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1. The Big Ten coaches selected seven players from Iowa and six from Penn State on the All-Conference team. Wisconsin had three, Michigan State and Michigan had two apiece. Among the teams with one? Northwestern, Minnesota and….the conference champion. Ohio State went 10-2, 7-1 in the Big Ten, and only defensive back Kurt Coleman made All-Conference. It just may be Jim Tressel’s best coaching job.

2. Take a look at the BCS bowl coaches of two years ago. Slumping is easy as 1-2-3: one is clinging to his job (Mark Mangino), two have fallen way out of championship contention this season (Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops) and three haven’t sniffed a championship since (Les Miles, Mark Richt, Ron Zook). The others: Tressel, Frank Beamer, Bill Stewart and June Jones, who took his winning style to from Hawaii to SMU.

3. Of all the finalists named for the season-ending awards Monday, the one that interests me the most is Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes, a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik (best all-around defender) and the Butkus (best linebacker). It’s not unusual for an award-winner to miss a game. But I think Spikes’ one-game suspension for gouging at the eyes of Georgia back Washaun Ealey is going to cost him votes.

1. Kudos to Clemson for its first title of any sort since 1991, so long ago that Bobby Bowden finished the season with “only” 216 victories. It is a mark of the Tigers’ improvement that Virginia held Heisman candidate C.J. Spiller to 114 all-purpose yards and the Clemson still won easily, 34-21. Spiller’s candidacy may have lost some momentum but I bet he’s delighted with the result.

2. I am not surprised that Charlie Weis didn’t flinch when someone brought up his 2005 quote that finishing 6-5 isn’t good enough. Weis, the coach of a 6-5 team, agreed. But I am surprised that Weis said he wouldn’t resign. I figured he would fall on his sword as a matter of honor not to resign. Weis’s comments Sunday indicate that he considers it a matter of honor to stay on the job. On the other hand, a resignation may affect his buyout. Money ahead of honor? Naaaah.

3. If we had a playoff, which teams would be entering the postseason with momentum? My toothpicks would be on Georgia Tech, Alabama and Texas (I’d say Ohio State, too, but the Buckeyes are No. 10 and the Yellow Jackets are No. 7. Can’t both win but it would a helluva show). On the other hand, which teams look like first-round losers based on their play down the stretch? Cincinnati, Iowa and LSU.

1. Texas A&M fired R.C. Slocum in 2002 for going 6-6. In seven seasons since, the Aggies are 41-42. Syracuse let Paul Pasqualoni go in 2004 for being mediocre. In five years since, the Orange is 13-44. In 2006, Minnesota dumped Glen Mason for going 64-57 over 10 seasons. In three seasons since, Tim Brewster is 14-22. It’s good that Gopher athletic director Joel Maturi said he expects Brewster will return in 2010. Moral: there’s no guarantee that change is for the better.

2. Two mysteries I’d like solved: one, how did the Football Writers Association of America choose an Alabama defender as a finalist for the Nagurski Trophy and select tackle Terrence Cody over linebacker Rolando McClain? Not that Cody isn’t a dominant player, but I’m guessing they didn’t see a lot of the Crimson Tide. Two, how many cotton fields will be picked to create a tuxedo for the 6-4, 345-pound Mount Cody?

3. Steve Ellis began covering Florida State for the Tallahassee Democrat in 1990. No one worked harder knew any college football beat better than Steve knew coach Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles. “One of the best I’ve ever seen -- I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them better -- at finding out what’s happening before I find out,” Bowden said Thursday. That’s the essence of what we do. Ellis, who suffered a heart attack last week, died Thursday at age 54. I can’t believe it.

1. Todd McShay told me that Michigan will have two players drafted in April, same as last April. Among the Wolverine juniors this season, only Donovan Warren has attracted attention vis-à-vis the 2011 draft. That would be five draftees over three seasons. The fewest any Michigan coach(es) has had over a three-year period is nine from 1984-86. The point? Rich Rodriguez’s biggest problem isn’t fitting in at Michigan. It’s talent. All of his is young.

2. Here’s what’s interesting about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist speaking out in defense of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. Crist is in a tough battle for the 2010 Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate. And he’s in a state with two big state universities that both have big football programs. Crist had every reason to keep his mouth shut. And he didn’t. He illustrated the deep-seated emotion a lot of people in Florida feel about Bowden.

3. TCU coach Gary Patterson is preaching the mantra, “Two more. Gotta finish,” to his players. Are they listening? “Better or Xmas will come earlier than we like,” Patterson texted me Wednesday night. It would seem as if the biggest threat to the No. 4 Horned Frogs is the possibility of capricious weather at Wyoming. TCU’s in luck: forecast is partly cloudy and a high of 44 on Saturday. “I told them [we’re] playing for a championship who cares!” Patterson texted. Exactly.

1. The BCS commissioners hired Bill Hancock four years ago to make sure their postseason trains run on time. Now Hancock will step out front and be the face and voice of the BCS. That job has rotated among the commissioners since the BCS began, and they can’t give the “honor” to Hancock fast enough. However, it’s hard to imagine that Hancock will be a Goodell-Stern autocrat. He’s not the type and the commissioners have never relinquished power willingly.

2. Kansas coach Mark Mangino wondered aloud Tuesday if his anger would be an issue had the Jayhawks not lost five straight games after a 5-0 start. Probably not. Winning is good makeup. Does losing build character or reveal it? The Lawrence Journal-World reported Tuesday a 2007 case of Mangino dressing down a student who issued him parking tickets. Now Mangino is accused of dealing with a player inappropriately. Sounds like Mangino crossed a line, and better backtrack soon.

3. Through nine games, East Carolina didn’t score a single touchdown on defense. In the 44-17 rout of Tulsa on Sunday night, the Pirates’ defense scored three. According to coach Skip Holtz, tackle Jay Ross spent the whole 49 yards of his fumble return thinking, “I’m getting a penalty. What am I going to do? What’s my celebration dance?” When Ross got to the end zone, Holtz said, he was too tired to do anything but try to breathe. That may be why he’s a tackle.

1. Big East blogger Brian Bennett pointed out Monday that No. 5 Cincinnati had been scheduled to play No. 15 Virginia Tech this season but moved the game to 2012 so that the Hokies could open against No. 2 Alabama. Cincinnati filled its opening with Illinois. The Bearcats already are third in the computers. Where would Cincinnati and Alabama be in the BCS had the Bearcats beaten Virginia Tech instead of the Tide?

2. San Jose State coach Dick Tomey’s decision to retire next month is a reminder that few coaches leave the game on a high note. The Spartans are 1-8 this season, Tomey’s fifth at San Jose State and 33rd as a head coach (182-143-7). The respect that the 71-year-old Tomey commands can be seen in his position as president of the American Football Coaches Association. Who’s the last successful coach to leave on his own terms? Lloyd Carr? Tom Osborne? Walter Camp?

3. In Miami’s first six games of the season, sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris completed 65 percent of his passes and had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11-7. In the last four games, those numbers are 56 percent and 8-9, respectively. Of those 16 interceptions, three have been returned for touchdowns. When Harris cuts down on his mistakes, Miami will make that next step.

1. If you’re a purist, you may be appalled that SMU is bowl eligible. The Mustangs, 6-4, lost to Washington State. But SMU is Exhibit A why having 34 bowls is a good thing. The Mustangs went 1-11 in each of the past two seasons. They haven’t gone bowling in 25 years, two years before the death penalty. They’ve risen only to mediocrity but they still have a postseason goal. With former Hawaii coach June Jones in charge, the Mustangs are a natural for the Aloha Bowl.

2. If good teams find a way to win, then you know what bad teams do. The stats say that New Mexico is playing better football. Against No. 22 BYU, New Mexico didn’t turn the ball over, converted 10 of 20 third downs and held the ball for more than 35 minutes. But sophomore kicker James Aho, who came into the game 9-of-14 on field goal attempts, hit the uprights against the Cougars -- three times. That’s how New Mexico remained winless. Ouch.

3. I know that Oklahoma has had offensive issues. I know that quarterback Landry Jones is in his first season and needs every snap he can get. And 9:46 remained in the game when he threw his fifth touchdown pass, a 10-yarder, against Texas A&M. Still, the Sooners’ starting quarterback threw a touchdown pass with the score 58-10. There has got to be someone on the scout team who could have used the work, too.

1. Keith Jackson, the once and forever voice of college football, appeared with me on the ESPNU College Football Podcast on Wednesday. He spoke of the military and college football, of Notre Dame and the Pac-10, of Bobby Bowden turning 80. But he said one of his best lines before we began recording. When I asked how he spent his Saturdays these days, Jackson replied, in that clipped stentorian tone, “One thing I have noticed: when USC kicks off, the golf course empties.”

2. Not that the Big Ten has fallen behind the offensive times, but the league’s last quarterback to finish in the top 10 in passing efficiency was Troy Smith of Ohio State when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2006. And after having at least two rushers in the top 10 in each of the last three years, the conference has only one in the top 35 this season: Wisconsin sophomore John Clay. He’s averaging 108 rushing yards per game. No one else is averaging as much as 90 yards per game.

3. There are four winless teams remaining. So which one avoids 0-12? Eastern Michigan is the only team whose three remaining opponents all have losing records. Rice nearly beat SMU last week and has games remaining against Tulane and UTEP. New Mexico has two ranked opponents left. But the Lobos are better off than Western Kentucky, which hasn’t finished within a touchdown of anyone, has a 17-game losing streak and a lame-duck coach.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel

1. One more anecdote from my research on the Memorial stadiums: Illinois professor James M. White, the supervising architect of his campus’ stadium, and Ohio State campus architect J. N. Bradford fretted in correspondence over the size of their campus stadiums. “I doubt the wisdom [sic] of erecting a stadium with seating capacity to exceed fifty thousand,” wrote Bradford. Ohio Stadium now seats 102,000. An architect does not an athletic director make.

2. You know Nick Saban has done what Alabama hired him to do when Tim McGraw sings his new song, "Southern Voice," on the CMA Awards and mentions both Bear Bryant and a Crimson Tide T-shirt separately in the same song. Not that it’s been awhile since the Crimson Tide made that sort of impact, but Steely Dan released "Deacon Blues" on its album Aja in 1977. Omen alert? Alabama finished second that season and won the national championship in the following two years.

3. Good news for fans of the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, a guide that I have found indispensable the past few years. There was no 2009 edition because of ownership issues. Editor Chris Dortch has worked them out, taken control and just released a bowl edition. You can order it at: www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel


1. Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin’s response to the USA Today report that his staff is the highest-paid ($3.325 million) in the nation: “I don’t think anybody thinks about how much money Monte Kiffin makes or Ed Orgeron makes when we play Georgia and Alabama back-to-back and they don’t score an offensive touchdown.” He added that no one talks about Nick Saban’s salary any more now that Alabama is No. 2. You know what? Lane Kiffin is exactly right.

2. The biggest bargain among head coaches in that USA Today report on head coaches’ salaries is the $950,000 that Oregon State pays Mike Riley. It’s astounding that the marketplace is such that nearly $1 million would be a bargain. If I’m an athletic director, I’d pay to hear our Oregon State gets away with that. And if I’m an athletic director, I’m begging you: Shoot me. Now.

3. Florida is No. 1 and Cincinnati is No. 5, and history says that neither team will finish that high. It has been six seasons since a Big East champion repeated (Miami in 2000-03) and 11 seasons since an SEC champion repeated (Tennessee in 1997-98). That’s amazing, especially when three other leagues have defending champs who are repeaters. Oklahoma’s all but done in the Big 12, while Virginia Tech and USC remain in contention in the ACC and Pac-10, respectively.