FanHouse Associated Press

This is a good week for LSU coach Les Miles. He's certainly basking in LSU's BCS National Championship. He's miraculously not at beloved alma mater Michigan while they endure bad press for questionable academic practices within the athletic department.

And he got a big raise.

So big, in fact, that it makes him the highest-paid coach in the SEC by $1,000 over rival and former LSU coach Nick Saban.

Saban, who is guaranteed $3.75 million, was the SEC's highest-paid coach. Miles' new contract states he will be paid no less than the highest-paid coach at a public university in the conference, plus $1,000.

Sometimes in the SEC there's no need to be sneaky when it feels so good to be obvious. This is one bold, blunt example. I guess it pays to not be able to pronounce the word Arkansas so long as you are holding that glass football.

Side note for LSU fans: that's an AP National Championship Trophy in the picture. USC won one in 2004, you won one in 2008. Just so you know that we know that your coach knows it counts. That is all.

Wow.

The Associated Press said Thursday that lower-division schools - that means you, [Appalachian State] Mountaineers - are now eligible for its 71-year-old poll. [snip]

Several AP voters expressed interest in putting Appalachian State on their ballots after a shocking 34-32 upset at then-No. 5 Michigan last weekend. But the poll guidelines, which mirrored the coaches' rankings conducted by USA Today, limited eligibility to teams competing in the former NCAA Division I-A, now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Any such appearance from lower-division teams will be rare, but at least the pre-eminent poll has allowed all comers to be eligible. So long as there's cross-pollination between divisions, I say why not.

The AP decided to make the change because schools that show they can compete with big-time teams on the field should have a chance to be recognized with them in the top 25, Sports Editor Terry Taylor said.

"Why not? The poll was always intended to measure teams that compete against each other, regardless of division, based solely on on-field performance," she said. "It was that way long before Division I was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978."

I wouldn't have voted for Appalachian State after last weekend, but this affords voters the right to follow the dictates of their conscience. Bravo, AP! Unlike the NCAA, the AP as an organization has shown 1)a conscience and 2)flexibility.

No surprise, USC is #1 to start the season. I consider the AP poll a bit more reliable than the USA Today/Coaches poll, so it's interesting to see Florida dropped from third in the coaches to sixth with the press. Everything else is fairly similar. This is the preseason we're talking about, remember.

Teams who finished the 2006 season unranked but earned mention in this year's first poll: #14 UCLA, #19 Florida State, #20 Nebraska, #23 Hawaii and #25 Texas A&M.

Last five in? Arkansas (last year's SEC runner-up), TCU, Hawaii, Boise State (last year's WAC champs) and Texas A&M.

Almost made the cut: Missouri, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Oregon, South Carolina.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Top 10 reproduced below.