Thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, I took last week off.

But fret not, dear reader, your rankings are back. And, if you're paying attention to our friends in the City of Brotherly Love, you understand my No. 1 isn't much of a shock. Sure, Montana got the No. 1 overall seed, but we know better.

We know better.

On with the rankings.

Turkey Day is still six days away, but that doesn't mean we can't share something funny in advance of the holiday.

Courtesy of Jackie, I saw this gem this evening, off, of all things, an email forward. (Normally, I strongly consider deleating them before I ever open them, but this time, I was smart enough to open it.)

Try not to laugh too hard. And make sure you double-check the origin of your pies this year.

***

In Today's Sun News, I did a Q&A with Pat Downes, the lead singer of Badfish, A Tribute to Sublime.

It was pretty good, but with shrinking news holes, I wasn't able to include everything from the interview.

Below is the rest of the Q&A, including his sister band's (Scotty Don't) plans for another album and how both of his projects have improved by working with former Sublime producer Paul Leary.

Earlier this football season, I had to pay off my Jersey Bet debt to John.

Well, because my beloved Kansas City Chiefs suck something fierce, I had another one to own up to this past weekend. The only good news was that John, whose Eagles also lost to the hated Cowboys, joined me in the embarrassment.

As you can tell, John couldn't get rid of his Eagles' gear; he did, however, don the pink Cowboys hat. And, thankfully for everyone within sight lines, I decided against wearing one of Katie's Cowboys' shirts.

It's that wonderful time of year again.

You know, when the coaching carousel starts turning quicker than Mark Mangino's trigger. When all those prophesized "great" teams start to figure out something went horribly wrong along the way.

So in the final weeks of this college football regular season, don't be shocked when a handful of the coaches at these schools start moving up the food chain -- whether it be NFL gigs, a jump from a non-BCS school to a big boy and jumps from lower levels of the college game to DI-A, er, FBS.

On with the rankings.

Handful of stories for you cats today, including a pair of entertainment links.

First, a look at next weekend's Dancing With The Horry County Stars Gala, a fundraiser for a couple of local orgs that involves the movers and shakers in the area.

Next, AFI will be promoting its eighth full-length album this weekend at the House of Blues in North Myrtle.

I don't want to call my buddy Tom a large man. But let's put it this way: When Tom tells me a restaurant is top-notch, I have a pretty good feeling he knows what he's talking about.

This afternoon, on Tom's advice from several weeks ago, I finally hit up King Kong Sushi. There are a couple of them in Myrtle, and we picked the one closest to our house in Carolina Forest.

We weren't disappointed.

From 11-3, KKS has a couple of pretty good lunch specials, including the one I went with:

If a tree falls in the back yard and doesn't thump me in the side of the head, does it still make a sound?

Yesterday, in the midst of a pretty good Ida-related storm, we ended up with this gem laying out back.

After a nice visit with the in-laws in Texas, it's time to get back to work.

And by "get back to work" I mean providing you, my reader, with the list of the best college football teams. This week, it starts with a shoutout to the Purple Raiders out of Alliance, Ohio.

Don't knock it 'til you try it, kids.

On with the rankings...

Area high school teams will be happy to know that I'll be gone thisweek -- the first weekend of the high school football playoffs.

Let me explain:

As a freelance writer, I've been lucky enough to have a core group of editors who allow me to write some really good stories. The SE at The Myrtle Beach Sun News, Shane Bowen, might just be atop that list.