Reporters' Notebooks

Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Idiot pollsters on the loose. An Associated Press voter goes on a rant, saying rankings of teams are too often done by opinion, not performance. Thanks to Trent for sending this along.

Carl DuBois, Baton Rouge Advocate: Louisiana State took the unusual step of closing its entire practice, fueling speculation that coach Les Miles didn't want reporters to see whether senior receiver Early Doucet was on the field.

Steve Ellis, Tallahassee Democrat: No loss was more painful for Florida State in 2006 than a 30-0 setback to Wake Forest. The Seminoles seek revenge Thursday night.

Bob Fernandez, Philadelphia Inquirer: How far apart are the Big Ten Network and Comcast? If you believe these numbers, it could be something like $57.5 million.

Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press: Sorry Stanford. The biggest upset in a crazy season still belongs to Appalachian State.

Ted Jackovics, Tampa Tribune: The hottest college apparel and merchandise? South Florida appears to top the list.

Brent Zwerneman, San Antonio Express-News: Texas A&M officials are set to release their findings surrounding coach Dennis Franchione's VIP Connections newsletter.

Ian R. Rapoport, Birmingham News: Alabama's Nick Saban puts much time and energy into scouting. Scouting his own team, that is.

Jim Masilak, Commercial Appeal: Despite making the jump from I-AA to I-A, Middle Tennessee is still fighting to change perceptions of the program.

Oklahoman: When he decided to leave Arizona State, Sam Keller talked to Oklahoma, but eventually went to Nebraska. Aren't the Sooners glad.

Mel Bracht, Oklahoman: Travel won't be an issue this weekend for Kirk Herbstreit. He'll be hunkered down in Norman.

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: California fans are fearing that the BCS stench of 2004 is about to return.

Andy Staples, Tampa Tribune: Urban Meyer missed a golden opportunity this past weekend. He should have sat senior safety Tony Joiner.

Brian Cubbison, Syracuse Post-Standard: Want to see how empty the Carrier Dome was for last Saturday's West Virginia-Syracuse game. Check out this 360-degree view titled, "Dome of Emptiness."

Sean Keeler, Des Moines Register: Former Iowa quarterback Drew Tate suggests the Hawkeyes have long lacked diversity on offense, saying that in 2006, "once we got into the second half of the season, every time we played somebody, shit, they knew everything we were going to run."

John Flesher, Associated Press: Bizarre story of the day: The body of George Gipp, the former Notre Dame player, was recently exhumed for DNA testing. An ESPN crew filmed the exhumation for an upcoming story.

To bypass registration, go to Bug Me Not. Here is today's mystery link.