Reporters' Notebooks

Buck Harvey, San Antonio Express-News: Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne was handed a gift by Dennis Franchione. The VIP Connections newsletter is the leverage he needs to fire Franchione and save A&M millions in buyout costs.

Kevin Sherrington, Dallas Morning News: Now a look at our exclusive accuforecast for Franchione: bleak.

Jennifer Floyd Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Let's be honest. If Fran's team had beaten Miami and was undefeated entering Saturday's game at Texas Tech, we would not be having this conversation about secret, $1,200 e-mails.

Tom Kirkendall: What is it about Texas A&M University that the institution cannot fire a football coach correctly?

Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News: Not so fast with the speculation that Auburn's Tommy Tuberville will leave at the end of the season to take over at Texas A&M or Arkansas.

Steve Ellis, Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State's shot at a return to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game now looks improbable after a 24-21 loss at Wake Forest.

Laurence Miedema, San Jose Mercury News: San Jose State gets a crack at Hawaii and quarterback Colt Brennan in a nationally televised game Friday night.

Steroid Nation: Recruiting snake-oil salesman, er, analyst Tom Lemming says 15-20% of high school players juice to bulk up.

Carl DuBois and Scott Rabalais, Baton Rouge Advocate: Louisiana State is expected to have receiver Early Doucet ready for its game at Kentucky.

Bryan Mullen, Tennessean: If Tennessee's Phil Fulmer is on the hot seat, it has certainly cooled down significantly.

Maurice Patton, Tennessean: Vanderbilt coach Bobby Jones is undecided on his starting quarterback for Saturday's home game against Georgia.

Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic: Standout Arizona State tight end Brent Miller will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times: As expected, Mark Sanchez will start at quarterback for USC when it plays host to Arizona.

John Henderson, Denver Post: If you know who's going to hook facemasks in New Orleans for the BCS Championship on Jan. 7, don't even think about calling Rocko the bookmaker. You don't know. I don't know. No one really knows.

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