AROUND THE NATION

The game will take a backseat to Bobby Bowden.

It’s been nearly four years since Bowden, the legendary FSU coach, was forced into retirement.

Incoming school president Eric Barron remembers being asked to represent the university at Bowden’s final game, the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 2010.

He had never met Bowden nor experienced an FSU gameday.

“I got a sense of what the Seminole brand is like, not on TV but in a stadium full of people doing the war chant,” Barron said this week.

Barron saw Bowden carried off the field after his 417th and final game as the Seminoles’ coach. Barron decided then that it wouldn’t be the coach’s final moment of glory after 34 years at FSU.

It was Barron who asked Bowden to return for one last sendoff.

Bowden, who turns 84 on Nov. 8, accepted the invitation for Bobby Bowden weekend, which started Friday in Tallahassee and concludes with Bowden planting the spear on the field named in his honor before the kickoff.

Bowden’s departure was messy. Then-president T.K. Wetherell made the decision to elevate coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher and end Bowden’s reign after a third 7-6 season in four seasons. Bowden was angry, and he and Wetherell — an FSU receiver in the 1960s when Bowden was his position coach — have not spoken since.

“I’ve accepted it,” Bowden told Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post. “They did what they had a right to do. I wanted one year (to make it) 35. Plus I thought we had a pretty good ballclub.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: THE ACC

The ACC is getting the respect coaches and players have long sought.

While the ACC has its share of also-rans among its 14 teams, it’s the first time the conference has had three teams in the BCS top 10 since Halloween of 2005 — and it’s the only conference with three.

With Florida State (6-0) at No. 2, Miami (6-0) at No. 7 and Clemson (6-1) at No. 9, the ACC suddenly is a player in the BCS championship picture.

“Everybody in our league represents for each other,” said FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, who has led the Seminoles to 37 victories in 3 1/2 seasons, more wins than any other ACC coach in his first four seasons of coaching. “I think we represent each other well. Right now, we’re the highest-ranked group.

“I think the whole conference — Virginia Tech is playing great football right now — it’s a very good league.”

Fisher is correct, the Hokies are on a roll. Virginia Tech (6-1) is ranked No. 14 and has won six in a row since losing its season opener to No. 1 Alabama 35-10.

It’s why senior quarterback Logan Thomas first enrolled at Virginia Tech.

“I thought when I came in people would talk about the ACC as one of the premier conferences, and the last couple years, (we’ve) kind of lost our luster in their eyes,” Thomas said. “I think this year is starting to show that we still are one of the powerhouse conferences. I think the ACC has restored some power.

“Obviously, we’re still not looked at as the SEC or anything like that, but the way we’ve been playing lately, we’ve been fighting to get back to that type of” stature.

The ACC is 6-6 against the other five conferences with automatic BCS berths, including a 2-2 record against the SEC, with four games remaining in late November. The last time the ACC was better than .500 against the SEC was in 2003. ACC teams also are 34-10 against nonconference opponents, its .773 winning percentage in those games by far its best showing since 1996.

“I just think it’s awesome,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said of the ACC’s resurgence. “That’s one of the things I told our guys. It’s a compliment to them, the kind of consistency they’ve shown. You lose a ballgame and still stay in the top 10. Getting ready to go into November, to have three teams in the BCS top 10, that’s where we want to be.

“It’s good to see our conference step up and be relevant.”

“I have seen it coming,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “I’ve been an SEC guy my whole life. We’ve got some really good football coaches, some really good football programs. Forget teams, just start looking at the programs.”

WORDS WITH … CLEMSON’S COACH AND QUARTERBACK

Clemson (6-1, 4-1 ACC) at Maryland (5-2, 1-2), 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Dabo Swinney and Tajh Boyd spoke to the Associated Press about their 51-14 home loss to Florida State.

Q: How do you put the FSU loss behind you?

Boyd: We kind of look at this as the job and you want to go out there and perform. You've got to be accountable for your actions out there. Whether it's studying more or just performing more, you've got to make sure you get it done.

Q: Did you and your teammates start looking too far ahead when ranked No. 3?

Boyd: Everybody was looking at the big picture instead of just the moment, just the time. We've got to focus on the day at hand.

Q: How do you look at this season now?

Swinney: We're 17-3 in the last 20 games, and those three losses were all painful. But they responded. Last year we probably played our worst game of the year against South Carolina … and for 30 days we had to listen to how bad we were. Well, they responded in the (Chick-fil-A) bowl game (to beat LSU). That's what this football team's personality has been, and I don't expect anything different.

SIX PACK

Wake Forest at No. 7 Miami, noon, ESPNU: Al Golden coaches his first game at Miami (6-0, 2-0 ACC) without an NCAA investigation hanging over his head and knowing that a bowl game lies at season's end. The Demon Deacons (4-3, 2-2) have rallied from a bad start and will try to win a third consecutive game.

No. 10 Texas Tech at No. 15 Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m., Fox: The Red Raiders (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) are 1-6 in Norman against Bob Stoops and are beginning a four-game stretch that will determine the season's success or failure. Oklahoma (6-1, 3-1) needs a victory to stay in the conference title race. Stoops is three victories from passing Barry Switzer on the Oklahoma list for most coaching victories.

No. 6 Stanford at No. 25 Oregon State, 10:30 p.m., ESPN: The Beavers (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) have the nation's No. 1 passing offense (442 yards per game) with freshman Sean Mannion at the controls. Receiver Brandin Cooks averages a FBS-best 11 catches and 168 yards receiving per game. Mannion has thrown for 350 yards or more in seven consecutive games. The Cardinal's past two conference losses were road games to unranked teams.

No. 8 Baylor at Kansas, 7 p.m., ESPNU: The Bears (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) are chasing their school-record 11th consecutive win, breaking a tie with the teams that won 10 in a row in 1936-37. They're seeking their first 7-0 start since 1980 — and the second in school history — while trying to extend their best start in league play since 1985, when they were a member of the old Southwest Conference. The Jayhawks (2-4, 0-3) will try to end a 24-game Big 12 losing streak by giving coach Charlie Weis his first league win.

No. 12 UCLA at No. 3 Oregon, 7 p.m., ESPN: For the next two weeks, the Ducks (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12) get to provide answers, first against the Bruins, then against No. 6 Stanford. UCLA's defense will have to be at its very best to compete with Oregon, second in the nation with 643 yards per game. UCLA (5-1, ,2-1) hasn't beaten Oregon since 2007. Marcus Mariota of Oregon needs 141 rushing yards to set a school record and he hasn't had an interception in 265 passes, dating to last season.

Penn State at No. 4 Ohio State, 8 p.m., ABC: The Buckeyes (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) are 19-0 under Urban Meyer, the nation's longest win streak, something not even Archie Griffin could boast when he was the back-to-back Heisman Trophy winner in the mid-1970s. The Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-1) won the previous time they were in Columbus, 20-14 in 2011.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: STEPHON TUITT

Notre Dame (5-2) at Air Force, 5 p.m., CBS Sports Network

Who: Tuitt is a Notre Dame defensive end from Monroe Area High School. He's 6-foot-6, 322 pounds.

Why: He'll move to nose guard Saturday as a replacement for the injured 357-pound Louis Nix III.

How you may know him: He committed early to Notre Dame, almost switched to Georgia Tech, but then his mother persuaded him to stay with the Fighting Irish.

Little-known fact: Tuitt had sports-hernia surgery in the off season and put on significant weight because he couldn't do some of the exercises he needed to perform to stay in top shape.

What coach Brian Kelly said: It wasn't because he decided to eat Cheetos on the couch and not work out.

What Tuitt said: Right now, I'm better than ever. My game is coming all together.

About his future: He told the school's newspaper a week ago he planned to return for his senior season rather than pursue the NFL, but now said he has not yet decided.