The Hlist for Week 10 - Bob Bowlsby made a good hire at Stanford three years ago

From published sources nationwide, and the millions of college football fans who are begging Sports Illustrated to keep their teams off its cover.

OPENING KICKOFF

“No matter how fast they start the season, the Gophers always end up in a desperate situation. Why does it always have to come down to this? It was all right there for them on Saturday. Beat Illinois at home. That shouldn't have been a big deal at all, but here we are.”

- Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, after Minnesota fell to 5-5 with a 35-32 home loss to Illinois.

FIRST DOWNS

1. Cleveland Rocks: Hey, Iowa fans, remember James Cleveland? He caught 36 passes for 464 yards as a Hawkeye freshman in 2007.

In February 2008, Cleveland was kicked off the team after getting arrested. He eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession of prescription drugs.

Cleveland is from Baytown, Texas. He went from Iowa to a junior college, then hooked on with the Houston Cougars. Saturday, he caught 12 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns, including a TD with 21 seconds left in Houston's 46-45 win at Tulsa.

Houston recovered an onsides kick after Cleveland's score, and Matt Hogan made a 51-yard field goal for the win.

“It was chaos,” Cleveland said. “Everyone was sprinting on the field, and I just had to sit

there. I let it soak in. I looked in the faces of the Tulsa players, and their hearts were just ripped out. It was a dagger.”

Cleveland has 74 catches for 853 yards and 11 TDs for the 8-1 Cougars.

2. Bowlsby Got It Right: Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby, who previously held that job at Iowa, took a chance on a I-AA head coach when he hired Jim Harbaugh from San Diego.

That was after the 2006 season ended. Three years later, Stanford upset Oregon 51-42 Saturday to improve to 6-3 and become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2001.

Stanford is no fluke. Freshman quarterback Andrew Luck and running back Toby Gerhart are dynamic players. Gerhart rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns against the Ducks.

Art Spander wrote this for Real Clear Sports:

“Stanford didn't as much play football as endure it. It was a place kids went so they could get into medical school or create Google, not get into the NFL. There was a reason it was nicknamed Harvard of the West, besides the academics.

“Then a coach named Jim Harbaugh arrived a couple of years ago with the stubborn idea kids who had brains could also be kids who had athletic ability. He was going to recruit people who not only could score on the SATs but also on the field.”

FUMBLES

1. Bowl Corruption Series: The BCS has USC at No. 9 this week, Oregon at No. 13. Both are 7-2. Oregon destroyed the Trojans 47-20 on Oct. 31.

USC was far from overwhelming Saturday in edging Arizona State, 14-9.

What's worse is the coaches' USA Today poll has USC 10th and Oregon 16th. Why is that poll part of the BCS formula and Ouija boards aren't?

On a good note, unbeaten TCU did climb from sixth to fourth in the BCS standings.

But let's say the Horned Frogs go 12-0 and either Texas or the SEC champion has one loss? The Hlist knows what will happen. And it's corrupt.

2. KU, MU . . . PU: After Week 5, Kansas and Missouri were both in the AP Top 25. Today, both are 1-4 in the Big 12.

Missouri lost 40-32 at home to lowly Baylor.

“We'll talk about it as a staff, talk about how to get out of it,” MU Coach Gary Pinkel said. “But we're certainly running out of time.”

Kansas lost 17-10 at surprising Big 12 North-leader Kansas State.

K-State running back Daniel Thomas, a juco transfer from Mississippi, rushed for 185 yards against the Jayhawks.

“Everybody told me that I'd learn to hate them once I got here and everything,'' Thomas said. “And that was true. Just watching them and hearing everything about them, I pretty much hate them.''

POSTGAME

“There is no full-blown conspiracy, although fans don't want to hear it. It'd be impossible for the SEC to get all these refs who earn around $500 a week and maintain full-time jobs to risk federal imprisonment and fix games. Even suggested favoritism is unlikely.

“These are human referees who keep making human errors while trying to call games under extreme circumstances - big, fast players in wild, noisy stadiums. It isn't easy being a ref anywhere, let alone the SEC.

“Still, even for the most understanding, the weekly parade of major mistakes is ruining the fun.” - Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports

“I played like a walk-on, looked like a walk-on. It's unacceptable.” - Louisville quarterback Will Stein after his team's 17-9 loss to West Virginia.

Stein, by the way, is a walk-on.