Carroll was less enthusiastic about Barkley after an interception in passing shells: "(Barkley) had a rough time in the 7-on-7 (pass drills).'' Pete consoled himself by smoking reporters in a foot race to his office, where he spent the rest of the day starting a ghost story blog with defensive coordinator Rocky Seto and Tweeting Jimmy Fallon about Will Ferrell.

• Instant impact. Neither Bryce Brown nor David Oku is on campus yet, but both of Tennessee's post-signing day recruiting coups are making their presence felt in the Vol backfield this spring: Lennon Creer, a highly touted recruit his own self two years ago, saw the writing on the wall and will "go in a different direction" rather than battle with the incoming freshmen. There may be more to the decision than potential playing time -- as Creer was one of the brighter spots in last year's backfield rotation at 5.3 yards per carry, he'd seem to have more than a fighting chance at at least maintaining his share of the work -- but until Brown and Oku arrive, UT will be alarmingly thin: Of the three backs remaining on the spring roster, only Montario Hardesty figures to get any significant carries in the fall.

In other notable transfer news: Jason Hannan, Rivals' top-ranked center recruit in 2007, has decided to leave Oklahoma for parts unknown; and UCLA quarterback Chris Forcier -- who, apparently lost in the Bruins' QB shuffle, announced he would transfer at the start of the week and was reportedly looking at Ball State and Purdue -- will return to UCLA, after all, and give wide receiver a try.

• Why hello, NRA. Would you like some cookies to go with your mounting rage? There must be more to the story than this, there must be. But for the time being, it appears backup Northwestern guard Jeff Radek was kicked off the team for possessing a BB gun. This isn't even a university issue -- it's ... municipal:

Evanston Police arrested Weinberg freshman Jeffrey W. Radek of Bobb Hall, 2305 Sheridan Road, on Monday for having a BB gun, authorities said.

The city of Evanston prohibits the possession of any "air rifle," which includes BB guns, air guns, spring guns and pellet guns, Evanston Police Department Cmdr. Tom Guenther said.

Somebody called police when they saw Radek with the gun, Guenther said.

For comment, we turn to Evanston's favorite son and Northwestern's most famous alum, standing by:

Oh. Never mind then.

Quickly ... Diminutive early enrollee Vincent Smith is popping eyes at Michigan practices. Another early enrollee, Tate Forcier, some more things. ... Getting to the bottom of the Nick Saban-Bobby Massie rumor carousel. ... Florida is ready for its championship rings, even ex-blue chip defensive tackle Omar Hunter, who needs a big spring after failing to step on the field last year. ... The battle to replace LeSean McCoy as Pitt's No. 1 tailback will carry over into the season. ... Why is Texas asking its right-footed punter to kick left-footed? ... Are South Carolina's offensive linemen afraid to block Eric Norwood? ... Oklahoma State is looking for dividends from Richetti Jones and Terrence Anderson, two seniors who haven't lived up to epectations. ... Barry Alvarez continues his tour of old haunts by stumping for his mentor, Bob Devaney. ... At least someone in Starkville bleeds maroon (though Mark Hudspeth might want to get that checked). ... Southern Miss will hold races for the student body at halftime of its spring game. ... Steve Sarkisian turned over his Twitter feed Thursday to an assistant for a sort of play-by-play of Washington's scrimmage, complete with awful pictures. ... Once again, Ron Zook is breaking news -- from the practice field? ... And do you love football?? Tim Brewster sure does!! I'm signing with the Gophers!!!!!

Of the “pre-preseason” top 25s that have been issued in the past couple months, there seems to be a consensus that the Florida Gators, who lose Percy Harvin going into '09 but retain nearly everyone else of note, will once again be the team to beat; Texas and Oklahoma are also expected to return as powerhouses. Below that, though, the selections range from the brave to the downright silly. Among the most inexplicable:

•Tony Barnhart (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) was the first out of the gate, throwing up a top 25 literally the same night as the BCS National Championship Game, and it shows. Barnhart has Alabama in the top five despite the fact that they lose their starting QB (and were less than a week removed from getting punked by Utah), Oklahoma State at #7, Florida State at #12, and Vanderbilt at #25. I realize you're an SEC guy, but jeez, Tony. He also provided an object lesson in the dangers of sticking your neck out too early by putting Pittsburgh at #10 based on “running back LeSean McCoy and seven starters on defense coming back”; McCoy declared for the NFL draft less than a week later.

•Dennis Dodd (CBS Sports) shared Barnhart's optimism for Alabama (#4) and pumped Kansas at #14, saying “any team with quarterback Todd Reesing is capable of anything.” Anything except for winning the Big 12 North, evidently.

•Matt Hayes (The Sporting News) will see your Notre Dame optimism and raise you: He's got the Irish at #11 based on “the confidence QB Jimmy Clausen gained from his play at Hawaii.” Yes, there's nothing like beating up on the nation's 88th-ranked pass-efficiency defense in a bowl game to mold a player into a leader. Hayes also has Ole Miss at #5 and Auburn at #24, which would make him one of exactly four people in the country who think Auburn will be better with Gene Chizik than they were with Tommy Tuberville (and the other three are Gene Chizik, Jay Jacobs, and Jay Gogue).

•Stewart Mandel (SI.com), like Hayes, has Ole Miss at #5, and like Barnhart he gets burned by early personnel assumptions gone wrong: He puts Oklahoma State at #6, explaining that “nearly every key player is back” on the Cowboy offense, but three of OSU's top four receivers left the program for one reason or another within a month of Mandel posting his list. He's also got Florida State at #18.

•Jon Wilner (San Jose Mercury News) says he updated his list on January 21, which makes one wonder what his original rankings looked like. He's got Florida State at #7 and Oklahoma State at #6, saying he actually dropped the Cowboys because he's “now counting [the Oklahoma game] as a loss for OSU.” The Sooners, last seen piling 61 points on the Cowboys, are grateful for your generosity, sir. Wilner also thinks Pitt and West Virginia will be better without LeSean McCoy and Pat White, respectively — he's got both in his top 25 despite the fact that neither team cracked the final coaches' poll of 2008.

•College Football News is buying into the ACC big-time in '09: They've got North Carolina at #9, Georgia Tech at #11, and Clemson at #15. And based on their color-coding system, CFN thinks Miami “should be worse” than they were last year, yet they've still got the Hurricanes, 7-6 and unranked at the end of 2008, at #19 on their list. Strangely, the one ACC team to get downgraded relative to last season is the defending conference champions — Virginia Tech winds up just one slot ahead of the 'Canes.

•Mark Schlabach (ESPN.com) has also revised an earlier list, but he's still got Alabama at #4 despite openly conceding what huge losses John Parker Wilson and Andre Smith will be; he's also got Notre Dame at #22.

- - -
Doug Gillet is the proprietor of Hey Jenny Slater and a regular contributor to Dr. Saturday.

Here's a run-down of potential players to welcome to the Trojan family:

5-star offensive lineman Andre Smith - Supposively gave word to hometown favorite Alabama months ago, but he could be a signing day surprise. COMMITTED TO ALABAMA.

5-star defensive tackle Gerald McCoy - This Oklahoma native would be a huge steal from Stoops. COMMITTED TO OKLAHOMA.

5-star running back C.J. Spiller - A country boy from Florida. Can he and his family make the adjustment to big city living? Pete Carroll certainly made an impression on his mom. He could become the 2nd C.J. of the Trojans' 2006 recruiting class. COMMITTED TO CLEMSON.

5-star running back Stafon Johnson - Straight out of Dorsey. This kid should be a lock to stay in LA. COMMITTED TO USC.

5-star offensive lineman Stephen Schilling - USC has a better chance at this guy then Andre Smith. Although the Trojans would like both after losing underclassmen Winston Justice and Fred Matua. COMMITTED TO MICHIGAN.

4-star running back Michael Goodson - This kid has Reggie Bush-like moves as evidenced in the Army All-American game. COMMITTED TO TEXAS A&M.

4-star running back LeSean McCoy - Likely to remain home and attend Penn State, but he's still on the Trojans' radar since the Trojans' backfield will be playing on Sundays next season.COMMITTED TO MIAMI.

4-star linebacker Michael Morgan - There's nothing like stealing top talent out of Texas. See Emmanuel Moody. COMMITTED TO USC.

4-star defensive back Devin Ross - Supposively the Trojans were out of the running, but are now back on the block. COMMITTED TO ARIZONA.

*All rankings based on Rivals.com

Fair warning to everyone because "herrrrrrrrrrrrrre come the Trojans!"

Trojans making a charge in recruiting [FOXSports]

But we know what Pete Carroll thinks of verbal commitments--likening them to engagements--where there's still plenty of time for them to be called off before the wedding.

So Fred Davis, an Ohio statesman that left that state to come to California, played host most of this past weekend to Chris Wells.

"Man, it was all that," laughed Wells in reference to his visit. "...everything was cool, and when we got off the plane, I loved seeing those palm trees ...wow! Then I looked at the airport and thought, 'dang, this is the biggest airport I've seen in my life."

"I'd give the visit a 10. Yeah, it was a 10 out of 10."

USC is a perfect 10 with one flaw [USCFootball.com]

the nation's #1 overall prospect in WR Percy Harvin, the nation's #1 RB LeSean McCoy, and two 4-star Texas boys -- DT Brandon Antwine and LB Michael Morgan.

Don't be afraid to have too good of a time.

2006 Visit Dates [USCFootball.com]