The Ragin’ Cajuns retain their hold atop the finest spring game destination leaderboard. Bring us back one of those “IN HUD WE TRUST” koozies. (AP)

As we learned last year in Lafayette to our fattening benefit, getting fed at Louisiana-based football activities is one of the highlights of spring ball. It’s also an easy-to-master process:

1. Show up

2. Walk around until you find somebody with a crawfish pot

3. Be offered crawfish

4. Repeat

The Ragin’ Cajuns don’t play their spring game until April 20 this year, which should give you plenty of time to condition your stomach linings against whatever hell your mouth intends to rain down on them. Your training regimen begins tomorrow in Monroe, with Super Warhawk weekend. We are told friendly feeders are just as easy to find here. But should you find yourselves at the Warhawks’ spring game festivities sans pals with boiling proclivities, despair not: The school is offering its own officially sanctioned crawfish boil for $25 a head at the alumni center, starting at 12:30 p.m. Diligence in conditioning now will yield true tailgating greatness this fall.

The story of one postseason college football contest, as told through social media.

Now that ULM has gone bowling, every team in the country minus the 4 that joined in 2012 has reached an FBS bowl game.

— Paul Myerberg (@PaulMyerberg) December 28, 2012

#MACtion on a midday afternoon, what a sweet, sweet sound.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) December 28, 2012

Not sure how it looks on TV, but #ShreveKota has warmed up, and while it’s overcast, there’s no rain. All pluses for ULM.

— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) December 28, 2012

I love that this bowl game is sponsored by a pyramid scheme.

— edsbs (@edsbs) December 28, 2012

@nastinchka The #IndyBowl just isn’t as fun when there’s not a subplot of whether or not a bird of prey has escaped into greater Shreveport.

— Paul B. Crk (@PaulBryantC) December 28, 2012

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Here is a photo of Ohio coach Frank Solich smiling. We have never seen its equal. (AP)

The 2012 Independence Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an X’s and O’s breakdown, click through to Mallory Rubin’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? You have to go to Shreveport to go to this game, and we’re not about to do that. The last time we set foot in Shreveport, the elevator to the Independence Stadium press box broke and we were trapped inside with eight assistant coaches wearing track suits constructed of non-breathable fabrics. BUT: The town is known for its drive-thru daiquiri joints, if that sways you. It very nearly sways us. Anyway. This is the Independence Bowl. It is no longer sponsored by a brand of weed killer.

• When is this game on television? Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN, featuring the voices of Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer and Cara Capuano. The game will also be streamed on WatchESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Currently, SEC versus ACC.

• What about this year? A treat! Two of our favorite Profiterole programs, the Ohio Bobcats and Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, will dance in Shreveport this night.

• Does the bowl have a social media presence? Technically, yes, although as of Thursday night it had sent out precisely four tweets in the space of a week leading up to the game. That’s just its INDEPENDENT spirit. Don’t box in the Independence Bowl. Nobody likes a smartass, dear reader.

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• Oh, NOW you don’t like the BCS. Not before. Just now. Northern Illinois is bound for the Orange Bowl as the first team from the MAC to earn a BCS bowl bid. We, as you might imagine, are delighted. Others are not. In other words, it’s just like every other BCS selection reaction ever.

Herbstreit calls NIU’s BCS berth “A sad state of college football.”

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 3, 2012

Herbstreit on #BCS selection show: “To put Northern Illinois in the BCS is a joke.” — Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) December 3, 2012

Say what you will about NIU, its bid was automatic, just like Wisconsin’s and Louisville’s. NIU ranks ahead of both in every poll. — Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) December 3, 2012

“I can’t believe they let NIU into the sacrosanct Orange Bowl.” <—someone who has never watched the Orange Bowl — edsbs (@edsbs) December 2, 2012

Rule that got NIU in was established to help defend BCS from anti-trust lawsuit. ESPN acting like it’s a football decision — Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) December 3, 2012

Is there any other sport in America where people DESPISE the underdog? Any sport in the world? — Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 3, 2012

Again, according to every current human poll and a consensus of the BCS computers, NIU’s not even the worst BCS bowl team this year. — Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) December 3, 2012

To steal a @billsimmons metaphor, a lot of the NIU whining seems like people who are also mad the house doesn’t win more in blackjack.

— John Infante (@John_Infante) December 3, 2012

For takes longer than 140 characters, see Samuel Chi’s “Deal with it” and Matt Hinton’s “Blame the Big Ten and Big East.” The final regular-season BCS standings can be found here; the tell-all Coaches’ Poll results are here. For our full bowl schedule, click this way.

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Jordan Lynch, pinballer of the year. (AP)

Our weekly highlight show of lesser FBS luminaries. Non-AQs and independents, be welcome. WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS.

• On teams about to move themselves outside our purview. Like we said this morning, we had no sooner finished updating our magnificent work of college football realignment art than word came down we might need to add Middle Tennessee State to it. And right as we were wrapping up this here column, Florida Atlantic joins the fray, chasing FIU to Conference USA. Consider this another plea for a dead period in conference realignment, for the sake of everyone’s collective multitasking abilities, at least until the bowls are over. What on earth else are we going to talk about in February if we get all this conference-hopping sorted out before Christmas?

And what to do with some of these teams going forward? We have a while to figure it out, obviously, but how to cover this ballooning middle class created by the sinking of the Big East? Will the Blue Raiders graduate from Profiterole-dom as Temple did last year? We’ll probably dedicate way more thought to this than we should; but, again, best to save that for the offseason when we have nothing better to do.

• Conference races drawing to a close. Where we’re at heading into that weird hybrid weekend of regular and postseason games: Kent State and Northern Illinois meet Friday night in Detroit for the MAC title game. Tulsa hosts Central Florida this Saturday for the C-USA championship. The Mountain West remains deadlocked in that wacky three-way tie between San Diego State, Fresno State and Boise State, with only the Broncos’ Saturday date with Nevada standing any chance of breaking it. The top two teams in the Sun Belt, Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee, play a final regular-season game Saturday that may as well be the conference title game. Utah State has clinched the WAC title outright with last week’s victory over Idaho. And Army and Navy will meet a week from Saturday for the right to hoist the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, with Air Force out of the race entirely for the first time since 2005.

• Bowltyme! Stewart Mandel’s latest postseason projections can be found here, along with a freshly-updated chart listing every accepted bowl invitation. Profiteroles playing this holiday season include Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl, Utah State in the Potato, San Diego State and BYU in the Poinsettia, Louisiana in the New Orleans, SMU in the Hawaii, Air Force in the Armed Forces and Navy in the Fight Hunger.

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What glories yet await Cory Dorris and the Golden Hurricane as Conference USA play continues? (AP)

Our weekly highlight show of lesser FBS luminaries. Non-AQs and independents, be welcome.

Tis the season for car commercials with big-ass bows and conference math. We attempted to explain, in bewildering detail, how the MAC races could shake out from here in our Wednesday night MACtion preview. We are here to inform you (with some glee, as we adore late-season chaos) that the MAC has far from the most convoluted conference race situation at the moment. Very quickly, the current states of the remaining non-AQ conference races, as teams not named Navy or BYU begin to prettify themselves for postseason suitors:

• Conference USA: Two teams with perfect 6-0 league play records top the two divisions: Central Florida in the East and Tulsa in the West. After Saturday, one squad’s record will bear some blemish when the two clash in Tulsa, but don’t expect that to affect the race. The Knights have only UAB to clear after that in the regular season, and hold a head-to-head advantage over East Carolina, the only other team in the division with fewer than three conference losses. Tulsa’s championship game aspirations could still be spoiled with a loss tonight and another at SMU November 24, assuming the Mustangs (4-2 in league play) beat Rice in the meantime.

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Florida State cheerleaders present the Noles’ and Hokies’ 2012 turnover margins in interpretive dance. (The girl at the top who is flying away represents the ball.) (AP)

• No. 8 Florida State 28, Virginia Tech 22. Things you need to know about Thursday night’s contest: EJ Manuel saved the game for the ‘Noles on a last-minute 39-yard touchdown connection to Rashad Greene. Virginia Tech linebacker Michael Cole has been diagnosed with a neck sprain after being taken off the field in an ambulance in the third quarter and was to be released from the hospital last night (and is already back on Twitter, if you’d like to send well wishes.) Also, this happened. For more on last night’s ACC clash, click these links:  [BOX | RECAP]

• Arkansas State 45, Louisiana-Monroe 23. Warhawks backup quarterback Cody Wells, starting in place of the injured Kolton Browning, managed to throw for 357 yards, but the Red Wolves are pretty adept at staying ahead on the scoreboard and the stat sheet. Ryan Aplin went 26-of-34 for 334 yards, and David Oku rushed 22 times for 131. Todd Berry spoke afterwards on how injuries to several key players, Browning among them, have affected the Warhawks late in the season:

“It’s been unfortunate, but that’s part of the game. I know one thing, about four weeks ago we were a lot better football team than we are right now. [...] Not to take away anything from [Arkansas State], but right now everybody looks pretty good against us.”

The Red Wolves remain atop the Sun Belt standings along with Middle Tennessee State, each carrying one conference loss. [BOX | RECAP ]

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Can Logan Thomas lead the boys of Blacksburg to bowl eligibility? (AP)

A full, uninterrupted week of glorious football continues with a Thursday night Sun Belt showdown and a cross-division ACC clash. We’re sure you have so many questions. 

Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas State

• What information do I, the discerning consumer, require in order to consume this game? The Warhawks and Red Wolves are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. ET. in Jonesboro’s Liberty Bank Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPNU and streamed on WatchESPN.

• What’s at stake here? A WHOLE LOT. Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe currently top the Sun Belt standings, sharing a 4-1 conference record and 6-3 overall record with Middle Tennessee State, which has already lost to the Warhawks and plays the Red Wolves to close out the regular season. A-State leads the series, 19-14, and has an 11-5 record when playing ULM at home.

• Who gets hired away to a more high-profile head coaching position first, Todd Berry or Gus Malzahn? You spelled “Ron Prince” wrong.

No. 8 Florida State at Virginia Tech

• What information do I, the discerning consumer, require in order to consume this game? The Seminoles and Hokies are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET. at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg. The game will be televised on ESPN and streamed on WatchESPN.

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Fresno State’s offense gets plenty of attention, but Phillip Thomas would have you know the Bulldogs are also ranked seventh nationally in pass efficiency defense. (Courtesy of Fresno State Athletics/Cary Edmondson)

Our weekly highlight show of lesser FBS luminaries. Non-AQs and independents, be welcome.

Profile in Ownage: Phillip Thomas, SS, Fresno State

It’s nine weeks into the first season of the Tim DeRuyter era at Fresno State, and if your thoughts turn to the Bulldogs, they probably turn to quarterback Derek Carr, the younger brother of David currently putting up more than 300 yards of offense a game, or Robbie “Mighty Mouse” Rouse, the diminutive back who scored four touchdowns in a quarter against Colorado. But as the season winds down, we’d suggest familiarizing yourselves with the body of work being assembled by senior strong safety Phillip Thomas. The Bakersfield, Calif., native has recorded an FBS-leading seven interceptions through two months of play, three of which he returned for touchdowns, and one fumble recovery. He’s also forced three fumbles, made seven tackles for loss and collected three sacks.

“This 3-4 defense that we run, we learned it from Dick LeBeau and the Steelers, and Phillip’s our Troy Polamalu,” DeRuyter told SI.com. “Where you’ve gotta have a guy who’s gonna be a difference-maker, you can blitz him, you can have him in pass coverage, you can have him as a run-force player, he can play man coverage and he can disguise everything? That guy, for us, is Phillip.”

Thomas is keying a major defensive turnaround. A team that ranked 116th nationally in turnover margin last season is up to 11th in 2012, thanks in large part to a player who spent most of his junior year watching from the sidelines on one good leg.

“I know we’ve had a reputation here offensively,” said DeRuyter. “When you’ve got players like Derek and Robbie, it’s deservedly so.

“What I think people don’t know is Phillip didn’t play a year ago.”

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CAUTION: DO NOT KICK TO THIS PLAYER. HE WILL RUIN YOU. (Scott W. Grau/Icon SMI)

Our weekly highlight show of lesser FBS luminaries. Non-AQs and independents, be welcome.

We lamented, last week, the loss of the best hope for a BCS-busting scenario in 2012, but please don’t think we’re writing off five conferences and the independents. This entire series is a labor of love, constructed to avoid precisely that notion. Louisiana Tech probably won’t make an appearance in the Orange Bowl, but the Bulldogs will be bowling somewhere. And after a week out of the national rankings, they’re right back in following their 70-28 obliteration of Idaho. All any team can ever do is beat every opponent placed in front of it, and should it stumble along the path to postseason glory, the absolute best thing a team can do is what LaTech is doing right now.

Tech clocks back in at No. 24 in the AP Poll, trailing Boise State at No. 21 and Ohio at No. 23 and ahead of Toledo, Tulsa and NIU stuck under the “also receiving votes” category. Ranked this week in the actual BCS standings: the Broncos at No. 21 and Bobcats at No. 24. This week marks the Bobcats’ first-ever appearance in the BCS standings.

First in votes also received, the Rockets really should’ve cracked the Top 25 this week, in our humble, unimportant opinion, after knocking off No. 21 Cincinnati. (If you missed it, this was one of the weirder games of the season, with Toledo recording a 29-23 victory without an offensive touchdown. Its scoring: A 75-yard interception return, a 91-yard kickoff return and five field goals.) Look for Toledo to make a for-real appearance in the polls next week if the Rockets can really pile it on at Buffalo this Saturday.

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