you're at the other end of the court and return the favor with a hack across the mouth.

Remember the in-game conduct last fall of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert?

SEEDING MADNESS: Ohio State has worked its way into the conversation about NCAA Tournament top seeds. The Buckeyes have won 10 of their last 11 games, and despite a complete absence of a bench, they're well coached and their starting five is among the best in the country. I'd like to know the last team to earn a top seed with seven losses.

And don't forget the Bucks have the best player in the country, do-everything Evan Turner, who's more than capable of carrying OSU to a championship a la Danny Manning in 1988.

IF IFS AND BUTS: Speaking of Ohio State's starting five, imagine this lineup if no Buckeye would have left school early in 2007 or 2008:

+ PG Mike Conley Sr
+ SG Daequan Cook Sr
+ SF Evan Turner Jr
+ PF Kosta Koufos Jr
+ C Greg Oden Sr
+ 6th man - David Lighty Jr
+ 7th man - Jon Diebler Jr

THAT FINAL TOP SEED: Duke is more likely to win the ACC Tournament than Kansas State is to win the Big 12 Tournament, so expect the Blue Devils to grab that top honor out West. But then the question becomes, "Who's more deserving of the first No. 2 seed? Ohio State or Kansas State?" That does make a difference because the team that doesn't get it will be squared up with Kansas, Syracuse or Kentucky. Good luck getting past that trio.

FINAL THOUGHT: I hope the brackets line up in a way that will give us Kansas, the best team in the country, and Syracuse, the most complete team in the country, in the championship game on April 5 in Indianapolis.

Wednesday Hoops Notebook: DeMarcus Cousins, A Trendsetter?

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

If you weren't fortunate enough to be in the fine city of Starkville, Miss., Tuesday night, I hope you were at least able to watch on television the Mississippi State Bulldogs take No. 2 Kentucky to overtime before letting the Wildcats escape with the win.

And as if the pain of losing a nailbiter wasn't difficult enough, MSU suffered some national-television embarrassment after fans, already jacked about having UK star DeMarcus Cousins' cell-phone number, threw drinks on to the floor late in the game.

The bebubbled home team enjoyed a seven-point lead with less than three minutes left, but Kentucky scored the final seven points of regulation to tie the game, 67-67.

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After a Mississippi State timeout during which coach Rick Stansbury drew up a play that clearly didn't get run, Barry Stewart launched what Scott Van Pelt described on the "SportsCenter" that followed the game as "a contested double-pump that misses everything but the floor." It really was ugly.

Kentucky would call back-to-back-to-back 30-second timeouts, but they weren't enough to produce a game-winning play.

It was an easy call at that point to think the visitors would survive. First of all, they're better, and secondly, MSU was playing without its top interior player, Jarvis Varnado, who fouled out late in regulation.

It wasn't just the obnoxious student section that thought ill of a few late calls or no-calls by the officials, but the Bulldogs themselves deserve the blame for this loss. Poor shot selection on at least a pair of possessions in the last five minutes didn't help the home team's effort to protect that seven-point cushion. MSU lost this game, as well as a huge chance for a resume win.

Outside of their season finale at home against No. 18 Tennessee, the Bulldogs (18-8, 6-5 SEC) play an easy remaining schedule against four SEC foes with a combined league record of 12-30. They might want to win those games. Losing one of them will do far more harm than the good that would come with winning all four of them.

TREND WATCH: Cousins, who's earned a reputation in his freshman season as a great player with a bad attitude, had his number plastered all over the MSU student community the last couple of days. Trash-talking phone calls and text messages didn't seem to bother him, though, as he finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds in 30 minutes.

After a first-half dunk, Cousins turned toward the seats as he began to run back down the court, lifted his hand to his head and made a kind of "call me" gesture that I think just might become a new trend among the drama-craving athletes.

BIG TEN BRAWL: Purdue visits Ohio State Wednesday night and while you all know I'm an Ohio guy, an informed opinion and not home-state bias is what leads me to believe the Buckeyes will win this one. I'm not as confident about OSU's chances at Michigan State Sunday, but I think the Bucks keep pace with those Spartans with a win over the Boilermakers.

Ohio State is unbeaten in Columbus this year and hasn't lost at home to Purdue in 12 years. I don't know if there's a team -- particularly a starting five -- that's playing better than OSU is right now, and it would be irresponsible not to mention that Evan Turner might be the best player in the country.

Purdue is solid and it still might eventually earn a No. 2 seed next month, but as long as the Buckeyes are playing this way, a Michigan State team in East Lansing seems the only threat to derail OSU's current hot trend.

CINCINNATI UPDATE: ESPN's Andy Katz Tweeted Tuesday night that UC's loss at South Florida won't cause too much harm to the Bearcats' NCAA chances.

Perhaps he's of the logic that Cincinnati's closing schedule of West Virginia, Villanova and Georgetown offers ample opportunities for resume wins. True as it may be, but if Cincinnati can't beat South Florida -- or Seton Hall or St. John's -- I can't imagine it can win two of those other three, let alone all of them, against Big East powers currently ranked among the top 10 in the country.

The Bearcats are headed to the NIT. Still.

Tuesday Hoops Notebook: Is Texas Toast?

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

With all that talent, I really want to like Texas, but there is something seriously wrong with Rick Barnes' bunch.

I don't know why the Longhorns can't seem to put together a complete game the last few weeks. After starting 17-0 and earning their first-ever No. 1 ranking, a loss at Kansas State on Jan. 18 triggered the team's current 2-5 stretch.

Fortunately for the Horns, they can go 4-3 the rest of the way to finish 23-8 and 9-7 in the Big 12 heading into the conference tournament and probably earn a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That's not too terrible.

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Or, Barnes can get his team figured out somewhere along the way and Texas can get back to being the team we saw in the first two months of the season, the team many expected to reach the Final Four. A team that doesn't spend 11 straight scoreless minutes against the No. 1 team in the country, as it did against visiting Kansas Monday night. A team that doesn't commit 17 turnovers that lead to 27 points for the opposition.

Until I see such a turnaround, however, Texas looks like it will need to play near-perfect basketball just to advance past the second round.

Even to achieve that 4-3 finish, Texas needs to get back to playing physically, committing itself to the glass and earning better looks. The Longhorns seem to launch many contested shots. Maybe it's just a coincidence that they play teams who play their best defensive games. Or maybe there's just not enough movement in Texas' sets and therefore open looks are scarce.

Whatever the reason, Texas has some time -- not much, but some -- to get things figured out and get back on the winning track.

'NOVA LOOKING NICE: Guards and depth, guards and depth, guards and depth.

That's what will take Villanova back to the Final Four this year.

Even in their loss Saturday at Georgetown, during which the Hoyas built a 23-point lead, the Wildcats played hard the entire time and because of that, it seemed like Villanova was always within striking distance, even late in the game.

But Monday's impressive win at No. 4 West Virginia was another reminder that the Wildcats' backcourt is one of the best in the country, and that few teams can boast an 11-man rotation the way Villanova does sometimes.

FINAL FOUR PICKS: My projected Final Four sees one change this week, and it involves the two teams described above. I thought Texas might have turned the corner with a nice road win at Oklahoma State last week, but I'm obviously hurrying far away from that pick now. I had Villanova in the Elite Eight, but the Wildcats are now my pick to win the West.

+ EAST: Syracuse (West Virginia)
+ SOUTH: Kentucky (Duke)
+ MIDWEST: Kansas (Michigan State)
+ WEST: Villanova (Gonzaga)
+ SLEEPER: Siena

TUBE TIME: Keep your schedule open for the following games this week:

+ Tuesday: Tennessee at Vanderbilt (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Tuesday: Purdue at Michigan State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Wednesday: Duke at North Carolina (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Thursday: Washington at California (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
+ Thursday: St. Mary's at Gonzaga (11 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
+ Friday: West Virginia at Pittsburgh (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Saturday: Tennessee at Kentucky (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Are you following me on Twitter? @onegreatseason | @johnpwise

Monday Hoops Notebook

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

I wrote here recently that Georgetown, despite its top-12 ranking at the time, wasn't very convincing to me and I didn't think the Hoyas have the tools to make much noise in March.

But sports, as you know, can be fickle, as can those who watch and write about them.

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So after impressive wins over Pittsburgh and Duke in the last 10 days, I think Georgetown can play with anybody as long as the Hoyas bring their A game, which they did not last week at Syracuse.

And now, taking GU's place among the overrated might be Tennessee.

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The Vols ground out a key SEC win over visiting Florida on Sunday, but I was fairly surprised how the Vols got themselves on the smart side of the 61-60 victory.

Tennessee's Scotty Hopson launched a long two-pointer that swished through the net with 16.6 seconds left, giving the home team the one-point lead that would hold up after Florida's next and final possession.

My initial reaction was that Tennessee, in my mind an athletic but undisciplined team under Bruce Pearl, should re-consider its late-game shot selection habits. But I've since read that Hopson's shot was by design.

Which was far worse than poor shot selection.

Why Pearl would draw up such a play during a timeout with 25 seconds left is beyond me. Trailing 60-59 and owning one of the best interior players in the SEC in Wayne Chism, UT had an easy option to consider. Throw the ball inside and let him work his way toward a good look that he'd likely either convert or get fouled trying to.

I get the decoy method, but at least give him a touch on that possession. If he gets doubled and/or it just doesn't work out, Chism can pop it back out to Hopson, who certainly is an accurate outside shooter.

But to launch a long shot like that so early in the possession and with so much time left on the clock smelled of bad coaching.

OSU CLIMB CONTINUES: Also recently here on OGS, I wrote that Ohio State will be a dangerous team with the recent return of Evan Turner. Sure enough, the do-everything star is leading the way for the Buckeyes as they've set themselves up nicely for a possible second-place finish in the Big Ten behind Michigan State, which appears a strong Final Four candidate.

A lack of depth might become a real issue for Thad Matta's bunch, but Sunday's breezy defeat of Minnesota kept OSU unbeaten at home this season (13-0). With home dates against Penn State and Iowa this week, then a trip to Indiana, the Buckeyes should take records of 19-6 and 9-3 into their game at Illinois on Feb. 14.

WHO'S NO. 2? I thought it was funny after Kentucky's loss at South Carolina last week, when everybody was trying to figure out who would be the new No. 1.

Um, didn't some teams still have some games to play? There was no guarantee that UK would get pushed out of the top spot, until of course Kansas' thrilling overtime win at Kansas State Saturday night. So put Kansas in at No. 1 obviously, and I think Syracuse should leapfrog Villanova, which boasts again a very nice backcourt but is less dynamic inside.

Syracuse, meanwhile, is a little more balanced, and has star power in Wesley Johnson. The Orange have played -- and beaten -- tougher teams than Villanova, including last week's surprisingly easy comeback defeat of Big East-rival Georgetown.

After Villanova, I'd plug Kentucky in at No. 4. One narrow road loss in the SEC is hardly a red flag. The Wildcats still look like a Final Four team.

FINAL FOUR PICKS: My projected Final Four remains unchanged from last week, but starting this week, I'll add a second choice in parentheses:

+ EAST: Syracuse (West Virginia)
+ SOUTH: Kentucky (Duke)
+ MIDWEST: Kansas (Michigan State)
+ WEST: Texas (Villanova)

BEARCAT WATCH: To my Cincinnati readers who have been e-mailing about UC's tournament chances, I offer this:

I've often criticized the over-use of the "must-win" cliche, but that's precisely where Mick Cronin's Bearcats find themselves this week.

A visit to Notre Dame Thursday is Cincinnati's best chance for a win in its next three games. After playing the Irish, UC returns home to play Syracuse on Sunday, then visits Connecticut after a six-day layoff.

Winning at Notre Dame won't be easy, but if the Bearcats can do it, they'll take records of 15-9 and 6-6 into their Feb. 16 game at South Florida, an upset winner over No. 17 Pittsburgh just Sunday.

So no, UC fans, an NCAA tournament bid is not likely.

TUBE TIME: Keep your schedule open for the following games this week:

+ Tuesday: Mississippi at Kentucky (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Tuesday: Michigan State at Wisconsin (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Wednesday: Pittsburgh at West Virginia (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
+ Thursday: Georgia Tech at Duke (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Basketball Notebook: College, Pro Tidbits

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Flipping the channels around last night, I noticed a few things about the great game of basketball:

+ If Georgetown is the 11th-best team in the country, I don't think college basketball is very good this year. The more I think about rankings, the more worthless I think they are. Not because I think the ranking of a particular team is way out of line, but because there always seems to be a disconnect between the top tier of teams and everyone else. Sometimes that top tier can be six or eight teams, but this year, I think the cut-off separates just Texas, Kentucky and Kansas from everybody else. One of these three teams will win the national championship.

+ I like what Bruce Pearl continues to do at Tennessee, but for some reason I just haven't accepted the Vols as a serious threat in the national landscape. Sure they're an SEC power, and that league is better this year than last, but I just don't think they're there yet. UT is no better than a Sweet 16 team come March.

+ Gonzaga finally appears to have developed a nasty streak. I watched some of the Zags' game against a good Saint Mary's team, and as expected, Matt Bouldin had a nice night with 22 points. But although freshmen are a hot topic this year, one youngster not getting much hype is Elias Harris, who had 31 points and 13 rebounds. But overall, Gonzaga killed St. Mary's on the boards and played with a physical edge not typically seen from Mark Few's bunch or many west-coast teams in general.

+ On to the NBA, where the Jazz and Cavaliers played the best fourth quarter I've seen in a long time. Utah's 21-2 run gave the home team a 12-point lead, but Lebron James answered by scoring 18 of Cleveland's next 20 points, ultimately leading a 25-7 run that he punctuated with a pair of long-rang threes and a pair of foul shots. Cleveland led, 91-85 with 32 seconds left. But Utah clawed back and won at the buzzer with a three-pointer from Sundiata Gaines, a Queens, N.Y., native signed from the D-League last week, making just his fifth NBA appearance. The game-winning shot was his first NBA three-pointer. The Jazz scored 12 points in the final 32 seconds, a rate of 270 points per quarter.

Wednesday Notebook: Cincy's New Predicament

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Cincinnati has an odd predicament on its hands, and it has nothing to do with the Bearcats' inconvenient depth at quarterback.

Does UC root for Notre Dame at Pittsburgh this weekend? An Irish win would extend Charlie Weis' shelf-life as the coach in South Bend, precisely what Cincinnati fans want in order to keep Brian Kelly in the Queen City.

But a Pitt victory on Saturday ups the BCS ante when the Bearcats head north for their season-ender on Dec. 5 that will likely determine the Big East champion. Both UC and the Panthers are 5-0 in the Big East.

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If you're more interested in the long view, you might be rooting for the Irish, but those whose eggs are all in the 2009 basket surely recognize that Kelly will leave soon anyway, so why not try to win the whole thing right now? As a UC grad, I think I prefer the latter logic, so on the same weekend that football fans in Cincinnati will be rooting against the hated Steelers, I'll also be cheering on the Panthers.

WHAT TO DO NEXT? I have my own personal debate I could use your help with. The college football season is winding down, and I'll be back at my luxury Brooklyn apartment in no time. What should I do with One Great Season? Still keep the site college football-exclusive? Or broaden it to cover all sports or even non-sports categories? Any feedback would be appreciated.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES: I was on the field under a gorgeous autumn sky at Beaver Stadium an hour or so before Ohio State and Penn State kicked off Saturday. That's when I heard Iowa was trailing late against Northwestern, and one thought hit me: Wouldn't it be funny if Ohio State -- in a down year when after Week 2 folks in Columbus were calling for coach Jim Tressel's head, when fans seemed ready to plan a bowl trip to Florida for a weak New Year's morning kickoff -- won out and grabbed the Big Ten's automatic Rose Bowl bid?

Well, that's exactly what's going to happen and if there's a year for it to happen, it's this year, when the Buckeyes won't likely have to deal with the psychological burden of preparing for 40+ days to meet USC in January. USC never loses in January.

That's not to say teams want to avoid playing the best competition, but trying to beat Pete Carroll in a bowl game is about as easy as figuring out who's leading the Heisman race right now.

A BCS bowl win for Ohio State would do wonders for the Buckeyes' confidence in the national picture, and depending how temperamental Terrelle Pryor performs, he could very well launch a Heisman candidacy in much the same way an athletic quarterback named Vince Young announced his own bid as a Texas sophomore in a breathtaking Rose Bowl win just a few years ago.

And then the countdown will be on for next year's Week 2 meeting in Columbus, when Miami's own 2010 Heisman candidate, Jacory Harris, will lead his Hurricanes into the Horseshoe.

BLOUNT DRAMA: LeGarrette Blount will be back in a Ducks uniform Saturday against Arizona State, and that's a good thing.

But it's a good thing in a general sense more than the specific sense. It's good for the sake of second chances, but there's still a sour taste left by the harsh suspension of Oklahoma State wideout Dez Bryant, whose transgression was far less offensive than Blount's.

I believe in second chances in most cases, especially if the student-athlete has at least met any requirements set forth by his school, which, according to word out of Eugene, Blount has surpassed.

Lastly, the argument that I've heard from some, that Blount shouldn't have been penalized so harshly because football is his meal ticket, that the sport is all he has and the university so coldly took that away from him, is ridiculous. Punishment is doled out according to the severity of an offensive act, not according to the level of inconvenience it will cause the perpetrator.

NOT TOO KEEN ON HOUSTON QB: It's impressive that Case Keenum is 4-0 in games decided by seven points or fewer this year. Being cool under pressure certainly adds a feather to his fedora, but let's remember one thing: Keenum plays for Houston, whose Cougars needed a field goal at the gun to avoid a loss to 4-5 Tulsa Saturday, about a month after giving up 58 points in a loss to 3-6 UTEP.

Such stories are rarely told about Heisman winners.

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+ INTERACTIVE: Who Are The 30 Thousand Helpers?

Thursday Notebook: OGS Tour Halfway Home

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

CINCINNATI -- I'm hoping to cover 15 games on the One Great Season tour, so this week between games 7 and 8 marks the official midway point of the trip.

Here are some notes from the road nearly two months in:

+ This is awesome.
+ Though I'm still building a large debt pretty quickly, I know this project is going to lead to something great.
+ The best game I saw was USC at Ohio State.
+ The best tailgate scene was in Baton Rouge before the Florida at LSU game.
+ As far as crowd noise, electricity and overall atmosphere, that OSU scene had a slight edge over the one in Death Valley.
+ The best week overall was the one I spent with my sister and her kids in California while covering USC-Cal.
+ The best burger I've had so far was the Peachtree Burger at Buckhead Bar and Grill in Atlanta.
+ The best overall dinner I've had was the pizza at The Patron in Louisville.
+ The best treatment I've received from a school's sports information department was at the University of Kentucky.
+ The best treatment I've received from fans was in Stillwater, where Clayton Taylor invited me to his tailgate party before the Georgia-Oklahoma State game.
+ The prettiest girls are always in Kentucky.
+ The most savvy speaker among coaches is Cincinnati's Brian Kelly.
+ The coolest players I've met are Oklahoma's Adrian Taylor and Georgia Tech's Sean Bedford.
+ The best way this season could end is if Florida played USC for the national championship. I've seen each team play twice and I think it would be a great battle.
+ Thanks to all the friends and family -- and even strangers -- who've donated money to the 30 Thousand Helpers drive, let me stay at their homes or used their cars, bought me lunch or dinner or even invited me to their tailgate parties.
+ Thanks also to those who have written about me or interviewed me in some way to help get my project recognized.

Monday Notebook

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

CINCINNATI -- Here are some tidbits to think about as we look back to last week and ahead to this week:

+ Atlanta was great, but not only from a football standpoint. I was born in Atlanta but haven't really spent any time there since I was 3. I went to my old street and after taking some pictures of my old house, said hello to a few neighbors who remembered me back when I was a baby. "Remember Jack and Nancy Wise?" was a question I asked a few people and got "Oh, yeah, right around the corner, I remember them," in reply. A few laughs followed. Pretty fun day.

+ Georgia Tech Sports Information Director Dean Buchan was the first guy to call me out -- deservedly so -- on the frequency of my calls and emails leading up to last week. But after a less-than-pleasant conversation at the beginning of the week, he gave me all the access I needed for mid-week interviews, and gave me a pretty good ticket for the game. Thanks Dean.

+ After I posted the Gameday Gallery in the wee hours of Sunday morning, I tried to go to bed at about 3 a.m., but my neighbors in the hotel room next door were just getting in and were wasted and way too loud. So I got about two hours of sleep before I had to wake up and hustle to the airport for my flight to Cincinnati. I hung with friends here all day Sunday and wasn't able to post, then slept late today and I feel like I'm all caught up on rest now.

+ A solid week awaits. Cincinnati is my alma mater and football SID Ryan Koslen says he should be able to meet my access requests. It's Homecoming week so I hope to see some old friends. And I've got a TV interview scheduled for Tuesday morning on the local FOX station. Details to follow.

+ Speaking of those Bearcats, No. 5 in the BCS? That's outstanding. The argument already starting to heat up is about whether Boise State and/or Cincinnati both run the tables in their respective conferences. Would either deserve a slot in the national championship game? Would one deserve it over another as opposed to both playing each other if they're the only unbeaten teams? This is part of what makes college football great: the unknown answers to the many interesting questions.

Monday Notebook

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

ATLANTA -- It took more than two hours to get out of the parking lot and travel the eight miles up the highway to get back to my hotel after Saturday's Florida-LSU game. After eating and then working for two or three hours, I didn't get to bed until after 4 a.m., and had an 8 a.m. wake-up call. My fatigued state caused me to ignore the alarm at 7 a.m. today, but fortunately, my first commitment isn't until 5:30 p.m., so finally getting out of bed at 10:30 a.m. didn't set me back at all!

Anyway, being in Georgia this week reminds me that I forgot to share a gem from last week when I was in Berkeley for the USC-Cal game.

Surely by now you saw how Georgia lost to LSU nine days ago. The Bulldogs got a late touchdown to take the lead and send their home fans into a frenzy. I got a text message from a gal named Michelle, a Georgia fan I met in Stillwater when UGA visited Oklahoma State. It went something like this: "OMG touchdown! Yay!"

I received that message as I was on the field at Cal's Memorial Stadium, watching USC in pregame warm-ups somewhere between 3 and 4 p.m. PT. I hadn't seen a scoreboard in hours, and had no idea where the LSU-Georgia game stood. I texted Michelle back for a score update, but one never came. Despite Georgia's late score, LSU still had enough time to mount a drive of its own.

So when I checked my voice mail a couple hours later during halftime of the USC-Cal game, Michelle had left a message. It went something like this: "Mother ... Fucker." Click.

Yep, Georgia's got some passionate fans alright.

Here are some other tidbits from the last few days:

+ As I was making my way out of Tiger Stadium Saturday night, I saw a Florida fan sitting by himself near one of the exits. He had a cut on his forehead and a small bandage on his leg. I asked him what happened, and he said he got beat up by some LSU fans before the game. He said this was the third time he came to Baton Rouge, after two previous Florida losses in Death Valley. "I guess that's the price you pay to see your team finally get a win here." Poor guy.

+ I've shot games that require photographers to kneel if they're behind the end zone, but LSU was the first game I've ever worked where you had to be down regardless of where you were. Needless to say, my quads are a little sore today.

+ The atmosphere at Tiger Stadium definitely was electric. I'd heard all week how insane it was going to be, and I will certainly confirm that it was, but I don't know if it was any louder than the USC-Ohio State game in Columbus last month.

+ During my week in Baton Rouge, it took me until Thursday before I realized the host of one of the sports talk radio shows I listened to each day in the car was actually named Buddy. I just thought his callers were very friendly or that addressing one as "Buddy" was merely a casual Southern-ism or something.

+ While it wasn't surprising to hear many LSU players say during the week that they'd hoped Tebow would play -- to be the best you need to beat the best ... at its best -- it was pretty neat the way they said it. In the same breath, many of them made comments like, "He's a great guy" or "He deserves to play in a game like this." Pretty classy.

Monday Notebook

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Here are some notes as I begin a new week in Baton Rouge, five days away from Saturday's heavyweight bout between visiting No. 1 Florida and No. 4 LSU:

+ Cal is not a good football team. I strongly doubt that in the history of college football polls, a team has never followed up a No. 6 ranking by going out and losing two games by a combined score of 72-6.

+ From the sideline, I've watched USC in a Friday walkthrough and twice during pregame warmups, and Florida once during pregame warmups, and in each case you can't help but just feel that you're in the presence of an elite football team. Swagger isn't necessarily something a team has; to me it's more like what that team stirs inside of you when you watch it.

+ I get that powerhouses like to load up on a creampuff or two before playing someone tough or getting into conference play. But we're into October and I'm still really curious about what Texas can do. Beating a mediocre Texas Tech team by just 10 points at home tells me more about the Longhorns than do lopsided wins over Louisiana-Monroe and the like. I really think Alabama is more of a No. 2 team than Texas right now. The Tide don't appear to have any weaknesses.

+ The same goes for Penn State. Easy wins over Akron, Syracuse and Temple -- and presumably another one against Eastern Illinois this Saturday -- are unimpressive. I don't really remember the last time Joe Paterno had a strong team that played a marquee game in September.

+ Boise State won Saturday, but played poorly enough to drop from No. 5 to No. 6 in this week's poll. But despite the listless showing against Cal-Davis Saturday, the Broncos gain street cred when the Oregon team it manhandled five weeks ago won by huge margins its last two times out.

+ My Cincinnati friends are a little nervous about our No. 8 Bearcats' Thursday night tilt at South Florida on Oct. 15. UC is off this week, and then will face a USF team, though now ranked, that's without veteran quarterback Matt Grothe for the rest of the season. I think it could be like the season-opener at Rutgers all over again. Easy win for Cincinnati, which will take a 9-0 record into its home date against West Virginia on Friday, Nov. 13.

+ Seven of the AP's top 15 teams have a loss, and we still have more than two months of regular-season football left to play. Please stop describing the Armageddon when USC or Virginia Tech or Ohio State lose in September.

+ Iowa has more trouble with non-BCS teams than it does with the Penn States of the world. The Hawkeyes, 5-0, pulled off a stunner two weeks ago on the road when they beat the Nittany Lions, 21-10, but their two  closest calls have come at home, where they defeated Northern Iowa and Arkansas State by one and three points, respectively. By that logic, look for Iowa to rout visiting Michigan this weekend. Actually, I believe the opposite to be true. The No. 12 Hawkeyes will bolster the argument that the Big Ten is weak when they lose to no-longer-ranked Michigan on Saturday.

Monday Notebook

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

HOUSTON -- Sitting at Houston's Intercontinental Airport on a Monday afternoon, waiting for my flight to San Jose, I couldn't help but continue to be obsessed about college football. Here are some observations four weeks in:

+ It's turning into one great season indeed. I feel like we're on the way to a very 2007-like campaign full of upsets, unpredictability and an ever-changing Top 25.

+ Not that the Top 25 is the most important aspect of the sport, but if one thing has been proven so far about an early season poll ranking, it's that it's the one thing about the business of college football -- unlike the BCS bowl format -- that is truly for the fans. Perhaps the most significant thing that preseason rankings -- Cal? Ole Miss? -- do is warm things up for the bloggers and radio talk show hosts, and of course their audiences. College football fans might be the most passionate of all sports observers, and rankings in August and September give them plenty to cry about.

+ ESPN and others need to stop using the term "must-win" or "virtual must-win" in September. Notre Dame, anyone? 2007 proved you can lose -- and lose late in the season like Ohio State did -- and still play for the national championship. Already this season, we have four one-loss teams ranked among the top nine. And as I look at the calendar, it tells me it's not yet October.

+ I just got my credential confirmed for the Oct. 10 Florida game at LSU. Thanks go out to the fine people in the LSU Sports Information Department!

+ I covered Tony Pike one time some years back. Not on the field, but when I was freelancing some sports stories for the Cincinnati Enquirer. He was certainly a good quarterback at Reading High School, but at 7 feet tall and no more than 90 pounds, hardly seemed the type of guy who'd be a Heisman  Trophy candidate years later. But do you know what does seem quite Heisman-like at this point? Pike's stat line through four games, all Cincinnati Bearcat victories:

71 percent completion rate | 11 touchdowns | 2 interceptions | 306 ypg passing | 173 quarterback rating.

Kid is nice. Cincinnati is my alma mater, so I definitely root for the Bearcats, but those who claim the Bearcats are the best college team in the state of Ohio should still check themselves.