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CHAMPAIGN – You wouldn't know it from the continuous mishandling of ousted Chief Illiniwek, but the UI has too many smart folks to let unnecessary conflicts occur ... like what's about to happen Friday night.

Kevin Hambly's Big Ten volleyball leaders play at 7 p.m. against Michigan, the only conference team to defeat them so far. And Bruce Weber's cagers host Lewis in their first exhibition game at the Assembly Hall, also at 7.

Without a conflict, that volleyball match might attract a crowd of 3,000, of which perhaps 90 percent are basketball fans. Many of those fans possess season basketball tickets.

Was it really impossible to move up one of the events two hours, or to start volleyball at 6 and the basketball game at 8? Fans could have walked from one to the other.

Hambly has worked to build fan interest and has an attractive squad with a high national ranking. He could have used a little help from the administration Friday. This makes two volleyball-basketball Fridays in November that weren't handled as well as they should have been.

More rants and more raves ...

– Polls would be more believable if the voters didn't insist on taking past years into consideration. In some cases, this is like a jury that sits down with a preconceived idea of who's guilty before they hear the pleadings. Last year's games, including bowls, should be given no consideration in October voting.

Take Oklahoma as an example. The Sooners reached No. 1 last week, going 6-0 with the help of narrow wins against 2-5 Utah State (31-24), 5-3 Air Force (27-24), 3-4 Cincinnati (31-29) and 4-3 Texas (28-20). Even counting impressive wins against Florida State and Iowa State, what convinced so many "experts" that Oklahoma was the best in the land? We all know. It is the history. And that same history showed that the Sooners had defeated Missouri 19 of 20. But this is a new season, and Missouri remained undefeated, 36-27. But did the Tigers jump to No. 1? No, not even close because they haven't been a traditional power, and they had been ranked too low to jump that high.

Unlike Oklahoma, Gary Pinkel's club reached the showdown in Columbia with only one single-digit scare, 27-24, against 5-2 San Diego State. Maybe Missouri's shortcomings will be exploited Saturday at Nebraska, but the Tigers deserve better on what they've accomplished so far THIS SEASON.

– The Chicago media needs to correct itself in proclaiming Jay Cutler the best Bears quarterback since Sid Luckman. While an inept line and mediocre receivers are partly to blame, Cutler must take the rap for two years of interceptions and an incredible 0 for 28 on third down conversions (finally snapped in Sunday's loss to Washington).

Don't pack your bags to follow the division-leading Bears in the playoffs. They're a long shot in anybody's book regardless of the present standings.

More rants and raves ...

– How can head coaches earning multi-millions have such glaring blank spots in handling punt situations?

First, understand something. When your opponents line up in punt formation, they're trying to give you the football. That's a good thing. Accept it.

But, no. Iowa's much-acclaimed Kirk Ferentz, leading Wisconsin midway in the fourth quarter, rushed two and dropped nine just like the Badgers saw on tape, so punter Brad Nortman ran unhindered straight to midfield. And the Badgers rallied to win, 31-30.

And in Evanston, with Michigan State trailing 24-14 at the quarter turn, Mark Dantonio let punter Aaron Bates fake and throw on fourth and 11. It worked in overtime against Notre Dame and it worked again for 21 clutch yards.

Michigan State avoided two losses and the Badgers one with fakes that worked virtually unchallenged. As Ron Zook learned in a 10-6 loss at Iowa in 2007, the next time somebody wants to kick the ball to you, don't get clever. Just let them.

– Is it just me, or has Notre Dame lost relevance as a football power? The Irish have their own network (NBC), state-of-art facilities, great fandom, a national recruiting base and the best coach money can buy. But they're 20-25 since 2007 and have lost eight of the last 12.

That's a real slump, and there's something about playing the likes of Western Michigan and Tulsa in October and being trampled by Navy that is relegating ND to the media's back pages. Is it second-guessing to say the proud Irish lost out on another grand opportunity to join the Big Ten, which is flourishing without them?

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.