There is no such thing as a compelling photo of NCAA COI deliberations, so here is Sebastian in a vaguely menacing posture. (AP)

Assorted items of varying degrees of interest which you may have missed while grudgingly watching playoff football and sending surly tweets to the Golden Globes:

• The NCAA is Lucy, and Miami football is the football, and we are Charlie Brown running toward it, or something? This metaphor holds up only to demonstrate how very much we wish for this all to be over, but here we go: The Miami Herald is calling the release of NCAA allegations against the Hurricanes football program “imminent,” just short of the investigation’s two-year anniversary. Bylaw Blogger John Infante lays out all the ways this process could still be stalled, and how the Miami case might affect Oregon’s.

• Mike Stoops also a fan of Hi Haters Friday! Friday night, 6:06 p.m., Tulsa World‘s John E. Hoover posts a transcript excerpt of a Mike Stoops radio interview, specifically a question regarding Johnny Football: “They’re gonna be tough to deal with. If they can keep him out of jail or keep him eligible, he’s gonna be pretty good.” Friday night, 10:37 p.m., Tulsa World post headline: “Mike Stoops regrets controversial comments on Manziel.” Had Stoops’ defense possessed that kind of on-the-fly adaptability in the Cotton Bowl, perhaps Manziel would not have scored four touchdowns against it, PAAAOWL.

• Roster blotter. In better news for Miami: Seantrel Henderson, Brandon Linder and Curtis Porter announced Monday morning they all intend to return to the ‘Canes in 2013 … in even better news for Profiteroles fans, Dri Archer will stay on for his senior season at Kent State … Iowa State quarterback Jared “That Kid Who Beat Oklahoma State” Barnett and linebacker C.J. Morgan intend to transfer … Texas defensive tackle Brandon Moore will enter the draft … also declaring is USC corner Nickell Robey, whom we will dearly miss watching because of his too-perfect defensive name … Oregon linebacker Anthony Wallace will transfer … Case McCoy and Jordan Hicks have been reinstated at Texas … and Casey Pachall returns to the Horned Frogs.

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

Never imagined watching this Meineke Bowl would seem so delightful. Like watching football in HD for the 1st time.

— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) December 29, 2012

Pretty good time for ESPN to flip over to the Texas Tech/Minny game.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) December 29, 2012

We switch to the Meineke Car Care Bowl … and there’s a loooong TD on a kick return? Thank you!

— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) December 29, 2012

Going from Rutgers-VT to a kick return TD in the Car Care Bowl gave me the bends

— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) December 29, 2012

That was like watching Texas Tech run back Rutgers’ missed field goal. Smooth blends, Mr. DJ

— Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) December 29, 2012

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The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas boasts the finest belt buckle-themed logo in all of college football.

The 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas 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 Bill Trocchi’s game preview.)

• Wait, we just had our bowl game in Charlotte. Not that Meineke Car Care Bowl. The title sponsorship has been moved to Houston and plopped onto the Texas Bowl, even going so far as to incorporate that game’s belt buckle logo. Was this game ever a Tangerine Bowl? It was not! Are you sure? Not really!

• Where will this game be played? Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans.

• When is it on television? Nightcap game! Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, with Mark Jones, Brock Huard and Jessica Mendoza relaying the action. The game will also be streamed on WatchESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Big 12 versus Big Ten.

• What about this year? 7-5 Texas Tech versus 6-6 Minnesota. When was the last time Minnesota was in a bowl? Not as long ago as you might think, but this is the Gophers’ first appearance in a postseason contest that’s not the Insight Bowl since 2005. Minnesota played bowl games in Arizona in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Who’s coaching Texas Tech in the bowl game? Red Raiders offensive line coach Chris Thomsen is serving as interim head coach.

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And we’re back! Items of interest you may have missed whilst holidaying:

• Start ‘em early. The Palm Beach Post‘s Jason Lieser works to instill a proper reverence for prep work in our nation’s youth:

We made some flashcards to teach our 1-year-old about our upcoming trip to the Sugar Bowl. twitter.com/PBPjasonlieser…

— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) December 24, 2012

• Roster blotter. And now, a whole bunch of players who are being held out of bowl games for assorted reasons: Stanford’s Terrence Stephens (secondary NCAA violation), Oregon’s Nick Cody and Axel McQuaw (academics), Minnesota’s Andre McDonald (the ever-popular-and-mysterious Violation Of Team Rules), Texas Tech’s Cornelius Douglas, Chris Payne and Leon Mackey (VOTR), UCLA’s Tevin McDonald (VOTR), Syracuse’s Adonis Ameen-Moore and Max Beaulieu (VOTR) and Marquis Spruill and Steven Rene (partial suspensions only) … Illinois’ Akeem Spence has declared for the draft …  Duron Carter has dropped out of FAU … Cody Vaz will start at quarterback in the Alamo Bowl … Oklahoma’s Stacy McGee was arrested Monday.

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Really, John Junker’s compensation was quite reasonable when you take into account all those yellow blazers he had to wear. (AP)

• As our commenters will surely attest, we are in the wrong line of work. The Outback Bowl CEO made $400,000 in 2002 and more than $750,000 in 2010. If you weren’t sure that you’re doing your career wrong when former Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker’s spending habits were publicized, you’re really sure now. (Again: Can we get a bowl going? The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is listed here as a “second-tier bowl”; the Papajohns.com Bowl was a thing for multiple seasons. Scratching our way into some as-yet unimagined fifth tier of postseason action can’t be that hard. Gather up any Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee State players and coaches you can find and meet us on a municipal field in Florida to be named later.)

• Pine box? More like takeout box! Amirite? [crickets] So here’s this story about Tommy Tuberville literally and actually ditching Texas Tech recruits at a restaurant the night he accepted the Cincinnati job, and one of them got downright poetical about it: ”We still had a good time at night, but it was crazy how he just got up and left out of nowhere and left people in the dark and in the shadow.”

• Speaking of gobs and gobs of money. Brett “Sources” McMurphy on the playoff pie: “During the 12-year contract for college football’s new playoff format, the nation’s five power conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC) will earn an average of nearly $75 million more per year than the smaller leagues known as the ‘group of five.’”

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UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over USC. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from the Week 12 midday slate. For more, check out our early Snaps, our coverage of Stanford-Oregon, our look at the new BCS landscape and our complete Top 25 review.

• No. 17 UCLA 38, No. 21 USC 28. You heard a lot last week about the football monopoly in Los Angeles being over. No, again. No, for real this time. Well, you’ll hear even more about it this week, but only because it’s finally, demonstrably true. (We’re taking suggestions on which board-game related jokes to start making in its place from here on out. Balderdash? Sorry? Jenga?)

On a rainy afternoon in the Rose Bowl, the Bruins dashed out to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter, only to see the Trojans snatch momentum back by the start of the third, by which point Matt Barkley had thrown two touchdown passes and defensive tackle George Uko had scored a genuine Fat Guy Touchdown on a slip-and-slide fumble recovery. (Storied rivalry, historic venue, high conference stakes, home-and-home jerseys AND a FGTD: This game had it all, y’all.) A pair of traded touchdowns and a successful USC two-point conversion later, and the Trojans were trailing by three points with a little more than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

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Just going to repeat yesterday’s MACtion preview caption here: “Behold Jordan Lynch. Fear Jordan Lynch.” (AP)

• Northern Illinois 31, Toledo 24. We do so love what’s become an annual late-season scramble for division supremacy between the Huskies and Rockets, and last night’s contest did not disappoint. The Huskies, who have won 10 games for the third straight year, will represent the MAC West in Detroit for the third consecutive season, and will face either Kent State or Bowling Green once they get there. Quarterback Jordan Lynch threw for 407 yards (a career best) and rushed for 162 more. No, by himself. No, seriously. Lynch was sent here by the football gods to make sure we all properly appreciate MACtion for the weeknight blessing it is. Message received. [BOX | RECAP]

• Ball State 52, Ohio 27. The Bobcats trailed by four points heading into halftime and were nearly doubled up by the end of the game, thanks mostly to a 21-point fourth-quarter scoring barrage from the Cardinals. Ball State scored three touchdowns in less than nine minutes on a Horactio Banks run, a Kelly Page pass and a Jahwan Edwards run. Page replaced starter Keith Wenning, who left the game in the second quarter with an Achilles injury. Also, this happened. [BOX | RECAP]

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Assorted bests and worsts from college football’s weekend that was. 

• Best GameDay flag trek: Getting a Wazzu flag into a crowd shot at GameDay is a long and proud tradition in Pullman, but the Cougar faithful might have been forgiven had they not managed to get a bearer on the deck of the USS San Diego, right? Fear not:

By the way, the Wazzu flag made it on GameDay earlier today, even with it on a ship: twitpic.com/bc1vcq

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) November 11, 2012

• Worst accuracy: For a guy who coaches the nation’s top-ranked passing offense, Tommy Tuberville sure has bad aim. (Although he is a defensive guy. Perhaps that explains this offensive miscue?)

• Most useful SEC team: Everybody has a purpose in this vast universe of ours, and though there hasn’t been much to celebrate in terms of Auburn football this season, the Tigers are serving a crucial purpose: punching conference opponents’ tickets to Atlanta!

So both SEC divisions will be clinched against Auburn. (UGA today, Bama in 2 weeks).

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 11, 2012

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Jerome Smith ran for 144 yards, including a 35-yard third-quarter touchdown, in Syracuse’s win over Louisville. (AP)

Snap Judgments from the Week 11 early slate. For more, check out midday Snaps, late Snaps, our recaps of Texas A&M-Alabama, Kansas State-TCU and our complete Top 25 review.

• Syracuse 45, No. 11 Louisville 26. The number of undefeated teams in FBS play dropped from six to five following today’s first flight of games, with the Big East becoming the latest conference to lose its last unbeaten program. The Cardinals fell behind less than three minutes into the game, on a 20-yard ‘Cuse field goal, and would tie the score twice in the first quarter, but they never held a lead over the unranked Orange. Three Syracuse touchdowns in the second quarter gave the underdogs a comfortable cushion that they wouldn’t surrender.

Syracuse’s Ryan Nassib threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 completions. He was balanced on the ground by a 144-yard, one-touchdown rushing performance from Jerome Smith and a 99-yard, two-score effort from Prince-Tyson Gulley. Alec Lemon was by far the favored target of the afternoon, as he finished with nine receptions for 176 yards and two touchdowns. For the Cardinals, Teddy Bridgewater accounted for 422 passing yards and 17 rushing yards all by his lonesome. Louisville’s total net offensive output was 472 yards.

Spinning this forward: The Cardinals now trail Rutgers in the Big East title race; the Scarlet Knights are 4-0 in league play with Cincinnati, Pitt and Louisville left on the schedule. Syracuse can clinch bowl eligibility with a win in either of its final two games, at Missouri or at Temple. [BOX | RECAP]

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Everybody who wants to see the national championship trophy filled with marzipan, thumbs up! (AP)

Saturday games of varying degrees of interest, grouped in highly subjective categories. For more in-depth preview content, visit Andy Staples’ Walkthrough.

• Biggest game we feel like we couldn’t predict if our lives depended on it: No. 3 Kansas State at TCU, 7:00 p.m. ET. We’re still harboring a dream that seemed far-fetched just a few short weeks ago, a dream inspired by Tom Fornelli suggesting that if Bill Snyder takes home the crystal football this year, he’ll break it in half and make two hard candy dishes. The ‘Cats, at 9-0, are one of six undefeated teams remaining in FBS play. No gimme games remain, but then again, they haven’t played a gimme game since Oct. 6 against Kansas. In their past three outings, they’ve beaten three ranked opponents by a combined score of 154-68.

The Horned Frogs, no slouches on defense, will pose a greater threat to K-State’s undefeated season if the Wildcats take the field without starting quarterback Collin Klein. The Heisman frontrunner’s status for Saturday has been carefully guarded almost since the moment of his injury during last week’s game against Oklahoma State. It’s entirely possible we could see this contest played out without either team fielding the quarterbacks that topped the depth charts at the year’s outset. Only one thing is for certain: This will be the purplest football contest of the regular season.

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