GREENWICH, Conn. - I'm en route to Providence for the Penn-Brown game at the moment, and I know I owe you a blog post heading into the weekend. So here it is.

For yet another week, there aren't many great college football games this Saturday. I wasn't going to do a Spectacle of the Week poll initially, but then I realized that the Washington State-Notre Dame game is on a neutral field and in prime time. So have at it.

My pick is USC at Oregon. Although most everyone around here will be watching the World Series, it will be worth checking out the atmosphere at Autzen Stadium for at least a few minutes.

It's been a while since a game in Eugene has been broadcast to the East Coast. As ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel wrote on Wednesday, the Ducks' house hasn't always been among the most intimidating venues in college football. But it is now, and it should be electric on Halloween night.

I will not be live-blogging Game 3 of the World Series, as I'll be on a train back to Philadelphia at the time. But I will rejoin you for Game 4. And I'll be back on here tomorrow afternoon from Brown Stadium.

For now, though, here's the week's Top 10 Chart. Note that the Sagarin ratings are through games of this past Saturday, and as such do not reflect Virginia Tech being upset at home last night by North Carolina. For the record, Sagarin has Georgia Tech ranked No. 11.

Sagarin also has Oregon winning by four points (89.71 and 3 to 89.13).

Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (19 votes)

Last week at Big East men's basketball media day, I took my video camera around and interviewed a bunch of reporters to get their predictions on how the season will play out. The piece is finally ready, and here it is.

I talked to Joe Juliano of the Inquirer, Mike Kern of the Daily News, Liz Clarke of the Washington Post, Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune and Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard. They were unanimous in their praise of Villanova, but they all had their own perspectives to offer as well.

Handsome Dan braves the elements.

Greetings from Franklin Field, where Yale and Penn are about to play a football game in this spectacular weather.

This morning I was at the Palestra, which is something I haven't been able to say in a while. It wass pouring rain outside, but it was as warm and toasty as ever in there.

I went to watch the Penn basketball team's open scrimmage, which was notable for the debut of freshman guard Malcolm Washington. Yes, he's the son of Denzel Washington.

I also had an eye on guard Darren Smith, who is finally back on the court after a nearly two-year-long injury layoff. He looks healthy, and if he stays that way he will give the Quakers a big boost defensively.

After the scrimmage, I spoke to Penn coach Glen Miller about the state of his team. You should know that he said "things were great great last year" with a knowing smile on his face when I asked him how about how the the team is doing temperamentally.

I also asked Miller about Washington, and he said the Los Angeles native "has an opportunity to make the team."

"Our roster is not final right now," Miller said. "He needs to be an energy guy, a sparkplug guy, and I think to this point in the pre-season he's done that."

You can hear the rest of the interview in the audio player below.

This afternoon, the Penn football is honoring the 1959 Ivy League championship team, and former Penn and Eagles star Chuck Bednarik did a book signing before the game.

I was able to get a few minutes for a video interview with Bednarik, and I'll be putting that together tonight. I'll let you know when it arrives. I'll also check in during the game for a live chat, so be sure to come back here at around 3:30.

Speaking of video features, you've probably noticed that my piece from Big East Media Day hasn't arrived yet. I just finished editing it last night after wrestling with a new computer for the last few days. I'll post it Monday.

There aren't many big college football games on the national landscape this weekend, so we'll skip the Spectacle of the Week poll. The candidates would probably have been Penn State at Michigan, Tennessee at Alabama and TCU at BYU. 

The last of those hosted College GameDay this morning, which is notable because ESPN doesn't have any rights to Mountain West football. But it is the only game today between teams ranked in the BCS. It will air on Versus, and it was pretty sly of Chris Fowler to say that it's worth it for you to find the channel.

[ Listen with own player ]

As I write these words, I'm passing by Franklin Field on a train from Washington to New York. I'm taking a few days of down time, and I'll (hopefully) for a live chat during the Penn-Columbia football game. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.

With the great baseball weather we've had the last two days expected to continue, the conditions could suit Penn's ground game quite well. That is, if they can hold on to the football - the Lions' +8 turnover margin is the best in the Ivy League.

The Quakers will be buoyed by having two of their their stars, quarterback Keiffer Garton and cornerback Chris Wynn, back at full health.

But Columbia is still riding high from its 38-0 win at Princeton two weeks ago. This is the Lions' first Ivy League game since, and it's their homecoming weekend too. It's been 13 years since Columbia beat the Quakers. Will the losing streak end tomorrow?

Speaking of losing streaks, New York's main football team is trying to end a long one this weekend too. But what's the biggest game this weekend: USC-Notre Dame or Texas-Oklahoma?

This week's Spectacle of the Week poll is a one-on-one showdown. Take your pick, and join me again tomorrow afternoon.

Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (5 votes)

It's way too nice a day to stay indoors, so I'm going to keep this post as short as possible.

Both of this weekend's biggest games kick off at the same time: 8:00 p.m. Saturday night. Michigan-Iowa and Florida-LSU are certainly deserving of that honor, but there are a few other interesting matchups this weekend too.

Of course, there's Phillies-Rockies Game 3 and US-Honduras as well. Steven Goff of the Washington Post has a great piece this morning explaning how the closed-circuit broadcast situation for the soccer match came to be.

Before getting to the Top 10 Chart, one sad note. Ben Ali, the founder of Ben's Chili Bowl - my all-time favorite restaurant - passed away last night at age 82. Those of you who've been there, whether you're from the Philly area or the D.C. area, know how good it is.

Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (12 votes)

After last week's upheaval, there are more than a few people out there wondering whether any teams in college football can actually play this game.

Florida and Texas seem to be the two top teams in the country, but they haven't really been tested yet. And as they're both off this week, we'll have to wait even longer to find out if they're for real.

The highest-ranked team playing this week is No. 3 Alabama, which is following in the Gators' footsteps with a trip to Kentucky. After Tim Tebow's concussion last week, you would think Nick Saban has his team ready to play.

The biggest game in the SEC is No. 4 LSU at No. 18 Georgia. The Tigers are 4-0, including a win at Washington. A win in Athens could propel them over the Crimson Tide in the polls.

The game I most want to see won't be on local television. It's USC at Cal, and it could go a long way towards determing who wins the Pac-10 this season. But it won't determine who's in first place this week. That honor goes to UCLA at Stanford. The Cardinal are 2-0 in conference play, and welcome a Bruins squad playing its Pac-10 opener.

USC at Cal will air on ABC west of the Rockies, while the rest of the country (including Philadelphia) will get Oklahoma at Miami. Which isn't a bad game, but it doesn't have the same kind of stakes.

Penn State at Illinois will be the 3:30 ABC game, while ESPN will simulcast ABC's broadcast of Florida State at Boston College in that timeslot.

That goes along with the Versus doubleheader of Penn-Dartmouth at noon and William & Mary at 3:30. Which games will you be watching?

As for the Top 10 chart, this week we add the first Harris poll of the season. Check it out below:

Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (32 votes)

There aren't too many blockbuster games this weekend, but the ones we do have should be worth watching.

Obviously, a lot of folks around here will be paying attention to Iowa at Penn State. But the games I think will be best are Cal at Oregon and Miami at Virginia Tech. All four teams would make big statements by winning, especially the two road teams.

As for the Top 10 chart, the Sagarin index goes against the human wisdom once again. I am fascinated by the fact that Miami has the top rank in Sagarin. Their 2-0 record includes wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech, both of which were ranked at the time. But the Hurricanes barely made the AP Top 10, and are No. 13 in the Coaches Poll.

Cincinnati's lofty perch is also interesting. The Bearcats probably have to run the table in the Big East to get anyone's respect, but even if they do we'll see if they remain at or near No. 3.

I'm heading out of town for the weekend. Let me know in the comments which games will have your attention.

Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (16 votes)

Before we get to the stats, here are a few things worth reading today.

First, as it's Tuesday, that means there's a new Forde-Yard Dash.

Second, check out this long piece by Andy Katz about how college basketball recruiters are using social networking websites to go around coaches in order to contact players. It's very detailed, but it doesn't leave you very optimistic about the state of things.

Every once in a while, I get asked whether I've heard some rumor about a player being recruited by a local school. My answer is almost always that I haven't, because I don't pay attention to recruiting.

There are two reasons for this. First, I'm never really sure how to judge the quality of a player without doing a lot of research about the player and the quality of his (or her) opponents. If the player is a McDonald's All-American, that is of course a big deal. But short of that, how much can we really know before the player faces college-level opposition?

The other reason why I don't write about recruiting is that I find much of what goes on in the recruiting process to be seamy at best and reprehensible at worst. There are plenty of coaches who go about the process honestly, refusing to play the game with runners and AAU hangers-on.

But we also have seen countless instances where players take advantage of loopholes and in turn run the risk of being taken advantage of by associates interested in money and nothing else.

Obviously, ignoring all this won't make go away. In fact, collective ignorance of unethical recruiting will probably only make things worse.

But at least now you might have a better understanding of where I'm coming from.

On a happier hoops-related note, congrats to the Storming the Floor team on their new redesign. It would be nice if they could put something Philly-related in their banner, but they are a national blog after all.

So now we move on to the numbers, and in today's edition we introduce a new feature.

One of the things that Sagarin is used for is to predict game outcomes. The basis for the rankings is a score out of 100 points. If you subtract the lower team's score from the higher team's score and add three points to the home team for advantage, you get the predicted margin of victory.

It would have been interesting to do this for Penn and Villanova last week, but let's use this week's numbers as an example of how the system works.

Villanova's score is 67.25. Subtract the sum of Penn's 53.54 and three points for home advantage from the Wildcats' total, and you get a difference of 11 points (67.25 - [53.54 + 3]).

Wouldn't you know it, 'Nova won by a 14-3 margin.

Now we come to the reason why I decided to introduce the feature this week: the formula favors Iowa by seven points over Penn State.

Consider that for a moment. The Hawkeyes are unranked; the Nittany Lions have revenge on their minds after last year and will take the field in prime time amid a whiteout at Beaver Stadium.

But Iowa is No. 7 in Sagarin with a 87.91 rating, and Penn State is No. 32 with a 77.75 rating. Do the math: 87.91 - (77.75 + 3) = 7.16.

It's a clear knock against the Nittany Lions for their creampuff non-conference schedule. Iowa's wins are against Northern Iowa, at Iowa State and Arizona - not great, but not St. Leo's and Eastern Illinois either.

With that in mind, we finally get to this week's numbers. Predicted margins of victory are rounded to the nearest whole number, except for margins less than one point, which are rounded up.

And of course, these numbers are for recreational purposes only, though they aren't official betting lines anyway.

32. Penn State (17)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 146/125 Temple, 31-6
This week: 9/26 vs. No. 7 Iowa, 8:00 p.m. (ABC)
Sagarin predicts: Iowa by 7 (87.91 minus 77.75 and 3)

68. Rutgers (93)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 104/92 Florida International, 23-15
This week: 9/26 at No. 98 Maryland, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN360.com)
Sagarin predicts: Rutgers by 3 (70.69 minus 64.63 and 3)

82. Villanova (97)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 151/156 Penn, 14-3
This week: 9/26 vs. No. 215 Northeastern, 3:30 p.m. (Comcast Network)
Sagarin predicts: Villanova by 30 (67.25 and 3 minus 40.30)

121. Delaware (103)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 214/183 Delaware State, 27-17
This week: 9/26 at No. 80 Wiliam & Mary, 7:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: William & Mary by 10 (67.76 and 3 minus 60.47)

125. Temple (146)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 17/32 Penn State, 31-6
This week: 9/26 vs. No. 106 Buffalo, 12:00 p.m. (WPHL-17, ESPN360.com)
Sagarin predicts: Temple by 1 (60.04 and 3 minus 62.67)

156. Penn (151)
Last week: Home loss vs. No. 97/82 Villanova, 14-3
This week: 9/26 at No. 175 Lafayette, 6:00 p.m. (RCN-4 or RCN-8, WBPH-60, tape-delayed on MASN)
Sagarin predicts: Lafayette by 1 (50.99 and 3 minus 53.54)

174. Lehigh (180)
Last week: No game
This week: 9/26 vs. No. 176 Princeton, 12:30 p.m. (Service Electric 2)
Sagarin predicts: Lehigh by 3 (51.21 and 3 minus 50.86)

175. Lafayette (166)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 141/126 Liberty, 19-13
This week: 9/26 vs. No. 156 Penn, 6:00 p.m. (RCN-4 or RCN-8, WBPH-60, tape-delayed on MASN)
Sagarin predicts: Lafayette by 1 (50.99 and 3 minus 53.54)

176. Princeton (170)
Last week: Home loss vs. No. 126/85 The Citadel, 38-7
This week: 9/26 at No. 174 Lehigh, 12:30 p.m. (service Electric 2)
Sagarin predicts: Lehigh by 3 (51.21 and 3 minus 50.86)

183. Delaware State (214)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 103/121 Delaware, 27-17
This week: 9/26 at No. 184 Hampton, 6:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Hampton by 3 (48.24 and 3 minus 48.53)

234. Bucknell (227)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 190/205 Cornell, 33-9
This week: 9/26 vs. No. 238 Marist, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Marist by 2 (29.78 and 3 minus 30.97)

The Daily News posted word earlier today that Philadelphia will host first- and second-round games in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. I figure I should post the full list of announced cities, since you might be wondering.

Today's announcement included venues for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 NCAA Tournaments. The 2013 edition will be the 75th NCAA Tournament, and the venues that will host that year were chosen in part because of their history as Tournament venues.

Or so they say.

So here's the schedule, with the host institution is in parentheses (along with a few asides from me).

Click here to see this year's list of venues. The rumor is that Providence is quite nice in March, or at least the big indoor shopping mall downtown is.

Note that the play-in game will remain in Dayton through 2013.

2011

Sub-Regional Rounds

March 17-19: Pepsi Center / Denver, Colo. (Mountain West Conference)
March 17-19: St. Pete Times Forum / Tampa. Fla. (South Florida)
March 17-19: McKale Center / Tuscon, Ariz. (Arizona)
March 17-19: Verizon Center / Washington, D.C. (Georgetown)

March 18-20: Time Warner Cable Arena / Charlotte, N.C. (UNC-Charlotte)
March 18-20: United Center / Chicago, Ill. (Big Ten Conference)
March 18-20: Quicken Loans Arena / Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland State)
March 18-20: BOK Center / Tulsa, Okla. (Tulsa)

(Aside: You might recall that Cleveland State hosted in 2005, but the games - including Penn vs. Boston College - were played at the much smaller CSU Convocation Center. I think we can call this an improvement.)

Regional Rounds

March 24-26 (West): Honda Center / Anaheim, Calif. (Big West Conference)
March 24-26 (Southeast): Louisiana Superdome / New Orleans, La. (Tulane)
March 25-27 (East): Prudential Center / Newark, N.J. (Seton Hall)
March 25-27 (Southwest): Alamodome / San Antonio, Texas (Texas-San Antonio)

(Aside: Southeast and Southwest? What happend to South and West? Oh well.)

Final Four

April 2-4: Reliant Stadium / Houston, Texas (Rice and Houston co-hosting)
 

2012

Sub-Regional Rounds

March 15-17: The Pit / Albequerque, N.M. (New Mexico)
March 15-17: Louisville Arena / Louisville, Ky. (Louisville)
March 15-17: Consol Energy Center / Pittsburgh, Pa. (Duquesne)
March 15-17: Rose Garden Arena / Portland, Ore. (Oregon)

(Aside: That's the replacement for Freedom Hall and the new Penguins' arena, respectively, if you were wondering. Freedom Hall is near the top of the list of college basketball venues I'd like to see a game at, but since this is its last seasom I figure I won't get the chance.)

March 16-18: Nationwide Arena / Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State)
March 16-18: Greensboro Coliseum / Greensboro, N.C. (Atlantic Coast Conference)
March 16-18: Sommet Center / Nashville, Tenn. (Ohio Valley Conference)
March 16-18: Qwest Center / Omaha, Neb. (Creighton)

(Aside: Will there ever be a Tournament without sub-regional games somewhere in North Carolina?)

Regional Rounds

March 22-24 (East): TD Banknorth Garden / Boston, Mass. (Boston College)
March 22-24 (West): US Airways Center / Phoeniz, Ariz. (Arizona State)
March 23-25 (South): Georgia Dome / Atlanta, Ga. (Georgia Tech)
March 23-25 (Midwest): Edward Jones Dome / St. Louis, Mo. (Saint Louis)

(Aside: That's more like it. Also, the NCAA's official name for the school is "Georgia Institute of Technology," but I doubt we'll be seeing that on a jersey any time soon.)

Final Four

March 31-April 2: Louisiana Superdome / New Orleans, La. (Tulane)
 

2013

Sub-Regional Rounds

March 21-23: Palace of Auburn Hills / Auburn Hills, Mich. (Oakland)
March 21-23: Rupp Arena / Lexington, Ky. (Kentucky)
March 21-23: Energy Solutions Arena / Salt Lake City, Utah (Utah)
March 21-23: HP Pavilion / San Jose, Calif. (West Coast Conference)

March 22-24: Frank Erwin Center / Austin, Texas (Texas)
March 22-24: UD Arena / Dayton, Ohio (Dayton)
March 22-24: Sprint Center / Kansas City, Mo. (TBD)
March 22-24: Wachovia Center / Philadelphia, Pa. (Temple)

(Asides: As an astute reader points out, I just answered my own question from above. Also, I suppose someone out there with an infinite amount of time on their hands could research whether upsets are more likely at a Thursday-Saturday venue or a Friday-Sunday one. Yeah, I'm stretching it.)

Regional Rounds

March 28-30 (West): Staples Center / Los Angeles, Calif. (Pepperdine)
March 28-30 (East): TBD
March 29-31 (South): Cowboys Stadium / Arlington, Texas (Big 12 Conference)
March 29-31 (Midwest): Lucas Oil Stadium / Indianapolis, Ind. (Butler, IUPUI and the Horizon League co-hosting)

(Asides: First of all, it's a bit striking that the East Regional is the one of the four that hasn't been set yet. I can't imagine that would be so hard to do, and I wonder what the holdup is. Second, this will be the first time Los Angeles will host Tournament games since 1994. I've been told that one of the reasons why Pauley Pavilion is being renovated is to get NCAA Tournament games there, but it looks like that plan didn't work out for now. And third, Cowboys Stadium will host the 2014 Final Four.)

Final Four

April 6-8: Georgia Dome, / Atlanta, Ga. (Georgia Tech)