1. There's an art to knowing how to coach a team that begins at the front of the pack, and TCU head coach Gary Patterson knows how to do it. That's important because the Horned Frogs begin the season ranked second. They are 19-1 as a top-five team under Patterson; 30-3 in the top 10. The last two times that TCU won its league preseason poll (2009-10 in the Mountain West), the Horned Frogs blew through the regular season undefeated. TCU, which opens at Minnesota, is the Big 12 preseason pick.
2. Duke corner Bryon Fields tore an ACL on Tuesday and is done for the year. The Blue Devils will miss the junior who started every game last season and played in every game as a true freshman on the division-winning team in 2013. That said, the secondary is the strongest part of the Blue Devil defense. Sophomores Alonzo Saxton and Zach Muniz played a lot a year ago. You heard me -- David Cutcliffe, in his eighth season, has developed the depth that good programs develop. At Duke.
3. The Pac-12 is celebrating its centennial this season and is picking an All-Century team. Make that, people like me are picking for the All-Century team. I got halfway through the first page the Survey Monkey sent me before I was flummoxed. How do you pick only 10 quarterbacks? Here were my first four: 1. Matt Leinart. 2. Pat Haden 3. Andrew Luck 4. John Elway. And then I froze. God forbid when I get to the running backs.