• "Yes, we know what 'Classic' means. Why do people keep asking that?" The Cotton Bowl, newly renovated with millions in taxpayer dollars and desperate to remain relevant after losing the actual Cotton Bowl game this yera to the glittering new Jerry Dome across town, will climb back in the postseason saddle next year with something called the Dallas Football Classic, which tentatively plans to pit a team from the bottom half of the Big Ten with a Conference USA also-ran on New Year's Day. If the exodus of half of the most high-profile games (including the Cotton Bowl, now a Jan. 2 affair) and the further dilution of the second-rung games hasn't killed Jan. 1 as the most hallowed date on the gridiron calendar, no doubt the prospect of a Minnesota-UTEP showdown will do the trick. NCAA approval is pending but sounds like a formality.

The other pressing issue, of course, is the ballooning specter of bowl glut -- with the new game in Yankee Stadium coming into play after the 2010 season, as well, the total number of bowls comes to a whopping 36, double the number that existed a decade ago, and enough to accommodate every single bowl-eligible team in the country last year, down to the most middling 6-6 scrubs the WAC and Sun Belt have to offer. Obviously, this can't go on, and Dallas Football Classic honcho Tom Starr suggested Tuesday that a recession in the bubble is imminent:

As many as five existing bowls could face trouble receiving approval, Starr said. He did not name them.
[...]
Because of TV and conference agreements, if Dallas missed this window, it would have to wait another four years before proposing a new bowl, Starr said. And there is a chance the NCAA will put a moratorium on new bowls.

In the name of god, NCAA, do your duty. And if you began by denying the Dallas Football Classic, I don't think anyone would mind except Tom Star.

• Floyd on the mend. It could really use him this week, but if Notre Dame can get dominant deep threat Michael Floyd back at any point from the broken collarbone that was expected to end his regular season, it will take it, and it sounds like that day could come much sooner than later"

Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd is healing faster than expected from a broken left collarbone and could be ready to play by Nov. 7 when the Fighting Irish play Navy.

Floyd was in full pads at practice Tuesday but was taking part only on a limited basis.
[...]
Floyd is scheduled to undergo a CAT scan the first week of November. "Based off the results of that CAT scan they’ll determine if and when we can get him back," [ND head coach Charlie] Weis said.

Floyd's return could be worth a lot: He was averaging 160 yards per game and looking nigh-uncoverable when he went down against Michigan State, and even if the Irish lose their season-defining date with USC Saturday, Floyd's presence during a tough November stretch against Pittsburgh, UConn and Stanford could be the difference in earning a BCS bid at 10-2 or falling down to the likes of the Sun Bowl.

There could be another rapid recovery on the other sideline Saturday: USC running back Stafon Johnson, victim of a ghastly weightlifting accident that crushed his throat and voice box two weeks ago, may be leaving the hospital today. A medical redshirt remains a possibility, but not as strong of one as the NFL if Johnson recovers in time to go through the pre-draft workout routine.

• “I was not hungry, so I did not eat." In other "star receiver looking for a comeback" news, suspended Oklahoma State All-American Dez Bryant told the NCAA Tuesday that he's very, very sorry for lying to them about his relationship with Deion Sanders, and can he have his season back, please?

"It was all me, there is no one else to blame," Bryant writes in his two-page apology. "I just panicked because I was scared and afraid that I was in some kind of trouble."
[...]
"I was scared because I was thinking, why would the NCAA talk to me unless they thought I had done something wrong, even though I did not think I had,” Bryant writes in his letter. “I worried about the interview and was really nervous during the interview.

"I kept thinking about how football has been my dream for years and how football was going to allow the chance to make a living and help my family. My mom, my son, brother and sister all depend on me and I felt that somehow I had let them down."

Bryant's appeal was accompanied by Oklahoma State's formal request for reinstatement, and a sophomore music major playing a weepy violin. There's no timeline for his possible reinstatement.

Quickly ... Alabama wants its vacated wins back, but the NCAA isn't likely to budge in its verdict against "a serial repeat offender," even over a trivial textbook "scandal." ... Vanderbilt running back Jermaine Doster was suspended indefinitely after being tasered and arrested for fighting by Nashville police last week, Doster's second arrest as a Commodore. ... Iowa receiver Paul Cheney is out for the season with an ACL tear. ... Ohio State running back Boom Herron will miss several weeks after re-injuring his ankle against Wisconsin. ... A third-degree felony charge against New Mexico State running back Marquell Colston only drew a 72-hour suspension from NMSU. ... Three Middle Tennessee players, including leading receiver Patrick Honeycutt, were arrested for underage consumption and providing alcohol to minors over the weekend. ... More efforts by Florida officials to reduce binge drinking at the Cocktail Party showdown with Georgia. ... Who, exactly, is the Big Ten's legitimate Heisman candidate? ... Dabo Swinney's keeping Clemson on its toes during practices. ... Meet SMU's discus-throwing, kick-blocking ringer. ... And won't somebody please celebrate with Scott Tolzien?