Rival Claims

Grassroots Movement
During last year's Southern Methodist-Texas Christian game in Fort Worth, the visiting Mustang marching band strode onto the field for its halftime performance surreptitiously toting ryegrass seed. (Some ryegrass is perennial, while Bermuda grass, the playing surface at TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium, is an annual that goes dormant each winter.) When the band members formed the school's insignia, they dropped the seeds. A few months later a bold M was emblazoned on the Horned Frogs' home turf.

Gaining Steam
Four of the last five games between Georgia and Georgia Tech have been decided by three points or fewer.

Losing Steam
UCLA-USC, which was once one of the most glamorous games on the calendar, nearly wasn't televised last Saturday. Fox Sports Net 2 decided four days before the matchup to air the game between the 6-4 Bruins and the 4-6 Trojans.