Les Miles leaves the “Honey Badger,” Tyrann Mathieu, in Baton Rouge during SEC Media Days. You know Les. He’s always doing something unorthodox. You know, like leaving his best player and Heisman candidate at home for reasons that defy understanding. Les said he brought players that showed “leadership ability” to media days. HB isn’t a leader?  I mean, the worst thing this guy does from what I can see is that he tweets a lot. Instead Les leaves him in Baton Rouge and that’s all anyone writes about. That’s called a distraction, Les.

Alabama’s Nick Saban proposes that Penn State tax ticket buyers and donate proceeds to victims of child abuse. I like Saban’s thinking, but not the execution. That’s unfair to ticket buyers. I’d rather see Penn State donate 5 percent of its athletic operating revenue for the next five fiscal years for the same purpose.

More on Penn State, Grambling, Jim Delany’s power grab and the House that RGIII Built after the jump.

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It took an extra couple of weeks – and a reported $20 million deal between West Virginia and the Big East – but we have a Big 12 2012 football schedule.

The conference released the schedule on Tuesday just a couple of days after the Mountaineers engineered their departure from the Big East far ahead of the conference’s original 26-month exit timeline. But that’s what a little money will get you these days.

West Virginia, along with another Big East refugee, TCU (which, technically, never played in the Big East despite accepting the conference’s invitation in 2011) will play football in the Big 12 in 2012. So now we have an idea of the Big 12 opener for all teams, which is Sept. 15 when TCU travels to Kansas. We also know that West Virginia will open up at home on Sept. 29 against Baylor. Mountaineer AD Oliver Luck didn’t sound too worried about selling beer to Southern Baptists on gameday. Remember – the Mountaineers actually sell beer in the stadium.

In a conference where everyone plays everyone, you may not think there are winners and losers in this sort of thing. But when you examine the league schedule, you can see that a few teams received more favorable draws than others, as you’ll find out after the jump.

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Or, as you know them, the usual suspects.

texas is led by Mack Brown, known to some as “Mr. February” for the school’s consistently successful recruiting classes. Oklahoma and Bob Stoops are no slouches either. It’s hard to believe that as good as these two are at recruiting that they’ve only led their respective programs to one national championship each.

But you can’t win titles if you don’t have the talent, right? So maybe winning in February isn’t such a bad thing after all.

The Big 12 is still in transition. The conference isn’t even sure if West Virginia will be joining for the 2012 football season, although the Mountaineers and the conference really want it to happen. Rare is the day when a BCS conference is at the mercy of the Big East, but that’s where we’re at right now in regard to that issue.

Last year was a big year for Baylor, which happens about once every 20 years or so. The Heisman Trophy campaign of Robert Griffin III stole headlines. But let’s not forget that Oklahoma won the conference and that texas finished the season strong after spending most of the year playing young players at key positions.

And the Bears enjoyed a nice bounce because of that. But let’s not forget who usually dominates this league.

Burnt Orange and crimson and cream.  The usual suspects.

So who won and who lost? Find out after the jump.

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They used to call it hardship, because that’s exactly what it was – college players who needed to go to professional sports to support their family. Today, early entry into the NFL is a career and business decision for the college players that choose to pass up their final year in college for the riches in the pro game. Of course, there are always NFL early entry winners and losers.

Recently 65 players passed on their eligibility to move on to the NFL. Only a few of them will be first-round picks. To me, that’s the only reason you go. But what do I know? I’m a sportswriter.

So who won and who lost thanks to early entries? Here’s my list:

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Don't expect any changes in the BCS format, even though all parties are talking.

Don’t expect any changes to the BCS, in spite of what you might have heard coming out of New Orleans earlier this week.

The athletic directors that make up the BCS met after Alabama beat LSU to talk about what the BCS will do moving forward. The goal, by summer, is to have a BCS format in place so it can negotiate with ESPN (or a new TV partner) for the next contract.

BCS president Bill Hancock told the media that there was a lively discussion and that all possibilities were out on the table. Even the conference commissioners in attendance hinted that things might change.

I’m not buying it.

At the end of the day the BCS thinks of one thing – the BCS. The BCS makes money for its all-inclusive members and is impervious to criticism about its format. It doesn’t care about anything else.

I read articles that talked about a “sea change.” Just from one meeting? Just because the commissioners say they’re more open to a playoff than ever before. Being open to it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

It all sounds like language to placate those who want to see a more open format. I’d love a 16-team playoff, like the one in FCS, but at this point I’d settle for the Plus-One format. At least its more fair.

But I don’t see it happening. I just don’t.

There is one thing to keep in mind, though. While the BCS isn’t losing money, it isn’t making as much money as it used to. The TV ratings for the Alabama-LSU game were the second-lowest in BCS title game history. The combined ratings for all of the BCS games were the lowest on record. Hey, BCS – that’s what you get for moving to cable.

Plus, we hear stories about schools losing money going to BCS games. That needs to change as well.

Cold, hard cash is probably the best way to induce a “sea change.” But when you’re shelling out $125 million per year to your members from TV rights fees, well you could argue that no changes are necessary.

And that’s why, at the end of the day, the BCS will still be the BCS and most of us will still complain about it.

Other things on my mind as I wonder if Nick Saban will get another statue in Tuscaloosa after winning a second national title for the Tide …

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Should Robert Griffin III go pro? He'll answer that question before Jan. 15.

It might seem that everyone believes that Robert Griffin III will go to the NFL. It’s just a matter of his announcing it. If his father is to be believed, RGIII may already be looking at agents. But with no formal announcement yet, there’s still room for debate – should Robert Griffin III go pro?

Remember, it’s not always an easy decision, and college athletes have surprised us lately. USC’s Matt Barkley did so last week. Stanford’s Andrew Luck did so around this time last year, choosing to stay at Stanford for at least one more year. Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden could have jumped last year but stayed. It appears Oklahoma’s Landry Jones will stay at Oklahoma one more year. Former Sooner Sam Bradford eschewed the NFL for one year. And then there’s the gold standard, former texas back Ricky Williams.

It used to be that going “hardship” was only something juniors did when it was absolutely necessary (for instance, you family needs the money). Now, juniors just do it to do it, it seems. I don’t usually agree with leaving early. I think there’s more to learn in college. Juniors that stay that extra year get that extra year of maturity, especially physically. Sure, there are risks physically, but overall I think a full education is worth it.

So should Robert Griffin III go pro? To me, there are three reasons why a college player chooses to stay. Where does Griffin stack up? Find out after the jump.

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Earlier this year I wrote a series of articles highlighting the Top 10 Heisman Trophy candidates for 2011. None of my choices was Robert Griffin III, who won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, beating out two players that I felt were front-runners from the start – Stanford QB Andrew Luck and Alabama RB Trent Richardson. Both of those players had great seasons. But Robert Griffin III ended up having a better season, and it makes him a perfect match for the Heisman.

It just goes to show how little we all know about what will happen in college football when the season started. I picked Oklahoma and Alabama to play in the BCS National Championship game. I was half-right. And I picked Luck to win the Heisman. Totally wrong there. Most of my conference championship picks were wrong, too.

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Now, we come to the part of the college football season that I hate – the BCS computers will now decide our fate.

Yes, we have come to that final Sunday of the season when the BCS computers must crunch all of those numbers and spit out the two teams that will play in the BCS national championship game next month in New Orleans.

This is definitely old school. The best college football teams in the country slug it out for 14 weeks in some of the best stadiums in the nation. Twists and turns abound. Upsets aplenty. Dramatic championship games. And it all comes down to …. Binary code. Ones and zeroes. The sports equivalent of the Scantron card we used to use to take multiple choice tests.

Am I the only one that sees the problem here?

We have always been taught that championships are decided on the field. Every major professional sport can do it. Every other college sport at every level can do it. Heck, every level of college football can do it – except for FBS.

What we should be watching tonight is the unveiling of an 8- or 16-team playoff field for FBS, the top teams in the nation slugging it out in a three- or four-week tournament to decide the national champion. It seems to work just fine in the NFL. Instead we get this dreck, decided by a computer and a bunch of guys that – and I say this having been one of them for 14 years – never laced it up and played a down. No disrespect guys, but it’s true. Most of us never played in college.

For the record, I hope the computer finds a way to screw Alabama. A LSU-Oklahoma State national title game would be much more exciting. And, frankly, Alabama got its shot and whiffed. It’s high time someone else took a shot at them.

But, in the meantime, I’m planning my first official sit-in – Occupy BCS. We’re going to storm the national offices and we’re going to sit in Bill Hancock’s office until he gives us what we want.

An actual, honest to God, national playoff. That’s what we deserve.

Rant over. And now the PigskinU Top 25 for Week 14.

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LSU took care of business against Arkansas. Alabama took care of business against Auburn. While LSU still must win the SEC Championship game against Georgia, I don’t think anyone outside of Athens, Ga., believes the Bulldogs can win that game. Although, wouldn’t that be a great, big kick in the pants?

So what happens to the BCS if LSU loses to Georgia? Well, there are greater minds than mine that can tell you that. But Alabama would most certainly move into the No. 1 spot, and there would be plenty of debate as to whether a team that didn’t win a conference championship should be playing in the BCS national championship game.

In fact, shouldn’t we be having that debate to begin with? If every game matters, as the BCS people would have us believe, than didn’t Alabama get its shot to unseat LSU already? I find it rather heinous that the Crimson Tide, as good as they are would be the No. 1 team in the final BCS rankings if LSU lost to Georgia.

To me that exposes a real flaw in the entire system. After 14 weeks a team that couldn’t even reach its conference championship game would be considered the No. 1 seed, as it were.

If we’re really interested in fairness, then the next time the BCS restructures itself, it should create a rule that doesn’t allow teams from the same conference to play each other in the BCS National Championship game. The college football season is about winnowing down the field, and part of that is the process of determining conference champions. If you don’t win your conference, then I don’t think you should play in the BCS National Championship game.

Even if you’re Alabama and you have the misfortune of playing in the same conference as LSU. Them’s the breaks.

But that’s all moot if LSU beats Georgia, as I expect. Then, LSU will play Alabama and we’ll just have to live with it.

And now the PigskinU Top 25 for Week 13.

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It being the whole thing. As in the BCS National Championship.

I expected the Badgers’ Big Ten opener with Nebraska to be closer. But Nebraska faded as the game went along and the Badgers claimed a resounding 48-17 win over the Cornhuskers.

It was my first chance to really scrutinize the Badgers this season and I didn’t see many weaknesses. QB Russell Wilson, as I’ve written before, has added a different dimension to this pro-style offense that was already capable of pounding opponents with the run game. The defense turned the Husker offense impotent by halftime and QB Taylor Martinez was never comfortable after a solid first quarter.

Anyone who watched that game should have walked away with the idea that the Badgers are the team to beat in the entire Big Ten, not just their division. Frankly, I felt that way in August, but I resisted the temptation to come right out and say it because I just wasn’t sure about the QB situation. Could Wilson really go into that system and be a contributor that quickly? Apparently the answer was yes.

So here we are after five weeks and the Badgers are now on the short list of BCS National Championship contenders. Winning out may not be enough, though, as I think three other conferences could have undefeated teams this year. But winning out is the only way the Badgers will get in, if you ask me.

The Badgers only move up one spot to No. 6, since the five teams in front of them won and I don’t drop teams that win.

Meanwhile our PigskinU.com Top 25 took a hard hit this weekend, the result of the start of conference play for most leagues and a bevy of upsets. After you get outside our Top 6, all but two teams stayed where they were last week. It was a discombobulating weekend to say the least.

So, without further ado, My PigskinU.com Top 25 poll after Week 5:

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