We were all anticipating the BCS Standings and it seems like every top team keeps getting upset. What’s going on?
That’s the million-dollar question. Those good, traditional powerhouse teams are going down hard and there are others that aren’t even in the Top 15 or 20. What can you attribute it to? Maybe some of these universities think they’ll get the top recruits and some of the smaller schools are scooping up more talented kids.

Are more recruits now willing to go to a school that doesn’t have the reputation as a football powerhouse simply because they’ll have the chance to play as freshmen?
That could easily be the case. They want the opportunity now. And if that means they have a chance to turn around a whole program, maybe they take that chance. But then again, when you talk about recruiting, these companies rate high school kids and that process itself is overrated. We project that a team will be great because of this awesome recruiting class and then, when it comes down to it, kids are kids and they don’t live up to what we label them.

How did your 1976 Pitt team handle the pressure of being one of the top teams in the country?
Since we came in as freshmen, we vowed that we were going to be part of something special. We didn’t have any haters on that team. We were pulling for one another. We lost two quarterbacks and overcame all kinds of obstacles.

How do you avoid the big upsets like when Stanford upset USC?
That’s all about coaching. I mean, they drilled it into our heads that the each game was the most important one on the schedule. It’s easy to get caught up in you own hype. But those other teams have guys on scholarship just like you do.

What are your feelings on the Bowl Championship Series? With the rankings jumping around, do you have confidence in the right teams playing in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game?
I don’t think it’s 100 percent right every year. But at the same time, how could it be? The teams that are left out will never think it’s fair. I’m a guy that agrees that a playoff could be the best way to go, because it just doesn’t work out every year. A few years ago, Auburn was undefeated in a very tough SEC and didn’t get a chance. We’re banking on two undefeated teams surviving. And, when that doesn’t happen, there will be some arguments. There always have been arguments.

As a former Heisman winner you get a vote each year. What’s your criteria? What makes you think, “Wow, there’s a guy that deserves the trophy”?
Statistics play a big part in it. You need to put up the numbers. But, really, how much does a player mean to his team? His team, in my opinion, does not have to win a National Championship. He doesn’t even have to be in the Top 10. But it needs to be a case that his team couldn’t function without him. He makes them tick.

Put us in your shoes in your Heisman year. Was there this much hype? Did you feel pressure to have a Heisman-caliber performance every week?
It’s all relevant. We didn’t have so many media outlets. We had like four candidates at the beginning of the year and Ricky Bell, who was probably the frontrunner, got hurt. I put up the numbers and stayed healthy and my team was undefeated. But, you know, sometimes it’s about more than numbers. The year before, I out-rushed Archie Griffin, and he ended up winning the Heisman.

Still a little bitter. huh?
Oh no, I won’t go there.

We asked Reggie Bush when he was at USC how much fun he was having and he was pretty modest. Can you level with us? Despite all the pressure—all the parties, the girls, being on campus—is it as cool as us regular guys imagine?
Oh, I promise you, it’s better than you can even imagine. I enjoyed every bit of it—no doubt. Four years of building a football program. Being a part of that student body and feeling them behind you. Feeling appreciated. Aww, man. We all loved it. It was off the chains.

Even as an NFL Hall-of-Famer, was college the most fun for you?
There’s no doubt about it. There wasn’t that same kind of pressure. It was pure fun. And that’s hard to come by.

The Allstate BCS National Championship Game will be held January 7, 2008, at the Louisiana Superdome at 7 p.m.