News-Record.com

... where DeMario Pressley, who still isn't even listed on the depth chart, is briskly running through drills with the other Wolfpack defensive linemen. Go figure.

I have a feeling sifting through the injury situation at State is going to be a bit ,.. um, difficult under Tom O'Brien. On Monday, he listed Pressley as questionable, but didn't put him the depth chart. O'Brien said he did this because he didn't think Pressley could play, but Pressley still did. By Friday, Pressley was suddenly listed as probabe. Now he's on the field going through warmups. Either that's one heck of a training staff the Wolfies have, or TOB is being a bit vague with his injury updates. Actually, it's probably both.

The press box here is abuzz over three scores right now. App State's stunning win at Michigan, Duke's fold-up job against UConn (34-0 in the second half) and Wyoming's thrashing of Virginia (way to get the boys to show up, Al).

Michigan's loss presents me with an interesting situation as a voter. I'm seriously considering dropping them out of the poll alltogether. Seriously, what have they done this season to deserve a ranking? I love App, and I'm thrilled for them, but if you're Big Blue, you just can't lose at hom to a I-AA err, FCS team. You just can't.

Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte Observer and I are already speculating on who the next Michigan coach will be.

A few random notes from the first -- and longest -- week in college football, which, according to the NCAA, includes games on five days. It began this past Thursday -- or don't you remember ESPN's "25 Hours of Football" countdown to the thrilling LSU-Mississippi State game? -- and continues into the Bowden Bowl.
** Wake Forest completed 45 passes -- the fifth-highest total in ACC history -- and lost at Boston College. That's no surprise. ACC teams are now 0-12-1 when completing 40 or more attempts in a game. Wake's got four of the top five on that list.
** N.C. A&T coach Lee Fobbs said his game film was inconclusive on the interception-incompletion call in the end zone that effectively aborted the Aggies' comeback bid at Winston-Salem State. Three photographers said they saw Herb Miller's tipped pass hit the ground before winding up in the arms of a Ram defender. The play was ruled an interception.
** The crowd of 22,000 in Bowman Gray Stadium set a record for a WSSU home game, and it was the fourth-largest for a Division I-AA game in the land.
** The current state of the SMU program explains why the NCAA doesn't really whack anybody anymore when it comes to rules infractions. A full 20 years after unprecedented and never repeated "death penalty" to the program, the Mustangs still aren't competitive. Having seen what the sanctions did to SMU, the infractions committee isn't going to shut anybody else down.
The other factor in play is TV, which was still in its infancy in the 1980s as far as college football was concerned. (Only three years earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down the NCAA's firm control of schools' access to TV.) With so many contracts involving so much cash in 2007, the powerhouses -- which SMU once was -- don't have to worry about being shut down. That's bad for business.

** In light of their inability to run the ball at Boston College, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons did what they had to do, which was to throw a bunch of five-yard passes. But coach Jim Grobe said he really doesn't want such imbalance in the future.
"I'm not saying we need to be 50-50," Grobe said. "But I don't think throwing it 60 times and running it 20 is in my wheelhouse."
** No personnel changes are planned in the secondary, which will have to grow out of its youth, the coach said. BC's Matt Ryan threw for 408 yards against the Deacs, and the Cornhuskers' Sam Keller, an Arizona State transfer, is equally capable. While acknowledging Ryan's excellence, Deacon cornerback Alphonso Smith said he and his mates have to change their approach in order to avoid an 0-2 start.
"We were soft in the sense that we were giving them too much respect," Smith said. "We were more scared of getting beat than thinking about making the play."

First things first ...

This poll will look significantly different from my preseason poll because, quite frankly, that one was just an educated guess. I plan to do my best not to be a slave to that initial poll and to rely on 1) How well you're playing at the time the poll comes out and 2) the body of work you've put out up to that point in the season.

Let's start with the moves that probably raised the most questions:

Michigan - Not ranked. Are they a top 20 program? Probably. But they'll have to prove it. You lose at home to a I-AA team in your opener, you get dropped from the poll. Doesn't matter where you started.

Appalachian State - Not ranked - Believe me, I really thought about ranking them. With a road win at Michigan, why not? Well, because I'm not allowed to. I checked with AP. Because I-AA has its own poll, App State's not allowed to be ranked in the I-A poll.

Virginia Tech - No. 4 to No. 11. Yeah, they won. And yeah, ECU's pretty good. But the Hokies just couldn't run the ball against the Pirates. That's not top 10 worthy ... not right now. Plus, I couldn't help but wonder what would haveve happened if Rob Kass, who was the Pirates' starting quarterback until he was suspended for a DWI arrest, had played for ECU.

Oklahoma - No. 6 to No. 2. My only real question about the Sooners was their QB. I know it's just North Texas, but Sam Bradford (363 yards passing) was pretty darned impressive.

Florida - No. 9 to No. 4. Similar thinking to Oklahoma here. I wasn't really on the Tim Tebow bandwagon in the preseason. I'm still not officially a member, but he was pretty close to flawless in his first start.

Georgia Tech - No. 19 to No. 12. Hey, I'm the first to tell you that Notre Dame is pretty much nothing but hype. But Georgia Tech dominated on both sides of the ball and won on the road. Plus the Jackets proved to me that running back Tashard Choice doesn't need Calvin Johnson stretching defenses thin to still put up big numbers. Not sure they're the best team in the ACC, but they're closer than I'd originally thought.

Out of the poll -
South Florida - You play a I-AA team, you need to dominate (or at least win, Michigan). The Bulls didn't do that against Elon.
South Carolina - It's one of my old standby rules: give up over 300 yards rushing to ULa-La, get dropped from the poll. Sorry Cocky.
Florida State- I admit it, I fell for the "It was all Jeff Bowden's fault. Jimbo Fisher and Rick Trickett will fix everything." line of reasoning. Fisher - the offensive coordinator - and Trickett - the offensive line coach - might very well get FSU back to its old self, but it's going to take more time. Until that happens, the Seminoles just aren't a top 25 team.

Why is Tennessee still in, you ask? There's not much shame in losing on the road to a quality team like Cal and the Vols kept things tight throughout. Plus, I didn't have a ton of great candidates out there. I put Clemson, Arkansas and BYU in, but I wasn't that crazy about Arkansas, in particular. I just don't know about Casey Dick at QB.

I could go on and on about each team in this poll, but I'll leave that up to you, dear readers, if you'd like to comment here or email me and complain about, err, discuss my rankings.

Just because I'm doing into Isner withdrawal ...

Actually, speaking of The Big Izzy, he's got a pretty impressive list of losses building up. Hear me out.

So far in five ATP tournaments, Isner is 8-5. His last four losses have come to David Ferrer (twice), Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. After Ferrer knocked off Rafael Nadal last night, all four of those men had reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Pretty impressive.

Speaking of Ferrer, I was very impressed by his game when watching him last night, but woefully disappointed that, when he's in the midst of a match and covered in sweat, he doesn't look nearly as much like Fabio as his ATP photo would suggest.

One other random note. I was scanning the schedule of today's matches and noticed that in the girls singles draw there was an American named Coco Vandeweghe playing. Pushing aside the obvious Seinfeld connection (Coco! Coco! Coco!), I then thought of former NBA player Kiki Vandeweghe. I mean what are the odds that someone share that same uncommon last name nad also have a first name made up of two, short, repetitive syllables?

So I did a little research and found out that Kiki is indeed Coco's uncle and that Coco has a very bright future in tennis.

Let's just hope her on-court defense is better than Uncle Kiki's.

With college football starting off with a bang last weekend, Jim Young and Rob Daniels grade Young's voting record so far as an Associated Press pollster. (8:27)

Appalachian State going to the big house and knocking off Michigan makes us wonder where this ranks among the greatest sports upsets of all time. (9:34)

Man, I'm starting to wonder if there's something with this whole Triad-N.C. State connection. First, Ragsdale's Toney Baker injures his knee against Central Florida and is lost for the season. Now, we get the news that Dudley's DeMario Pressley will miss the BC game, and beyond after suffering a knee injury in practice on Thursday.

More details in tomorrow's paper.

Could be a wild one. In its past two possessions, Nebraska has gained 154 yards of total offense in 4 minutes, 25 seconds.
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Wake, returning to its offensive roots, goes 87 yards on 10 runs and one pass for a score. The "Orbit" sweep, perhaps the team's signature play in Steed Lobotzke's tenure as offensive coordinator, delivered the touchdown.

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Potentially good news for Duke, which appears on its way to its 22nd straight loss today: Northwestern, which comes to Wallace Wade Stadium next week, is down 24-10 to Nevada at the half in Evanston, Ill.

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Huskers go 80 yards in 11 plays against a passive Deacon defense to take 13-10 lead at the half.
QB Sam Keller has now completed passes to eight receivers.

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Surprising development: Wake was able to hit on the same play on which Kevin Marion dropped a TD pass in the first quarter. Brett Hodges rolled out and again had Marion, who hauled this one in for a 61-yard gain. Surprising in that the Huskers have been fooled twice in quick succession by the same play.

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The first quarter has just ended, and BB&T's naming-rights deal has been announced to the disdain of a few booing spectators. If the Deacs win today, they'll get over it.
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We're not sure what the name of the place is, but the Nebraska Cornhuskers have a typically stout fan base in attendance. Red probably makes up about a quarter of the house.
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Two early mistakes have put Wake in a 3-0 hole. Brett Hodges' ill-advised pass over the middle became an interception that became a Husker field goal. On the next possession, Hodges delivered a perfect deep ball to Kevin Marion, who dropped a certain 65-yard TD.

Let me offer my condolences to State fans.

Harrison Beck may kill you this season, if he hasn't already.

Listened to a good portion of the game on the Wolfpack Network while cruising down 64. When Beck's been good, he's been very good. When he's been bad ... well, five interceptions sort of tells the story doesn't it?

I don't envy Tom O'Brien and Dana Bible. On the one hand, they've got the first State quarterback since Philip Rivers who can really hurt a defense, a guy who - please forgive the tired football cliche - really make plays. The drive in which he hit Blackman on a pump-and-go for 49 yards then hit Blackman again after rolling to his right to buy time is certainly proof of that. On the other hand, they've got a guy who clearly is in love with his arm strength and will force balls into situations where no ball should go. As Johnny Evans kept saying, "Feast or Famine."

Speaking of Johnny, I think he's done a remarkable job as the color man for State. As heartwarming as the story was when his son Daniel won the starting job last year, it's got to be just as awkward now that Daniel has been replaced by Beck. Yet you wouldn't be able to tell at all that Johnny is in any way related to Daniel by the way he called today's game. Goodness knows, after interception No. 3 or so, he could have been forgiven for shouting, "Put my boy in!"

Why not put Daniel Evans in? Well, if Harrison Beck is feast or famine, Daniel Evans is a regular low-calorie diet. Put another way, Evans is the solid role player, who might not hurt you much, but is limited in what he can do. Beck is the raw athlete, the guy with the high ceiling who can make jaw-dropping plays but will also make bone-headed decisions as well.

So whom will O'Brien and Bible stick with? My guess is Beck. Let's face it - O'Brien has a honeymoon period where he can afford to experiment a little and be patient. It makes sense to stay with Beck, keep trying to coach his "wild man" tendencies out of him and eventually hope that his playmaking eventually only helps one side of the ball.

While they try to make that happen though, it could be a long, heart-attack inducing season for State fans.

11:11
Yeah, it's been over two hours since I last posed. Sue me. The fourth quarter was insane and my deadline was ultra-tight, so I had to worry about getting my game story in shape. For now, print still takes precedence over my blog (unless there are any advertisers out there looking to sponsor this blog. Good space still available at great rates! Hello? Hello?)

Anyway, it's hard to overstate the euphoria that Pirates fans were feeling after it was all over. But what I also found interesting was a comment made by some ECU backers while waiting for Skip Holtz to make his post-game comments.

"This is big," one of them said to the other. "This will establish us as a player and make us attractive to the Big East."

I don't know how likely that scenario is, but it does illustrate the position that ECU is in. Clearly, things are very much headed in the right direction under Skip Holtz. But just how far the Pirates can take things may well depend on their ability to somehow get into the BCS conversation. That means either dominating C-USA like Boise State in the WAC, or latching on to a BCS conference, like South Florida.

But really, let's save that for another day and just savor a fantastic game between two North Carolina teams. That's been a pretty rare thing lately.

Oh, and South Carolina knocked off Georgia 16-12. Good times.

8:45
This Pinkney guy was a backup? Really? You sure?
The guy's looked like, well, James Pinkney (or even better) in the last two quarters. After UNC scored (but missed the extra point) Pinkney marched ECU back for another score. He had a huge completion on 3rd and 8 to keep the drive alive, then executed a perfect option pitch on Chris Johnson's 4 yd TD run. 31-23 ECU. 5:02 to go in the third quarter.

8:25
The debate here in the press box is whether Pinkney did a masterful job of looking off the UNC D, or whether it really took him about 3 seconds to realize that Chris Johnson was all alone in the right flat. Either way, it was one of the easiest 24-yard touchdown passes you'll ever see.
24-17.

Another observation: The ECU student section across the way has been like a Brazilian soccer crowd: making noise the entire game it seems.

8:13
The key for Pinkey it appears, is to get out of the pocket. Whenever he's done that, he's been lethal. Just picked up 20 on a throw to Davon Drew after scrambing to his right.

I'd give you a score update on the South Carolina-Georgia game, but I don't want to jinx things.

7:58
You have to admire my willingness to leave this blog entry up un-edited. I'm willing to stand here and admit that I said that a guy who just went 16-of-21 for 245 yards and two touchdowns in the first half wasn't "dangerous enough." Yes, that would be ECU's Patrick Pinkney.

Yates hasn't been a slouch either. 11 of 20 for 201 yards and two TDs in the first half.

Rushing attacks? Not so much.

This doesn't bode well for deadline, by the way.

7:46
Well that was a waste of time. What's the point of playing the first half when the two teams are just going to wind up tied, anyway? Ben Hartman just bounced back from his duck hook from 30 and split the uprights from 33 yards. 17 apiece with 2 ticks left.

ECU got into position because of an interception on an awful pass by T.J. Yates. He was lucky he underthrew the pass - otherwise it would have been a Pirates touchdown.

Meanwhile, Patrick Pinkney moved the Pirates smoothly down to the 15 in 49 seconds to set up Hartman's tying field goal.

So if you're tracking the blog, the guy I said I was impressed with (Yates) made the boneheaded play. The guy I said wasn't going to cut it (Pinkney) has looked like Vince Young on the last two drives.

Halftime. Time for me to regroup.

7:31
Okay, I will now completely reverse myself. Pinkney just tossed a 15-yard TD pass to a wide open Davon Drew. It looks like ECU has spread the field a bit more, opening things up, and it's clearly helped Pinkney. He's been great on the last two drives. 17-14 Tar Heels, but this place has a very different feel to it.

7:20
They're playing Jump Around here and we're all wondering where Danny Green, the leader of the UNC hoops sideline dance crew, is. Things have thankfully (for me) slowed down. Ben Hartman just hooked a 30-yard field goal attempt, which could be a critical blow to the Pirates. Other than that Chris Johnson screen, their offense hadn't shown much until a 50-yard bomb from Pinkney to Jamar Bryant on the last drive. Alas, ECU comes away with nothing. Still 17-7 Heels.

6:59
If you want room on the T.J. Yates' bandwagon, get on board quick. He just hit Brandon Tate (pride of Cummings) on a perfect 37-yard rainbow for another UNC TD. 17-7 Heels. That's 5 TD passes in 1.5 games, if you're keeping track.

6:50
At long last, the first quarter is over. At this rate, I'll be filing my game story at, oh, 1 a.m. or so. (These are the things sportswriters think about while covering a game).

After the wild and wooly first few minutes, things have settled down. I'm impressed with the accuracy of T.J. Yates, but he's also forced a few into coverage. Not sure if Patrick Pinkney's dangerous enough to lead a lot of long drives against the UNC D. May need some more big plays - like the Johnson 78-yard screen pass - for ECU to get its points.

It'll be interesting to see - if Pinkney is struggling say, midway through the third quarter, if ECU goes to Rob Kass.

6:41
Whoa, another punt. Things starting to slow down here. Less exciting, but I'm not complaining. By the way, it was a 49-yard beauty by Terrence Brown. And by the way, it's UAB 17, FSU 10. Yes, I had FSU ranked in my preseason poll. Go ahead and laugh.

6:38
Brace yourself. Sitting down? Good. We have a ... punt! A whopping 12-yarder by ECU's Matt Dodge. Maybe the Pirates should just go for it every time. Might have to ...

6:25
Can't ... keep ... up. T.J. Yates makes what looks like a foolish throw into double-coverage, unless you place it perfectly, where only Hakeem Nicks can catch it - which was what happened. 37-yard touchdown. 10-7 Heels.

6:20
Well this one's more than living up to the hype so far. ECU makes a perfect call on a blitz, a screen pass that turns into an 78-yard touchdown sprint for Chris Johnson, who is really, really, really fast. That Pirate cannon is going to give me a heart attack. And while I'm typing this, Brandon Tate, pride of Cummings, just returned the kickoff to the 49. 7-3 Pirates

6:12
Great first play call by UNC OC John Shoop. Knowing the ECU D would be geeked, he called a bootleg that led to an easy pass from T.J. Yates to H-Back Bobby Rome. Great downfield blocking turned it into a 53-yard gain. After a 39-yard FG it's 3-0 Heels.

6:03

Color me impressed with the pre-game atmosphere here. Very, very loud crowd, particularly on the "Purple" - "Gold" - call and response cheer. Jimi's "Purple Haze" also raised a few goosebumps.

Not too much light blue in the stands that I can see. Makes you wonder whether an expansion of Kenan is such a good idea ...

Lots of action in this week's poll, beginning with the new ruling by the AP that you could indeed put a I-AA team in the poll. A week earlier, I definitely would have put App State into the poll, probably around No. 25. But by the time the ruling came around, I just wasn't ready to make that leap. One, Michigan got the snot beat out of it at home for the second straight week, which kind of took the shine off Appy's win in the Big House. Two, App's strength of schedule wasn't exactly helped by playing Lenoir-Rhyne this week. As I've said before, one of the big factors in ranking these teams is to judge their body of work. Beating the mighty Bears of Hickory didn't seem like much work for the Mountaineers. Three, there were a few other I-A teams that merited inclusion in the poll this week.

Dave Goren of WXII, one of the the other AP voters in North Carolina, along with Joe Giglio of the N&O, clearly didn't have the same reservations. He voted App State No. 13 in his poll. Was he making a statement? Was he shamelessly currying favor with his viewers? Or does he really think Appy is the 13th best team in the country? I don't know. What I do know is that Dave was also the only man to put N.C. State in his preseason AP poll. Do with that information what you will.

Seriously, my feeling is that Dave probably put App up so high because he senses, correctly, that the rest of the nation still doesn't get just how good the Mountaineers are. So he feels like he needs to weight his poll accordingly.

Let's move on to the rest of the items of interest in the poll.

Oklahoma (No.2 in my poll, No. 3 in the national poll) - Am I feeling good about my decision to move Oklahoma up to No. 2 in my poll a week ago? After the Sooners destroyed The U 51-13, yes, yes I am.

The strong performances turned in by Oklahoma and LSU (48-7 winners over Va. Tech. Let's hear it for the ACC!) did make me wonder about moving someone up to the top spot in the poll. Nineteen of my fellow voters did that this week. Originally, again going with the body of work measure, I'd decided that if there was a convincing winner of the LSU-Va Tech game, I'd put that team at No. 1. But after watching Va Tech struggle to beat ECU while ECU was playing musical QBs, I backed off that plan. Am I totally sure that USC should be No. 1? Honestly, I don't know.

Wisconsin (No. 9 in my poll, No. 7 in the AP Poll) - I know that you can't judge teams purely by scores. That's why I didn't move Cal down after they only beat Colorado State by six. Two of those scores came in garbage time. But if I'm going to stick with my plan to not be married to my stab-in-the-dark preseason poll, I've got to be willing to move teams around early on after they turn in shaky performances. Needing a touchdown in the final two minutest to beat UNLV qualifies as shaky in my book. That's why I dropped the Badgers down from No. 6 to No. 9.

Ohio State (No. 15 in my poll, No. 10 in the AP Poll) - I'm not picking on the Big Ten - seriously, I swear I'm not - is a lackluster 20-2 win over Akron really worthy of top 10 status? I say no. Apparently the other pollsters disagree. Genius is never understood in its own time ...

Georgia Tech (No. 10 in my poll, No. 15 in the AP Poll) ... which may explain why I've got a higher opinion of the Yellow Jackets than most of the other pollsters. Am I an ACC homer? Or do I just like a team that wins by 30 on the road (I know, it was only Notre Dame, but that Charlie Weis guy is a genius. Haven't you heard?)? A team that can run the ball, defend like crazy and has clearly made a major upgrade at QB. By the way, can anyone tell me why exactly Reggie Ball started for four years?

Arkansas (No. 24 in my poll, No. 16 in the AP Poll). The Razorbacks benefited from a lot of losses above them in the poll that allowed them to move up. I'm not really big on bumping a team up just because it had a bye week. Plus, I'm not really big on the Razorbacks. Darren McFadden is awesome, but there's a reason why they keep having him throw the ball as well as run it - no one else on this team can play quarterback. Eventually, that's going to be a problem.

South Carolina (No. 18 in my poll, No. 17 in the AP Poll). I'm preparing for a season's worth of struggle with my inner child, which grew up a fan of the Gamecocks. Now? I'm feeling very vindicated for having the Chickens in my pre-season poll (I didn't drop them in my Week 2 poll ... that never happened, you hear me?) and I'm feeling a bit stunned that the other pollsters actually put the Gamecocks a notch higher in the poll than I did.

South Florida (No. 19 in my poll, unranked in the AP - first in the receiving votes category). Speaking of vindication, I was the guy who put the Bulls at No. 21 in my initial poll (yeah, I dropped them a week later, but please allow me some self-congratulation, all right?) They go on the road, survive four missed field goals and still manage to knock off No. 17 Auburn. So why aren't they in the poll? I know my readers often turn to me for the answers to the mysteries of life, but I just can't answer that one. I really can't.

First off, win or lose against Page, it was good to see Ragsdale pull itself together and turn in an outstanding game a week after the death of beloved assistant coach Ronnie Smith.

In fact, the Tigers did win 22-14, and Ladarious Canty's 99-yard TD reception played a big role in the victory. He told our reporter, Rob Daniels, that he wouldn't allow himself to be caught from behind on the play because he heard the voice of coach Smith telling him, 'If you get caught, I've got something for you.'"

Mighty Nine impact games:

Reidsville continues to prove itself a worthy No. 1 team in the area -- and in the state 2-A poll -- by rolling past a decent Rockingham County team 61-7 after laying Cummings to waste a week earlier. The Cavaliers are at risk of dropping out of the Mighty Nine after following that 36-16 loss with a 26-0 clunker against Eastern Alamance.

Thomasville extended its winning streak to 40 with a 12-7 squeaker against Albemarle. That's now the longest streak in the state, as Greenville JH Rose lost to Rocky Mount. Charlotte Independence saw its 109-game streak snapped a week earlier against Cincinnati Elder. The Bulldogs play 2-2 North Rowan this week.

Despite a lot of penalties -- two touchdowns were called back -- Grimsley improved to 4-0 with a 27-6 romp over Andrews. Likewise, Glenn, now 4-0, just seems to be getting stronger and stronger.

Dudley had no problems with Smith after solving the Eagles' bizarre three-man offensive line, 6-receiver set. More on that later this week. The Panthers won the Saturday-night tilt 50-7 in front of between 7,000-8,000 fans at Jamieson Stadium. ...

Jeff Carlton and Jim Young scrutinize Young's Associated Press college football vote. (9:52)

Maybe now we'll find out just how influential East Carolina alumni and fans can be. The test case is MASN v. cable operators of North Carolina. MASN, for the uninitiated, is the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is owned by diabolical Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos.

As a Washingtonian, it's hard to side with Angelos on anything. Especially after he saddled the Nationals with a horrible TV deal that essentially denied DC viewers the ability to see their Nats on TV last year. But, it's '07, and Angelos has learned he can make a ton of money by putting the O's and Nationals on the same network. And, now I unfortunately have to side with Angelos in his battle to get MASN picked up by Time-Warner, which has monopoly rights on Greensboro cable TV, as I'd rather not shell out the money for a satellite dish at this time.

I realize not many in this market care about the Orioles and Nationals, but MASN's case gains traction when you consider that the network carries a number of ACC and SoCon games, not to mention 9 of East Carolina's 12 football games this season. That fact has spurred the mayor of Greenville to write this plea to that area's cable monopolizer.

Mayors of Durham and Raleigh have heard their constituents, too, and are putting some pressure on Time-Warner to do the right thing there. Can we now count on Triad politicians to pressure Time-Warner to end its boycott?

I would think many area residents would even be willing to pay for digital cable if it were so packaged to see games on MASN. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe local politicos aren't hearing from their constituents. Or maybe Angelos' people are dirty dealers and Time-Warner wants nothing to do with them for good reason. If the cable operator showed me some evidence to support such a claim, that would be one thing. Instead, I'm price-shopping for a dish.

So Maryland hosts West Virginia at 7:30 Thursday night with its conference watching. Since the start of the 2006 season, the ACC is 6-20 against other BCS members. That includes a 3-8 mark against the Big East, which many presumed would shrivel up and die when Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College migrated.
Here's the ACC's remaining schedule against similarly situated programs. Of these 16, how many will the league win? Feel free to offer your predictions.
Thursday
West Virginia at Maryland, 7:30
Saturday
Florida State at Colorado
Duke at Northwestern
Sept. 20
Texas A&M at Miami
Sept. 22
North Carolina at South Florida
Sept. 29
Florida State vs. Alabama in Jacksonville, Fla.
Maryland at Rutgers
Louisville at N.C. State
Pittsburgh at Virginia
Oct. 13
Boston College at Notre Dame
UConn at Virginia
Nov. 17
Duke at Notre Dame
Nov. 24
Clemson at South Carolina
Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech
Wake Forest at Vanderbilt

The gang discusses the Mighty Nine high school football poll and how the mighty, namely Cummings, has fallen. (9:28)

More Radio Free Sports for your listening pleasure:

The gang discusses why the UNC football team is not as bad as people thought. (10:46)

So MLB is hawking a game-worn Red Sox jersey and asking $20,000 for it. Must be a Ted Williams authentic, right? Manny Ramirez? Yaz?
Nope. It's Dice-K. The rookie from Japan has had some nice moments, but aren't we getting a bit carried away here? Would you really want it more than, say, this 1918 Sox-Cubs World Series program, which is on auction for a mere $13K?

Maryland's 31-14 home defeat at the hands of an outstanding West Virginia club means ACC teams have dropped their past nine games against ranked non-conference opposition. The league was 0-5 last year and has been outscored 150-51 in four such outings in 2007. We grant that the opposition has been rather stout -- Virginia Tech at No. 2 LSU, Miami at No. 5 Oklahoma and the Terrapins against No. 4 WVU among the games -- but getting tripled up on the scoreboard? Is this really what boosters have been paying for in facilities upgrades in recent years?
An interesting factoid here: In the past decade, Maryland has played only five games against ranked competition outside the ACC, and West Virginia accounts for four of the five. The other was against Notre Dame in 2002.

2:52
Now Butch Davis is the one reaching for the Maalox. A fumble by Zach Pianalto, UNC's third turnover of the day and second in its last two drives, just killed a UNC drive at the UVA 26.

7:04 to go though. Still a chance for the Heels.

2:44
I'm telling you, if UVA loses this game, Al Groh just might go straight into retirement. After an unbelievable interception by Chris Long, UVA set up shop at the UNC 28 yard-line, picked up two first downs and still had to settle for a field goal. The three penalties the Cavaliers committed really didn't help matters.

Five trips inside the 20, one touchdown. That's the only reason UNC is still alive.

8:56 to go.

I'm still wondering why UVA doesn't just run Cedric Pearman left 85 percent of the time. It's been unstoppable.

2:33
Hard to believe I'm typing this, but we're going to the fourth quarter and I like UNC's chances. UVA should be well ahead in this game, but they've screwed up consistently in the red zone and only have a five-point lead as a result. Meanwhile, the UNC passing offense is starting to click.

2:21
Hakeem Nicks just showed us what the fuss was all about. He made a leaping grab of a Yates pass at the UVA 34, zig-zagged all the way across the field and dragged UVA's Vic Hall the last seven yards into the end zone for a 53-yard score.

19-14 UVA. This just got very interesting.

2:14
Well you live long enough ...

The ruling of a missed field goal was reversed because well, it was good, as the replay clearly showed. Didn't even know you could challenge that sort of thing.

How the heck do you miss that sort of call? From looking at it, it appears that the ref was too busy ducking to keep from getting hit by the hall. His head was down when it went over the goal post, just barely I guess he figured that when the ball hit a few feet away from him, that it was short.

Wow. That was weird. 19-7 UVA. Uncle Mo is now wandering, confused, somewhere behind the field house.

2:09
Just when I was going to make a joke about Uncle Mo putting on a natty navy blue and orange tie at halftime, he apparently switched back into a sky blue golf shirt.

UVA holds the ball for over eight minutes but, thanks to some of the worst red zone execution you'll ever see, came away with a missed field goal. Still 16-7. A TD there I think would broken UNC's back. A FG would have given UVA firm control. Now? Let's see if Yates stays hot.

1:46
SoCon Pride!
The talk in the press box at the half is about The Citadel, which is tied at 21 at the half at Wisconsin (who will probably be dropping in my AP Poll ... again). Two questions - where would Bulldogs QB Duran Lawson rank among ACC quarterbacks ( probably in the upper half is the cynical guess among the press wags) and should the SoCon pass the ACC in conference power rankings?

Okay, we're being a bit extreme. Still, the SoCon is repping itself pretty well this season.

1:31
Finally, a bright side for UNC. The two-minute drill forced the Tar Heels to scrap their running game and that turned out to be a good thing. T.J. Yates got into a rhythm, finding receivers on slants and other underneath patterns in moving UNC 72 yards for the score. 16-7 UVA.

Heels got a very lucky break when a highly interceptable pass was dropped in the end zone by UVA safety Jamaal Jackson. Yates threw a four-yard TD to Hakeem Nicks three plays later.

16-7 at the half and the Cavaliers actually had to punt. Uncle Mo makes his first appearance on the UNC sideline.

1:10
16-0 now UVA. The Cavs are doing a great job of squeezing just enough out of their passing game to keep UNC from totally selling out to the run. The longest pass in the air by UVA has covered six yards, but they've moved the ball well with a collection of screens and passes in the flat off play action.

In case you might think UVA is doing this with mirrors ... 35 plays for 215 yards to UNC's 17 for 39. Chew on that for a while.

On the bright side for UNC ... give me a minute to come up with something/
35-216
17-39

1:01
As another UNC drive fizzles out, let me take this time to note that either UVA is doing a great job in coverage or T.J. Yates is just confused by the looks he's getting. Three times so far he's dropped back and had plenty of time, but was unable to find someone a target for a pass.
12:55
13-0 UVA after a 28 yard field goal by Gould. Key play on the drive in which Cedric Pearman rumbled 38 yards and broke three very weak tackle attempts along the way.

On the bright side for UNC, it's a beautiful day here.

12:35
10-0 UVA after a 51-yard field goal by Chris Gould (which I incorrectly called as wide right in mid flight. No depth perception). The 47 fans that UVA brought down for this game (football fever is rampant in the Old Dominion!) are pretty giddy right now.

If I'm the Cavaliers I keep running to the left. Seems like a whole lotta room that way.

12:30
If you're scoring at home (and you seriously need help if you are) that's six plays for -6 yards on UNC's first two possessions. Chris Long just made UNC guard Aaron Stahl look silly on that last pass rush.

On the bright side, the Tar Pit, the student section, looks pretty full. And the helicopter flyover before the game was neat.

12:24
Whoa boy, that was a little too easy. Virginia just marched down the field on its first possession, 68 yards in 12 plays and punched it in the end zone. 7-0 UVA. It's never a good sign when, on second and goal from the one, the lead fullback is four yards into the endzone before he finds someone to block. The Heels got mauled at the line toward the end. And they also allowed UVA to convert a third and 11 and a third and 10 on the drive. Needless to say, not an auspicious start.

12:10

Where I just got here, oh, about 10 minutes ago. No, I didn't oversleep. Just got a little wrapped up in daddy duties and missed that critical window around 1:30 before the game when you've got to get on the road. As a result, it took me an hour to go eight miles.

Did you really need to know that? No. But rest assured, I will not take HWY 54 into the game any more.

Now, on to kickoff.

No need for chit-chat, let's get right to my rankings. For those of you who are just tuning in, this is my first season as a voter in the AP Poll. I'm publicizing my vote each week, with an explanation on this blog. The actuall AP Poll ranking is in parentheses.

1. USC (1). I was this close to dropping the Trojans from the No. 1 spot last week. After the way they rolled over the Children of the Corn, I'm glad I didn't. Over 300 yards rushing? That's ridiculous.

2. LSU (2). A slight tweak in my rankings. I had the Tigers at No. 3 last week, but I bumped them up ahead of Oklahoma because a) LSU's 45-0 win over Mississippi State looks even more impressive after the Bulldogs won at Auburng b) Oklahoma's win over Miami looks less impressive after the Hurricanes and c) Shutting out Middle Tennessee State after the Blue Raiders put up 42 against Louisville is worth bragging about.

3. Oklahoma (4). My fellow AP voters dropped the Sooners down behind Florida. I wasn't quite ready to do that, perhaps because I had Oklahoma at No. 2 last week, not No. 3.

4. Florida (3). In the preseason I joked about Tim Tebow feeding the 5,000. At least, I thought it was a joke at the time. Fifty-nine points on Tennessee? Welcome to USC West.

5. West Virginia (5). My editor, Joe Sirera, still keeps telling me that this Mountaineers team is flawed. The D did look better against Maryland, but hey, it was an ACC opponent, so take it with a large grain of salt.

6. Cal (6). Not sure the Bears deserve to be this high, but they won and they didn't win ugly; That gets rewarded at this time of the year.

7. Rutgers (11). I have Rutgers ranked No. 7 in the nation. I might as well buy bottled water and a generator and head for the hills. Seriously, the Scarlet Knights have a balanced offense this year and may be the only Big East contender that can actually play defense.

8. Texas (7). I'm really starting to think I have the Longhorns in the Top 10 on reputation alone. They looked decidedly unimpressive against Arkansas State and UCF. The win over TCU doesn't look that great either, after the Horned Frogs lost to Air Force.

9. Ohio State (8). I'm not convinced the Buckeyes were worthy of a Top 10 spot, but that's what happens when the teams above you either a) lose (see Tech, Georgia) b) play poorly (see Badgers, Wisconsin) or c) go into witness protection (see Bruins, UCLA).

10. Penn State (10). Am I comfortable having two Big 11 teams in my top 10? No, not at all. Like I said, it was a weird week.

11. Boston College (14). Remember, the first version of ACC expansion left these guys out in favor of Syracuse. Yikes.

12. Wisconsin (9). The Badgers are writing the book on how to keep winning and keep dropping. This week's chapter "Getting shredded by the vaunted passing attack of The Citadel."

13. Oregon (13). The win over Michigan looks better now. And drubbing Fresno after the Bulldogs almost knocked Texas A&M is an eye-catcher. Sometimes I dream that the ACC is like the Pac-10. Sigggh.

14. Clemson (15). I thought Cullen Harper was just keeping the seat warm for Willy Korn. Perhaps not.

15. South Carolina (12). I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the rest of the AP voters are more high on the Gamecocks than I am. It's freaking me out.

16. South Florida (23). Hey, the rest of the voters decided to put the Bulls in the poll! Welcome to the 2007 season fellas!

17. Nebraska (24). I just didn't think the Cornhuskers should get killed for losing to the top-ranked team in the country. Apparently the other voters felt differently.

18. Kentucky (21). That's now three teams I've ranked from the SEC East versus two from the entire ACC. Sigghh.

19. Georgia Tech (NR). Yes, I did have the Yellow Jackets ranked No. 10 last week. Apparently I forgot that Georgia Tech makes an annual habit of losing games like the one they just dropped.

20. Louisville (18). I just don't understand how, this early in the season, the other voters could put Louisville ahead of the Kentucky team that just beat them. Anyone got an answer on that? Anyone?

21. Alabama (16). I'm really happy to see Nick Saban back in the Top 25. No, really.

22. Georgia (22). That Oklahoma State win doesn't look so hot now that Troy just rolled the Cowboys. Maybe I just felt like I didn't have enough SEC East teams ranked.

23. Virginia Tech (17). Maybe Tyrod Taylor really is the answer for the Hokies' offense. Don't think he would have helped against LSU, though.

24. Hawaii (19). I don't care what you say. These guys will always be the Rainbow Warriors to me. Impressive rout of UNLV after the Runnin' Rebels almost knocked off Wisconsin.

25. Cincinnati (NR). It was either the Bearcats or Arizona State for this spot. Cincy has an impressive win over Oregon State and has outscored its opponents 140-16. That'll do.

DROPPED OUT

UCLA (Previously 8 in my poll). I know it's a big drop, but a 44-6 loss to a previously winless team? Good lord.

Washington (Previously 23). Cheer up Ty Willingham. At least you're not still at Notre Dame.

Arkansas (Previously 24). I never really felt like these guys deserved to be ranked. Now I have the proof to back my position.

Tennesee (Previously 25). I know, I know. If they could have just kept Florida under 50, maybe I'd still have them in the poll.

ALSO CONSIDERED:

Arizona State. Dennis Erickson has the Sun Devils on the upswing. I'm happy for him. No, really.

Missouri. They're putting up plenty of points. Still not sure about their nailbiter against Illinois, though.

.. get charted sometimes. Here are the other losing streaks comparable in length to A&T's ongoing 19-game losing streak.

Charlotte Bobcats guard and former Carolina star Raymond Felton talks about the upcoming season, nonstop travel and comparisons to Carolina's Ty Lawson in today's special edition of Radio Free Sports (15:01)

The gang discusses the Mighty Nine high school football poll including where to rank Northeast Guilford after its 34-28 loss to Reidsville. (8:13)

2:46
Another Clemson drive, another TD. 37-14.

But wait State fans, it gets worse. On the drive, defensive tackle Jamaine Clemmons joined the growing list of Wolfpack interior linemen to get hurt.

Meanwhile, Duke has returned to kicking extra points, albeit with a different kicker. Greg Meyers has hit his first two and the Blue Devils are up 36-25 in the first half. Yes, you read that correctly.

2:24
Clemson picks right back up where it left off. Another FG. 30-14 Clemson.

Interesting side note. Spoke to a photographer who was near the goal posts on the Tigers' first field goal. Looked pretty close to me. He swore it was wide right.

The official under that goal post? Virgil Valdez.

2:19

This isn't State related, but Duke is up 22-17 against Navy. How did they get 22 you ask? The usual way. Joe Surgan shanked yet another extra point on the Blue Devils' first score.

Apparently that was the last straw for Ted Roof. On Duke's next two scores, Duke went for two, and made it both times. The Blue Devils could be on to something.

1:57
Another flashback moment. Clemson seemingly missed a 51-yard FG badly at the end of the half ... but wait! State's DeAndre Morgan was whistled for offsides. Given a second shot, at 46 yards, Mark Buchholz drilled it through the uprights.

27-14 Clemson. State's momentum has officially stalled.
1:33
Now my head's really hurting. After that wild int - fumble- penalty - challenge play, Evans settled down and promptly woke up the Wolfpack offense. 10 plays, 81 yards in 3:46, the final 17 yards on an Andre Brown run. State actually went to the hurry-up offense for the last half of it and really got into a rhythm.

So, Clemson should probably be up about 38-7. Instead, it's 24-14. Go figure.

And for the fourth year running, State may have a QB controversy on its hands.

1:25
My head hurts. Follow me through this. Daniel Evans throws another pick (Justin Burke anyone?) but the Clemson defender fumbles the ball back to Andre Brown on the play. But State was holding on the play. So the Tigers accepted the holding penalty, but just as the play's about to start, someone put the replay up on the board, which made it seem like the defender might have been down. So Tommy Bowden challenges the play.

The fumble call was upheld. Second and 19 from the 11 for State.

Got all that?

1:17
Clemson's fooled us all before, but the Tigers sure look like the best team in the ACC. I know, I know, that's probably tepid praise, but in all seriousness, Clemson looks like a juggernaut right now against the Wolfies? Does that say something about State? Yeah, probably it does.

Three yard TD pass from Harper to Davis. 24-7 Clemson. And it's actually more one-sided than that.
1:10
Well, Daniel Evans was moving State down the field nicely and we were just starting to argue the 'Hey if he plays well and Beck's available next week, who do you choose?' game, when Evans reminded us why he's the backup. State calls a flea-flicker, John Dunlap is open downfield, and Evans throws a duck down the field. Clemson safety Michael Hamlin presumably called a fair catch on it before he picked it off.

12:55
The bright side for State? It could actually be worse. It's now17-7 after a really, really sweet 44-yard TD run by C.J. Spiller. That gives Clemson 220 total yards. State? It is 1. (Not a typo)

Humorous note - Virgil Valdez, he of the missed field goal call against UVA while he was ducking the falling football, is back in action. He's already had to call two FG attempts and two extra points. He's been very, very deliberate on each call.

Not so humorous note - Harrison Beck went out with what appears to be a right knee injury. Daniel Evans is now in.

12:37
A moral victory for the Pack. It gave up 66 yards on Clemson's second drive, but held the Tigers to a field goal, thanks in large part to a really iffy replay review of what appeared to be a TD catch by Jacoby Ford (originally ruled to be out of bounds). 10-7 Tigers. It's Blackman Time!

12:27
The one advantage of letting Clemson score? Darrell Blackman gets to return another kick. He scooted 92 yards, stiff-arming Jacoby Ford the last 12, for the tying TD. 7-7. Gotta catch my breath.

12:22

Feels like 2005 all over again. After a State int on the first drive, Clemson marched it methodically down the field, using that same mix of power and misdirection that killed the Wolfies two years ago. 7-0, 8 plays, 58 yards and, if you're a Wolfpack fan, really depressingly easy.

Still not sure what to call this place. Sticking with Groves Stadium for now. At any rate, the Demon Deacons own a 3-0 lead. Not that the country at large has seen anything yet. The Virginia-Georgia Tech game just ended at 3:52 p.m., and that was ESPNU's first contest of the day. Wake and Maryland followed and started on schedule at 3:35.
Deacs again encountered trouble inside the opponent's 10. A drive there resulted only in a field goal and it's 3-0.
Meanwhile, in Lincoln, Neb., the Children of the Corn are struggling with David Letterman's Ball State Cardinals, having just scored to overcome a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and take a 41-40 lead.

On an unrelated note, Duke hasn't won consecutive games against Division I-A opposition in 10 years. The Blue Devils lost an 11-point fourth-quarter lead at Navy and fell 46-43 today.
The point total was the highest by a Duke opponent this century. The Devils hadn't lost while scoring that many points since a 47-45 defeat to N.C. State in 1987.
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Here's the stat that explains why Wake is on its way to a 1-3 start as it trails Maryland 17-3 at the half: In 14 games last season, the Deacs committed 18 turnovers. They've now got 13 in three and a half games of 2007.
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It's FumbleFest in Winston-Salem. The Deacs now have 11 takeaways and 10 turnovers in three games plus one quarter of the fourth. They're the only team in the country with double digits in both categories.
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Another turnover harms Wake. The season's 10th giveaway leads to a Terrapin TD and a 10-3 game with 2:32 still left in a seemingly interminable first quarter.
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Terps tie it at 3-3. The Terrapins also lamented a lost opportunity deep in enemy territory. While scrambling, QB Jordan Steffy failed to see a wide-open receiver, Danny Oquendo, in the end zone and settled for a scramble that preceded the field goal.
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Still not sure what to call this place. Sticking with Groves Stadium for now. At any rate, the Demon Deacons own a 3-0 lead. Not that the country at large has seen anything yet. The Virginia-Georgia Tech game just ended at 3:52 p.m., and that was ESPNU's first contest of the day. Wake and Maryland followed and started on schedule at 3:35.
Deacs again encountered trouble inside the opponent's 10. A drive there resulted only in a field goal and it's 3-0.
Meanwhile, in Lincoln, Neb., the Children of the Corn are struggling with David Letterman's Ball State Cardinals, having just scored to overcome a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit and take a 41-40 lead.

Wake center Steve Justice discusses the importance of Alphonso Smith's ability to go the distance for a TD after his goal-line interception.

QB Riley Skinner says he tried to cast aside thoughts of his three interceptions as the Deacs
rallied to force overtime and ultimately defeat Maryland.

Skinner says he was surprised his sneak didn't immediately warrant a touchdown call from the officials. The play made it 24-17 midway through the fourth quarter.

Defensive end Jeremy Thompson discusses Wake's defensive improvement in the final minutes.

As the season progresses, the top part of the poll is starting to solidify a bit. But the lower part is quite a jumble. After Virginia Tech at No. 19, I didn't feel really great about any of the teams and where I had to place them. Just a reminder that this poll is in the order that I voted the teams. The actual AP Poll Ranking is in parentheses

1. USC (1). The Trojans edge out LSU for this spot because USC has a big win on the road, at Nebraska, while the Tigers' big wins have all come at home. Of course, Nebraska's looking less and less impressive these days.

2. LSU (2). Nice win over the Gamecocks. The Tigers' next chance to prove their No. 1 worthy will come Oct. 6 against Florida. Again, it's in the confy confines of Death Valley.

3. Oklahoma (3). Did the Sooners run up the score on Tulsa in their 62-21 win? Perhaps. But when you ask for the shot to play the big brother in-state power, that's the risk you run. Sorry Golden Hurricanes.

4. West Virginia (5). The Mountaineers may have turned in their best all-around performance in rolling over ECU, 48-7. That was good enough for me to leapfrog them over Florida.

5. Florida (4). Well, the whole "Tim Tebow Cured Cancer" crowd keeps getting more evidence to support their adulation. But the young defense looked pretty mortal in the narrow win over Ole Miss.

6. Cal (6). With the exception of those two garbage-time touchdowns scored by Colorado State, the Golden Bears have played the part of a Top Ten team convincingly.

7. Rutgers (10). Nothing to report here. The Scarlet Knights were idle.

8. Texas (7). Finally, the Longhorns looked dominant. Granted, it was against Rice ...

9. Ohio State (8). Routing Northwestern is no big deal, but with Penn State's loss and Wisconsin's continued malaise, the Buckeyes are looking like the favorite in the Big Ten.

10. Boston College (12). The Eagles are the top Catholic school football team in the land. They get to prove it on Oct. 13 at Notre Dame. Did you know the Irish are 0-4? I'm sure you did, but I just enjoy mentioning it whenever possible.

11. Oregon (11). The Ducks didn't show up in their first half against Stanford. I had to wait until Sunday morning to find out that they had crushed the Cardinal in the second half and were worthy of being moved up from two spots.

12. Clemson (13). As a childhood fan of South Carolina, it depresses me to say this: The Tigers look really, really, good. Think Tommy Bowden will make it through the year?

13. South Florida (18). You know I've been fan of the Bulls since the preseason. They impressed again by making the previously smooth T.J. Yates have a pretty rough day.

14. Kentucky (14). You could write off the Louisville win as playing big in a rivalry game. Winning at Arkansas with a fourth-quarter comeback means you're a legit Top 15 team. Wasn't Rich Brooks supposed to be fired already?

15. Wisconsin (9). I feel like my fellow voters are falling into the trap of voting the Badgers high because we put them that high in the preseason. Well, I just won't do it. As long as Wisconsin keeps turning in bland performances, I'll keep dropping them. Seriously? Have the Badgers looked like a Top 10 team to you?

16. South Carolina (16). Hey, I thought it would be worse. I think a four spot drop in the rankings is about right. No shame in losing by 12 at LSU.

17. Georgia (15). Good win by the Bulldogs at Alabama, but can someone explain to me why the rest of the AP voters put Georgia ahead of the South Carolina team that beat the Bulldogs in Athens? These are the quirks of the AP Poll that drive me nuts.

18. Penn State (21). So Penn State lost to Michigan which lost to App State which lost to Wofford which got crushed by N.C. State. Maybe I should have dropped the Nittany Lions a little lower.

19. Virginia Tech (17). The Hokies have gotten the Tyrod Taylor Era off to a nice start. Then again, they haven't played anybody yet, either.

20. Nebraska (25). In retrospect, I should have moved Nebraska down lower last week after their loss to USC. Now, after the Huskers should edged mighty Ball State at home, I kind of got stuck not being able to move down Nebraska further.

21. Alabama (22).This is where it gets kind of weird. Right now, I think Alabama is the better team, but I couldn't justify having them move up from where I'd previously voted them (21 last week) after a loss and move ahead of a Nebraska team that won.

22. Hawaii (19). Yep, I'm being more conservative in my ranking of Hawaii than the rest of the pollsters. Wins over Charleston Southern just don't do much for me.

23. Cincinnati (24). The Bearcats join the national poll a week after I had them in mine. I'm such a trend setter. Next up, bringing back Members Only jackets.

24. Missouri (20). I've got nothing to say about the Tigers this week after they beat Ilinois State, so I'll just add this: They've got a nice journalism school.

25. Arizona State (23). Dennis Erickson has the Sun Devils back in the AP Top 25. Can probation be far behind?

Dropped out:

Georgia Tech - 19 last week. Chan, Chan, Chan. Virginia?

Louisville - 20 last week. Everybody keeps wondering if the Cardinals are unhappy with new coach Steve Kragthorpe. But Kragthorpe's an offensive guy. Louisville's not having any trouble there. Now on defense? That's entirely different.

It's tough to tell what's really happening with the N.C. A&T-N.C. Central football series. On Sunday, Aggies athletics director Dee Todd told the News & Observer of Raleigh that her team won't play at Central in 2008 as previously scheduled. Today, she had this to say at a press conference on campus: "We owe them a game, and at some point, we'll honor our agreement. When that's going to be, I can't say."
Moments later, Mable Scott, vice chancellor for development and university relations, stepped in and said the school had no official comment on the subject.
So what's the deal?
This story is rapidly getting out of control. If you read some accounts, you'll believe this was a repeat of Miami-Florida International, a helmet-flinging circus that went on forever. Makes for good TV, but not for accuracy.
A&T needs to make this thing go away as quickly as possible. ESPNU will broadcast Thursday's A&T-Norfolk State game from Aggie Stadium and is feverishly seeking video from the Saturday incident. Some sort of resolution to the future of the Central series -- call it off altogether, play in 2008, play in 2009, whatever -- is in order. If Chancellor Stanley Battle has an opinion on the matter, he's far better off addressing it now to appease the curious and prevent the story from leaking into Thursday.

Just to give you an idea of the random e-mails sports writers get during an average day, here's the best so far today, from some random PR outfit:

TEAM USA WINS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FLAG FOOTBALL JUNIORS IN AMSTERDAM

Lelystad, Amsterdam, September 23, 2007 –- The world championship flag juniors international tournament held September 21-23, 2007 was hosted by the IFAF (International Federation of American Football). Mo Steel of JCC (Jewish Community Center) in North Miami Beach, reigning national champions, were asked to represent the United States in this first year tournament representing USA Football and the NFL. The competing teams were from the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Finland, Spain, Japan and Italy. The teams were 15 and under, older and bigger than most of our team.

This was a very long day as we had to play all our games this morning and the other teams in our pool only had one game today as they had played most of their matches yesterday. The tournament committee was very gracious in accommodating us for Yom Kippur yesterday (all teammates are Jewish and fasted for Yom Kippur on Saturday). Fasting on Saturday however only made our boys hungrier for a victory!

The boys really took it to another level today as the offense could not be stopped. Our offense was stopped ONLY two times all day! We found out that unlike the NFL tournament, where the teams are "club teams", these teams were national teams composed of tryouts throughout their respective countries.

It's good to see the Jewish Community Center of Miami representin' for the U.S. in its own sport ... without getting tackled once! Those Austrians never knew what hit 'em. Of course, Yom Kippur only made them hungrier for victory. Gotta love PR prose.

Viewer's discretion advised. There is some strong language and profanity that can be heard in this video.

Photographer Jerry Wolford, whose images have been the best still shots of the event, found this item on UnCut Video, a site apparently affiliated with AOL.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's head-turning postgame tirade about a column written by Jenni Carlson for the Daily Oklahoman is discussed by the gang. (9:05)

John Isner is back stateside after serving as an alternate during the U.S.-Sweden Davis Cup tie, which the Americans won 4-1.

The next step up the rankings ladder for Big John is decidedly less sexy, but necessary. His U.S. Open performance pushed him up to No. 147 in the world, an incredible jump, but not quite enough to get him into the main ATP tournaments on a regular basis. To get that point, he still has to play in tournaments like the one he's entered this week: The USTA Challenger of Oklahoma in Tulsa. The good news is that he's the No. 4 seed, and if he were to live up to that seeding and reach the semifinals, he'd pick up 27 ranking points, which would push him up into the low 130s in the rankings. Win the whole thing and Thin Izzy (like how I'm interchanging nicknames?) would pick up 60 ranking points and move all the way up to around No. 118 in the world.

The bad news? I have to imagine he'll be a little road weary after traveling all the way in from Sweden and it would be human nature not to exactly be gung ho to play in this tournament after being in the U.S. Open and Davis Cup atmoshperes in recent weeks.

That's the mark of a true pro, though: to be able to grind out wins and pick up points (and money) when the game feels more like a job and less like a .... well, game.

The Is plays this evening, sometime after 6 p.m. CT against Australian Nathan Healey. Healey's ranked No. 189 in the world and has a challenger title to his credit this year.

The gang discusses Jim Young's Associated Press votes and the AP's top 25 poll, including a beef Jim has with the results. (9:15)

For those of you concerned that we're not staying on message by using a nickname other than The Big Izzy, in the title of this post, don't worry. The Big Izzy is still the primary nickname of choice for John Isner here, we just used Big John here because it rhymes with Moves On. What can we say? We were just born clever.

Anyway, Isner moved into the second round at the USTA Challenger of Oklahoma, shrugging off the potential problems we outlined in yesterday's post to win, 7-6 (5), 6-4 over Aussie Nathan Healey. Granted, The Is had to go to a tiebreaker to win the first set, but really, what is an Isner match if it doesn't have at least one tiebreaker?

So that's six more ranking points and a date in the Round of 16 this evening with South African Fritz Wolmarans (is that a South African name or what? I'll bet you could grab a beer with Fritz, kick back and discuss each of the Boer Wars with him).

Wolmarans' picture should be in the tennis dictionary next to the entry "Journeyman." It's taken him six long years to push his ranking up to No. 401 in the world. He only gained entry into this tournament because of a sponsors exemption. Wolmarans got that exemption, I'm assuming, becuase he reached the semis of a recent qualifier in noted tennis mecca, Lubbock, Texas. Either that, or there's a large contingent of Fritz Wolmarans fans in the greater Tulsa area. I'm banking on the former here.

I'm not saying this should be a walkthrough for Thin Izzy. He'll be the first to tell you that the differences between pros at this level are razor thin. That's one of the main reasons why his huge serve is so, well, huge. It gives him that little bit of separation in all those tight matches.

As we all know, tennis matches like Isner-Wolfmarans aren't played on paper. They're played out in blogs like this one. Check back later for the results.

The gang debates who should replace Ledford in the last slot of the Mighty Nine prep football poll. (6:46)