1. Kentucky coach Rich Brooks spent Tuesday recruiting in Ohio, which is not the action of a guy who’s ready to turn the team over to coach-in-waiting hang up his whistle. But asked if that meant he had decided to come back in 2010, Brooks said, “No guarantees.” He said he will sit down with the athletic administration in a couple of weeks to go over some things. But he doesn’t expect to make a decision until after the Music City Bowl.

2. The biggest problem that the BCS commissioners have in not giving the Mountain West Conference an automatic bid is the Big East Conference. You can make the case that the Big East has more good teams. But the performance of Utah and TCU over the last two seasons is a compelling reason to reward the league. The gap between the Mountain West and the Big East doesn’t appear wide enough to merit the distinction.

3. Moving the Civil War to Thursday night is one of those offseason decisions that looks absolutely brilliant. Oregon and Oregon State will play for bragging rights and the Rose Bowl while the nation watches in prime time. But if you think about it, the USC-Arizona game is what the league thought would be for all the marbles. That’s why it’s on Saturday. The Big East, on the other hand, got it right. Cincinnati will play at Pittsburgh on Championship Saturday.