• State of Best. Cal running back Jahvid Best was out of the hospital Sunday with a "severe concussion" after leaping and crashing down hard into the end zone from a frightening height in the Bears' loss to Oregon State Saturday night. The initial verdict looked like it could be much worse -- Best was down for a long time and eventually had to be carted off wearing what appeared to be an oxygen mask -- but there's no nerve or spinal damage and he is expected to make a complete recovery. He reportedly sent text messages to teammates Sunday reassuring them he was OK.

With his long-term health apparently in the clear, then, the question turns to his short-term status with Cal: Best will definitely miss Saturday's date with Arizona, and could miss the final two regular season games against Stanford and Washington; those games remain up in the air, along with a bowl game. If Best does return, it may not be for long with the draft calling. If he doesn't, it's possible his last play as a Bear will go down as the most terrifyingly memorable.

• Pondering life with Christian. Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder isn't going anywhere next year, but the 'Noles' veritable one-man offense will be out of the lineup for FSU's game with Wake Forest, thanks to a separated shoulder Ponder suffered while going all-out for a tackle following his fourth and final interception in Saturday's loss at Clemson. Redshirt freshman E.J. Manuel will step into the starting role for the first time against the Deacons, and Florida State fans aren't holding their breath for Ponder's return this season -- a major loss for a team in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time in almost 30 years. The 'Noles have to win two of their last three to get to 6-6, and since one of those three is at Florida, the next two weeks against Wake and Maryland become must-wins without their offensive leader.

Two other critical losses from the weekend: LSU running back Charles Scott, the Tigers' leading rusher, will miss the rest of the season with a fractured clavicle he suffered at the end of a long run against Alabama; and North Carolina's leading rusher, Shaun Draughn, is out for the year with a fractured shoulder blade. (I thought that's why they put pads there. Ouch.)

• Rodriguez is not exactly on good terms with Hope at the moment. Weirdest encounter of the weekend: Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez and Purdue coach Danny Hope following the Boilermakers' 38-36 win in Ann Arbor, when Hope reportedly "introduced" Rodriguez to lineman Zach Reckman with the message "Thanks, Coach. Really appreciate what you did," according to RichRod.

Some background: When the Big Ten suspended Michigan's Jonas Mouton for an alleged cheap shot against Notre Dame in September, Rodriguez responded by informing the conference that "we will watch every Big Ten game very closely ... [and] we're going to ask that that person gets the same type of punishment that Jonas Mouton got." The next "victim" of that policy? Zach Reckman, who sat a game for a late hit at the end of the Boilermakers' loss to Northern Illinois the following week. Even before Reckman's suspension, Hope said Rodriguez should "worry about his own team," and decided again to make his point clear on the field Saturday:

"I was a little disappointed that after the game their coach seemed to bring the lineman over like I was the reason that his lineman got suspended for that one game," Rodriguez said. "I don’t know where that came from. I talked to him on the phone and told him that wasn’t me that - this is way back when.

"I didn’t have anything to do with that young man getting suspended for that one game."

Hope had no comment, and can expect very long, detailed, well-punctuated diatribes from angry Michiganders for the next year.

Quickly ... Wisconsin receiver Maurice Moore suffered minor injuries and was charged with drunk driving in a car accident early Sunday morning. ... UCF coach George O'Leary, ever the antagonist of local media, didn't appreciate (accurate) reports of two late-breaking injuries before the Knights' loss at Texas. ... Two Syracuse starters, high school teammates Max Suter and Cody Catalina, will miss the rest of the season with injuries they suffered in the Orange's loss to Pittsburgh. ... Arizona State running back Ryan Bass sat out the Devils' loss to USC and was officially suspended from the team for unspecified reasons. ... Mississippi State is expecting a record crowd for Alabama's visit to Starkville on Saturday. ... Assuming Georgia is still bound for a bowl game, the Bulldogs have to win three out of four to continue their national-best streak of 12 consecutive seasons with at least eight wins. ... And three guesses which quarterback leads the SEC in touchdown percentage.