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Yes, I thought this one up ("Unhappy Valley") during last night's Penn State/Iowa game- the second in what's becoming an illustrative tradition for those of us who feel Paterno's glory days are behind him.  The same goes for Bobby Bowden, whose 'Noles were "ambushed," or "stunned" or whatever by South Florida.  This weekend's "huge upsets" just continue to support the argument that early season college football rankings are weak- if not useless- indicators of what's really going down in the NCAA landscape.  Ole Miss was number 5 and got laid out by South Carolina, but why were they number 5?  BYU last week- same deal.  And now Penn State.  Again... I really don't want to beat this dead horse, but here goes.

I don't mean to pick on the Nits or BYU or Rebels, because there are many teams this could apply to, but I don't wanna write a freaking book here- just make a point.  So Penn State was No. 5 in the nation coming into this weekend, boasting a 3-0 record- detailed below. 

        Against: Akron (31-7), Syracuse (28-7), and Temple (31-6); all three wins came at home in Happy Valley.  All three opponents were outclassed, nonconference tune-up opportunities.  

And now Kirk Ferentz & the Hawks come in and grind out a great win in a hostile realm ("White Out"- oy vey...) playing classic Big Ten smashmouth, and all you see is headlines like    "Iowa Stuns No. 5 Penn State" and... I don't know- I feel like the Hawkeyes are the real story here, aren't they?  So I'm kinda belaboring this I know- and maybe even being a little oversensitive for all my Iowa friends out there, but why is this so "stunning" or "shocking"?  I mean- same thing happened last year, guys; and I wrote about it then, too: http://www.fannation.com/blogs/post/287356-iowa-easy-to-take-with-big-head-start-at-home

So, yeah- I don't know if this makes sense, but I don't have time to edit my ramblings clearly this morning- mayhaps that I'll revisit the subject later.

Oh, and Notre Dame- congratulations on having Purdue call an inexplicably, incontrovertibly game-losing timeout on your behalf when you were facing an otherwise unstoppable 35 seconds to work with in West Lafayette last night.  Am I bitter about this, or has it caused me personal financial hardship?  Nah- I don't play the pigskin ponies anymore, so I churn out these thoughts as a passionate yet disinterested fan.  And I didn't even mention the game in this space yesterday.  But come on- I defy anyone in the world of football analysis, armchair or otherwise, to explain to me why the Boilermakers took that time out.  And if you weren't watching or don't know what I'm talking about, you'll just have to look it up.

Speaking of yesterdays prognosticatin'- If you followed my advice you stayed above water with a 3 and 2 mark vs. the Man, which'll have to do for now...

And Good Luck out there today. Here in New England it figures to be a sloppy track- the rain's already coming down in Foxborough, so the Pats Falcons tussle may well be a low scoring affair.  Not fun to root for, but I'll say that total stays under 46.5.  Also worth a look are the Steelers as a 4 point road fave at Cincinnati; why not give four with the (shudder) defending SB champs visiting an all-over-the map, not quite right divisional rival?  And what else?  Go with the 49ers, getting a full 7 at Minnesota, where the Vikes are just praying the other show won't drop on a weekly basis (that shoe being the most one-dimensional offensive attack since Gulliver went to war for the Lilliputians).  I think Mike Singletary may well be the guy who figures out that the man behind Brad Childress's curtain is a fella named AP.  And if you've got the stomach to go against the 2008 Texas Tech of the NFL, give the Bills a try as 6 point home dogs against New Orleans.  Trent Edwards and company are playing solid football, and the Saints are impressive- but it's the NFL, and that means there's no guarantees out there.