Here are the top 10 things I can't wait to see this fall:

1. The return of -- gasp! -- the forward pass at Notre Dame
The Irish completed less passes than an Aqua Velva-wearing frat rat trying to hit on
Chi O's with the line, "Hey, wanna come upstairs and see how I added 40 gigs to my Dell motherboard?"

The not-so-attractive numbers: In five of its 12 regular season games Notre Dame completed 10 or fewer attempts. . . Only one receiver (Arnaz Battle) recorded more than one 100-yard-plus game. . . Irish QBs barely reached the 50 percent completion rate.

Year Two of Ty-Ball should produce something that resembles a West Coast-ish offense, which is good news for ND's wide receivers, who were beginning to think they played for Nebraska.

2. BCS chaos
Give me an A. Give me an N. Give me. . . oh, forget it. We want a-n-a-r-c-h-y. Upheaval. Controversy. The more, the better. Nothing against the good people at the Fiesta Bowl, who every four years put on the best BCS championship in the business, but sooner or later there's going to be a playoff system. Sooner works for me.

3. Oct. 11. . .Nov. 1. . .Nov. 22
ACC-reject Virginia Tech plays ACC invitees Syracuse in October and Miami and Boston College in November -- all at Va Tech's Lane Stadium. Think the Hokies will be geeked to prove a point?

4. A healthy Maurice Clarett
Look what he did last season with an injured knee and shoulder. Just think if Ohio State gets him without a limp, without a shoulder stinger and with that veteran offensive line of his. Can you say, "Two-peat?"

5. Athletic directors strong enough and smart enough (uh, you can stay seated Mal Moore) to hire black head coaches.
The Division I-A numbers are off-the-charts laughable. Alabama had the absolute perfect opportunity to turn a negative (Mike Price's spring lap dance scrimmage) into a positive (hire Bama family man Sylvester Croom), but chose to play it safe with Mike Shula. Nothing against Shoes, but Croom's hiring would have made a wonderful statement.

6. A brain cramp-free season from Florida State QB Chris Rix
At times last season Rix was 10 of the most disliked players on the FSU roster. But some offseason fence mending in the locker room -- and solid play during spring practices (he was named spring MVP) -- has the team and coaches feeling better about the California lug.

7. Brad Smith
The best player you've sort of seen. Only two players have ever passed for 2,000 yards and rushed for another 1,000. The Mizzou quarterback is one of them. And he'll only be a sophomore.

8. A Joe Paterno smile
Last season we didn't know if he owned a set of teeth. All he did was frown and grouse about Big Ten officiating. But a 9-4 finish, a workable schedule in '03 and a solid team should help JoePa's mood.

9. A happy ending for Jarrett Payton's career at Miami
With Frank Gore back in the lineup, Payton isn't likely to see a lot of playing time at tailback. Payton says he's willing to try another position. Here's hoping it works.

10. Some NCAA common sense
Let me get this straight: A player can pocket the cash from a bowl game plane ticket, but he can't pocket the money if he sells, say, his bowl ring? Someone in Indianapolis needs to understand that the players have just about had it with their place on the D-IA economic food chain. We dare NCAA president Myles Brand to read his Association's rule book -- and understand it.

Gene Wojciechowski is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at gene.wojciechowski@espnmag.com.