A handy map of the Pac-12 divisions, courtesy of the Seattle Times. Really more of a “Northwest” and “Southeast” split.

LRT CFB pick ‘em standings: AwesomeSauce 117, Old Gold & Black (@warbiany) 116, The Major’s Girl 114, Seawolves 113, @brendanloy 113, AMLTrojan 112, Jeff F. (@Bigfreezer) 111, Charles Fenwick (@clfenwi) 107, @brando_minich 105, ADRIAN CLAYBORN WILL EAT YOU (@kramtsew) 105 – http://yhoo.it/bmXrDH. Major’s Girl, AMLTrojan, Jeff F. won Week 7 (20-7).

Jon Wilner still expects Stanford & Cal in Pac-12 North, says it’s a “toss up” whether California crossover games will be guaranteed. Notes division alignment takes only 7 votes, while revenue sharing requires 9. [UPDATE: Wrong! Both require 9.] Says Pac-8 schools are all making sacrifices, while Arizona/Mountain schools get everything they want.

NPR: What’s The Point Of Journalism School, Anyway? (Story focuses on USC Annenberg school.)

Just recorded Living Room Times Podcast #3 with @MileHighBecky. Working title is “Tom Tancredo and the British Empire.” But I probably will not be able to edit and upload it until Monday night. Hang tight and stay tuned, loyal LRT listeners!

This week’s LRT CFB pick ‘em entry deadline is 9:45am MDT Saturday. Contestants, make your picks here: http://yhoo.it/9lui8v. Current Top 10: AwesomeSauce 99, Old Gold & Black (@warbiany) 97, The Major’s Girl 94, Seawolves 93, AMLTrojan 92, @brendanloy 91, @Bigfreezer 91, @brando_minich 90, @USCarlos 90, @clfenwi 88.

Former agent Josh Luchs blows the lid off the myth of amateur college football, once and for all, in scorched-earth confession implicating numerous ex-UCLA players, at least four ex-USC players, as well as various big names including Ryan Leaf, Santonio Holmes, and… Mel Kiper!

Deadline to enter your LRT CFB picks for this week is 7pm MDT tonight for the first game: http://tinyurl.com/2fm7kkr

Yet again, @Twitter-to-@FriendFeed import is broken, which means no tweets on my blog. I’m working on permanently divorcing my blog/tweet integration from FriendFeed, and I’m making some progress, but it’s a process. Stay tuned. In the mean time, let me summarize today’s tweets: #jobsPANIC #brettfavrepenisPANIC #andassortedmiscellaneousPANIC

So, USC lost. To Washington. Again. At home this time. #PANIC! I was at a wedding & so didn’t see the game. But it’s like I’ve been saying since Hawaii game, and throughout the opening 4-0 run vs. terrible opponents: this is just not a very good football team. Will be lucky not to exceed last year’s total of 4 losses. … But hey, Notre Dame won!

This week’s LRT CFB pick ‘em entry deadline is 9:45am MDT Saturday. Contestants, make your picks here: http://yhoo.it/9lui8v

Yet again, Twitter-to-FriendFeed is broken, so new tweets & RTs aren’t showing up on my blog via Fresh From plugin. #ugh

Accurately Named College Teams

“Old Gold & Black” and “AwesomeSauce” continue to dominate LRT College Football Pick ‘em. Both went 24-5 to “win the week,” both remain tied for first place at 78-13 overall, 54-8 after each contestant’s lowest weekly score is dropped. http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/college/28610

Last week, @ivan_maisel told us the SEC has “at least” 10 potential Top 25 teams. Let’s see. Ole Miss: 2-2, lost at home to Jax State. Tennessee: 2-2, crushed by Ducks, almost lost at home to UAB. Georgia: 1-3, inc. loss to Mississippi State. Vandy: 1-2, loss to Northwestern. But 2 of those 4, PLUS Mississippi State and Kentucky, are Top 25 teams??

Hey, Living Room Times CFB Pick ‘em contestants! Don’t forget to make your Week 4 picks today! http://yhoo.it/9lui8v. I am telling Yahoo to drop each contestant’s lowest weekly score — so, even if you forgot to enter last week, you still have a chance!

Poll: 1 in 5 Americans Believe Obama is a Cactus

Reggie Bush returns Heisman, citing “dignity” of award; pledges to work with Heisman Trophy Trust in educational effort to help “student-athletes and their families avoid some of the mistakes that I made.”

Nate Silver: “If Ms. O’Donnell [in DE] and Mr. Lamontange [in NH] were both to win their primaries…the Republican chances of a Senate takeover would fall to just 16 percent, according to the model. Conversely, if Mr. Castle and Ms. Ayotte were to win, Republicans chances would rise to 30 percent.” http://bit.ly/bXOEdX

“Increases in college tuition and fees make the housing price bubble seem pretty tame by comparison.” #PANIC

“What if, on the same weekend, Miami beats No. 2 Ohio State and Penn State beats No. 1 Alabama? … Boise would be the new No. 1 team in the country, and No. 1 teams don’t generally fall to No. 3 without losing.”

Colorado’s Senate race is critical to the balance of power. Should I strategically vote for @BuckForColorado, even though I disagree with him about most things, because I think a GOP majority would be good for Obama and the Dems, and quite possibly the country — not because of, but in spite of, what Buck & the GOP stand for? Hmm. Probably not, eh?

Earl down to Cat. 1 with 85 mph winds, moving NNE at 21 mph; center expected to pass ~50 miles east of Cape Cod overnight; wide area of tropical storm force winds