• Studies conducted by Mountain West Labs conclude the Mountain West is awesome. Per the USA Today, you can read the Mountain West's new BCS playoff proposal (pdf) in its entirety, which shockingly uses the opportunity to fish for the most favorable possible light to present itself, no matter how deep that hook has to go:

Over the past five postseasons, only the Pac-10 (.750), MWC (.700), SEC (.636) and Big 12 (.545) have winning records against AQ Conference teams.

True, though the MWC's bowl wins in question since 2004 are over UCLA (6-6), Pittsburgh (8-4), Iowa State (7-5), Georgia Tech (7-5), Oregon (7-6), UCLA (6-7) again and finally Alabama (11-2) -- not exactly a murderer's row until that last one. Slightly more convincing is the Mountain West's national-best 16-13 regular season record against "AQ Conference" teams over the last two years, fueled by that one stunning weekend against Pac-10 also-rans last September. Just be sure not to mention that only one of those 16 wins (Utah's last-second comeback over Oregon State last year) was over a team that so much as received a vote in any of the final polls.

But the question isn't about the MWC's suitability to run with the big dogs (it won't get that chance under the current setup anytime soon), it's about its ability to bring the Pac-10 and Big Ten power brokers on board. Where, once again, it doesn't stand a chance. (Neither does Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff's anti-trust crusade, but he's issuings subpoenas and lobbying for support in Washington, anyway. All these little cracks add up.)

• Pillows and candlesticks? Please, not in front of the children. Amid the nationwide spree of petty arrests last weekend, the papers initially missed Nebraska defensive end Barry Turner's rather kinky Friday night, as detailed by the Lincoln Journal-Star:

Nebraska defensive end Barry Turner is set to be arraigned Thursday after his arrest late last week on suspicion of assaulting a 20-year-old woman.
[...]
Police reports say the woman was trying to leave the apartment she shares with Turner around 10 p.m. on Friday when Turner allegedly picked her up and carried her back inside.

The woman told police Turner confronted her about a phone call she made. When she refused to talk about it, he began forcefully hitting her with a pillow, according to the reports.

The woman told police she grabbed a candlestick from the nightstand and hit Turner in the head with it to get him to stop. She alleges Turner then bit her under the right arm, causing a bruise.

Turner was jailed on "suspicion" of domestic assault, but not formally charged.

• Tomorrow's memes today. Based on the last three or four years, there's no turning back on the broad trajectory of recruiting timelines: Coaches are offering more players earlier and earlier (soon they'll be able to actually sign them earlier) and getting them on campus earlier and earlier. Courtesy Rivals' Jeremy Crabtree, here's the next trend in the rapid acceleration of the courtship ritual: Kids transferring high schools to better prepare for early enrollment. The example here is Notre Dame commit Chris Martin, one of the top linebackers in next year's class, who's considering a cross-country move to New Jersey's prestigious Hun School because Martin's school in California doesn't offer a program that will let him graduate early and enroll in South Bend for spring 2010. The tests are finished and the wires connected; he's just waiting on the go-ahead from mom.

As keeping up in early enrollment (i.e. getting freshmen involved in spring drills) becomes more urgent, I'd expect to see more players go this route, accompanied by a brief spate of hand-wringing stories that change nothing.

Quickly ... USC has no time table to name a starting quarterback, but new quarterback coach/playcaller Jeremy Bates would like a loose depth chart coming out of the spring. ... The Sports Illustrated Curse? Just one more gnat in the unstoppable path of Tim Tebow. ... Geography and the backing of an especially rich athletic department helps a little, but the real secret of Mark Richt's recruiting success? A lot of prayer. ... Speaking of Jesus, it seems there is at least one thing that can override an Alabama practice. ... Lane Kiffin wants an open practice session for Tennessee fans on March 13. An opportunity for a little shirts vs. skins, perhaps? ... Syracuse defensive tackle Arthur Jones underwent successful surgery Wednesday for a torn pec muscle, which ain't no joke. ... Former Miami boss Larry Coker is the first coach in Texas-San Antonio history. ... Michigan Stadium is going to host that one thing they do up there, with the sticks and the ice. ... No matter what you think of Lou Holtz or global warming, this seems like a bit much. ... And I am shocked -- shocked -- that the UCLA partisans at Bruins Nation would turn on UCLA grad and L.A. Congressperson Diane Watson for signing on to meaningless political symbolism, i.e. a resolution honoring USC's Rose Bowl win.