Longtime ESPN personality Beano Cook, speaking Tuesday morning on Seattle's 950 KJR-AM, predicted a USF-Penn State national championship game. It's just a passing reference -- you can fast-forward to about the 18-minute mark in the link for the "Mitch in the Morning" show if you want to hear it -- but here's the transcript:

Cook: "If I had to pick two teams right now to play for the national title, if I had to pick two, it'd be Penn State to play South Florida."

Host: "South Florida? How? Oh, you said South Florida. Well, who would you root for, Beano? Would you pull for the bully, Penn State and Joe Paterno?"

Cook: "South Florida, I'm a Big East fan. We're in the worst conference, I would root for them."

Host: "You think the South Florida Bulls are going to run it."

Cook: "Well, why, yeah. You're asking me. I thought USC was going to run it. Sports Illustrated thought Georgia would play for the national title."

Host: "Well, they've got No. 24 Connecticut at home, a game at West Virginia. They've got Pittsburgh coming up this weekend, they've got Syracuse -- that will be a win. At Louisville, Louisville's down. Oh, boy."

Cook: "Look, look, look. We have to have a plus-one ... (conversation moves to need for playoff)."

USF coach Jim Leavitt doesn't want to look ahead at all, for obvious reasons, but it seems that the pundits are certainly already looking to January and how things might shake out. There was similar conjecture last year when the Bulls opened 6-0, and the debate was somewhat moot when USF lost three in a row to fall out of the polls entirely, falling out of contention for even a conference title.

But would an undefeated USF team, as Big East champ, earn a spot in the national championship game, or would they be bumped out by a one-loss champ from the SEC or the Big 12? ESPN analyst Craig James, who will work Thursday's game against Pittsburgh and has a ballot in the AP top 25, said he believes his fellow voters might leave the Bulls on the outside.

"I believe the voters would choose a once-beaten SEC or Big 12 champ over an undefeated Big East team," James said Tuesday. "I've been a big supporter of the Big East, but that's what I think the vibe of college football is right now. You've got to face competition."

James said he's the opposite of analyst Doug Flutie, who he called "the ultimate little man with a chip on his shoulder, believing if you go undefeated, you deserve to play for the title no matter who you are. That's baloney."

James, who said he does not think an undefeated BYU team would make the BCS title game, said a Thursday game like this week's against Pittsburgh is crucial for USF because it's the only game in college football, forcing voters and fans to stop and give them a long look.

"South Florida is a really good team, but their perception is just not there yet, not with people in the Big Ten or the Pac-10," he said.