Posted by ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel

1. Maybe the five-year plan isn’t obsolete after all. Of the 13 FBS head coaches hired after the 2004 season, nine are still working. Two -- Mark Snyder of Marshall and Mike Sanford of UNLV -- have records under .500. Two -- Bronco Mendenhall of BYU and Kyle Whittingham of Utah -- have records over .600. The rest have won enough to survive. Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State and Skip Holtz of East Carolina are ascending. Is Charlie Weis of Notre Dame ascending or descending? Everyone has an opinion.

2. Georgia is 11-2 on the road in nonconference games in coach Mark Richt’s eight seasons. Two losses came in bowls; the third, last year to Georgia Tech. Richt’s Dawgs are also 3-1 on the road against top-10 teams (all in the SEC). There is a belief among SEC coaches that Georgia’s talent level has slipped. The game Saturday at No. 9 Oklahoma State is an exacting opener, give or take a healthy Zac Robinson. Cowboys fans will be sky-high as they celebrate the expanded Boone Pickens Stadium. How will Georgia respond?

3. I plead guilty. I have dismissed Illinois pretty much since the middle of last season. The Illini come to mind only after Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa in the Big Ten. But beating a rebuilding Missouri on Saturday in St. Louis could be a springboard for a team with 17 returning starters. Quarterback Juice Williams, the leading active rusher in the Big Ten (2,050 yards), and wideout Arrelious Benn remain one of best one-two punches in the nation.