This and that about ACU football ...

Most of you have probably seen the first regional rankings for football, the one that has ACU planted at No. 2 behind No. 1 West Texas A&M in the Super Region Four rankings.

The first thing that hits me is this: Why in the world would the NCAA change the names of the regions from Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest to Super Region One, Super Region Two, Super Region Three and Super Region Four? Stupid if anybody's asking, and they're not.

But wasn't it easy to keep up with the regions by the name of the country they were in. Trying to other regions now will be a little bit tougher. This is a little bit reminiscent of the NCAA going to the "pod system" a few years ago for the NCAA Tournament and re-naming each bracket by the city where that region's final would be played.

The second thing that hits me is that ACU is in good shape in the first poll. Of course head coach Chris Thomsen and the Wildcats like to be No. 1 in the region, but realistically they're in much better shape in the poll than in either of the two prevoious seaons in which they ended up making the playoffs.

In 2006 the Wildcats were ranked No. 5 in the first regional poll of the season, and last year they were ranked No. 8 in the first regional poll.

West Texas A&M probably out-pointed the Wildcats because they have three wins over teams that not only have winning records (Mesa State, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Midwestern State), but that are all ranked in the top eight in regional polls. Midwestern State (4-1) is ranked No. 6 in Super Region Four, while Kingsville is 4-2 and ranked eighth in the region. Mesa State, meanwhile, is 4-2 and ranked No. 8 in Super Region Three.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, have only one win over a team with a winning record, although that one win was over a Northwest Missouri State that is ranked No. 3 in Super Region Four behind WTAM and ACU. The Bearcats have been on a serious roll since the season-opening loss to ACU and last week beat Pitt State, 35-10, in their annual game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

ACU has the toughest closing stretch of any team in the region, however, with games against Angelo State (Oct. 11), at West Texas A&M (Oct. 18), vs. Tarleton State (Oct. 25), a huge game at Kingsville (Nov. 1) and the regular-season finale against what could be a Midwestern State desparate for a win to get into the playoffs on Nov. 8.

A lot of things can happen between now and Nov. 9 when the playoff pairings are announced, but it comes down to this for the Wildcats: they probably can't afford more than two losses in their last five games in order to reach the playoffs, and even that might be one too many. On the flip side, if the Wildcats can win out they'll earn the region's No. 1 seed and play at home until at least the semifinals where they would face the winner of the extremely tough Super Region Two, which features Delta State, Valdosta State and North Alabama.

But like I said, there's a ton of football -- against great opponents and in some tough environments -- to look too far down the road. Right now everyone outside the program is talking about next week's showdown with West Texas A&M, but I know head coach Chris Thomsen and his team are focused on Angelo State and only on Angelo State.

* The Wildcats' next two games will be broadcast locally, thanks to ACU's partnership with KRBC/KTAB-TV.

This Saturday, ACU will host Angelo State at 7 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium, and that game will be broadcast live on KRBC-TV with Al Pickett doing the play-by-play and KSAN-TV sports director Randy Ward doing the color commentary.

Then the Wildcats' Oct. 18 showdown against West Texas A&M will be broadcast live on KTAB-TV at 6 p.m. Details about production and commentators for that game will be released at a later date.

The last time ACU was on local televsion was last Nov. 17 when the Wildcats blew out Mesa State (Colo.), 56-12, in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs at Shotwell Stadium.

* The ACU athletics department has announced that Saturday night's game against Angelo State at Shotwell Stadium will be part of the department's "Dollar Night" promotion.

ACU, ranked No. 4 in the nation and No. 2 in the region, is 5-0 overall, 4-0 in the Lone Star Conference and 1-0 in the LSC South Division. Angelo State, meanwhile, is 3-3 overall, 3-1 in the LSC and 1-1 in the LSC South. Kickoff at Shotwell Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

ACU director of athletics Jared Mosley announced Monday afternoon that all fans who attend the Wylie-Brownwood game at Wylie or the Cooper-Hereford game on Friday at Shotwell Stadium or the Abilene High-Weatherford game on Saturday afternoon can return to Shotwell Stadium on Saturday night and gain admission to the ACU-Angelo game for $1 as long as they still have their ticket stub from the high school game they attended. All Wylie and Abilene school district, Hendrick Medical Center and Abilene Regional Medical Center employees with proper identification will also be admitted into the ACU game for $1.

* In case you missed it, Texas A&M-Kingsville knocked off Tarleton State, 27-16, Saturday night in Stephenville. The Javelinas have been road warriors this season with all four of their wins coming on the road. Because of Hurricane Ike's predicted landfall near Corpus Christi (which is some 40 miles from Kingsville), the Javelinas lost a home game this year.

Don't sleep on the Javelinas. Second-year head coach Bo Atterberry has a playmaker at quarterback in Billy "The Kid" Garza, while running back Billy Martin had a big game against the Texans. Linebacker Mike Martinez leads a salty defense that could have the Javelinas primed to make a playoff run after a few down years in south Texas.

Regardless of what happens in Canyon on Oct. 18 between ACU and West Texas A&M, the Wildcats' Nov. 1 game at Kingsville will be huge. The Javelinas could be trying to earn a playoff spot, and with West Texas A&M and Tarleton State the two weeks before, the Wildcats could either be playing for a conference championship ... or to keep their season alive.

* Remember to check out this week's ACU football notes when they're posted Wednesday afternoon. Did a little bit of digging through the drive charts for both the ACU offense and defense this season and came up with some pretty interesting numbers for both.

* Just a reminder to those of you who haven't yet taken the opportunity to see the Wildcats play in person: you've only got three guaranteed home games left to see the best team this program has produced in years strut their stuff. It could be years before Abilene sees the likes of Billy Malone, Bernard Scott, Johnny Knox and Edmund Gates on the field at the same time and performing at such a high level.