NCAA Week 8: Good Snark, Bad Snark

Every season, college football spends its first half spinning out intriguing story lines.

After that, the focus is on how many of them actually have staying power.

We're about to start finding out. Case in point:

Who knew the first dramatic Big XII showdown in 2017 would involve Frogs and Cyclones?

For the sheer joy of wondering what's gonna happen next in the stodgy halls of Power Five football, the Big XII has become appointment viewing. Next up in the distance would be the Pac-12.

What do they have in common?

Nine-game conference schedules.

And what do TCU and Iowa State have in common?

Defense.

• After Week 8, the Horned Frogs rank first in the conference and 11th nationally in total D, while
• The Cyclones are second in the Big XII and 35th in the nation.

Given the pinball-score potential that's often realized in that crowd, this is impressive.

The Horned Frogs have been in the Big XII's rarified air before, but this is new for the Cyclones. Prior to this season, their top-selling merchandise had to be logo-imprinted doormats. After this season, who knows if they can keep the coach who led them here?

Their upcoming clash won't be the last key meeting in the league this season. There's also so much parity, it's tough to see any team running the table from here on out.

It's too bad odds of a two-loss champion getting into the CFP bracket are slim and none. And Slim left town.

Good Snark: Mustang Sally ... Meanwhile, the only program ever to receive the death penalty -- Dallas' own SMU -- may never return to where it once was, but it still has its moments.

Watch as the 'Stangs endure a last-minute comeback to put the game into overtime, survive a 4th & Forever to salvage a field goal, and still win:

Bad Snark: Cougars are doing it to themselves ... SMU had no choice whatsoever in descending into FBS purgatory, as it was well-deserved. then there's BYU.

In one of college football's worst-ever reading of the tea leaves, the Cougars decided they were too big for the Boise States and San Diego States of the Mountain West, did a Notre Dame, and went independent.

One problem. Dudes are not Notre Dame.

Ironically, the Irish realized that being an indy isn't what it used to be and worked out a touchy-feely scheduling arrangement with the ACC.

BYU, meanwhile, is flanked on two sides by Power Fives that play nine-game conference schedules. That limits their options. They wind up making deals that are far less appealing than a Mountain West list.

Worse, the Cougars aren't winning those games, either. Like at East Carolina, where their late game wasn't pretty:

BYU is now 1-7. Fortunately, they've got UMass comin up in a few weeks.

The Minutemen finally got their first victory of the season. Lowly Georgia Southern was so humiliated, they fired their coach.

Good Snark: Proof they're an engineering school ... It's the little twists that enable big results. Purdue confirmed this tenet when it created the world's first flea-flicker draw play:

In a time when everyone else is hurdling high, nice touch by DJ Knox for ducking low.

Cool play, but it wasn't enough to beat Rutgers. Looks like the Boilermakers need to do more twisting.

Bad Snark: Exit, stage right ... Looks like we might've sprinkled dirt on Notre Dame's casket too soon. Either that, or USC is really what we figured this year, ie- lotsa talent, no intensity.

The Trojans are truly less than the sum of their parts, which was fine with the Irish:

To the victor goes the jeweled shillelagh, and if the Trojans keep this up, to the NFL goes Sam Darnold.

Dude's not ready and is realistic enough to know it, but he might want to think about being paid while he's being frustrated and still in one piece.

Good Snark: Badger territory ... Face it. Wisconsin owns the Big Ten West. It'll be that way if/until Iowa and/or Nebraska reboot. In the meantime, they've just gotta hold serve until Michigan comes to Camp Randall on Sat 18 Nov.

Until then, the Badgers take what they want.

Even with one loss, their CFP season comes down to the Big Ten title game.

Incidentally, here's how the conference contenders stack up on this week's strength of schedule calculations. The right column is each team's schedule rating:

2.	Oklahoma ...	6-1	10.3
3.	Clemson ...	6-1	10.2
7.	Texas Christian ...	7-0	7.5
8.	Oklahoma State ...	6-1	7.3
9.	Georgia ...	7-0	7.2
15.	Ohio State ...	6-1	6.1
18.	Penn State ...	7-0	5.6
21.	Alabama ...	7-0	5.2
52..	Washington ...	6-1	0.9
58.	Washington State ...	6-1	-0.7
60.	Wisconsin ...	7-0	-1.1

Win or lose, though, what this and the Badgers' record means is the Big Ten should be able to write in one of its teams in the bracket. Must be nice.

Wait'll the Daily Player 12 fires up when the CFP rankings show. That'll set everyone straight.

Bad Snark: Infield fly ... Sheesh. The Daily Player has spent the MLB playoffs issuing warnings to not be the dude in the red shirt. Texas freshman slinger Sam Ehlinger was apparently too busy doing ... something else.

Dude must've forgot that if a first overtime ends in a tie, teams get a second overtime.

Oklahoma State DB Ramon Richards didn't.

Correct. That's your ball game.

And the World Series starts tomorrow.

Good Snark: No point spreads in the standings ... Miami's not into style points, either. Dudes just keep getting the job done in close games.

The Hurricane D just keeps doing D things, even when their takeaways turn into instant giveaways. They could afford it against Syracuse:

There's gotta be something about that chain: 4 sacks, 9 tackles-for-loss and 4 Orange turnovers.

Bad Snark: Getting ready for the drop ... Bummer for Idaho. The Vandals didn't wanna shift back down to the FCS. Dudes proved as late as last December they could still bring it every once in a while.

But the Sun Belt considers Moscow, Idaho as much of a pain to reach as Moscow, Putinia. And as BYU coulda told them, being an independent sucks.

So their only taste of the FBS will be to keep on doing what they've always done: serve themselves up to a Power Five team for a glorified scrimmage and an appearance fee.

This season, that meant getting scorched by Missouri, whose only other victory was a 72-43 waxing of FCS Missouri State. They did the same to Idaho, 68-21. This was the most humane highlight clip we could find:

A word of caution: the Big Sky is far from a cakewalk.

Snarkalicious: Military precision ... For the first time since 1984-1985, those feisty Black Knights of the Hudson are going bowling for a second straight year.

Their 31-28 overtime squaker over Temple raised their record to 6-2. Army has an arrangement that slots them into the Armed Forces Bowl because ... well ... it's the Armed Forces Bowl.

Gotta say, when Darnell Woolfolk graduates to the field, they won't need to give him a tank command. Dude is a tank command:

If anyone deserves a post-season festival it's those dudes and their brethren-in-arms at Annapolis and Colorado Springs.

No matter what, dudes are already winners as the ultimate student-athlete future protectors of the USA.