Here we go, and thanks for a slew of great questions.

OK gang, been a rocking week. Let's finish the drill and remember Friday's mailbag.

We love the draft. You know this. We love the ever-changing nature of the way it plays out. We love the merging merits of need vs. best player available.

Now that we have 1.5 meaningful football games left — the Super Bowl of course, and this weekend's Senior Bowl counts as half (the Pro Bowl is dead to us) — we're faced with the divergent sports road. Do we:

Gang, we're making a New Year's pledge to not talk as much. And that pledge starts tomorrow. Seriously, we had a lot to say today, and here we go. Buckle up, it's going to get wordy up in here.

Gang, another great week and thanks for playing along. Feel free to reply to any of the questions below. Here we go with more, and we're still debating our NFL playoff picks for Sunday.

You certainly know the story by now — All-American linebacker and Heisman runner-up Manti Te'o's reported tale about a Stanford-educated girlfriend who died of leukemia in September was a hoax, and the girl never existed.

Gang, strong effort Tuesday. Remember the mailbag Friday, and we're looking at going with 10 questions and shorter answers, so fire away.

If Whitney was right, and we're to believe that children are our future and we must teach them well and let them lead the way, what is the lesson about Lance Armstrong: Every one makes mistakes? It's never too late to tell the truth? Confession is good for the soul? Do you go old-school NASCAR and embrace the "if you're not cheating, you're not trying" apporach or even "honesty is the best way to lose" maybe?

Wow. Mike Smith said it entering the postgame news conference after his Falcons won in dramatic fashion Sunday. Ray Lewis exuded it after his Ravens pulled off a miracle Saturday evening. The entire nation uttered it time and time again as Colin Kaepernick torched the Packers with the zone-read option that buckled knees and Cheeseheads across the country.

New University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones spent 10 minutes on the phone Thursday afternoon with Times Free Press sports editor Jay Greeson and "The Zone" co-hosts Jim Gumm and Wells Guthrie on ESPN 105.1 FM. Jones discussed an array of topics about the Volunteers.

It's official, Cordarrelle Patterson is taking his big-time name and bigger-time skills to the NFL after one season in Knoxville. We all knew it, and maybe even realized it as early as the season opener when CP torched N.C. State cornerback David Amerson. Patterson, receiver Justin Hunter, quarterback Tyler Bray and defensive lineman Darrington Sentimore have elected to forego their final season with the Vols.

Gang, remember Friday's mailbag. We looking for some help early on now that the melancholy that is post-college football season is starting to hit us.

Wow, Alabama's 42-14 win over Notre Dame was impressive and overpowering and at times personal. This Tide team has heard for more than a month about how they were not this or lacked that and even how Notre Dame's destiny was stronger than Alabama's budding dynasty.

After Notre Dame and Alabama determined the 2012 season's national championship in football, who's the team to beat next fall?

We have a lot to cover, let's get cracking.

Behind an MVP performance from quarterback Aaron Murray, the Georgia Bulldogs beat Nebraska 45-31 in the Capital One Bowl on Tuesday.

Thanks for swinging by last week during the holiday time. The mini 5-at-10s bring our Cal Ripken streak to 570 consecutive Mondays-through-Fridays. Yep, we're pretty proud of that.

We're still in vacation mode here at the 5-at-10, so that means another top-five list, which is cool by us. Question: Are we the only ones addicted to list shows, even to the possible risk of the Mrs. 5-at-10's sanity? Normal TV is blah, but if you put a countdown on it or say the "Best of (blank)" we're so in. So it goes.

Happy holidays; pass the Advil

We talked some about the Poor Sportsman of the Year on Tuesday, and dang if sportsfan didn't go ahead and play the Rook on the first hand with Jerry Sandusky. OK, game's over, Werner dropped the big one.

OK, the Atlanta Falcons answered the challenge and the Denver Broncos beat a team of merit.

Boy am I glad that coaching search is over. I wonder if Dave Hart knows how much pain and heartache he put the VolNation thru over these last 3 weeks.

Avoid the Christmas rush and send your question for Friday's mailbag now. Don't cost nothing.

All season, we have espoused the weekly Power Poll to the common NFL belief that you are what your record says you are. Today, that ends.

We almost can close the book on the coach-hiring craziness that was the last 20-plus days across the South. It was a roller coaster that left four Southeastern Conference schools with new coaches and two former successful SEC coaches in new jobs in somewhat shocking locales.

Butch Jones stepped before the Big Orange masses Friday, the new University of Tennessee football coach, carrying a history of success into a centrifuge of frustration among one of the country's most passionate fan bases.

We had a slew of questions and answers about the UT coaching search, about the candidates and the future. They all became dated and trash — not unlike the empty potato chip bags and aluminum cans scattered about in the Coaching Search Command Center — when Tennessee announced Butch Jones as the Vols next football coach.  

OK, we're still holed up, waiting for closure to the strangest coaching search in recent memory. We've re-stocked on staples and canned goods — we had to switch from the hot sauce and vienna sausages, which can have sour effects on a stomach if taken in mass; think Blazing Saddles and Mr. Taggart — and are ready for the next round of the coaching craziness.

We took Tuesday off from the coaching search. And dang if the landscape didn't completely change. Auburn and Arkansas found their guys. Tennessee is still searching amid reports that their top candidate could stay at his current school.