news-record.com

Look at this week's Associated Press college football poll. Now slap yourself -- gently -- to make sure you're not sleepwalking.

We're not ready for this as a sporting culture, but it's not just the casual observer who is disoriented. Some of these schools can't grasp it yet.

The Golden Bears of the University of California are ranked third in the land. Astrophysics? Absolutely. Football? Far out, dude.

We're talking about one of the most politically active campuses in the country. When you think Berkeley, you think protest. Angst. Contempt toward The Establishment.

What are they going to protest now? That their quarterback, Nate Longshore, sounds like he should belong to a union but can't join because he's only an amateur?

The Bears haven't been this high -- in the polls, that is -- since 1952. They were No. 1 in 1951, but promptly lost to Southern California. They went through eight straight seasons without a winning record, capping the string with an 0-11 year in 1999 and a 1-10 finish in 2001.

The Bears got to their current state by winning at Oregon on Saturday in front of the ESPN Gameday crew. They've got USC at home, but will have to survive consecutive road games with UCLA and Arizona State first.

Standing in the sixth spot, we welcome the Bulls of the University of South Florida, where the news of football greatness may not be such a big deal. As of Sunday night, the USF Web page said the school was a member of "The Big East Athletic Conference." Guess this means North Carolina, which USF flogged 37-10 on Sept. 22, is in the Atlantic Coast Athletic Conference.

Only 13 percent of the student body lives on campus, which means some folks may need to be cajoled into excitement. Then again, at more than 47,000 students, USF does have the ninth-largest enrollment of any school in the country.

This national football relevance gives the school a great opportunity to tell the world that its name is entirely misleading. USF isn't in South Florida. Its main campus is in Tampa. That's like saying UNCG is in Charleston -- either West Virginia or South Carolina.

Take nothing from the Bulls, whose football program didn't even exist a dozen years ago. Coach Jim Leavitt, who has built the program from nothing -- OK, they had trailers from which to conduct business -- finally is going to receive some acclaim. But their win over West Virginia on Friday night didn't really help the "Big East Athletic Conference." It eliminated a team that had a legitimate national title shot and plugged in one that human voters won't really buy. As soon as the BCS computers are told the Bulls played a Division I-AA team -- it just happened to be a solid club from Elon -- they'll call bull and start blaring air-raid sirens of warning.

The standard-bearers of ACC football are none other than the seventh-ranked Boston College Eagles, whose climb to the top 10 will be somewhat eclipsed by a couple of other stories in Boston. Seems the Red Sox and the Patriots are still good. (BC has a problem that USF doesn't. Tampa Bay media aren't exactly encumbered with Devil Rays news these days.)

The Eagles' other issue is one of scheduling. They're working on a three-game homestand in which they've beaten Army and Massachusetts and are getting ready for an always compelling matchup with Bowling Green.

Nonetheless, this is good for the ACC. The league has no shot at a championship-game participant and needs to bask in whatever BC can give it. The Boston College program didn't need to issue a formal ban on handgun ownership to its players. None of its alumni has recently pleaded guilty to running an interstate gambling ring, lied to the NFL commissioner, declared to have found Jesus and then hit the happy zone in a court-administered drug test.

No matter what you think of ACC expansion, the Eagles' presence is a positive.

Kentucky is eighth in this week's poll, and the Wildcats haven't even conducted Midnight Madness yet. In fact, football might actually be the big deal on campus when that first hoops practice convenes. On Saturday, Oct. 13, only hours after breathless masses have fawned over a meaningless public workout, the Wildcat football squad plays host to LSU, which just moved to No. 1.

By this point in the calendar, Lexington has mentally moved on. (Although it is important to note that the Wildcats have routinely drawn well in football anyway.) Now distractions will mount.

Who do they think they are? Florida?

Oh, yeah. The Gators. They lost to Auburn on Saturday. They're ninth. Ancient history.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rdaniels @news-record.com