Remember freshman year, when you worked so hard on putting together your first semesters' class schedule, only to find that you'd totally screwed up? Dude, why did you sign up for all those 7 a.m. classes? And who convinced you that taking Russian was a good idea?

For four years (or more), you tweaked the formula and massaged the system until finally, by senior year, you'd hit that perfect mix of Monday/Wednesday/Friday vs. Tuesday/Thursday, allowing time in the mornings to sleep off long nights and time in the afternoon to play pickup hoops. Or PlayStation.

When it comes to scheduling in the College Football Playoff era, coaches and athletic directors are still stuck in freshman year. And at the end of each semester -- in other words, right about now -- the ideas that worked and didn't work have become acutely apparent.

Hey, Ohio State, how's that "We'll show them when Michigan State gets here" plan working out? Hey Big 12, how's that "Just schedule all the games in the final three weekends" working out? Hey, Pac-12, how's that "We'll play nine conference games, that'll show 'em" plan working out? Hey, North Carolina, how's that "Go on and schedule two FCS teams, no one will notice" plan working out? Hey SEC, how's it working out scheduling any FCS teams at all?

"I think everyone is still figuring this out," confesses ACC commissioner John Swofford. "There's probably a formula to it, there will be a formula to it, but it will take some time to figure out what that is. And it won't be the same for everyone."

Swofford knows of what he speaks, having been in the middle of scheduling decisions as athletic director at North Carolina from 1980-97. During that time the Tar Heels tried soft non-conference schedules with the hope of producing wins, shifted to brutal non-conference schedules to respond to criticism, only to see their win totals sag, and then softened it back up.

It took the SEC a minute to sort out the best path for BCS success, but eventually those teams hit it big by scheduling marquee non-conference games over the opening weekends, pausing a minute before entering the meat of the SEC calendar and then scheduling a homecoming cupcake just prior to Rivalry Weekend. It was the perfect mixture of high-profile games, garnished with should-be easy wins. The end result was 11 BCS title game appearances and nine national championships, including seven in a row.

Is that the way to go now? No one knows. The playoff selection committee sample size is too small. But last year's inaugural polls and this year's first three rankings have taught us this:

In the committee's eyes, strength of schedule is king.

You need to make a statement early.

Early bad losses can be forgiven if the improvement is vast.

You also need to make a statement on conference championship weekend, the only time that the committee actually watches games together.

The committee, consciously or not, appears to fire warning shots regarding all of the above.

So, where is this all headed? That's not entirely clear, but there are certainly signs that the tectonic plates are beginning to shift. Just last week, right after the Pac-12 appeared to have played itself out of the playoff, a public debate began about the merits of eight versus nine conference games. Baylor head coach Art Briles, even after Saturday's big win over Oklahoma State, was stuck Sunday politely defending a schedule that seemingly includes every small school in Texas named after a Texan that isn't in a Power 5 conference. And you saw Nick Saban's rant about playing FCS teams, right? (More on that later.)

Wherever it's headed, the scheduling conundrum might be pushed into overdrive two weeks from today, when the College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled. When someone comes away feeling jobbed -- and we're guaranteed to have that happen this time around -- there could be major moves made in a short period of time. Like what, you ask?

Like that dreamy idea of Bret Bielema's Big Ten/SEC challenge, a la basketball. I love that. I feel confident that my employer would promote that only slightly less than we do the playoff itself. In fact, a similar plan between the Pac-12 and Big 12 would solve a lot of problems for both of those conferences. It would be an instant boost in strength of schedule, provide in-the-spotlight early matchups, and if the Pac-12 ever wanted to reduce its conference calendar (by the way, I don't want them to), that's the perfect replacement.

Or how about the Power 5 schools replacing their FCS games with contests against Group of Five schools? I like FCS schools playing up because it helps them build their programs, but they can also play Group of Fives and still get paid.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame and BYU need to petition for a 13th game or schedule midseason byes so that they can play a de facto independent title game on the weekend of the conference championships. That would keep them front and center for the committee on the big day -- and also hold them over until they inevitably join a conference sometime down the road.

This all needs to happen. Most of it will probably happen. Exactly what and when and where is still up in the air. I'm betting not for long.

But for now, before we start flipping schedules, let's get on with Flipping the Field.

Let's get in the right frame of mind...

Christian McCaffrey's 389 all-purpose yards led Stanford to another "Big Game" victory and a berth in the Pac-12 title game. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

After such a field-flipping week, watch this 49-yard TD catch and dash from Stanford's Christian McCaffrey to get ready for what's ahead. It was just one big chunk of his school-record 389 all-purpose yards against Cal, his fourth 300-plus yard game this season, which is twice as many as any other FBS player. On my old Sega Genesis, this play would have been left arrow+A+right arrow+C+right+left+right+B+right+B+A+A+A=TD.

"We're going streaking!"

Alabama running back Derrick Henry scored a pair of touchdowns against Charleston Southern. He's now scored at least one rushing TD in 16 straight games. Meanwhile, his team reached 10 wins for the eighth straight season. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, that's tied for the third longest streak in FBS football since 1937, topped only by Texas's run of nine years (2001-09) and Florida State's incredible streak of 14 (1987-2000). The other two who also reached eight? Miami (1985-92) and Virginia Tech (2004-11).

Josh Rosen hasn't thrown a pick in 218 passes -- and has a shot to get the Bruins to the Pac-12 title game. AP Photo/Kim Raff

Other notable streaks: Iowa has started with 11 straight wins for the first time in school history. Clemson has won 14 straight, the program's second-longest run of wins and one shy of the mark set by the 1947-49 Tigers teams. Florida State has won 21 straight home games. UCLA QB Josh Rosen has now thrown 218 passes without an INT, snapping the Bruins' team record of 199 by Drew Olson.

"Get in the car, Frank!"

Among the many winning streaks that ended on Saturday was Ohio State's 23 straight victories, the second-longest in school history. Also ended was Urban Meyer's career-long streak of his teams producing at least 200 yards of total offense in a game, from Bowling Green to Utah to Florida to OSU. The Buckeyes managed just 132 yards of offense against Michigan State, the lowest for a Meyer-coached team since the Gators squeezed out only 206 at LSU in 2005. Running back Ezekiel Elliott also had his streak of 100-yard rushing games ended at 15. He wasn't happy about that. You might have heard. If not, just ask him.

Other streaks snapped: South Carolina's stunning defeat by The Citadel was the Gamecocks' first loss to an FCS team in 25 years when they lost to The Citadel. As for the Bulldogs, they snapped a 0-for-27 losing streak to FBS opponents. Baylor's win at Oklahoma State not only snapped the Cowboys' 12-game winning streak, it also snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Bears in Stillwater, a drought that dates back to 1939.

Give me a K!

As in Kosovo. U.S. Army Major Brian Dodd loves to tweet about his love for NC State from his current assignment there. He has draped Wolfpack flags from mountains and tanks and during Saturday's 42-29 over Syracuse, Dodd said hello from his "tailgate" 5,000 miles east of Raleigh via Twitter. During the game itself, his wife and kids got to see Dodd on the big screen at Carter-Finley Stadium.

What's in a name?

Did you catch the name of the freshman fullback for FAU as the Owls pushed Florida into overtime? Kal-El Williams. Some people don't care for Cam Newton's Superman TD celebration. But if this dude ever wants to do it, he can go right ahead. (All you fellow nerds know what I'm talking about.)

What's in a name? Part 2.

Michigan defensive end Taco Charlton recorded three tackles for a loss and a pair of sacks against Penn State on Saturday. As awesome as his name is, his Twitter handle, @TheSupremeTaco, is even better.

Who doesn't love, love?

I do. And so does Clemson lineman Daniel Stone, who took a knee on Senior Day in Death Valley, not to listen to another Dabo Swinney speech, but to propose to his girlfriend in front of his parents and TV cameras and ended up on more than a few Twitter accounts, including our own. Thankfully she said yes. I wonder if her wedding dress will be orange and/or purple?

The duo of Deshaun and Dabo has been underrated this season. AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt

Dabo dance break!

Speaking of this year's dancing-est head coach, did you know that Paul Finebaum can do Swinney's favorite move, the Dab? He can. Well, sort of.

This is an acceptably insane emotional response toward a referee.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh expressed his displeasure over a pass interference ruling from a Big Ten officiating crew by ripping off his puffy jacket, extending his arms and screaming a la Michael Jackson in the "Bad" video. See for yourself here.

This is not an acceptably insane emotional response toward a referee.

Wisconsin fans expressed their displeasure over a pair of overturned calls by pelting the crew with snowballs as they left the field. C'mon, Badgers backers, bad call or not, you're better than that.

Tyler O'Connor (left) and Damion Terry celebrate their unlikely upset of Ohio State. Greg Bartram/USA TODAY Sports

The Frank Reich Backup QB of the Week Award: Tyler O'Connor, Michigan State

When venerable starter Connor Cook was a late scratch, O'Connor and Damion Terry split duties, leading an offense that shifted gears into an option attack. They completed just one pass in the second half. Terry ended up dinged and it was O'Connor who marched the Spartans through grinder scoring drives of 75 and 25 yards in the fourth quarter.

The Shane Falco Great Off The Bench But Still Lost Award: Bram Kohlhausen, TCU

With former Heisman hopeful Trevone Boykin hurt, the Horned Frogs started freshman Foster Sawyer, who held down the fort early, but eventually gave way to Kohlhausen. The senior led an unlikely TCU comeback, from down 23-7 and then 30-13, to lose by one point at the end of the game on a failed two-point conversion.

The Comeback Of The Week Award (also named for Frank Reich): Kansas State

The Fightin' Bill Snyders trailed Iowa State 21-7 midway through the second quarter, 35-14 at the half, entered the fourth quarter down 35-21 and trailed by a touchdown with 1:23 remaining. They won 38-35. Wait...what? How? Iowa State fumbled the ball away not once, not twice but three times over the final seven minutes, the final via a huge sack by Marquel Bryant, and the Wildcats scored 17 points in the final quarter and 10 points in the final 42 seconds. The following day, Cyclones head coach Paul Rhoads was fired.

Gronk!

Speaking of K-State, the littlest Gronkowksi brother, Glenn (who's not exactly little), went all Tebow on this TD pass. Yes, I said pass. And yes, there's a Gronk at Kansas State. You should already know this because you should have already read my story on him back in August. You didn't see it? That's cool. Here it is.

BOGO?

There were two banners flying over whatever they call Joe Robbie Stadium these days: one questioning the sanity of hiring Alabama assistant Mario Cristobal and another demanding the hiring of former Canes' head coach Butch Davis. You can see them here. I guess if you spent all season buying "Fire Al Golden" airplane banners, they'll give you a sweet two-for-one deal at year's end.

The Tommy West Best News Conference Of The Week Award: Les Miles, LSU

After the Tigers' first three-game losing streak in 16 years and amid increasingly loud chatter that he might be shown the door (raise your hand if you stupidly retweeted the fake Brett McMurphy account saying Miles already had been fired, because I did, too), the Mad Hatter addressed all of the above Saturday night: "I have not taken in those reports. I'm so busy doing my job that that's secondary in my nature. Eleven years ago, I showed up here and we won our first game at Arizona State and lost our second game and I knew we were soon to be fired. And so what I've always done, and its strength and weakness, I put my head down and I go to work and I try to do the best things. And if I can get that done, we'd have success. And if I don't, you guys will all be writing a bunch of other stuff."

Nick Saban isn't going to let the Tide overlook anyone. Getty Images

The Tommy West Best News Conferece Of The Last Week Award: Nick Saban, Alabama

As it turns out, the Tide was the only SEC team that didn't struggle with an FCS (or recent FCS) opponent over the weekend. But Saban's rant from last week's media meeting about teams playing those games is still fresh in our minds. As fresh as the manure he talked about pushing a tin horn. Be honest, how many of you had to Google "tin horn"? And then how many of you read the original General George Patton speech that term came from, and then wanted to leave your cubicle and go attack some Nazis?

The guy you should know about but probably don't: Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington

So, your program lost its all-time greatest quarterback to Oregon? No sweat. Kupp might be missing Vernon Adams Jr., but he hasn't missed a step. The son of former NFL lineman Jake Kupp hauled in eight catches for 136 yards and a TD during a big FCS showdown, and ultimately a 34-31 loss to Portland State (the same Portland State that beat Washington State). That brings his season totals to 114 receptions, 1,642 yards and 19 TDs. In three seasons, he has 321 catches and 56 touchdowns. Compare that to FCS legend Jerry Rice, who had 50 TDs in four seasons and never caught more than 103 catches in a season. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior was gushed over by Oregon defensive coaches in the days leading up the Ducks' season opener with EWU, and he responded with 15 catches, 246 yards and three scores. Now he's considering an early move to the NFL. Props to Scott Sandsberry of the Yakima Herald-Republic for putting Kupp back on my radar...and now back on yours.

Another guy you should know about but probably don't: Tajae Sharpe, WR, UMass

Anyone who reads my Bottom 10 rankings (and thanks if you do) knows that the Minutemen have unfortunately been a regular member of the club. But it's not this guy's fault. He has 105 catches and averages 9.5 grabs per game, tops in FBS. His 1,181 receiving yards and 107.4 yards per game both rank No. 8 in the nation. He's already the school's all-time leader in everything and at 6-foot-3, 188 pounds, the senior is starting to catch the eye of pro scouts.

The guy(s) you used to know about but forgot about but you should know about again: Jalen Hurd and Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee

The firm of Hurd and Dobbs received a ton of preseason hype when Tennessee was being touted as a darkhorse candidate to win the SEC East. When the Vols suffered a pile of blown-lead losses, their stars fell off the national radar. But UT has won five of its past six and that one loss was a super-close effort at Alabama. During that stretch, Dobbs has thrown for 1,196 yards and rushed for 280, while Hurd has rushed for 546. And they both gain their yards the hard way, seen via this 8-yard bumper-pool keeper from Hurd during Tennessee's 19-8 win at Missouri.

The team you should know about but probably don't: South Florida

Not so long ago the Bulls were in total disarray. In 2012, they were 3-9. In 2013, they were 2-10. In 2014, they went 4-8, their only wins coming against FCS Western Carolina, UConn, Tulsa and SMU, all members of the Bottom 10. They started this season 1-3, but on Friday night they routed Cincinnati, 65-27, their third consecutive upset victory, to bring their record to 7-4 with a game versus winless UCF upcoming. So a tip of the cap to head coach Willie Taggart, now in his third year. In a related note, every time I write anything about that guy I involuntarily shout "How 'bout some more beans, Mr. Taggart?!"

The game(s) you should be psyched for but probably aren't: Who are we kidding? This is freakin' Rivalry Week.

So long, Frank. Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports

Extra Point: #ThanksFrank. Everyone continues to tell their favorite Frank Beamer stories. So here is mine. My father was a longtime football official in both the Big East and the ACC, so he worked a ton of Virginia Tech games. Some were big VT wins. Some were big VT losses. My dad's final game was the 2009 BCS title game, Florida vs. Oklahoma, held in Miami and hosted by the Orange Bowl. The week before that game, Beamer's Hokies were in the Orange Bowl to face Cincinnati. At the team dinner, Beamer was making small talk with the bowl officials and asked what conference would be supplying the refs for the title. When he was told it was the ACC, he replied, "That's Jerry McGee's last game!" and sent the equipment manager to go get a football. The coach passed that ball around the team and the staff and had them inscribe their best wishes. He handed the ball to the Orange Bowl staff and asked them to present to my dad when they saw him the next week. They did, also at a dinner, and Pops was taken aback. Now that football is on display in his office. And last week when I chatted with Beamer about his final home game, he immediately greeted me with, "How's your dad?" Class act, that coach. So, yeah, #ThanksFrank, indeed.