But honestly, the post in Gainesville has become one of the most thankless head coaching spots in college football, certainly rivaling that at Michigan, USC and UCLA. Urban Meyer might still be there, were it not for an overly expectant and demanding alumni / fan base, which is college sports' equivalent of a Cuisinart.

I was watching the USC-UCLA game last night, and at halftime the pundits were blathering on about whether USC should retain the services of interim coach Ed Orgeron, who in my opinion has done an outstanding job under difficult circumstances this season, on a permanent basis. One commented that Trojan Nation doesn't have to settle for anything less than the very best, which is an arrogant statement just on its face.

He obviously doesn't know USC football history, because none of the three most successful coaches there -- John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carroll -- were actually the administration's first choice. Each got the job only because the first and in two instances even the second choice turned USC down. In my estimation, the Trojans should offer Orgeron the job, and not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Yes, Duke will be a 3-TD underdog in Charlotte, and yes, they suffered two ugly conference losses earlier in the season to Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech. But they've since rebounded and have won eight straight -- including against 9-3 Miami and 8-4 Virginia Tech, in crunch time when it counted -- and that by virtue of accomplishment doesn't consign the Blue Devils to mediocre status.

I've already said that I expect Florida State to be the prohibitive favorite and to take care of business, given what's at stake for them. I don't know how you guys are making these sorts of ex post facto rationalizations prior to kickoff, but woe to FSU if the Seminole coaches and players approach next Saturday's ACC championship with the same attitude of foregone conclusion, because each game offers its own unique and particular set of circumstances, and pride always goeth before the fall.

Point differentials with common opponents might provide you some indication of what might happen, but possible indicators shouldn't be mistaken for actual insight. Quite often in real-time game situations, such statistics will eventually prove to have been completely meaningless.

Rest assured that Duke will show up this week in Charlotte with nothing to lose and everything to prove. And that's exactly the sort of team that can give otherwise great teams all sorts of fits and spring a big upset. If the opponent is overconfident, the game's intangibles can come into play and offer the sort of nightmarish scenarios about which most all good coaches of good teams will always warn and caution their players. (See Boise State v. Oklahoma, 2007 and Utah v. Alabama, 2009.)

If the Florida State Seminoles think otherwise, they could quickly find themselves with their hands full. And since they've yet to really be challenged this season, the jury's out as to how they'd respond accordingly, should they somehow find themselves in an unexpectedly close contest with a team they didn't take all that seriously in the first place. The Blue Devils, OTOH, ultimately prevailed in a number of close games this year, and suffice to say that good teams will find a way to win those.

How do you know that the formerly No. 6 Hurricanes weren't overrated in the first place, and were mistakenly granted exalted status by a star-struck and babbling sports media when they were merely a good and decent team, and clearly not a great one?

Yes, things could get ugly Saturday. But given that the combined record of FSU's last four opponents was 15-32, you best hope that the Seminoles take a 10-win Duke team much more seriously than you apparently do and show up to take care of business, so that it doesn't turn into the sort of ugly you weren't expecting.