College Football Corner: Dateline Norman

Air Force (8-3) (+19½) at No. 16 TCU (9-2), 3:30 p.m. EST (Versus): How soon do you think it will be before the Horned Frogs schedule back-to-back road games with five days' rest? The team can only wonder what might've been after losing a Thursday night game two weeks ago at Utah that cost it a shot at a BCS Bowl bid. Of course, there is no shame in a 10-2 season for any school after an 8-5 finish the season before, but in early November a Poinsettia Bowl bid wasn't in the plans. The defense has been the strength of the team -- the only school to score more than 14 points on the Frogs this year was Oklahoma.

Defensive end Jerry Hughes, with 14 sacks, has been the best defensive lineman in the Mountain West this year. The Falcons are also unkind to offenses, led by senior defensive end Jake Paulson. Second-year Coach Troy Calhoun, an Air Force alum, has a good thing going early in his tenure, as the Falcons will play in back-to-back bowls for the first time in 10 years. Corner's choice: TCU 27, Air Force 10.

Corner kicks: No. 23 Miami travels to Georgia Tech tonight in a tussle for first place in the ACC Coastal Division. Both teams are 7-3 overall but the Canes are 4-2 in in the division while Tech is 4-3. The curious thing about the ACC is that there isn't one team in either division that has less than two losses in conference. Saturday, No. 25 Maryland hosts Florida State in the Atlantic Division, with the Terps having the exact record overall and in conference as Miami, while the 'Noles have the same record as Georgia overall and in league. ... Texas deleted perhaps the biggest name from the off-season new head-coach sweepstakes this week, naming Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp as heir apparent to Head Coach Mack Brown, who is in his 11th season in Austin but is still just 57 years old. Longhorn brass isn't looking to push Brown out the door, but you know the whispering will start at the first 8-4 season. ... Disney's(DIS Quote) ESPN division has finalized a four-year agreement to begin broadcasting BCS bowl games, including the championship, starting in January 2011. News Corp.'s(NWS Quote) Fox unit, which broadcasts the games now except for the Rose Bowl, decided to not match the bidding of the World Wide Leader. Despite some success this season with its Saturday night broadcasts on ABC, the bowl games, including the title contest, will be shown on ESPN. ... Even with the recent series domination by Ohio State, it's hard to remember when the Buckeyes' season-ender vs. Michigan has meant so little. The Wolverines (3-8) are struggling to rebuild under first-year Coach Rich Rodriguez, but the fact that Ohio State is favored by three touchdowns, with Michigan an underdog for the fourth year in a row, only highlights the recent performance gap between these two ancient rivals. ... No. 14 Ball State (11-0) held on for a thrilling, snowswept, 31-24 victory over MAC rival Central Michigan Wednesday night. Strong-armed Quarterback Nate Davis threw four TD passes and Miquale Lewis rushed for 169 yards.