Florida's greatest asset, Heisman dark horses, MJ medleys and more

The Big East's continued alliance with Notre Dame also complicates matters. Having selected Texas Tech and Nebraska the past two years, the Gator is obligated to take a Big East team this season -- but that team will almost certainly be Notre Dame if the Irish are available, pushing the Big East's second-place team down to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The league could drop its affiliation with the Irish, but could risk losing the Gator entirely if it does.

However, there's one sure way for Rutgers to reach a "decent" bowl game: win the conference. Doing so would guarantee the Scarlet Knights, who have as good a chance as anyone of winning the wide-open league this fall, a BCS berth and make them a fairly sought-after commodity due to their reach into the New York City market and likely huge travel following.

How many of the 120 Division I-A schools' bands do you think will play a Michael Jackson medley this season?
-- @GatorRock

I couldn't begin to guess, but you've put an idea in my head. I am almost 99 percent certain I watched just such a halftime tribute at one of the games I covered last season, but I can't for the life of me remember which one. I do remember it opened with Thriller

It seems only right the Mailbag should do some sort of salute to the Man Who Made Weird Al's Career, so here's what I'm going to do. If you happen to be a member of the band in question (or any other college band that's performed a halftime MJ medley), and you have the video to prove it, send me the link or YouTube code and I'll include it next week.

Despite the NCAA ruling, will the general public (outside of Tallahassee) recognize all of Bobby Bowden's wins?
-- @akosnitsky

I highly doubt it will, though not because of some moral principle. This is just my own personal hunch. I have no empirical data to support it. But I really don't think the general public cares about Bowden's career wins total. Or Joe Paterno's. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but is any non-Florida State or Penn State fan really holding his or her breath waiting to find out which legend finishes with more wins? Twenty years from now, will your memory of either coach's legacy really be affected by which one got to 394 and which only got to 392?

This debate reminds me of a basketball piece I wrote three years back when J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison were engaged in their purportedly heated race to earn the nation's scoring title and/or Player of the Year honors. I wrote then "five years from now, five months from now, perhaps even five weeks now, you'll barely remember it," and I believe I was right. Without consulting Wikipedia, I couldn't have told you which one scored more points that season (Morrison) or which one took home the Wooden Award (Redick). All I remember is how much fun it was watching them light up the scoreboard ... and that Morrison cried when he lost to UCLA.

Similarly, whether or not the NCAA vacates those 14 wins is unlikely to impact my eventual memory of Bowden as a folksy and innovative coach who presided over the most dominant juggernaut of the 1990s, but probably stayed on about a decade too long.

You are the ONLY national analyst who doesn't have Notre Dame ranked in the top 25, but why should I be surprised? Your bias against ND only shows your true colors. They must ALL be wrong and you are right?
-- Steve Finelli, Tampa