P.J. Fleck, we mean this in the most brahsome way possible: We think we love you. (AP)

By Holly Anderson

Do you have a favorite MAC team, gentle readers? If not, why not? They’re immense fun, and having a tertiary weeknight rooting interest makes fantastic Saturday conditioning for one’s liver and spleen.

For the unaffiliated, might we suggest Western Michigan? This offseason alone, they’ve:

• Hired a guy named “P.J. Fleck,” who is approximately 19 years old and has this hair. Think of this as the Kliff Kingsbury hire of the mid-majors.

• Sent Fleck and his wife, a new mother, into a freezing lake in the snow.

• Sent out this press release.

• Hired a DJ for their spring game? Hired a DJ for their spring game!

Also new to the game this year will be a live DJ playing throughout the scrimmage, giving fans a look into what they can expect once the season kicks off in 2013.

MESSAGE RECEIVED.

Go Broncos, is our point.

DeWayne Walker set the coaching carousel spinning once more with his late departure from New Mexico State. (AP)

Tommy Tuberville’s sitting by the phone* and Jimmy Sexton’s got that particular sparkle in his eye. It can mean only one thing: The coach firin’ season is upon us once more. We’ll be tracking the carousel of progress, right here, for as long as it takes to stop spinning. Raise a glass to times past, won’t you? * Well, not anymore, but never tell us we don’t have the gift of very specific prophecy through throwaway jokes.

New Mexico State [updated 02.01.2013]

• Who’s out: DeWayne Walker, who jumps to the NFL with less than two weeks remaining between now and Signing Day. And not even for a coordinating gig: Walker will coach defensive backs for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Walker released the following statement through the athletic department: “I really appreciate the opportunity that Dr. Boston and New Mexico State gave me to be a Division I head football coach. Unfortunately, I did not get the program as far as I would have liked from a wins and losses standpoint. But, we do have a better locker room, better kids and a better foundation for the program moving forward. There are a lot of people that I want to thank for their support and will be reaching out to those individuals in the coming days. They have helped me in moving the program forward. I am excited about starting a new chapter in my coaching career, as is my family. I wish New Mexico State great success in the future and wish everyone the best. Go Aggies!” • Who’s in: Doug Martin — the one who played at Kentucky, not the one who played at Boise State. Although if Martin The Younger is really so opposed to his excellent nickname, we’re gonna refer to Martin The Elder as coach Muscle Hamster instead. It’s been a whirlwind courtship for Martin and the Aggies: He was announced as offensive coordinator on January 17, temporarily promoted to interim head coach on January 24 and will be officially announced as DeWayne Walker’s successor on Monday, February 4. Martin’s previous head coaching experience consists of a seven-year stint at Kent State, from 2004-2010. Read More…

Monteé Ball’s last name is also a football word, which should save us all some headline writing time once he finally breaks this record. (AP)

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

• Biggest game with nothing riding on it: No. 6 Ohio State at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m. ET. The Badgers already know they’re headed to Indianapolis, as the only other teams with fewer than three conference losses in the Leaders Division (the Buckeyes and Penn State) are ineligible for postseason play. But a win here would be the biggest [screw]-you moment for Urban Meyer since the 2008 Florida-Georgia game. And if you think Urban Meyer doesn’t live for [screw]-you moments, please see the 2008 Florida-Georgia game.

What is actually at stake: The NCAA all-time career touchdowns record, currently sitting at 78 and held by former Miami RedHawk Travis Prentice. Monteé Ball is one score away from tying and two away from breaking this record, and he has a chance to do both at home. He recorded 198 rushing yards and three scores last week against Indiana; if Ball does break the record, expect to hear the hollering in Madison as far away as Kentucky, and expect little bits of glitter to spew from this page. (Please protect your eyes accordingly.)

• Biggest game we feel like we couldn’t predict if our lives depended on it: No. 21 USC at No. 17 UCLA, 3:05 p.m. We have well established at this point in the season that even when relying on math and the best available logic, picking games is tricky work. It’s much more fun, and equally ineffective, to rely on factors like spite and cussedness and probably-imaginary-but-maybe-not-surefire jinxes to decide, particularly in rivalry matchups, which is why this weekend’s clash in the Rose Bowl scares the hell out of us. Some factors to consider: Whose coach to dislike (or grudgingly admire) more? Is it cosmically dangerous to even bring up that “football monopoly” talk at this point? Can we straight-up call this game for USC because keeping an opposing team’s costumed representative from poking one’s field with a sword is the furthest possible thing from a power move imaginable?

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• Baby Mangino, you had a hell of a run. You achieved internet glory and are surely a robust and take-no-prisoners schoolchild by now. We wish you all the best, and must now pass your mantle to another:

Best Halloween costume ever #ThrowbackThursday #kstate twitpic.com/b59y5x

— D. Scott Fritchen (@DScottFritchen) October 18, 2012

• No. 2 Oregon 43, Arizona State 21. Stewart Mandel took in last night’s carnage in Tempe:

For exactly three plays Thursday, No. 2 Oregon looked mortal. On second down of the Ducks’ first possession, the quarterback fumbled. One play later, Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly threw a 28-yard touchdown.

“I don’t know if there can be a worst start,” said Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. “And then we decided that maybe, possibly we wanted to play today.”

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Central Michigan scored a win for the MAC by knocking off Iowa in the final seconds. (Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

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

This will mark our fifth season tracking the record of non-AQ programs against teams from power conferences, for no other reason than liking to watch where the numbers go. We’re not sure we’ve ever seen a weekend produce a winning record for a mid-major league that involved more than one or two games. But glory be to the MAC, which played seven games against BCS-favored opponents, and won four. (Yes, we’re even including Northern Illinois’ win over Kansas, even though Kansas is Kansas. COUNT IT.)

MAC teams beat one Big Ten team, two Big East teams and one Big 12 team. Directional Michigan schools had a particularly grand weekend, with Central Michigan knocking off Iowa and Western Michigan laying out UConn. Eastern Michigan also acquitted itself admirably, putting up a dogged fight against Michigan State.

The fifth big winner of Week 4 was the gaudiest: Louisiana Tech, a team with qualities we have been relentlessly touting since last December or so, mowed down Illinois on the road, 52-24. The Bulldogs currently field the nation’s third-ranked scoring offense and have two more high-profile nonconference matchups in the next three weeks: at Virginia and home against Texas A&M. Stay tuned; they’re our favorites behind Ohio to finish the 2012 regular season undefeated.

Speaking of the Bobcats: They’re through their nonconference gauntlet after a Week 4 win over Norfolk State and received 40 votes in this week’s AP Poll. The only other non-AQ teams on that list are Boise State at No. 24 and Louisiana Tech, which received seven votes.

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Jason Wilson and Central Michigan flattened Keenan Davis and Iowa with a last-minute upset win. (Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from the Week 4 early slate. For more coverage, check out our midday Snaps, late Snaps and complete Top 25 review. Also check out our coverage of Florida State-Clemson, Kansas State-Oklahoma and Notre Dame-Michigan.

• Central Michigan 32, Iowa 31: College football’s governing trickster gods are cruel and capricious, and let us never, ever forget it. The same afternoon that saw an Iowa running back deliver a standout performance without suffering the latest in a staggering series of tailback injuries also saw the Hawkeyes defeated by a directional Michigan team –and not a particularly well-regarded directional Michigan team.

Running back Mark Weisman’s 27-carry, 217-yard, three-touchdown outing was overshadowed by the triumph of a Chippewas squad that’s seen little in the way of glory since the departure of quarterback Dan LeFevour. Weisman nearly doubled up Central Michigan’s entire team rushing-wise, but Chippewas quarterback Ryan Radcliff made up for it with an aerial attack that covered 283 yards and two touchdowns.

Radcliff wasn’t the highest-scoring Chippewa, though. That would be kicker David Harman, who made up for weeks of special-teams shame directed at kickers nationwide by hitting a career-long 47-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to clinch the win. And how did Harman find himself in position to hit the game-winner? The final 45 seconds of the game saw the Chippewas fail on a two-point conversion; fail to recover an on-side kick, then recover the on-side after a delay-of-game penalty gave them a second shot; continue to advance on a 15-yard Iowa personal foul penalty; and score nine total points to pull the upset. [RECAP | BOX]

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It wouldn't be the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl without a commemorative football adorned with this logo.

The 2011 Little Caesars Bowl is just a day away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Matt Dollinger’s game preview.)

• Where will this game be played? Ford Field, Detroit, home of the Detroit Lions and host of the MAC Championship Game.

• When is it on television? Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 27. The game will be televised on ESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Current tie-ins match up the Big Ten and MAC, with an optional Sun Belt alternate.

• What about this year? Purdue and Western Michigan will gamely attempt to make some noise in a largely empty domed structure.

• Didn’t Purdue beat Ohio State? What on earth is it doing in this game? The Boilermakers also lost to Rice and finished 6-6.

• Might this be a game, then? It might! Western Michigan was very much in the thick of a highly competitive MAC this season, and fields the nation’s eighth-ranked passing offense. The Broncos do not care to play any sort of defense, which will perhaps bewilder an opponent used to Big Ten play.

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Tyler Tettleton and MAC East champion Ohio survived Bowling Green 29-28 on a 23-yard field goal as time expired. (ZUMAPRESS.com)

• Ohio 29, Bowling Green 28: Your 2011 MAC East champions didn’t put on quite as dramatic a performance as we’ve seen from certain other recent weeknight conference games, but there was suspense to be had, in the form of a game-winning field goal with three seconds remaining on the clock. 23 yards! Caliente! [RECAP | BOX]

• Western Michigan 24, Miami (Ohio) 21: You like passing? Zac Dysert and Alex Carder combined for 842 aerial yards. [RECAP | BOX]

• Fresh coaches, bought and sold: It’s been an alarming 24 hours for coaching news. The universe continues to contrive to create job openings in order to keep Houston Nutt in the SEC, with Texas A&M on a three-game losing streak and now Gary Pinkel’s DWI arrest. And New Mexico has gone and hired Bob Davie, for which we should all be grateful, as it will greatly reduce the time we have to listen to him speak on television.

• Penn State things: SI’s special report on the Jerry Sandusky case, from the latest issue of the magazine, is now available online. A new judge has been assigned following some glaring conflict of interest concerns. Police are contradicting claims made by Mike McQueary. Nobody seems to think the university’s open-records law exemption is a good idea. And read with amazement how the internet played an instigating role in the investigation.

Read More…

Joe Paterno has decided to retire at the end of his 46th season as Penn State coach. (AP)

• Exit –> exeunt: A brief timeline of events since we last addressed the Jerry Sandusky case and the rapidly unspooling state of affairs at Penn State: A report from Philadelphia’s FOX station says the number of Sandusky victims has “more than doubled” since the release of the grand jury report. The university board met Tuesday night and will launch an investigation of its own, saying in a statement, “We promise you that we are committed to restoring public trust in the University.” Students first rallied at the home of Joe Paterno, then marched to the school administration offices in support of the coach.

Then, about mid-morning on Wednesday, Paterno announced he will retire at the end of the season. It remains to be seen, however, whether he’ll be permitted to stick around that long. Paterno has released a statement of his own, which reads, in part: “This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

• Toledo 66, Western Michigan 63: The Rockets broke even in Tuesday night MACtion, with 126 points surrendered over the past two games and 126 scored. Behold the gaudy stats: Seven touchdown passes for Western Michigan’s Alex Carder. Just 71 yards for the Broncos’ leading rusher, Tevin Drake, and 238 yards for their leading receiver, Jordan White. Also: 216 rushing yards for Toledo star Adonis Thomas and five Rockets with at least 50 receiving yards; 804 yards of offense for Toledo; 38 points combined in the fourth quarter alone. And just to keep things interesting, 10 (TEN) turnovers. [RECAP | BOX]

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Chandler Harnish led NIU to a 63-60 win over Toledo last Tuesday; the Huskies and Rockets face more MACtion tonight. (US PRESSWIRE)

• Northern Illinois @ Bowling Green, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2: NIU sits atop the MAC West this week with just one conference loss to its name (that weird Central Michigan shootout in Week 5) and a head-to-head advantage over Toledo. The Huskies are riding a four-game win streak in which they won the first two games (Kent State and Western Michigan) by a combined margin of 59 points and the last two (Buffalo and Toledo) by a combined margin of four. While NIU’s defense is nothing to crow about, hipster MAC Heisman poster boy Chandler Harnish will have to be stopped. It really is that simple. He’s the team’s leading rusher, can throw when he needs to, and the Huskies score A Lot. Bowling Green contained Temple and Toledo to an extent, but just lost to Kent State. With their rush-averse offense, the Falcons will have trouble slowing down the game tempo enough to keep Harnish off the field for long stretches of time. Oh, and their defense is also quite bad against the run. They’re a top-five punting outfit, however, so just hang onto that.

• Western Michigan @ Toledo, 8:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU: The Rockets won and broke hearts last week with their 63-60 loss to the aforementioned Huskies. Safe to say they’ll be gunning for a feel-good win against a Broncos team that was considered the class of the directional Michigans after beating UConn and playing then-No. 24 Illinois to within a field goal, only to lose to Eastern two weeks ago in a 14-10 slog. Or will the Rockets still be reeling? They can’t sleepwalk against Western, which has bowl eligibility in its sights and could drag Toledo down into the scrum of two-loss MAC West teams with a win. On paper, however, the Broncos 97th-ranked defense seems to give quarterbacks Austin Dantin and Terrance Owens and receivers Eric Page and Adonis Thomas the high-scoring edge.