• That's landing on your feet. If you want some indication of how good Barry Switzer's Oklahoma teams were in the seventies and eighties, look no further than Tom Osborne's reaction to the prospect of an Orange Bowl rematch after Nebraska upset the top-ranked Sooners in 1978:

The Oklahoma media has been on this most of the week, but today officially marks 20 years since Switzer was forced out after overseeing two rounds of NCAA probation and probably the most notorious lawless streak in football history. But Switzer was great because he was never a crusty disciplinarian, and remains the Doc's favorite old coach in large part because, well, because he's not Johnny Majors. Switzer kept his sense of humor (and his weapons) and, as the Oklahoman emphasizes today, still came out on top:

Switzer became a bestselling author, won a Super Bowl, got remarried, joined the Screen Actors Guild, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and served as a football television analyst alongside the man he replaced with the Dallas Cowboys.

Not only did Switzer coach the Cowboys to victory in Super Bowl XXX, he also coached in various movies, among them "Any Given Sunday," "Varsity Blues" and "Possums." He appeared in television shows such as "Coach" and "Saving Grace," and still laughs at being named the new Notre Dame coach in an episode of "Arli$$."

If he somehow sees fit to upload that "Arli$$" clip to YouTube, he'll have our undying affection. Ah, he already does.

Speaking of anniversaries: The San Diego Union-Tribune catches up with one of the stars of 1999, Akili Smith, and Iowa remembers one of the greatest fundraisers ever thrown.

• I did not know that. Via Blutarsky, the National Championship Issue breaks down the very closed circuit at the top of the polls:

Did you know that nearly 75% of the first-place votes cast during the BCS era have been for one of only 5 teams? Of the 12,418 AP votes and 11,213 Coaches votes:

USC (2,247 AP / 2,163 Coaches) has received 19% of them,
Ohio State (1,922 AP / 1,856 Coaches) has received 16% of them,
Oklahoma (1,900 AP / 1,728 Coaches) has received 15% of them,
Miami (FL) (1,881 AP / 1,674 Coaches) has received 15% of them, and
Florida State (1,247 AP / 954 Coaches) has received 9% of them.

28 teams (3,221 AP / 2,837 Coaches) have combined for the remaining 25% of the first-place votes.

Other than Notre Dame, those five teams also receive roughly equivalent shares as the "most hated team," judging from the usual comments on posts involving any of them in any way. Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

• Passing the rumor crown. More evidence that the Doc's favorite current coach, Pete Carroll, is having more fun than you every second of every day:

I don't know if Jim Harbaugh has ever rolled with politicians, but it does sound like the Stanford boss is becoming the next Carroll in one sense: Non-stop rumors about a jump to the NFL, even if nothing ever comes from them:

Another interesting response came when Harbaugh was asked about his potential future as an NFL head coach. While one would expect Harbaugh to say he will stay at Stanford forever, I was surprised by the way he denied his ability to coach in the NFL. "I consider myself a collegiate coach." He followed that up later with "I think I am a college guy." It will be interesting to see as Harbaugh will certainly get offers at the end of this year should Stanford continue to improve.

As much as they're expecting from hyped new quarterback Andrew Luck after a dynamite spring, "continued improvement" should be a the bare minimum there.

Quickly ... Ex-Georgia running back Verron Haynes, immortalized in the "Hobnail Boot" win over Tennessee in 2001, was charged with passing bad checks. ... Those lawless Gators self-reported a pair of secondary recruiting violations over the last year, but they're still selling tickets. ... Alabama commits to some minor facility upgrades. ... Five-star cornerback signee Dre Kirkpatrick might actually make it to Alabama. ... Tim Brewster defends his record, and is very sweaty. ... An NFL team actually signed Todd Boeckman. ... Counting down Texas' best pep talks. ... Some smaller conferences are scrapping media days. ... Former Oregon defensive lineman Tonio Celotto has signed with Nevada, the third ex-Duck to land with another school this week. ... I can't believe Washington needs these defensive backs. ... I have no doubt Bobby Bowden will try this before he retires. ... And Michigan is coming off the worst season in the state worst hit by the worst economy in generations, and still comes out soaked in black ink.