By JOHN TUCKER, New Hampshire Union-Leader
Tucker: BCS race handicappers missed four long shots
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.
Tucker: Red River Shootout still has high stakes
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.
Coaches' poll, replay, Paterno continue to mystify
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.

