Coaches' poll, replay, Paterno continue to mystify

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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.Southern Cal leapfrogging Texas Tech and Oklahoma in the USA Today Coaches poll is a flat-out sham.The Trojans' turnover and penalty-plagued performance against Arizona State was anything but impressive. Sure, they won 28-0 despite five turnovers, but they were playing at home against the 2-4 Sun Devils. Their victory definitely didn't warrant a five-spot poll vault to No. 4.Meantime, Oklahoma (5-1) falls five spots after suffering a 45-35 loss to the now No. 1-ranked Texas, and the Sooners have to look up at the 4-1 Trojans? Remember, USC lost to unranked Oregon State (3-3), 27-21, just a couple weeks prior.And what about Texas Tech, Florida and even Oklahoma State?The coaches rank them Nos. 5, 7 and 10 respectively, and all three ought to be ranked above Southern Cal.Granted, the Red Raiders struggled with Nebraska before prevailing 37-31 in overtime, but they're 6-0. So are the Cowboys, who just beat No. 3 Missouri, 28-23, in Columbia.The Gators are coming off a 51-21 victory over then No. 4 LSU, and they're ranked three spots below the Trojans in the coaches' poll. Florida's only setback was a one-point loss at home to Ole Miss.It makes absolutely no sense to rank a once-beaten USC above any of the aforementioned, unless you're so infatuated with the Trojans, it clouds your judgment.Fortunately, sportswriters who vote in the Associated Press poll are more rational, ranking USC sixth, behind No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Florida, but still above No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 8 Oklahoma State.Unfortunately, the AP poll is no longer factored into the BCS formula that determines the national championship matchup, but the coaches' poll still is.As for those continuing replay controversies, its mind boggling that what should take seconds to get right can take minutes... to get wrong.By the strictest of rule interpretations, the ACC replay official that overturned a pass completion call with 2:02 remaining in the North Carolina-Notre Dame game was probably correct.Doug Rhoads, the ACC coordinator of football officials, pointed out that although Brooks Foster caught that 29-yard pass from Cameron Sexton, he failed to maintain possession of the ball when his elbow hit the ground. In Rhoads' eyes, the ball popped loose immediately when Foster hit the turf and, therefore, the pass was ruled incomplete on replay review.Even though a play is dead when a player's elbow or knee hits the ground, in the college ranks, there's no such thing as "the ground cannot cause a fumble." There ought to be. Foster made an excellent grab, took a couple steps and had clear possession of the ball when he hit the ground.Whether the ball then "immediately" came loose is open to debate. Regardless, he should have been rewarded a catch.Some 99 percent of savvy football fans wouldn't see the video replays any other way. The other one percent are either NCAA officials in the know rules-wise or Notre Dame fans blinded by their loyalty.The replay official may have gotten it right technically, but the call was all-wrong. Which is why the rule needs to be reviewed and changed.It's getting borderline ridiculous when it comes to judging receptions. Make the catch, dance on your head with the ball between your legs, without losing possession ... and it's good.No doubt Paterno can relate. Still under the media microscope, after 43 years as Penn State's head coach. Dissected by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" before the season began, for players' off-field discretions. A knee injury that ended All-American linebacker Sean Lee's season before it began. Two top-flight defensive tackles -- Phillip Taylor and Chris Baker -- kicked off the team.And, through all the adversity, the legendary coach still manages to dance on his head with the ball between his legs, without fumbling.Penn State is No. 3, a legitimate national title contender. Of course there's a lot of football left.But if the Nittany Lions manage to run the table, which would mean beating Ohio State Oct. 25 in Columbus -- something they haven't done since joining the Big 10 in 1993 -- and a victory over Michigan State Nov. 22... Guaranteed, ESPN's Mark May (of Pitt stardom) will not be happy with the verdict.On a footnote, Tommy Bowden's mid-season firing at Clemson was anything but mystifying. He won some big games in his 10 years at Clemson but lost too many the Tigers were expected to win.(Contact John Tucker at jtucker@unionleader.com) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)