I'm sad to say it's time for a funeral.

It's time for the funeral of the "Big 3."

In Florida, everyone knows what I am talking about, but I'll break it down for the other 49 states.

The Big 3 are Miami, Florida State and Florida, so named for their total dominance of college football for most of the last 30 years.

They combined for 10 of the last 30 national titles, meaning that every third year someone from the Big 3 wins it all over a generation or so.

And in the years they didn't win, they almost did. The three combined to lose six other national title games (not counting the one when FSU and Florida played each other) and Miami was undoubtedly the best team in 1990 but did not win the title.

(Argue it anytime you want. I'll be here.)

The Hurricanes also got hosed on bad calls at Notre Dame in 1988 and against Ohio State in 2002, so if you consider that, the Big 3 could have had 19 of those 30 titles with a break or two.



Not bad.

Anyone my age who grew up in Florida knows this and accepts that football played anywhere else was for nancy boys.

Those days are dead.

Sure, Florida has had a good recent run, but they are showing that even the Mighty Gators have to rebuild. I'd be shocked if they win nine games this season.

Florida State hasn't been nationally relevant in a decade, and Miami has been mostly dormant since the aforementioned PI call against the Buckeyes.

In the old days, these teams never rebuilt. They just kicked your ... well, you get the idea.

Now things have changed.

The talent is more spread out now, and there are too many good athletes to keep dominating for that length of time.

USC took up the mantle of the dominant team in the country for a time, but look what happened to the Trojans.

I am writing this to say one thing - I am moving on. There is no Big 3, not anymore.
Florida, Florida State and Miami, as they were, are no more. They are all strong programs, but never the same again.

And now, for other non-Florida based observations:

* Alabama and Ohio State proved themselves worthy of the top two spots in the country for now. We'll see how their conference seasons go, but I predict at least one of them will fall somewhere. Which leads me to Boise State.

Can the "No. 3" Broncos actually play for a national title now? When their big win over Virginia Tech is stained by James Madison's matching victory?

College poll tradition is to elevate teams behind a squad that loses. If Alabama or Ohio State lose, can they possibly drop below a team that will be whooping up on chumps all season?

This is the central question of the BCS, but despite all the bluster from people like Orrin Hatch, Boise State and Utah do NOT want a playoff.

Seriously, they don't. Not an eight-team playoff anyway.

Boise State's best chance at winning a national title is right here, right now, by winning enough to impress the computers and somehow keep the voters happy.
If there were an eight-team playoff, there is no way Boise is winning three straight against top teams.

No chance in hell.

Boise can pull off one win (see Oklahoma, 2006) over a good team, but not three.
Utah from 2008 would have been in the same boat. The Utes beat a depleted and broken Alabama team that had two freshman offensive tackles who had never played, but they couldn't have won three straight games over elite teams.

No way, Mr. Hatch.

Now a plus-one might be doable for them, but not likely to work either. If Boise or Utah think a true playoff will lead them to a national title, they are fooling themselves.

No, believe it or not, Boise State is probably the BCS system's biggest supporter right now. It's folly is their only chance.

* By the way, same applies for Boise coach Chris Peterson. Stay at Boise, keep doing what you're doing and be the Bobby Bowden of the northwest. Don't pull a Dan Hawkins, who is not long for his Colorado gig after a 52-7 blowout loss to Cal and more defeats on the horizon.

* Houston scored 54 points without Case Keenum throwing a touchdown. What were the odds of that going into the season?

* How does Minnesota lose at home to South Dakota? Either these I-AA teams are getting better or the I-As are getting worse.

You never know what to make of these games, though. Kansas lost 6-3 to North Dakota State, then beat a ranked Georgia Tech team.

* Is Rutgers the worst 2-0 team in the country? From what I can see, yes. At least San Diego State knocked the crap out of two bad opponents.

Maryland comes close here, but Rutgers is the pick. (Maryland beat Navy, albeit in lucky fashion, but Navy would throttle Norfolk State or FIU.)

* My boys from East Carolina came through again last week. Now they tell me Virginia Tech (ahem, JMU) is a 17-point favorite against the Pirates. Want to doubt them again?

I am already checking the spreads for Week 3. It will be another interesting week.