Weekly notes from the undercard.

Houston trashed Marshall Saturday, 63-28, arguably its best win to date en route to a 7-0 start that has the Cougars ranked in the top 20 of every major poll. Riding the record-breaking arm of quarterback Case Keenum, UH is leading the nation in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense, has scored at least 49 points in four consecutive games and is outscoring by an average margin of almost 26 points. Keenum now owns one major NCAA passing record and is closing in on a couple more. And yet, arguably more than any other team in the country, the jury remains out on its place in the national conversation.

Jeff Sagarin ranks Houston’s schedule as the 117th-toughest in the nation, behind a handful of I-AA/FCS outfits like Gardner-Webb and South Dakota State.
Of the Cougars’ first seven victims, one (UTEP, at 4-3) is currently sporting a winning record. Their next three opponents (Rice, UAB and Tulane) have combined to win five. By the time they hit season-ending dates against SMU and Tulsa in November, it’s entirely possible they’ll have ten wins to their name without a single .500 scalp among them. If they run the table to 13-0, including the Conference USA Championship Game in December, the most valuable win on their resumé will be against either SMU or Southern Miss, and the only one win will be over a team from a “Big Six” BCS conference: UCLA, which appears on the verge of firing its head coach. This team has “Hawaii 2007″ written all over it.

Still, the cold reality of BCS arithmetic leaves the window at least cracked for the at-large BCS opportunity that Hawaii blew in spectacular fashion four years ago. At this point, we can be reasonably certain that three of the four at-large bids belong to Boise State (assuming the Broncos close out a manageable schedule as usual) and the second-best teams in the SEC and Big 12. We can be equally certain that there won’t be an at-large bid for the ACC or Big East, or for Notre Dame. That leaves three options for slot no. 4: The runner-up in the Pac-12, the runner-up in the Big Ten and Houston.

There are a lot of ‘ifs’ in that scenario that break against the Cougars, beginning with the biggest: If they fail to run the table, the discussion is moot. But if the competition is between, say, a two-loss Oregon, a two-loss Wisconsin and an undefeated Houston, the latter may not be dismissed from that discussion so easily.

• THE CRIB SHEET. Elsewhere in mid-majordom…

• In Conference USA news, Southern Miss sits atop the East Division after a 27-3 rout of SMU. The Golden Eagles are now 6-1, bowl eligible for the 14th consecutive year, ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll and well on their way to their best record since winning 10 games in 1988. USM is the clear favorite to win the East Division, though it still has to play East Carolina, which is also 2-1 in conference play. Like Houston, though, all but one team remaining on the Golden Eagles’ schedule — UTEP — has a losing record.

• The seventh annual Michigan MAC Football Championship (bet you didn’t know there was such a thing) was won this weekend, shockingly, by Eastern Michigan, a 14-10 winner over Western Michigan over Western Michigan in Ypsilanti. The championship is a round-robin affair between the three MAC schools in Michigan — Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Central Michigan — . EMU will get to keep the championship’s trophy for at least the next year.

• The fourth quarter woes for Utah State just won’t go away. The Aggies led in the fourth quarter against Louisiana Tech, but allowed the Bulldogs to score 10 fourth quarter points and rally to a 24-17 win. It’s the fifth game the Aggies have let slip away this season after leading in the fourth quarter.

• RUSH THE FIELD: Wins worthy of a bleacher-clearing celebration.
Western Kentucky is quickly becoming the hottest team in college football. OK, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but the Hilltoppers have won three consecutive games, including last week’s shocking upset of one-loss SBC frontrunner Louisiana-Lafayette, more than they won in their first two years as a I-A/FBS program combined.

“This is a great win for our guys, our University and our fans,” said coach Wille Taggart. “I’m really proud of the way our entire team got themselves ready and took care of business.”

The win was so thrilling that 15,000 fans on hand actually stormed the field — possibly a first in Bowling Green, at least as a “major” program, and we have four minutes of video to prove it:

• GAME OF THE WEEK: UAB 26, Central Florida 24
In one of the more shocking upsets of the non-AQ season, UAB’s Ty Long kicked a 40-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining to give the Blazers their first win of the season over fast-fading UCF. The Knights actually got the ball past midfield with 14 seconds left, but UAB safety Chase Daniel intercepted a Blake Bortless pass at the goal line to seal the win.

What happened to Central Florida? The defending Conference USA champs have been in a tailspin, losing four of their last five games since a 2-0 start.

• YOUTUBE DEDICATION OF THE WEEK:
This week’s YouTube dedication goes out to Tulsa’s alternate helmets, which were definitely a fashion statement.

• PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bobby Rainey, RB, Western Kentucky.
Rainey racked up 206 yards rushing — 99 in the fourth quarter alone— and three touchdowns to lead the Hilltoppers’ upset of Louisiana-Lafayette. Through seven games, he’s topped 100 yards on the ground in every game but one and ranks third in the nation in rushing.

Honorable mention: East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis set an NCAA record by completing his first 26 passes against in a 38-35 ECU win over Navy. … Florida International linebacker Winston Fraser had a career-best 17 tackles in a loss to Arkansas State. … Boise State linebacker Byron Hout had a career-best 18 tackles in the Broncos’ win over Air Force. … And Nevada running back Mike Ball rushed for a career-high 198 yards and a touchdown in a win against Fresno State. His runs of 35 and 41 yards were the longest by a Nevada player this season.

A SOMEWHAT ARBITRARY MID-MAJOR TOP 10
1. Boise State (7-0). The Broncos actually got a stiff test against Air Force’s triple option, but survived to maintain their undefeated campaign.
2. Houston (7-0). Marshall talked a little smack heading into the game and Keenum and the Cougars made them pay with one of their most ruthlessly efficient games of the season.
3. Southern Miss (6-1). The Golden Eagles are off to their best start since 2000 season. After starting 6-1 that year, however, they went on to drop three of their next four.
4. TCU (4-2). Apparently the Horned Frogs put their bye week to good use as they destroyed New Mexico 69-0, their first shutout of the season.
5. BYU (6-2). The Cougars earned bowl eligibility by defeating Idaho State, their fifth consecutive win after a 1-2 start.
6. SMU (5-2). The Mustangs were crushed by Southern Miss, but remain the biggest threat to Houston in the West Division.
7. Arkansas State (5-2). The Red Wolves have quietly crept into the Sun Belt title picture, but still have a lot of tough competition remaining.
8. Louisiana-Lafayette (6-2). The Ragin’ Cajuns perhaps got a little high with their surprising success over the first half of the season and overlooked Western Kentucky. They can still win the Sun Belt, but they’ll have to regroup from a bad loss.
9. San Diego State (4-2). The Aztecs had the week off, but should have an easy time with Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado State before their showdown with Boise State.
10.Toledo (5-3). The Rockets are the only undefeated team in the MAC West, but Ball State, Eastern Michigan and NIU are all in the hunt.
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Honorable Mention: Temple (5-3), Eastern Michigan (5-2), Ohio (5-3), Bowling Green (4-4).

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Matt Hinton contributed to this post.
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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Stephen Nelson is bitter.

The sophomore receiver from Beaverton, Ore., came to SMU hoping that the change in football culture sparked by coach June Jones and back-to-back bowl trips would have been enough to get the fans on board with a football program that has been a national doormat since repeated NCAA violations earned the program the “Death Penalty” in the late 1980s. So far, it sounds like he’s has been utterly disappointed.

In an op-ed for the student-run Daily Campus, Nelson calls out SMU fans, mostly the student body, for their poor showing during last week’s 38-17 win against defending Conference USA champion Central Florida:

The UCF game was a testament to how stubborn and pathetic our student body is, and how our school has completely failed to capture the attention of a city.

It wasn’t halfway through the second quarter when students began to whine about the heat and leave. I’m sorry you guys had to sit in your air conditioned homes during the summer while my teammates and I sweated in three months of 100-degree heat preparing for the season. I’m sorry a 38-17 whooping of the defending conference champs wasn’t thrilling enough for you.

Those are some harsh words for a fanbase that isn’t used to having a good football team and quite honestly, isn’t used to paying attention to SMU athletics as a whole.

The Mustangs play in the heart of a metropolis that just got done celebrating an NBA championship and is in the midst of celebrating a World Series berth for the Texas Rangers. And even though the Dallas Cowboys aren’t dominating the NFL, they always have been and always will be the biggest show in town. Even where college football is concerned, Dallas is Longhorn country, and Fort Worth-based TCU is coming off a Rose Bowl win to cap a perfect season.

Surprise: SMU football isn’t exactly a hot ticket.

Still, that has to be frustrating for Nelson and his teammates, who have earned a little attention after back-to-back bowl games — the Mustangs’ first after a 25-year drought — and five consecutive wins this year since a season-opening loss at Texas A&M:

Don’t be surprised now when I say it’s more fun for us to play on the ROAD than it is at home. At least the opposing team’s fans show up, and the game experience resembles what I dreamed about rather than the pee-wee football experience we have here where it seems only the players’ parents are in the stands.

To understand SMU’s present fan apathy means understanding its past and the turmoil the program has endured since the NCAA shut the program in 1987. Under Jones, SMU has come out of the shadow of national disgrace and actually put a product on the field that’s worth watching. Quite honestly, SMU probably has had more fan attendance in the past two years than it has had in the previous 20. It has definitely gotten more attention from the national media and its games are more readily found on national television.

While it’s easy for the players to compare their fanbase to those across the conference and be upset, it’s probably a better gauge to compare their fanbase to those for the teams over the last two decades. Then, players like young Stephen Nelson might appreciate how far SMU has actually come during the past couple years instead of complaining about how far it still has to go.

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Top photo via DFWSportsOnline.com.
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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The season’s biggest surprises at midseason.

• THE GOOD. Teams that have come out of nowhere…

Clemson (7-0). Initially, the Tigers’ fast start seemed like a bit of a fluke because they hadn’t left home, but after beating Virginia Tech in Blacksburg to go 5-0 and capture their third consecutive win over a ranked team, Clemson officially cemented its place as one of the nation’s surprise teams. And the legend has continued to grow. Even after struggling with Maryland last week, the Tigers are 4-0 and firmly atop the ACC Atlantic with just a few more roadblocks in the way of a perfect season.

Kansas State (7-0). No one could have predicted Kansas State standing shoulder-to-shoulder atop of the Big 12 standings with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but the ageless Bill Snyder has the Wildcats calling on their late-nineties selves. And he’s done so by getting the Wildcats back to their roots and doing the little things like having the third-fewest penalties in the Big 12 and the fewest turnovers in the conference. A win against Kansas this weekend sets up a defining visit from Oklahoma that will either put the Wildcats in their place or in the thick of the Big 12 championship race.

Illinois (6-1). Ron Zook was thrown a life preserver after last year’s bowl win, and he’s done more than just stay afloat: The Illini are off to their first 6-1 season since 2001 when they played in the Sugar Bowl. However, their ineffectiveness against an Ohio Sate team that completed just one pass is a little troublesome, especially with Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin still ahead.

Louisiana-Lafayette (6-1). While the Sun Belt isn’t exactly the toughest league in college football, Lafayette‘s turnaround under first-year head coach Mark Hudspeth is actually quite remarkable. The Ragin’ Cajuns are coming off a 3-9 campaign and haven’t have a winning season since 2005. In fact, they haven’t won more than six games since 1993. They’ve already beaten the preseason favorites Florida International and Troy and have just Arkansas State standing between them and the school’s first Sun Belt title and first bowl game as an FBS team.

Arkansas State (5-2). Similar to Louisiana-Lafayette, the winning seasons have been few and far between for the Red Wolves. They’ve won four games in each of the past two seasons and haven’t had a winning season since going 6-5 in 1995. Arkansas State did play in a bowl game in 2005 and figure to be en route to their second as a member of the Sun Belt if the season continues to go as well as it has.

Washington (5-1). Jake Locker‘s replacement — and budding superstar — Keith Price has the Huskies chasing down Stanford and Oregon in the Pac-12 North standings with games against those teams still to play in the next few weeks (Stanford is this weekend). Price is currently completing 69.4 percent of his passes, ranks fifth nationally in quarterback rating and has thrown at least three touchdown passes in every game. Could the Pac-12 have another future Heisman candidate in its midst?

Rutgers (5-1). On paper, the Scarlet Knights are a 3-3 team at best. They’re one of the worst rushing offenses in the country and their total offense produces a meager 332-83 yards per game. Passing efficiency is bad and special teams are pretty terrible, too. Still, Rutgers is a mere two points from being undefeated this season and they’ve accomplished this feat by being fantastic defensively. The Scarlet Knights rank first nationally in turnover margin, second in sacks, fourth in tackles for loss and are holding opponents to just 16 points per game.

• THE BAD. Teams that have made us ashamed…

Central Florida (3-3). The Knights were widely picked to repeat as Conference USA champs, but instead have fallen uncharacteristically flat. After last season, it looked like coach George O’Leary’s team had turned a corner and finally had the potent offense to match their dominating defense, but that offense and special teams have let the team down and consequently, the Knights have suffered losses to Florida International, BYU and SMU last week. Luckily for UCF, Conference USA East is weak and with an opportunity to get back on track with games against East Carolina and Southern Miss, the Knights could find themselves back playing for the title again.

TCU (4-2). The Horned Frogs are proof that a good thing can’t last forever. After having the nation’s top defense for each of the past three seasons, TCU has been woefully bad on that side of the ball and consequently, it has lost more games already this season than it had in the previous two seasons combined. The Horned Frogs are coming off a bye week, which has given them a chance to sort some things out as they head into the thick of the conference season, but winning the Mountain West in its final season in the conference might be a stretch.

Utah (3-3). Moving to the Pac-12 has not been an easy transition for the Utes, who are 0-3 in conference play. Fortunately for Utah, it’s in the weaker half of the conference and will have an opportunity to right the ship as the schedule gets a little easier from here on out. In fact, none of the teams remaining on the Utes schedule have winning overall records.

Mississippi State (3-4). Remember when Mississippi State was ranked and talking all sorts of noise to in-state rival Ole Miss after two straight wins in the Egg Bowl? Those were good times. And while the Bulldogs can still talk mess to Ole Miss, the national ranking ship has sailed. From preseason No. 20 to one of the biggest flops this season, Mississippi State has lost to every ranked team it’s faced, Auburn and needed extra time to beat Louisiana Tech. The next three weeks are a welcome respite with a bye, Kentucky and Tennessee-Martin on the slate. That should give the Bulldogs a little confidence before it faces Alabama and Arkansas ahead of the Egg Bowl.

Florida State (3-3). Every season we embrace Florida State as one of the nation’s elite, only to realize a few weeks into the season that we were duped — again. The Seminoles were perched in everyone’s top 10 this summer with a legitimate shot at playing for a national championship, but, like they have in many recent seasons, they failed to live up to expectations and are now below .500 in conference play. The Seminoles do have the good fortune of playing the three worst teams in the Atlantic during the next three weeks, but catching up to Clemson, or even Wake Forest, will be a big challenge.

• AND THE UGLY. Break out the paper bags…

Ole Miss (2-4). No one had Ole Miss blowing the doors off their competition this year, but few thought the year would be worse than last year’s 4-8 debacle. It’s been worse: The Rebels’ only wins have come against an FCS cupcake (Southern Illinois) and a lackluster edition of Fresno State, and there aren’t many wins in sight down the stretch. After a couple nine-win seasons, the Ole Miss seems to be trending downward, which could mean the end for coach Houston Nutt.

Hawaii (3-3). The WAC was wide open this season with the departure of Boise State to the Mountain West, leaving the Warriors with a golden opportunity to end their final season in the WAC on a high note. Instead, Hawaii fallen flat on its face with losses against some of the nation’s worst teams (UNLV, San Jose State). It’s especially disappointing because the Warriors were touting quarterback Bryant Moniz as a Heisman hopeful and he looked every bit the part in the opening game against Colorado and at times against other inferior competition. Overall, though, Hawaii has lacked the consistency to be considered the WAC favorite anymore. And let’s be honest: Sans Boise State and former Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the entire conference leaves a lot to be desired.

Colorado (1-6): While fans thought the Dan Hawkins years were the worst, it turns out the first year cleaning up after him might be the absolute low point in the school’s history. Colorado could be 3-4, but end-of-game losses to Cal and Washington State sunk this team into a bigger pit and as injuries to key players begin to mount, it’s getting more difficult to get out of it. While there are a couple winnable games remaining on the schedule, the next three weeks against Oregon, Arizona State and USC could get pretty ugly.

Oregon State (1-5): Mike Riley’s team went into this season with a lot of players either returning or not quite back from major injuries. And even though a lot of those players have been folded back into the starting lineup, the team hasn’t quite gelled the way many had hoped. Even the fans are turning on their team, keying players’ cars and leaving them nasty notes. Oregon State hasn’t had many low points during Riley’s tenure, but the last two seasons have not been pretty.

Minnesota (1-5): Nothing has gone quite right for the Golden Gophers this season. The team has been terrible — really terrible — it’s coach has spent a great deal of time in the hospital and when he’s been out, he’s criticized the lack of athleticism he inherited. And things won’t be getting better anytime soon. Coach Jerry Kill has a long way to go to get this team to where it needs to be to be a competitive. Kill may have been a rehabilitator at Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois, but he’s definitely not a miracle worker.

Boston College (1-5): Boston College doesn’t know much about losing seasons, because it hasn’t suffered through one since 1998. In fact, the Eagles have won at least eight games in all but two seasons in that span. So it’s hard to for the B.C. faithful to wrap their brains around how absolutely terrible the Eagles have been this season. They’re not even competitive. The Eagles’ only win came against UMass and its closest loss was a one-point decision against Duke. (Duke!) Otherwise, the Eagles have lost by an average of 16 points. And there aren’t many opportunities left to make things better. It’s very possible Boston College is plummeting toward its worst season since going 0-11 in 1978.

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Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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Conference expansion is revving up again and there could be definitive movement before the day is done.

Conference USA and the Mountain West will hold a joint press conference tonight to announce a new “Football Association” bringing both conferences together under one umbrella. But even though both conferences say their entire membership — 22 total members — will be joining the association, it’s unclear whether that will actually be the case come next week.

According to CBSSports.com and the Associated Press, the Big East is set to invite Boise State, Air Force, Central Florida and Navy as part of its expansion plan, pushing membership in football to ten schools. The conference is also considering invites for Houston, SMU and Temple. Boise State, Air Force and Navy would all be football-only members while Central Florida, Houston, SMU and Temple (if Villanova approves its entrance) would be a member in all sports.

None of the aforementioned schools have confirmed whether they are going or staying with their current conferences, CBSSports.com is quoting a source saying that Boise State and Air Force are a done deal.

The Big East has been flirting with extinction for the past month after Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they were leaving the conference for the ACC and TCU backed out of its agreement to join the conference in 2012 for an invitation to the Big 12. Rutgers and Connecticut also were rumored to be looking for another home amid all of the reshuffling.

The addition Boise State, Air Force, Navy and Central Florida would definitely give the Big East a football boost, but it would also do away with the conference’s East Coast identity.

According to CSBSports.com, UCF, Boise State and Air Force have been receptive to the Big East’s overtures, but Navy wants the conference to raise its exit fee to $10 million before it will be persuaded to give up its independence. Invitations for all of the schools probably won’t come until next week, which makes the timing of the Mountain West-Conference USA press conference all the more interesting.

Initially, the conferences were discussing a partnership in hopes that their forces combined wold warrant an automatic berth to a BCS bowl. However, if the Mountain West loses two of its top schools and Conference USA loses three schools, then the merger is more about self-preservation. The Mountain West, which already loses TCU after this season, was going into 2012 with 10 teams after the addition of Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii from the WAC. The loss of Boise State and Air Force would leave it with eight schools — were it is right now — and with a conference that eerily resembles the WAC sans a powerhouse team.

Similarly, Conference USA stands to lose the three most attractive teams in its league, so a merger that would include the addition of Hawaii, Fresno State, Nevada and San Diego State might be enough to soften the blow.

Then there’s the issue of travel. Both the Big East and the new Mountain West/C-USA leagues will face travel schedules that will no doubt take their toll on its members, especially Boise State and Air Force, who will be traveling back and forth to the East Coast at least six times a year.

Ultimately, the goal for the Big East is to maintain its BCS automatic qualifying status and adding those schools — especially Boise State — will do that. However, just as when Utah left for the Pac-12, BYU left for independence and TCU announced its venture into the Big East last year, the Mountain West could have its dream of BCS equality taken from it again.

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Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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Conference expansion is revving up again and there could be definitive movement before the day is done.

Conference USA and the Mountain West have jointly announced a new “Football Association” that brings both conferences together under one umbrella. But even though both conferences say their entire membership — 22 total members — will be joining the association, it’s unclear whether that will actually be the case come next week.

According to CBSSports.com and the Associated Press, the Big East is set to invite Boise State, Air Force, Central Florida and Navy as part of its expansion plan, pushing membership in football to ten schools. The conference is also considering invites for Houston, SMU and Temple. Boise State, Air Force and Navy would all be football-only members while Central Florida, Houston, SMU and Temple (if Villanova approves its entrance) would be a member in all sports.

None of the aforementioned schools have confirmed whether they are going or staying with their current conferences, CBSSports.com is quoting a source saying that Boise State and Air Force are a done deal.

The Big East has been flirting with extinction for the past month after Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they were leaving the conference for the ACC and TCU backed out of its agreement to join the conference in 2012 for an invitation to the Big 12. Rutgers and Connecticut also were rumored to be looking for another home amid all of the reshuffling.

The addition Boise State, Air Force, Navy and Central Florida would definitely give the Big East a football boost, but it would also do away with the conference’s East Coast identity.

According to CSBSports.com, UCF, Boise State and Air Force have been receptive to the Big East’s overtures, but Navy wants the conference to raise its exit fee to $10 million before it will be persuaded to give up its independence. Invitations for all of the schools probably won’t come until next week, which makes the timing of the Mountain West-Conference USA press conference all the more interesting.

Initially, the conferences were discussing a partnership in hopes that their forces combined wold warrant an automatic berth to a BCS bowl. However, if the Mountain West loses two of its top schools and Conference USA loses three schools, then the merger is more about self-preservation. The Mountain West, which already loses TCU after this season, was going into 2012 with 10 teams after the addition of Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii from the WAC. The loss of Boise State and Air Force would leave it with eight schools — were it is right now — and with a conference that eerily resembles the WAC sans a powerhouse team.

Similarly, Conference USA stands to lose the three most attractive teams in its league, so a merger that would include the addition of Hawaii, Fresno State, Nevada and San Diego State might be enough to soften the blow.

Then there’s the issue of travel. Both the Big East and the new Mountain West/C-USA leagues will face travel schedules that will no doubt take their toll on its members, especially Boise State and Air Force, who will be traveling back and forth to the East Coast at least six times a year.

Ultimately, the goal for the Big East is to maintain its BCS automatic qualifying status and adding those schools — especially Boise State — will do that. However, just as when Utah left for the Pac-12, BYU left for independence and TCU announced its venture into the Big East last year, the Mountain West could have its dream of BCS equality taken from it again.

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Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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Making the morning rounds.

• Where the term “embarrassment of riches” cuts both ways. As if USC didn’t have enough blue-chip skill guys on offense, the Trojans now plan to lift the redshirt of hyped freshman George Farmer in search of a big-play spark for their lackluster running game, beginning Thursday night at Cal. Farmer, a local rated as Rivals’ No. 1 incoming receiver and No. 3 overall player in the 2011 recruiting class, initially suffered through nagging injuries and found himself buried amid a deep set of young wideouts, but subsequently caught the coaches’ eye as a scout team tailback and expects to play against the Golden Bears — thereby adding to SC’s wealth of five-star options at quarterback (Matt Barkley), tailback (Marc Tyler), receiver (Robert Woods and Marqise Lee) and tight end (Xavier Grimble).

“I’m happy that we’re going to be able to utilize him and his speed,” Barkley said. “He’s probably the fastest guy on our team. It’s going to be fun to watch him with the ball in his hands.” If that all sounds a little familiar, Dillon Baxter would like to remind you that he’s still here. [Orange County Register, ESPN Los Angeles]

• Just waiting on you, guys. “Everything is in place” for the Big East to extend an invitation to Central Florida, according to coach George O’Leary, who told reporters one day after the Big East announced a plan to add up to six football schools that UCF‘s addition is only “a matter of putting the gavel down and making a decision.” Other sources confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel that talks are underway to begin the latest raid on Conference USA, but an invitation may not come until next week.

“I would think that just looking from a numbers count, we’d be on the lips of a lot of people obviously,” O’Leary said. “I would hope that they strongly consider us. I would think it would help them as much as it’s gonna help us. …Just the people I’ve spoken with, not UCF but the people from the outside—everything’s in place.” [Associated Press, Orlando Sentinel]

• Adding injury to insult. And injury. Ohio State defensive end Nathan Williams, already sidelined since the first game of the season, has now been ruled out for the rest of the year as he prepares for a second arthroscopic knee surgery. Last year, Williams led the team with 4.5 sacks as a junior, and was set to emerge this year as one of only two senior starters for a unit that’s managed just three sacks in the last four games in his absence. [Columbus Dispatch]

In other injury news… Texas Tech running back Eric Stephens is out for the season with a dislocated knee he suffered against Texas A&M. [Dallas Morning News] … Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd expects to play at Maryland Saturday after being carted off with a hip injury. [Post and Courier] … And if injured Arizona linebacker Jake Fischer wasn’t heading for a redshirt before coach Mike Stoops was fired earlier this week, he certainly is now. [Tucson Citizen]

• If I was Commander in Chief, this would never happen. Army has decided to ditch plans to play Air Force in Yankee Stadium next year, moving the game to West Point to avoid a “strong possibility of a conflict” if the New York Yankees make the playoffs. (Not getting a little ahead of ourselves, are we?) The Black Knights still plan to host Rutgers in the Bronx next month. [GoArmySports.com]

Quickly… Auburn insists it doesn’t have a quarterback controversy. … Jeff Driskel was back at practice Monday for Florida. … Local media outlets file a lawsuit in pursuit of Butch Davis’ phone records at North Carolina. … Clemson’s campus a cappella group uses Clemson football as an excuse to make a cappella look even whiter. … And Boise State could still wear all blue for its first Mountain West game, just not on the blue turf.

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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Weekly notes from the undercard.

After a four-point loss to Penn State last week, Temple finally got the win against a “Big Six” conference team it deserved. The Owls jumped on Maryland early and defeated them 38-7 in College Park, ending a six-game losing streak to the Terps in dominant fashion.

While Temple should be thrilled about this win, big wins at the beginning of the season are starting to become the norm for the Owls. They defeated UConn last year in what was considered a program-defining win, but failed to finish the season strong in their own conference. One of the things coach Steve Addazio questioned during the preseason was whether his team had the mental fortitude to finish a season, because while a win against Maryland is great, a MAC title and a bowl berth would be a lot better.

“If you can’t finish a season, then you’re not very mentally tough,” Addazio said in an earlier interview. “And that’s where we need to improve. We need to be a good football team in November. That’s the mark of a tough football team and that’s the mark of a well-conditioned football team.”

• THE CRIB SHEET. Elsewhere in mid-majordom…

• Toledo has asked that Syracuse‘s win over the Rockets on Saturday be vacated because of an admitted bad call by officials, but the game will remain a ‘Cuse win. With about two minutes remaining and a 29-27 lead following a touchdown, the Orange clearly missed an extra point to go ahead by three. Somehow, even with the benefit of replay, officials ruled the kick good. Toledo responded with a drive to tie the game at 30 with a field goal at the end of regulation, before losing in overtime. Had the officials gotten the call right, Toledo likely  would have won the game by a point.

The Big East acknowledged the mistake in a statement late Saturday and has been in contact with the Mid-American Conference, but there’s nothing either party can do to change the outcome of the game.

“Since the conclusion of the Toledo-Syracuse game, I have been in communication with Big East Commissioner, John Marinatto, along with Rogers Redding, Secretary-Rules Editor of the NCAA Football Rules Committee,” MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement. “By rule once the game is declared over the score is final and there is no recourse to reverse an outcome. (Rule 1, Section 1, Article 3, Paragraph b of the 2011 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations.) I share the frustration and regret with our Toledo coaches, student-athletes, administration and supporters of the Rockets football program.”

• And then there were two… The non-AQ conferences went into the weekend with six undefeated teams and, predictably, came out with two: Boise Sate and Houston remain unblemished after San Diego State, Wyoming, Ohio and Florida International all lost over the weekend. San Diego State, Wyoming and Ohio all played “Big Six” schools this week, while FIU lost to conference foe, Louisiana-Lafayette.

• Speaking of which: What about ULL? For the past couple weeks, MMM has been fawning over Florida International when really, Lafayette has proven to be the power of the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin’ Cajuns upset FIU 36-31 to move to 3-1 on the season. Their only loss came in the season opener to Oklahoma State, but they still managed to score 34 points on the Cowboys.

• San Jose State snapped a 13-game losing streak by beating New Mexico State, 34-24, earning well-deserved golf claps. Interestingly enough, the last team San Jose State beat was … New Mexico State.

• RUSH THE FIELD. Wins worthy of a bleacher-clearing celebration.
A hearty congrats to North Texas, which defeated Indiana, 24-21, to earn the Mean Green’s first win over a “Big Six” opponent since 2003. North Texas actually led the game 24-0 before Indiana fought its way back in the final six minutes. But North Texas recovered an onside kick with about a minute remaining to secure the victory.

The win was also coach Dan McCarney’s first since coaching at Iowa State in 2006.

• GAME OF THE WEEK: Mississippi State 26, Louisiana Tech 20 (Overtime)
Yes, yes it is possible that for the second straight week, Louisiana Tech snatched defeat from the hands of victory. Last Saturday it was a come-from behind victory by Houston; this time, Mississippi State stopped a La. Tech upset bid with two interceptions at the end of regulation and in overtime.

Nick Isham, Tech’s 17-year-old freshman quarterback, moved the Bulldogs within field goal range with less than four minutes remaining but threw an interception to stall the drive. In overtime, Isham threw an interception on the second play of the extra period to all but seal it for Mississippi State. The maroon Bulldogs scored on their second play of overtime.

What was head-shaking last week is just sad this week. Louisiana Tech is nine points away from being 4-0 this season but can’t finish a game. Is it fair to say the Bulldogs are the best 1-3 team in the country?

• YOUTUBE DEDICATION OF THE WEEK:

This week’s YouTube musical dedication goes out to San Diego State quarterback Ryan Lindley, who struggled mightily in his best chance to show off his NFL-worthy arm at Michigan. He fumbled once and consistently missed open receivers in the 28-7 loss. I’m calling it an aberration: Lindley and the Aztecs can right the ship against TCU this weekend. So, Ryan Lindley and the Aztecs, I dedicate Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page” to you as performed by Metallica. Enjoy.

• PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bernard Pierce, Temple.
Pierce appears back to his freshman form after scoring a school-record five touchdowns in the win over Maryland. Pierce had 32 rushes for 149 yards. He now has 12 touchdowns on the year and leads the nation in scoring. He currently ranks 10th in the country in rushing with 496 yards and, with conference play starting, appears to be well on his way to his second 1,000-yard campaign in the past three seasons.

“It’s nice to know that I’m back on top of my game where I should be at,” Pierce said after the game. “There’s always room for development and I keep pushing for it.”

Honorable mention: Hawaii quarterback Bryant Moniz set a Hawaii record and tied an NCAA record with seven touchdown passes in the first half against UC-Davis. He also threw for 424 yards in the half. … North Texas running back Lance Dunbar had 279 yards of total offense, including 152 passing yards, in the 24-21 win over Indiana.

A SOMEWHAT ARBITRARY MID-MAJOR TOP 10
1. Boise State (3-0) The Broncos stayed perfect with a 41-21 win over Tulsa and should remain perfect this week against struggling Nevada.
2. Houston (4-0) The Cougars are the only other undefeated non-AQ team and should remain that way against UTEP.
3. Temple (3-1) The win over Maryland should give the Owls a lot of confidence heading into a tough conference slate.
4. Navy (2-1) The much-anticipated Commander-in-Chief game against Air Force is this week. The Mids have won seven of the last eight CIC trophies.
5. TCU (3-1) TCU continues its final Mountain West season Saturday against a San Diego State team that nearly upset the Frogs a year ago.
6. Louisiana-Lafayette (3-1) Making a surprise appearance in the poll this week, the Ragin’ Cajuns’ win over FIU put them atop the Sun Belt standings and in the driver’s seat for their first Sun Betl crown.
7. Florida International (3-1) The loss to Lafayette was a setback, but one the Panthers should be able to overcome. They get Duke this week for a chance at another non-conference confidence boost.
8. Bowling Green (3-1) The Falcons got right back into the win column this week after a tough loss to Wyoming. The MAC is shaping up to be a tough conference, but Bowling Green could be right in the hunt for a title.
9. Southern Miss (3-1) The Golden Eagles defeated Virginia to give them their first road win against a “Big Six” team since 2005.
10. SMU (3-1) The Mustangs have been flying under the radar a bit since an opening-night thumping at the hands of Texas A&M, but are still the favorites to win C-USA West.
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Honorable Mention: Colorado State (3-1), Ohio (3-1), San Diego State (3-1), Hawaii (2-2) Utah State (1-2)

AT THE OTHER END OF THE BARREL…
• New Mexico missed its best opportunity to get a win this season by losing to Sam Houston State in overtime, but some would still consider the Lobos winners because they finally fired head coach Mike Locksley. Who knows? Maybe that’s the change the program needs to get it back in the win column.

• STAY TUNED FOR…
BYU tries to get revenge on Utah State, which kicked the Cougars while they were down last year. BYU has already suffered one embarrassing loss to an in-state rival. Can it handle two? … The Commander-In-Chief game between Air Force and Navy is always fun to watch even if it doesn’t have the pageantry of Army-Navy. … And Boise State could put up a big number against Nevada this week as the Broncos look to remain perfect and make amends for last year’s epic loss to the Wolf Pack.

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Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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Perusing the weekly odds in search of a straight-up shocker or two. For entertainment only.

MATT HINTON: North Carolina (+7) over Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets currently lead the nation in rushing offense, total offense, scoring offense and pass efficiency, and are still trying to get some of the harder-to-reach remnants of Kansas’ defense out of the turf at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Unlike Kansas, however, North Carolina plays actual defense — in fact, it brings in arguably the most athletic D in the ACC, and one of the most athletic in the country as far as NFL scouts are concerned.

And frankly, any fan who actually bought a t-shirt commemorating a mid-September win over Kansas deserves a slice of humble pie. The Jackets won’t make it halfway to their season averages for yards or points over the first three games.

Bonus Pick! Massachusetts (+10½) over Boston College. This says nothing whatsoever about UMass’ 2-0 start against Holy Cross and Rhode Island. But as far as Boston College is concerned, when you follow up a three-point effort against a Conference USA outfit with a home loss to Duke, you have officially lost all benefit of the doubt.

GRAHAM WATSON: Central Florida (+3) over BYU.
I’m 1-2 this season, but my one win was by picking a non-AQ team from Florida on a Friday night, so I’m going that route again. Both UCF and BYU are coming off of tough losses, but the Knights weren’t embarrassed last week like BYU was in a 54-10 rout at the hands of Utah. Many would think that might fire the Cougars up, but I think it might have exposed some major deficiencies in BYU’s turnover-prone offense and special teams.

Central Florida’s offense was a little stale last week itself in a 17-10 loss to Florida International, but the 30 points the Knights put on Boston College two weeks ago proves they’re more than just another rugged defense. BYU has struggled to run the ball, ranking 118th nationally with just 48.3 yards per game, and UCF ranks 13th in run defense. If the game is left on quarterback Jake Heaps‘ shoulders, BYU will struggle mightily.

Oh, and giving UCF a little bulletin board material this week doesn’t exactly help the Cougars’ cause.

CHRIS BROWN, Smart Football: Temple (+8½) over Maryland.
Maryland is the better team, and is at home. But I expect the Terps to have a bit of a hangover coming off a down-to-the-wire, near-miss comeback against West Virginia. And the Fighting Addazios of Temple — in the house that Al Golden built — are really not all that bad, or at least I don’t think they are. The Owls cruised to easy victories in their first two games before letting Penn State slip away at the last second (albeit with a more Addazio-like output of 197 yards total offense), but Maryland won’t play defense like Penn State and has already shown a propensity to leave points on the field in coordinator Gary Crowton’s new offense. It won’t be an easy win, but it would be a signature one for Temple.

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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Adjusting to the weekend’s new realities.

• Texas moves on. I never thought I’d see the day a Texas fan could honestly describe a one-point, comeback win over BYU in Austin as a “gutty” performance, at least not in a good way. Then again, after the last year, the second half Saturday night was about as good as it’s been in Austin since roughly 8:25 p.m. Central time on Jan. 7, 2010, when then-freshman Garrett Gilbert took his first meaningful snap as a UT quarterback. By all appearances, an incomplete pass in the second quarter Saturday may have been his last.

At that point, the Longhorns trailed 13-0 and had gone three-and-out on three of their first five offensive possessions; Gilbert had been picked off on both of the other two, leaving him 2-of-8 passing for eight yards and a pass efficiency rating of negative-16.6. Enter Case “Yes That McCoy” McCoy, younger brother of Gilbert’s sainted predecessor, and a long-awaited dose of actual optimism: After the half, McCoy and true freshman David Ash led the ‘Horns on two sustained touchdown drives and a third march that milked more than six minutes off the clock before stalling out on fourth-and-short at the BYU 14-yard line. Clinging to a 17-16 lead following a late Cougar turnover, the baby ‘Horns picked up a pair of third down conversions, vaporized the final four minutes on the clock and left with a legitimately hard-earned victory. McCoy was 7-of-8 passing for 57 yards; Ash was 2-of-3 with 33 yards rushing.

Still, in this case, the how isn’t as important as the who: With McCoy (a sophomore who only took a handful of garbage-time snaps behind Gilbert last year), Ash (a true freshman), leading rusher Malcolm Brown (a true freshman), leading receiver Jaxon Shipley (a true freshman) and an offensive line that features three sophomores and a redshirt freshman in the regular rotation, the offense is the best endorsement yet for Austin’s claim as a “green city.”

• Iowa State finds new hope. Quick: Name a great Iowa State quarterback. Okay, name any Iowa State quarterback. If your list made it past Seneca Wallace, you’re either a diehard Cyclone fan or you probably need to get out more. (In fact, if you happen to be a diehard Cyclone fan, you probably need to get out more, anyway.) It’s not a position that tends to draw a lot of attention to itself, is what I’m saying.

However: Even non-Cyclone fans may have reason to take note of one Steele Jantz, an actual person who stepped off the pages of a comic book* to throw four touchdown passes in Iowa State’s 44-41, triple-overtime upset over rival Iowa. Jantz’s 304 total yards and late heroics made him the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, and put ISU very much on pace for a possible bowl bid at 2-0.

• Boston College abandons all hope. Boston College hired a new offensive coordinator from the NFL after bottoming out in 2010 with fewer yards and points per game than any other attack in the ACC. After two games in 2011, things are looking even worse: Playing without their leading rusher and leading receiver, the Eagles stunk it up from start to finish Saturday in a 30-3 loss at Central Florida, finishing with a grand total of 86 yards and four first downs after driving for a field goal on the first possession of the game. BC’s final ten chances with the ball all ended in a punt or a turnover, each one knocking the Eagles’ chances of digging out of an 0-2 hole little further into the distance.

• Washington‘s Price is alright. Washington quarterback Keith Price passed for 315 yards, four touchdowns and a 222.6 pass efficiency rating Saturday in the Huskies’ 40-32 win over Hawaii, a better line in his third career start than departed first-round pick Jake Locker delivered in 40 career starts — Locker went over 300 yards passing three times as a Husky, but never approached an efficiency rating over 200. Then again, he also didn’t throw many interceptions returned the length of the field for a touchdown, as Price did in the second quarter of an otherwise brilliant effort, so don’t start calling up general managers yet.

• Will NFL scouts accept YouTube? Remember Johnny McEntee, the trick-shot master who briefly wowed America with his stunning gift of meaningless accuracy in the Husky football complex last winter?

McEntee is now UConn’s starting quarterback, and against actual competition he is … not so accurate. In the Huskies’ 24-21 loss at Vanderbilt Saturday, McEntee hit just 10 of 27 passes for 99 yards with four sacks, zero touchdowns, a fumble and three interceptions, the last of which was returned 50 yards for a touchdown by Vandy’s Casey Hayward to tie the game at 21 in the fourth quarter. (The Commodores added the winning field goal a few minutes later.) UConn’s only two touchdowns in the loss came via returns on a blocked punt and a fumble.

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* Though Jantz claims to hail from the “City College of San Francisco.” Scant evidence exists.

Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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