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1. When Florida State announced Sunday it would vacate 12 victories in football, it did so without the angst voiced when the NCAA first announced the penalty last year. Then, Seminoles head coach Bobby Bowden dueled with Joe Paterno of Penn State for the lead in career victories. Now, Florida State had forced Bowden to retire, which brought the duel with Paterno to a screeching halt. The announcement Sunday felt like it came with a shrug.

2. Washington coach Steve Sarkisian will not begin spring practice until Mar. 30, when spring quarter begins on campus. Because the Huskies are thin on both the offensive and defensive lines, Sarkisian will spread the 15 practices over five weeks. There will be no practices on consecutive days. “We don’t have the luxury of going back-to-back days,” Sarkisian said. And four mid-year enrollees will be able to ease into the routine without being overwhelmed.

3. Boston College coach Frank Spaziani doesn’t want to relive 2009, which he began with no experienced quarterbacks. That’s why he signed two quarterbacks last week. Most schools don’t sign more than one per year. “We’ve got poor spacing, but we’ve got the numbers,” Spaziani said. “Are we going to take another (one) ? Is there a 13-year-old quarterback in Delaware? Is there somebody really good that we want?” He was kidding about the 13-year-old -- I think.

1. You hear it said that Texas coach Mack Brown picks his 20 signees and then everyone else may begin to recruit the state. That’s only a slight exaggeration. The Longhorns signed 12 of the 24 Texas high school stars in the ESPNU 150. Texas A&M signed three and Oklahoma two. A year ago, Texas signed nine of the state’s 19 players on the ESPNU list. I can’t think of a better match of coach and school than Brown and UT.

2. That said, it’s amazing how the top schools plucked the best players from across the country. USC, which fueled its rise to the top under Pete Carroll with national recruiting, signed the best player in Illinois and picked up a commit from the best player in Minnesota. Florida signed the best player in Pennsylvania. Texas signed the best player in Ohio. None of that speaks well for the Big Ten, does it?

3. Oregon made the most of its Pac-10 championship. Head coach Chip Kelly signed 23 players from nine states in what was a relatively thin year for impact players within Oregon. Only two of the new Ducks are in-state players. That’s one fewer than Oregon signed from Texas. Kelly also lured Tampa receiver/defensive back Eric Dungy, son of former Bucs/Colts head coach Tony Dungy, across the country.

1. Christmas for recruiting geeks arrives tomorrow. Consider this a friendly reminder that no one really know what’s in each package. I went back and looked over the ESPNU 150 from four years ago . No. 12 was Mitch Mustain. No. 13 was Jevan Snead. And No. 141 was Josh Freeman. Of the two Heisman winners, Tim Tebow was No. 15. Sam Bradford didn’t make the list.

2. In an era when today’s technological marvel is tomorrow’s museum piece, coaches will sit and watch their fax machines Wednesday morning for Letters of Intent from their 2010 signees. Fax? Why not ask the Pony Express to do the job? As I understand it, a Letter of Intent scanned and sent as a PDF would be considered valid by the NCAA. But for some reason, that method of delivery has been slow to catch on.

3. Let’s get this straight: Texas Tech agreed to move its game against Texas to Sept. 18, the third week of the season. In order to do so, the Red Raiders and TCU move their game, which had been scheduled for that day, to a future year. The replacement for TCU, which will be a top-10 team again, is FCS Weber State on Nov. 20. That’s some kind of housewarming gift for new coach Tommy Tuberville.

1. What I like about the Paul Hornung Award, a new award announced Wednesday by the Louisville Sports Commission, is that it fills a niche. The Hornung, named for the 1956 Heisman winner, will go to the most versatile player in the nation. Guys like C.J. Spiller last season, or Jeremy Maclin of Missouri in 2007, have become more important in the age of the spread. They have a better chance to win this award than they do the Heisman or the position-specific awards.

2. Oregon State football under head coach Mike Riley has become known for slow starts and fast finishes. The Beavers can't afford a slow start next fall. Oregon State probably will open with TCU at Cowboys Stadium and also will play at Boise State. Keep in mind that Pac-10 teams play only three nonconference games. The Beavers get two of those games against BCS bowl teams on the road. That should keep them focused on their offseason workouts.

3. Joe and Sue Paterno are big supporters of public television. In the past, WPSU in State College has auctioned off the Penn State head coach's autographed khakis, his white socks, sneakers and game-worn neckties. What's left? His glasses, of course. Paterno is putting up an autographed pair of dark-framed, thick specs to the highest bidder. Online bids begin Feb. 1. After that, what's left? Joe's VHS machine? Last I heard, he still watches football video on tape.

1. The BCS announced that the non-AQ conferences will share a record amount of more than $24 million. BCS executive director Bill Hancock dressed up the announcement by touting the more than 20 percent increase from $19.3 million. But when the SEC and the Big Ten brought in $22 million each, I think the better strategy would be to keep quiet and not insult our intelligence. Headline: “We’re Not As Unfair As We Used to Be!”

2. The big news out of the Senior Bowl weigh-in Monday morning is that Alabama defensive tackle Terrence Cody weighed 370 pounds. The event itself is surreal. The players line up shirtless, wearing shorts. They come to the stage, have their height and weight measured, all before a packed ballroom of NFL coaches, scouts and personnel guys. The players are self-conscious, but I’ve always wondered why the NFL people aren’t. All in all, a little creepy.

3. Boise State and Virginia Tech continue to work to move their October game at FedEx Field to Labor Day weekend. Hokie fans don’t want to play such a tough opponent on opening weekend, which is another example of the respect accorded to Boise State. But I think the move is more troubling for the Broncos. Playing such a high-profile opener will subject Boise State to eight months of hype. We’ve all seen teams that buy the hype, lose the game, and slink off to 7-5 land.

1. We keep hearing that coaching is harder than ever, that the pressure is so great that no head coach can make a lifelong career anymore. It’s interesting that the last four guys to fill head coaching positions – Lane Kiffin at USC, Derek Dooley at Tennessee, Skip Holtz at USF and Sonny Dykes at Louisiana Tech – are all sons of former college head coaches. Maybe if you grew up in the business, you’re more hard-wired for it.

2. In doing research for the programs of the decade, I found that it’s time to applaud two of the smallest schools in the FBS. Wake Forest went 61-60 in the 2000s, the most victories in any decade in school history. Ditto for Northwestern, the butt of Big Ten jokes for three decades, which went 61-61. That’s the same amount of victories the Wildcats won in the 1980s and ‘90s combined, even with the back-to-back conference champions of 1995-96.

3. Interesting point by SEC blogger Chris Low yesterday in how the going rate for defensive coordinators in the SEC has risen to the high six figures. Texas’ Will Muschamp is paid in that range. The programs that make the most money pay the highest salaries. They have the state-of-the-art facilities. Imagine how much more lopsided the sport would be if not for the 25/85 scholarship limits. Those programs would sign the most players, too.

1. Bad enough that Urban Meyer, if he returns to Florida next fall, would have to move the team past the loss of Tim Tebow's playmaking ability and leadership. But with five juniors leaving early, how much does the size of the rebuilding job weigh on Meyer and his decision to return? In nine years as a head coach, he’s never had to retool like this. For the first time, Meyer is learning what happens when you stay at a school long enough to see the freshmen leave. It’s daunting.

2. Beside Tennessee, other winners in last week’s coaching melee: UCLA would have taken a big hit in perception if offensive coordinator Norm Chow had gone to USC. Duke coach David Cutcliffe, for the second time in his career, chose loyalty to staff over personal gain. Skip Holtz is in a great spot at South Florida. Talent abounds nearby and the Big East has the shortest route (seven conference games, no championship game) to the BCS.

3. Four FBS head coaches -- Mark Dantonio of Michigan State, Derek Dooley of Tennessee, Jimbo Fisher of Florida State and Mike Haywood of Miami (Ohio) -- are former Nick Saban assistants. Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, a Saban protégé, is an official head coach-in-waiting. Crimson Tide coordinators Kirby Smart and Jim McElwain are unofficial HCIWs. Linebackers coach James Willis just became Texas Tech's defensive coordinator. That’s pretty strong.

1. Texas coach Mack Brown got a simple question to end his press conference Wednesday: When you’re not sleeping tonight, what will be racing through your mind? His extemporaneous response of nearly 1,200 words reveals what it is to coach a team heading into a national championship game better than any 10 books on coaching you ever have or ever will read.

2. On his 4 a.m. checklist: “Are they going to onside kick to open the game? Do we? How do you punt it? How do you protect? What about your fakes? What about protection? How do you start the game? How do you get your offense more comfortable than they were against Nebraska? What do you do on defense? Has Alabama opened it up with a wide-open offense against Florida to start the game differently than they had in some other games? Will they start with drop back and play-action against us? Will they try to run Ingram to start the game?”

3. On his pregame talk: “I’ll have 122 sets of eyes looking at me, an entire staff looking at me tomorrow afternoon at about 2 p.m., wanting me to put some sense into how important this game is. ‘I want you focused, I want you tough, I want you ready to play, but I want you to have fun,’ which gets really contradictory when they’re looking at you. ... You want to respect Alabama, but you don’t want to have your team where they’re not sure that they think you think they can win.”

1. No disrespect to Iowa. The Hawkeyes proved Tuesday night that the most important injury this season happened not to Oklahoma's Sam Bradford but to the Hawkeyes' Ricky Stanzi. Had he remained healthy, Iowa would be 13-0. But I have to believe that Georgia Tech, like Oregon, struggled with its timing because of the four-week layoff. That's part of the bowl system that will never change.

2. The longer the investigation of charges that coach Jim Leavitt mistreated a player continues, the greater the toll it takes, no matter what the outcome. The University of South Florida reportedly interviewed three players and an assistant coach on Monday. Bulls assistants are getting nervous and it can't be good for recruiting.

3. Alabama coach Nick Saban doesn't play video games but he sounded as if he just put down the sticks when he described how he doesn't talk to kickers during the game. "Kickers are a little bit like assassins," Saban said. "They got one shot. They got all day that they can prepare for it. When they get in the window and take the shot, they've got to make it. I don't think you mess that up right before he's pulling the trigger. So I don't usually say anything."

1. Boise State’s 17-10 defeat of TCU in the Fiesta Bowl proved there’s something to be said for having been there before. The Broncos played a solid, unspectacular game on offense and great defense. The Horned Frogs looked tight from the beginning and never relaxed. Boise State used only one trick play but the fourth-quarter fake punt blew open the game. Those of us who advocated TCU for the BCS National Championship Game don’t look so bright.

2. Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram said he knew his life had changed when he people stopped him for an autograph or a cell-phone photo in cities like Atlanta or Chicago. The Alabama sophomore said he wasn’t ashamed that he cried on national television as he accepted the trophy. The emotion overwhelmed him. When was the last time he cried? Ingram thought. “I don’t know. Probably gettin’ a whuppin’ or something when I was little,” he said.

3. In Rich Brooks’ case, the numbers not only fail to tell the story, they flat out lie. In 25 seasons as a head coach at Oregon and Kentucky, Brooks went 130-156-4 (.455). That winning percentage would get you fired in most places. But Brooks took hollowed-out programs, tore them down and built them back up. At both schools, his best years came at the end of his tenure. Brooks retired Monday and college football is a less talented place.

1. The tenor of the questions asked of the Texas offense at the news conference on Sunday continued to poke at the Longhorns. Offensive coordinator Greg Davis and the players heard about the lack of a consistent running game and about the line’s inability to block Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska. Texas keeps saying that it doesn’t need negative motivation when it is playing for the national championship. But no competitor likes to be challenged.

2. Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said that playing Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in the last game has helped the Crimson Tide prepare for Colt McCoy of Texas. "Our D-line did a great job of containing him, not letting him run and make plays with his feet too often," McClain said. "I think he had one long scramble. Other than that, he was in the pocket all day." Two differences: linebacker Cory Reamer thinks McCoy is faster than Tebow and more dangerous when throwing on the run.

3. McCoy when asked about the adoration he feels when he returns to his hometown of Tuscola, Texas: “Well, I think all 700 people probably have an autograph at this point.” Because of McCoy’s down-home personality and his four years as a starter, the Longhorn fans’ attachment to him appears more personal than their adoration of Vince Young.

1. A year ago at the Rose Bowl, we heard USC players complaining about being there for the fourth consecutive year. At the head coaches’ press conference Thursday, both Chip Kelly of Oregon and Jim Tressel of Ohio State sounded almost giddy about the Kickoff Luncheon to be held later in the day, much less the game itself. “I want our players to savor the moment. That’s what it’s all about,” Kelly said. And the next time, I bet the Trojans don’t complain at all.
2. It’s always difficult to figure out which teams will be ready for a bowl. Some lose their timing; others, their motivation. Some see their game as a reward. Others, after a season-ending loss, see it as a disappointment. But none of those issues ever apply to service academies. Navy and Air Force played with discipline and crispness Thursday. They won routs, and no one should be a bit surprised.
3. Oklahoma’s 31-27 victory over Stanford in the Sun Bowl served as a microcosm of the Sooners’ 8-5 season. They dominated the stats, outgaining the Cardinal, 477-262, won the first downs 28-13 and ran 89 offensive plays. Yet Oklahoma won by only four points. Blame 10 points allowed on turnovers and some freshman-like decisions from freshman quarterback Landry Jones. Injuries and inexperience cost Oklahoma this season. The Sooners should return to the top 10 in 2010.

1. Here’s hoping that Texas Tech gives interim head coach Ruffin McNeill the job permanently. If the administration had it in for Mike Leach, fine. He gave them a reason to fire him. But Leach’s staff is caught in the crossfire, especially if the university hires from without. If McNeill gets the job, you have to think that fewer lives will be disrupted.

2. If Texas Tech doesn’t promote McNeill, Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes, son of former Red Raider coach Spike Dykes, makes sense. He spent seven seasons on Leach’s staff and the disruption would be minimized. Elsewhere, former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is a proven winner whose unflappability may calm the roiled waters in Lubbock.

3. Keep an eye Thursday on Stanford freshman quarterback Andrew Luck. Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday that Luck had pins removed from his surgically repaired right index finger and may play against Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. He’s going to play without having practiced? The Cardinal has a fifth-year senior, Tavita Pritchard, who started 19 games in 2007-08, has taken snaps all month. Wouldn’t he be sharper than Luck?

1. Remember the crisp, accurate, confident Jacory Harris that began the season for Miami? Yeah, neither do I. The Hurricane sophomore quarterback finished the season beat up, limping and largely ineffective in the Champs Sports Bowl against Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Until Miami coach Randy Shannon assembles a competent offensive line, Harris will remain a maddeningly inconsistent quarterback.

2. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli on his 5-8 teammate, freshman tailback LaMichael James, and his ability to flummox hulking defensive linemen: “There were a couple of times where (a lineman) would be about to tackle LaMichael. He would go right underneath his arms and pop through to the other side and get about 15 more yards. His stature helps out a lot.”

3. Sure, if Temple tailback Bernard Pierce had been available, UCLA might not have shut the Owls out after halftime. But give the Bruins credit. The last bowl team to qualify, playing 2,500 miles away from home in freezing, very un-SoCal weather, UCLA came back from a 21-7 deficit to win 30-21. Coach Rick Neuheisel’s team had every opportunity to mail it in, and chose not to do so.

1. The best analysis I have heard of Florida coach Urban Meyer’s resignation-turned-leave comes from Oregon coach Chip Kelly. I said I didn’t understand how going to practice could make Meyer back away from his midlife epiphany. Kelly said, “I do. The only place we want to be is game day and on the practice field. When I heard it, I understand 100 percent. All of the other stuff you gotta do? That ain’t a lot of fun. The best time I have is in practice or in the game.”

2. One line of thinking in the questions in the Rose Bowl press conferences Monday focused upon Stanford’s defeat of Oregon as a template for the Buckeyes. Toby Gerhart gashed the Ducks for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Power football and Buckeyes go hand in hand, right? Stanford won as much because of Andrew Luck’s passing (12-20-0, 251 yards, two touchdowns) as Gerhart’s running. That’s where the comparison to Ohio State fails.

3. Georgia looked like a power football team in the second half of its 44-20 victory over Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl. It will be a nice memory on which the Bulldogs can focus as they dive into offseason conditioning, spring football, summer workouts and preseason two-a-days. But don’t get too excited. All the Dawgs proved is that the Aggies still can’t play defense. Texas A&M gave up more than 40 points five times, including three of the last four games.