1. The Big Ten and Notre Dame are like a sitcom couple. The tension between them keeps viewers coming back for more. Don’t kid yourself – at some level, each knows the other is the best for them. But they trip over themselves in the courtship. Here’s the question -- can Notre Dame sit idly by and watch the Big Ten marry a 12th team like Rutgers? Syracuse? The sitcom just got renewed for another 12 months. That’s how long the conference will study expansion.

2. Alabama set a record by putting six players on the Associated Press All-America team. No team has done that since the AP began naming offensive and defensive teams 45 years ago. That breaks the record of five set by Oklahoma in 1987 and 2003. Take heart, Longhorns. Both of those Sooner teams lost a bowl game with the national championship at stake.

3. The best sign that the ACC is on the rise is that 20 All-ACC first-teamers are underclassmen. You have to assume that one or two of them will declare for the NFL Draft. Georgia Tech alone has three juniors with pro prospects (TB Jonathan Dwyer, DE Derrick Morgan, WR Demaryius Thomas). But the future is blinding, especially with two All-ACC freshmen, TB Ryan Williams of Virginia Tech and LB Luke Kuechly of Boston College.