Mike Kern | Who's No. 1 . . . who knows??

Michigan's Mike Hart has missed too much time because of injury. Colt Brennan plays for, well, Hawaii. Andre Woodson was a factor, then Kentucky lost to Mississippi State. At home, by double digits. Ouch.

And so it unfolds. A year ago, Troy Smith had it put away by Columbus Day.

This is very much an undone deal, although Ryan sure took advantage of last week's prime-time exposure. Keep an eye on Dixon, who a bunch of national folks appear to really like. Especially if his Ducks remain in the title scrum. Ditto White. And I wouldn't discount Tebow yet, unless the Gators continue to stumble.

Place your bets. The odds adjust weekly.

SIDELINES:

MAC me up:

Only two teams, both from the West Division, have winning overall records: Central Michigan and Ball State at 5-4. Bowling Green is the only other team that's even .500 (4-4). In its losses (Kansas, Purdue, North Dakota State and Clemson), Central Michigan has been outscored 211-57.

Streak buster?:

Notre Dame, which hasn't been favored since an opening 30-point home loss to Georgia Tech, is favored by a field goal over visiting Navy, which it hasn't lost to since 1963. After this, the Irish (1-7) host Air Force and Duke, before playing at Stanford. The last time they won fewer than five was 1963 (2-7).

Earn it:

Alabama is paying Nick Saban big-time bucks to beat Auburn and go for national titles. His new team is hosting LSU, where he got a ring in 2003. The Tide hasn't beaten LSU at home since 1999.

Number crunching:

First-year Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson, who was the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1988 at Washington State and in 2000 at Oregon State, is 2-4 against Oregon, 0-2 at Autzen Stadium, where his team will try to get to 9-0.

COUCH POTATO GUIDE:

TONIGHT

7:30: Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, ESPN

FRIDAY

8: Nevada at New Mexico State, ESPN2

SATURDAY

Noon: Syracuse at Pittsburgh, Ch. 6

Noon: Princeton at Penn, CN8

Noon: JMU at Delaware, CSN

Noon: Purde at Penn State, ESPN

Noon: Iowa at Northwestern, ESPN2

12:30: Kansas State at Iowa State, Versus

2:30: Navy at Notre Dame, Ch. 10

3:30: Michigan at Michigan State, Ch. 6

3:30: Villanova at Richmond, CN8

3:30: Cincinnati at South Florida, ESPN

5: LSU at Alabama, Ch. 3

6: Arizona State at Oregon ESPN

8: Florida State at Boston College, Ch. 6

8: South Carolina at Arkansas, ESPN2

10:30: Washington State at California, joined in progress, CSN

SUNDAY

8: Southern Methodist at Houston, ESPN

Send e-mail to kernm@phillynews.com