By JOHN TUCKER, New Hampshire Union-Leader

Just imagine if college football boosters and fans had the "patience of Job."

Maybe the fast-turning coaching carousel of the past 10 years wouldn't have come to a screeching halt, but it definitely would have slowed.

Certainly enough for Bobby Bowden to have shared in the sideline glory of Florida State's 45-17 victory over Miami last weekend.

Nearing the quarter poll of the BCS title chase, college football handicappers must be poring over their preseason power ratings trying to figure out what they missed.

Sure the three favorites -- Florida, Texas and Alabama -- are leading the pack. But four teams making a move on the outside -- Iowa, Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State -- weren't even supposed to be contenders.

Oklahoma's day of reckoning wasn't supposed to arrive until Jan. 7 in Pasadena. The Rose Bowl. Another shot at the national championship. A chance for redemption. Such driving forces, Oklahoma would not, could not, be denied.

Parity-driven upsets, poll shakeups and weekly Top 10 turnover are no longer puzzling. They are the norm in college football these days.But continuing to mystify the Unbalanced Line are the coaches' crazy love affair with USC, replay reversals that drive you nuts and Penn State's 81-year-old coach, Joe Paterno.