Lubbock is the center of the college football universe this week.

MANSFIELD — It was as if the stars aligned at the perfect time and the football universe was falling into place.

We see the sun come up every day, and we assume it will again tomorrow. We bet on blue-chip stocks, knowing that, for every blip and dive along the way, they'll pay off in the long run. We hear "Texas ...

It is human nature to assume that every trend line points endlessly in the same direction, off to some far horizon that looks, more or less, just like our current view. We see the sun come up every ...