I'm baaaaack...

Did you think I'd forgotten you? Never.

I have just returned from Chile...I was able to catch one half of the Notre Dame - Boston College game and one half of the Alabama game while abroad. Unfortunately, I had been a bit overserved, so I don't remember much except the shouting at the 40 Irish fans in the bar.

See there's this thing called the Terremoto in Chile. It's a troubling drink -- a scoop of pineapple ice cream, a 16-ounce Solo cup of white wine topped with some Fernet. So those are the main reason I am a little fuzzy on the details.

But I will say this: of what I remember, it was a hideously ugly game, and since Notre Dame won and BC had 5 turnovers, I almost feel glad I missed the majority of it.

Anyway, here's where we stand in Week 9.

There are a surprising number of undefeated teams, including Iowa, Cincinnati and Texas Christian. I'm not as surprised by the other teams, like Alabama and Florida, or even Boise State. But Iowa, from what I hear, is expected to hang in there and be ranked near #1 for the rest of the season. I have a feeling Cincinnati will be beaten by West Virginia or Pitt or someone, and Texas Christian? I have to tell you the Horned Frogs don't really register for me.

Looking at their schedule, there are wins over Clemson (embarrassing, BC!) and Virginia (embarrassing that they're even in the ACC). But other than that and the win over BYU, I'm not too impressed.

Which brings me to a question: does an undefeated season matter if there aren't many worthy opponents? Boise State is a perfect example. They've complained for years that they don't get any respect because they have 10- or 12-win seasons every year and until recently weren't ranked highly. And yes, they're pretty good, but their talents aren't tested very often.

This year the pollsters and coaches and AP writers seem to be paying more attention than ever to lower-level teams. But I think that 9 times out of 10, Florida or Alabama are going to beat the ever-living shit of TCU and Cincinnati.

Anyway, these are my thoughts.