NCAA Football

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Scott Smith, a Notre Dame team captain, crouched at the 25-yard line in mortal sadness, his face a shade of crimson, his eyes welling with tears. Zach Frazer, a former classmate of Smith's who had just taken the snap that ended the game and, effectively, Charlie Weis' Notre Dame career, accepted hugs from teammates past and present. A dispassionate Jimmy Clausen jogged over to the edge of the stands to pose for a photo with his two brothers and his mom.

Connecticut 33, Notre Dame 30. Fire away, Jack Swarbrick. Fire away.

Even Charlie Weis, who begins every press conference with that two-word salutation to the media, would concede that it is time.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Okay, so let the debate began.

Vince Young or Colt McCoy.

Which is the greatest Texas Longhorns quarterback of all time? Young led the Texas Longhorns to a season of perfection and the BCS national title in 2005 as a junior. McCoy, a four-year starter at Texas, has a chance tonight to become college football's all-time winningest quarterback with 43 wins should the second-ranked Longhorns make it past Kansas here at Texas Memorial Stadium.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- When Bobby Bowden finally decides to slip quietly into retirement, he believes Florida State fans will remember the good times -- and not the program's recent slide -- that happened during his storied coaching career. One question: Does his career have any chance at a storybook ending?

FSU's dramatic 29-26 home victory over Maryland Saturday helped an already wounded Seminole Nation avoid further grief, if not slow a potentially uncomfortable showdown with its iconic coach. Instead, the Seminoles (6-5) breathed a collective sigh of relief and became bowl eligible for the 28th straight year.

Another streak is on the line at top-ranked Florida next Saturday.

"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" -- John Greenleaf Whittier

For Michigan it really might have been, if not for a dreadful game by Tate Forcier and the Wolverine offense. Rich Rodriguez's squad fell to Ohio State 21-10 today, keeping Michigan out of the postseason for the second year in a row.

Forcier threw four interceptions. He also fumbled in Michigan's end zone on the Wolverines' opening drive, which OSU recovered for a touchdown.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- "Patrick tends to follow Brian," says Brian Coughlin of his two sons, who are both walk-on wide receivers on the Notre Dame football team.

When Brian went out for wide receiver at Brother Rice High School in suburban Chicago, Patrick followed. When Brian was elected class president his senior year of 2005-06, Patrick ran for and won that office in 2006-07.

Brian matriculated at Notre Dame in 2006. Patrick ventured to South Bend the following autumn. Brian moved in to Dillon Hall. Patrick followed. Brian chose accounting as his major. Patrick selected accounting as his major.

In the spring semester of his sophomore year, Brian tried out at wide receiver as a walk-on. And made it. One year later, Patrick followed suit.

Last week I wrote about the controversy over The South Will Rise Again chant at Ole Miss. In that piece I noted that Ole Miss was the only SEC school that couldn't escape the South's past. Now a new controversy is here, the Klu Klux Klan is protesting for this week's game against LSU. Seriously.

Faulkner memorably said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

And when it comes to Ole Miss that's certainly the case.

Ohio State and Michigan may grab the headlines this fine November Saturday, but focus should also shift to the also-relevants, those programs like Arizona and Oregon and surging Clemson. We have no choice, really, since Florida and Alabama slotted in tomato cans Chattanooga and Florida International. For additional inspiration, look to the Big Tenleven's newest hackneyed rivalry between Penn State and Michigan State.

As usual we'll be here to talk about whats going on as its going on. So come on down, hit the keypad a little and join the conversation in the FanHouse Saturday College Football Chat starting at 3 PM Eastern.

AUSTIN, Texas -- University of Texas coach Mack Brown usually doesn't like to live in the past, but this week he broke out some old film for his team.

He showed the Longhorns how teams from 2006 and 2007 finished in comparison to 2005, when Texas won the BCS national title, and last season when many agree the 12-1 Longhorns should have been given the opportunity to compete for the national championship.

Brown's point to his second-ranked,10-0 squad is simple: stay focused these last two regular-season games, the Big 12 championship game in two weeks, and then biggest of prizes await the Texas Longhorns in Pasadena. A slip up anywhere between now and the Jan. 7 BCS national championship game will lead to great disappointment for Texas.

The Ohio State-Michigan game has always been my personal favorite college football rivalry, dating back to my days as a 5-year-old living near Ann Arbor and worshiping Bo Schembechler. OSU vs. Michigan 2009 doesn't figure to be one of the legendary games -- it might not even be a very good game -- but I'll be watching, and I'll be tweeting my observations while I watch.

And since I'm a sucker for rivalry games, I'll also be tweeting about lesser rivalries like the Harvard-Yale game as well. Follow along below or follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

LOGAN, Utah -- It's not easy to feel sorry for the winningest football program of the millennium, but let's try.

Boise State beat Utah State, 52-21, Friday night to improve to 11-0. For the second straight year it will probably finish the regular season unbeaten.

Who knows? If the Broncos have five or six more perfect seasons, the BCS might invite the Broncos to its title game. Not to play, but perhaps they'll be allowed to valet Alabama's bus or hand out towels in the men's room.

With that vision in mind, I came here to feel sorry for the eternally shafted Broncos. The more I saw, the less sympathy I felt.