We're halfway through the season, and much like the parity-filled NFL, I am not sure we've learned all that much yet.

Consider that a team no one is talking about - Oklahoma - is No. 1 in the BCS standings, mainly due to a love affair between computers and the Sooners.

Somehow, LSU is No. 1 in two of the computer rankings, which is strange, but no matter. The Tigers get to face those other Tigers from Auburn this weekend, which will give one of them a huge boost.

Auburn is already third in the computers and still has LSU and Alabama on its schedule, so a 12-0 Auburn team would figure to move up into one of the top two spots.

Or will it?

Would Oklahoma or Oregon be displaced if they both go undefeated? Hard to say, although the computers do not love the Ducks. Oregon plays at USC and at Oregon State still, though, both of which are dangerous - yet valuable - games. If the Ducks win out and keep No. 1 in the polls, it would be a crime not to see them play for the national title.

Stranger things have happened though.

Oregon does have to beware in that game against USC. That game basically stands as the Trojans' bowl game since they are on probation, and Lane Kiffin won't hold anything back.

Lost in all this is Boise State, which I still believe is going to need everyone else to have at least one loss to get to the title game. If Oklahoma, Oregon, Michigan State or Auburn finish undefeated, any of those teams will be ahead of Boise in the rankings when it is all said and done. Same goes for TCU, so any combination of those four finishing with no losses essentially eliminates them from the title game no matter what.

It should be interesting to see how it all plays out. Most years at this time, we are saying "What if all these teams undefeated?" And they almost never do.

* Going back to a year when no one had a perfect record, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the most messed up college football season of all time. Colorado won the AP national title with a record of 11-1-1, while Georgia Tech won the coaches' crown at 11-0-1 as the only unbeaten team.

That season is the ultimate example of how dumb poll voters were, are and always will be. In Colorado's case, the Buffs opened the season with a tie against then No. 8-Tennessee, and they lost to Illinois by one point two weeks later, dropping them from No. 9 to No. 18.

Colorado beat Texas 29-22 the next week, and incredibly, neither team lost another regular season game. Well, not on the books anyway.

On Oct. 6, 1990, Colorado came away with a 33-31 win over Missouri with the aid of a fifth down. Now, I don't care what the scoreboard says, if you know they had a fifth down, why would anyone consider that a win?

Colorado dropped from No. 12 to No. 14 the next week, but was that enough punishment for a team that now had a loss, a tie AND a game that clearly should have been a loss?



On Oct. 29, Miami was No. 8 despite two losses to top 25 teams, and Colorado was No. 9. Then four of the top five teams lost in one shot, including then-No. 1 Virginia, causing chaos.

Colorado had one of those wins over No. 3 Nebraska, a team that was wildly overrated at the time. Miami beat Pitt 45-0, yet found itself at No. 5 the following week, one spot BEHIND Colorado, which essentially had two losses and a tie.

More top five losses moved Colorado and Miami up to No. 2 and No. 3 behind No. 1 Notre Dame, which tne lost to Penn State, crowning the Buffaloes as the No. 1 team in the land.

The Buffs then played Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl and won 10-9 when a phantom clipping call negated Rocket Ismail's would-be game-winning touchdown. So now a team that has what amounts to three losses and a tie is the national champ.

By the way, the real champion should have been two-loss Miami, which destroyed Texas in the Cotton Bowl 46-3 despite racking up 202 yards in penalties, much to the delight of Luther Campbell.



The point of all this? Nothing is as it seems in college football, and logic will never ever apply to who plays for the national title.

* On the Heisman front, I have been participating in the Stiffarm Poll to take the pulse of voters on the Heisman and who is on their minds as the season progresses. It is an interesting poll, as it has taken on a kind of "Survivor" feel to it the last couple of weeks.

They orignally asked for an unlimited number of names that were on your mind, but last week the number was cut to 12 players. This week, someone gets voted off the island as they asked for just my best 11.

I had to go ahead and vote off three guys, though, after some dismal performances.

Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, NC State's Russell Wilson and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick got sent packing from my watch list with awful games in losses for their teams. The list of guys I am watching includes, in no particular order, Alabama's Mark Ingram, Boise State's Kellen Moore, Michigan's Denard Robinson, Ohio State's Terrell Pryor (who also took a hit but stayed in the top 11), Michigan State's Kirk Cousins, Stanford's Andrew Luck, Oregon's LaMichael James (despite his off-field past) and North Carolina's T.J. Yates, the ultimate dark horse. I added Ricky Stanzi of Iowa and Dominique Davis of East Carolina just to give those guys some love, but I suspect they will be the first ones off the island in the next round of cuts.

Oh yeah, that's only 10 guys. I forgot about Auburn's Cameron Newton.

Newton has already been the backup for a Heisman winner when he played behind Tim Tebow in 2007. Then he stole a $1,700 laptop (allegedly) and pulled a Han Solo by dumping the goods out the window then the cops arrived. He ended up getting suspended from the team and he eventually transferred to Blinn Junior College in Texas.



After winning the JC national title, Newton re-emerged at Auburn and became the Heisman frontrunner as of this moment. This is interesting, though, as the University of Florida was raked across the coals earlier this year for having so many arrests, discipline problems etc.

Urban Meyer has kicked a lot of these guys out of school, and yet Florida is called a "dirty program." How dirty are the teams that pick up these "free agents", turn them into Heisman contenders and become top five teams? Funny, I don't hear much of that being said.

It's not like Newton killed someone, but now he's the toast of the country. Somehow if Florida had held onto him and started him this year in the absence of Tebow, there would be something wrong with that, he would be a "trouble kid." On Auburn, though, he's getting a "second chance."

What's wrong with that picture?

While we're on the topic, James strangled his girlfriend (allegedly) and is now right back in the lineup for No. 1 Oregon, and he too appears ticketed for New York City if things stay as they are.

It's a tangled web we weave. Check this space for an update later this week on whether Newton is offically on top of this week's Stiffarm Poll.