Instant expert: the stuff that matters: just warming up to the college football season? What's wrong with you? This'll toast your tootsies in a hurry.(COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SECOND HALF PREVIEW)

The TEAMS

See Reggie run, see Matty throw, see 7-0 Southern California keep unworthy opponents in games. The champs are the big stack at the BCS table--why don't they play like aces coming out of the locker room?

"Yeah, but Texas would be up the creek if Vince Young got hurt," critics say, and they've got a point. Young is Texas, much as Michael Vick once was Virginia Tech. Of course, Vick got his team to the title game, which is where the Longhorns (7-0) will be if they win out.

Virginia Tech, Georgia and Alabama: Which one--or ones--will be this year's Auburn? The 7-0 Hokies have more of the right stuff than Miami or Florida State, so getting to and through the ACC title game is doable. The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide, also 7-0, are up against it schedulewise, and if they keep winning, one would be a certain loser when they collided in the SEC championship game.

Call it the Notre Dame rule: With nine wins and a top-12 BCS ranking, the 5-2 Irish would be eligible for one of the Big Four bowls. That means they have to finish 4-0. And you have to pay attention because, like it or not, this program is nearly all the way back to its old omnipresent self.

The NAMES

Who is USC's MVP? The Matt Leinart camp points to the size of a quarterback's job, which Leinart performs essentially mistake-free, with clutch throws and unmatched bottomline efficiency (32-1 as a starter). The Reggie Bush camp points to the end zone, where Bush alights after two or three thrill tides per big game. Fortunately for the Trojans, it's all one big, happy camp anyway.