We have at least three weeks’ worth of Sebastian photos on hand, in case this Miami story keeps dragging on. (AP)

Assorted newsy bits — of varying degrees of importance — you might have missed over the long weekend:

• Didn’t we already do this headline a week ago? ”Imminent” can mean a lot of things! In the cosmic sense, the NCAA’s investigation of Miami has spanned less than a fraction of an eyeblink, but here we are, riding on a human-speed space-time wave, just twiddling our bloggy thumbs until the ‘Canes’ notice of allegations drops. The latest rumblings, per Bruce Feldman, involve a very large book being thrown at ex-Miami and current Louisville assistant Clint Hurtt and other former ‘Canes colleagues. We’ll have more on this when we actually see the notice of allegations, unless we don’t see this notice of allegations, in which case we’ll be right back here next Monday writing a third variation on this same headline.

• And speaking of the NCAA: On the final day of the annual NCAA convention, the latest raft of changes — touted as an effort to streamline NCAA regulations — were unveiled. Your friendly neighborhood Bylaw Blogger takes a look at one proposal, regarding recruiting start dates, that was left out of the bundle.

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After impressing in backup duty last season, Eddie Lacy will be Alabama’s starting running back in 2012. (Getty Images)

A host of household names departed the corps of college football last winter. So did some lesser-known but crucial moving parts. Today, we get acquainted with their replacements. Here are 10 teams (listed alphabetically) with gaping holes to fill:

Alabama: Trent Richardson

Last year: Richardson finished the 2011 season ranked fifth nationally in rushing, averaging perilously close to 130 ground yards per contest. He ranked sixth in scoring, averaging more than 11 points per contest. About all he failed to do was follow up Mark Ingram’s Heisman with a stiffarm trophy of his own.

This year: The next guy up, if you want to get technical about it, is 2011′s No. 2 man Eddie Lacy. It’s a big dropoff from Richardson’s 130-yard average production to Lacy’s 56, but you have to like the numbers Lacy put up on such a paltry allowance of carries (674 rushing yards, 95 touches). Lacy recently returned to action following offseason foot surgery and will be a full participant in fall camp.

But like CBS’ Daniel Lewis, we are almost more intrigued by the guys coming up behind Lacy: Jalston Fowler, Dee Hart and T.J. Yeldon. These players are always fun to track at ‘Bama because, like Richardson behind Ingram, they are undeniably talented, have to wait their turn and will be endlessly clamored for on the radio and message boards the first time Lacy has an off night.

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In the absence of Brad Wing, Robert Griffin III will have to do as Heisman Trophy winner. (Icon SMI)

• And then there were five, and one was III: Robert Griffin III is indeed a Heisman Trophy finalist, alongside Andrew Luck, Montee Ball, Tyrann Mathieu and Trent Richardson. The continued exclusion of Brad Wing from these lists is constantly upsetting. He’s not on our People’s Heisman poll either, but you can vote for some other nice young people.

• Fresh coaches, bought and sold: Add Greg McMackin to our Canned Coaches Cubby. (He wasn’t technically canned, but he’s gone, and I like the Spam connection.)

• In which Chris Petersen cops to the glaring problem with the Coaches’ Poll: “I know how I voted and I know what I’m trying to do, which is make the best case for Boise State to get in there, so I probably shouldn’t be a voter.”

• Penn State things: ABC News is reporting that eight alleged victims will testify against Jerry Sandusky. Meanwhile, does the headline “NCAA considers advisory role on abuse guidelines” make anybody else moderately uncomfortable, for the sole reason that the NCAA doesn’t seem very good at the jobs it actually does have?

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Tevin Washington (13) ran for 176 yards and broke the two longest runs of his Ga. Tech career. (Getty)

Snap Judgments from the Week 9 late shift. For swing shift Snaps, click here. For early shift Snaps, click here. For Stewart Mandel’s take on Joe Paterno’s historic 409th win, click here. For a recap of the Top 25 action, click here. And for highlights from SI.com, click here.

• Georgia Tech 31, No. 6 Clemson 17: You can spell “Global Thermonuclear War” without “BCS,” but why would you want to? In Week 9, the best winning move was not to play. Time to amend our list of seven undefeateds from earlier this afternoon. Still standing: LSU, Alabama and Boise, all on well-timed byes, Oklahoma State and Houston, beneficiaries of laughably lopsided blowouts and Stanford, which survived in a three-overtime nailbiter. Falling in the evening flight: The second team of Tigers in the BCS top five.

After two weeks of lackluster performances in the Jackets’ back-to-back losses to Miami and UVA, Tevin Washington has his hive legs back. And fear not: Tech largely eschewed that unseemly passing game that unnerved so many longtime viewers early in the season. Washington threw only in times of dire necessity, completing four of nine attempts for 60 yards and an interception. On the ground, he rolled up 176 rushing yards in solo attempts, including a breakaway dash of 56 yards, a personal best. The Tigers put up gaudy numbers of their own, with Tajh Boyd recording 294 aerial yards and Sammy Watkins 153, but four turnovers wasted considerable offensive gas.

There are readily imaginable scenarios in which every remaining undefeated team can lose, of course. But for this week, for the next few days of rewritten narrative, it’s safe to presume there will be no ACC representative in the national title game. [BOX | RECAP] Read More…

West Virginia fans were quick to knock Pitt and Syracuse for leaving the Big East for the ACC, but their own Mountaineers appear poised to jump to the Big 12. (Lance King/Icon SMI)

• Will no one think of the pepperoni roll? Clearly ignorant of the fine culinary traditions found in and around West Virginia, the SEC passed on expansion candidate WVU. Now, the Mountaineers are reportedly headed for the Big 12. And Tudor’s Biscuit World franchises will surely follow into Texas and Oklahoma, skirting SEC country entirely. Life is cruel, y’all.

• NCAA Reform And Them: “More than 300 major college football and men’s basketball players are telling the NCAA and college presidents they want a cut of ever-increasing TV sports revenue to fatten scholarships and cover all the costs of getting a degree, with athletes picking up still more grant money when they graduate.” This should be fun. Dan Wetzel wants a bowl boycott. And the NCAA’s compliance blog looks ahead to 20 years of reform.

• Quote of the day, I: “We could end up with two conferences, one called ESPN and one called Fox.” — LSU chancellor Michael Martin

• Quote of the day, II: “Don’t worry, Big East Conference. I’ll play football in you.” — Dan Devine

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James White and the Badgers will look to grind it out against the formidable Spartans. (John Biever/SI)

Plot threads to track in Week 8. Competitive football games are going to be few and far between this weekend, so treasure these first four. 

• No. 4 Wisconsin @ No. 15 Michigan State: There are so many questions here, and somehow, not knowing doesn’t bother me. This is one of those games I’m just giddy to see unfold, and given the quality of most of the rest of the Week 8 matchups, this game could not possibly arrive at a more opportune moment.

We’re still very much getting a feel for what these two squads are made of; both have been beneficiaries of mostly easygoing early slates. The Badgers’ biggest test was against the overrated Cornhuskers, whom they thumped 48-17. From here on out they get the Spartans, a depleted Ohio State and a ranked Illinois team I still don’t believe is going to stay that way. Many of the same questions can be asked of the Spartans, whose caliber was all but unknown heading into last week’s ferocious game against Michigan. In the middle of their 2011 gauntlet they get this, Nebraska in Week 9 and then a downhill run to Indianapolis in December. The possibility that wrung so many hands when Nebraska joined could easily come to pass in the first year of a partitioned Big Ten: a rematch in the conference championship game.

On paper, it’s almost too perfect. A team allowing less than 10 points per game and scoring more than 50 versus a team allowing slightly more than 10 points per game while scoring almost 30. Looking at those numbers, it’s hard not to give Wisconsin the edge, but so many juicy what-ifs remain. Can the Heisman candidate quarterback slice and dice the country’s top-ranked pass defense? Can the Spartans contain Montee Ball as they did Denard Robinson? We’re not gonna know until we know, and I can’t wait to find out.

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The Switzies are named for former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, the patron saint of college football frolicking. (Rich Clarkson/SI)

Our 10 imaginary trophies celebrating on- and off-field favorites at the season’s midpoint:

• Best new toy: It’s not Clowney, Farmer or Kouandjio. The biggest impact freshman of 2011 is Clemson’s Sammy Watkins, who ranks in the top 20 nationally in receiving yards per game, sixth in kickoff returns and by the numbers is currently the FBS’ No. 10 all-purpose yardage generated. He’s recorded four games with at least 100 receiving yards in less than two months of college ball, and in two of those games has gone over 150. Against Maryland, he hit the century mark in receiving and  racked up 207 yards on kick return duty.

• Best stat: Aren’t early season cherry-picked numbers delicious? Remember those first weeks in September when Robert Griffin’s touchdown passes and incompletions hovered right around the same number? After four weeks of play that ratio was 20:18 and Baylor fan or not, it was hard not to hope it’d stay that way just for the spectacle of it. Subsequent games against Iowa State and Texas A&M knocked his incompletions out of reach. Then again, we’re talking about a guy who has a 78 percent completion rating after six games, so even his off days are nothing to sneeze at.

• Best highlight play: Nothing against the massive runs Trent Richardson’s reeling off, but there’s just something about a good catch that quickens the blood. The year’s best, thus far: Andrew Luck‘s one-handed grab versus UCLA, a move that would’ve been tricky even had the receiver been a receiver, and Mississippi State’s Chris Smith holding onto the ball in an invisible human gyroscope against South Carolina. Honorable mention: LSU punter Brad Wing‘s touchdown-that-wasn’t against Florida.

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