clearly, usc is the best team in college football. i think that, maybe, notre dame's the second best.

texas could be better.
virginia tech could be better.

texas tech is clearly awful. they haven't played anybody.
alabama nearly lost to mississippi, georgia did the same at vandy, ucla struggled at washington state.

penn state lost. it looks like florida state's about to do the same.

so, in my opinion, notre dame's no worse than the fifth-best in the country.

but anyway, that game lived up to its billing as much as just about any game i've ever seen. it was simply fun to watch. lots of great players making a slew of really nice plays.

reggie bush is clearly the best player in the country - the irish held the passing game and lendale white mostly in check. charlie weis is clearly a genius. and a lot of recruits who were on the fence between the two schools (i don't follow that stuff, but i'm assuming that there are a lot) are probably still on the fence.

i figure notre dame runs the table and winds up in a bcs game. this time, unlike the last few times they were in major bowls, they'll have actually earned it.

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in other news, it's amazing to me that there was no doubt that northwestern was going to drive it down the boilermakers' throats on the decisive drive. it seems odd, considering that the cats hadn't scored at all in the second half. but that's just the confidence that baz inspires.

oddly, the running game was not much of a factor for northwestern. of basanez's 465 (!) passing yards and herbert's 94 receiving yards, i'd say 40 or so came on the double-option shovel pass, which is certainly a "run" element. but sutton only got 13 carries (the late-half one going for 40 yards) for 87 yards. still, he caught 10 passes as well.

my favorite development of the game was the play of hard-hittin' herschel henderson, who in three different instances provided helmet-shattering hits. he made, i think, the biggest play of the game, forcing the jerod void fumble that mcgarigle recovered at the nu ten. herschel played very well, as did kadela, i thought. the d-line still isn't particularly good.

roberson's fumble was frustrating, but i've got no qualms about him having the ball near the goal line. in my opinion, the emergence of noah herron in mid-to-late 2003 and jordan last season were big reasons for the late-season success. the offense is more versatile with a second (or, actually, third) running option, and roberson showed some shakes and some ability in his chances today.

two instances of why pam ward (and the entire broadcast crew) sucks:
- she didn't identify herschel henderson's fantastic strip
- she didn't even consider the possibility that andre chattams' attempted stretch into the end zone would be ruled a fumble and northwestern ball. that was just dumb.

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new big ten power rankings, according to what actually happened today:

1) ohio state
2) penn state
3) michigan state
4) michigan
5) northwestern
6) wisonsin
7) minnesota
8) iowa
9) purdue
10) indiana
11) illinois

i'm not sure, but i think the only inconsistency according head-to-head matchups (like when florida state won the national championship despite losing to notre dame) is michigan state ahead of michigan. (oh yeah. and penn state over michigan. and ohio state over penn state.) i think sparty's better. and i know robinson does actually suck. and michigan needs to do a lot to move up.

i, however, also think northwestern will beat michigan state next saturday.

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white sox thoughts: they're the best team left. they've made just about no mistakes this series.

chris myers is the only member of the broadcast crew that can say scott podsednik's last name. the 'd' is silent, doofuses.

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not that this was interesting, but i don't think i have anything else interesting.