Whether Mike Tyson or Jake Paul emerges as the winner from their fight likely depends on how long it goes.

Both men appear aware of that, too, heading into their heavyweight bout scheduled for eight rounds Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Conventional wisdom: The shorter the fight, the better for Tyson. At 58, his stamina could be a problem.

Or, the longer the fight, the better for Paul. At 27, it would serve him well to tire the former champion.

So it should have been no surprise Paul offered to give Tyson $5 million if the former heavyweight champion could get past the fourth round.

Nor should it have been a surprise that Tyson said he wanted $20 million. (If Tyson failed to make it past the fourth round, Paul explained, he would have to get a tattoo that said, “I love Jake.’’ Although the tattoo more appropriately should read, “I fell for a really bad bet.’’)

What if the fight ends before the fourth round?

The early rounds are the most dangerous for Tyson’s opponents. He does not like to waste time.

Of his 44 career knockouts, 22 came in the first round. Seven came in the second round, three in the third and two in the fourth. Michael Spinks lasted just 91 seconds and Marvis Frazier survived just 30 seconds.

‘He doesn’t want to go the long route,” Joe Cortez, who refereed Tyson’s last pro fight, against Kevin McBride, told USA TODAY Sports. Yes, Tyson’s almost two decades removed from that bout in 2005, and Paul is no Michael Spinks or Marvis Frazier.

Also, videos show Tyson training hard and appearing to be in terrific shape. That could be vital considering Tyson said he expects Paul to “run like a thief.’’ But it Tyson catches up to Paul before the end of the fourth round, he’ll likely still have the stamina to deliver a knockout blow.

“If in early rounds Jake Paul cannot keep Mike Tyson off of him, it’s going to an early night,” said Ann Wolfe, a former champion boxer.

But an early finish is no guarantee of a Tyson victory. Paul has a powerful right hand and has warned that he’ll use it if Tyson charges at him. Teddy Atlas, who helped train Tyson when Tyson was a teenager,  imagined the possibility of Paul throwing a straight right at the same time Tyson throws his signature left hook.

“The best punch Paul has is a straight right hand,’’ Atlas said. “A straight right hand still beats a left hook, if the left hook is thrown at the wrong time.’’

What if the fight goes beyond the fourth round?

Of Tyson’s 50 victories, only nine of those bouts went beyond six rounds. As boxing historian Mike Silver said, ‘If a decent fighter took him past the fourth or fifth round, he wasn’t as effective as a knockout puncher.’’

Tyson quit his last pro fight while sitting on his stool after the sixth round and Cortez, the retired referee, said the problem was Tyson’s conditioning. Could Tyson possibly have more stamina at 58 than he had at 38?

‘I think Mike is going to try to put (Paul) away as quick as possible,” Cortez said. ‘He’ll reflect on that last fight he had.”

Which is the very reason Paul will try to drag Tyson into the latter rounds. Wolfe would not be shocked if it happens.

‘He’s learned how to box better than what people think he can box,” she said. ‘People don’t understand that. And he’s got those young legs and that will to win.’

More than potentially frustrate Tyson, a longer fight would test the former champ’s stamina and potentially leave him vulnerable to Paul’s knockout power.

Don’t forget, Paul has seven knockouts in 11 fights and has knocked down each of the 10 boxers he’s faced.

Tyron Woodley, the former UFC champion, said Paul looked fatigued during their second fight. But, Woodley added, “even when he was tired and huffing and puffing, he could still bite his mouth guard down and swing a hard-ass punch.’’

Paul knocked out Woodley in the sixth round.

Of course, it’s not exactly safe to be in the ring with Tyson at any point. Of his 44 knockouts, three came in the sixth round, two in the seventh and one in the 10th. 

“Mike Tyson might have a flashback,’’ Woodley said. ”You know what I mean? We all know the more he’s in there, the more he may start remembering.’’

Remembering how to win.

Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11

When picking some of the best moments of Mike Tyson’s career … well, actually, check that, some of them aren’t exactly best moments. Biting someone’s ear isn’t a best moment unless you’re a cannibal. But the list of Tyson moments is long because Tyson is one of the most prolific athletes of all time. So let’s call this Tyson’s best/worst moments.

Not just in the ring, either. He was a star in ‘The Hangover’. He softened a brutal image with commercials and appearances on late-night talk shows. There are few people who have appeared in the public eye for decades who have remained powerful, relevant, and perpetually noticed like Tyson. That’s why his fight against Jake Paul is attracting so much attention.

So ranking some of his biggest moments isn’t easy. Here are 10:

10. Holyfield I, 1996

Evander Holyfield won by TKO in the eleventh round. Why is a Tyson loss one of his best moments? It was one of those instances in boxing that gave the sport a sense of greatness and import. It was part of a Tyson run that transformed him into a cultural force.

9. Brutal knockout of Trevor Berbick, 1986

One of the greatest instances highlighting Tyson’s power. He used a three-punch combination that staggered Berbick. It’s one of those moments that caused both fear of Tyson from boxers and a fascination with him outside of the ring.

8. ‘The Hangover,’ 2009

Vastly overrated movie. Not that funny. Said what I said. But Tyson was good in it. In many ways, his scenes made the movie. The overrated movie. The not funny movie.

7. Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock, 1991

Tyson and Ruddock fought twice that year. It was again one of those moments when you saw Tyson’s raw power. In the second fight, Tyson broke Ruddock’s jaw.

6. Foul-mouthed interview, 1999

Tyson did an interview with television journalist Russ Salzberg that shows just how different Tyson was then and now. You see the polished Tyson now. But then, there was no polish. He could be nasty and have no filter. Sometimes, Tyson was so dense that light bent around him. This was one of those times.

5. Mike Tyson returns

Tyson retired from boxing in 2005. Why’d he come back? I mean, why do you think? It’s a word that rhymes with cash. The fight against Paul will likely be a word that rhymes with trash. Yet Tyson is doing what he always does: getting us to watch him.

4. Tony Tubbs, 1988

Why is this moment important? It wasn’t necessarily one of Tyson’s most well known or important fights. Tubbs wasn’t exactly a big name. The fight was in Tokyo and the idea was to generate international appeal. Tyson probably didn’t need to do that. He was already one of the biggest stars on the planet.

3. Twice bitten, 1997

The second Tyson-Holyfield fight would become one of the most infamous moments in American sports history. Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear in the third round and was disqualified.

It reminded people of that ugly side of Tyson. It was so shocking it stunned the boxing world which is saying something.

2. Buster Douglas stuns the world, 1990

It’s difficult to put into words how seismic this moment was. Tyson was undefeated and Douglas was a massive underdog. No one, absolutely no one, thought Tyson would lose. It isn’t just the greatest upset in boxing history. It’s probably a top-five upset in the history of American sports. Douglas knocked Tyson down in the 10th round and Tyson didn’t beat the count. Douglas credited his mom with winning the fight. It was a beautiful moment.

1. The creation of the Mike Tyson myth, 1988

Michael Spinks wasn’t just a great boxer. At the time, he was already considered one of the best in history. He had similar power as Tyson but was also fast. He was viewed as not just Tyson’s equal but perhaps even better. Numerous boxing journalists and insiders picked Spinks to win. Tyson knocked him out in 91 seconds.

That knockout, more than any other moment, created the myth of Tyson as the most feared fighter of all time. It’s part of the reason why we’ll be watching him fight Paul decades later.

Follow columnist Mike Freeman on social media @mikefreemanNFL

I don’t want to rain on the glorious College Football Playoff parade, but what in the world are we doing with Indiana?

The Hoosiers are a fantastic story, a rare underdog in a college football world full of the predictable. But for the love of all things Knight, this team has no business in the Top 12 of the CFP ― much less the top five.

But there’s an underlying problem: because Indiana is unbeaten while playing a ridiculously easy schedule, it continues to climb in the poll. You know, the old school poll ideals of ‘they’ve haven’t lost, they must be good.’

So when Indiana invariably gets blown out by Ohio State on Nov. 23, the Hoosiers aren’t dropping from No. 5 in the nation to out of the poll. See the problem now?

How many other teams in college football would be unbeaten playing a schedule of lower tier Big Ten teams, and a non-conference schedule of Florida International, Western Illinois and Charlotte? Nothing screams cakewalk quite like a 40-53 opponent record, with Nebraska (5-4) holding down the best record of the bunch.

As long as the Hoosiers aren’t blown out by Ohio State, they’re in the CFP. With a schedule that won’t get much better with Ohio State and the worst team in the Big Ten (Purdue) remaining.

A look at three overvalued and three undervalued teams in Week 2 of the College Football Playoff rankings. 

UP AND DOWN: Army, Georgia lead CFP ranking winners and losers

Overvalued

Penn State

Last week: No. 6.

This week: No. 4.

Best win: 21-7, vs. Illinois

Worst loss: 20-13, vs. Ohio State

Opponent record: 42-40. 

The skinny: Want to see Indiana’s doppelganger? Check out Penn State. Who exactly have the Lions beaten? If you say Illinois, you immediately lose your college football card.

Texas

Last week: No. 5.

This week: No. 3.

Best win: 27-24, at Vanderbilt.

Worst loss: 30-15, vs. Georgia.

Opponent record: 44-41.  

The skinny: The ultimate eye test team. The Longhorns have done nothing to deserve a top-three ranking, but sure have looked good doing it. Imagine living in Fiji for a year, with no connection to the outside world.

You come back, and are told Texas lost by 15 at home to Georgia, and beat Vanderbilt by three on the road — and that’s the extent of the CFP resume. Utterly ridiculous.

Notre Dame

Last week: No. 10.

This week: No. 8.

Best win: 23-13, at Texas A&M.

Worst Loss: 16-14, vs. Northern Illinois.

Opponent record: 40-43.

The skinny: For whatever reason (here’s a hint: television draw), the season-opening win at Texas A&M holds significantly more weight than the home loss to Northern Illinois. The committee also is impressed by wins over Louisville and Navy. I’m not kidding, Navy.

Much like Indiana, the Irish may be too high to bounce out of the final poll should something strange happen in the season final at rival Southern California.

Undervalued

Mississippi

Last week: No. 16.

This week: No. 11.

Best win: 28-10, vs. Georgia.

Worst loss: 20-17, vs. Kentucky.

Opponent record: 47-45.

The skinny: Beat the Boogeyman, move up five lousy spots. After last week’s 18-point win over Georgia – the same team that beat Texas by 15 on the road – maybe, just maybe, the committee should’ve reassessed the two Ole Miss losses.

You know, the fourth-down prayer throws from Kentucky and LSU that have kept the Rebels from an unbeaten season. This Ole Miss team is Exhibit A for what the poll should be: if we’re using the eye test (which we clearly are), no one looks better right now than the Rebels.

Alabama

Last week: No. 11.

This week: No. 10.

Best win: 42-13, at LSU

Worst loss: 40-35, at Vanderbilt

Opponent record: 56-26.

The skinny: Look at the opponent record. It’s not a misprint. Now look at the group ahead of Alabama, and how many have the resume of the Tide? Here’s a better thought: what’s Indiana’s record if it plays Alabama’s schedule?

You could make a healthy argument Indiana would be – best case scenario – 1-5 in those SEC games. And I’m not too comfortable giving the Hoosiers a win at Vanderbilt.

SMU

Last week: No. 13.

This week: No. 14.

Best win: 48-25, vs. Pittsburgh.

Worst loss: 18-16, vs. Brigham Young.

Opponent record: 45-42.

The skinny: Still trying to figure out why Notre Dame is ranked ahead of SMU. The win over Pitt is just as impressive as the Irish win over Texas A&M (the Aggies are one of a handful of teams where the committee is dead-on accurate), and the loss is to unbeaten BYU.

It’s not a stretch to say SMU will win the ACC, get a first-round bye and be a gigantic headache for the team that advances from the first round.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

Maybe this will work out in the end.

For now, though, the College Football Playoff selection committee has the unenviable task of ranking unbeaten, one- and two-loss teams in the Power Four at a time when conference expansion and realignment has removed the friendly head-to-head tiebreaker that helped steer these rankings during the four-team playoff era.

There is no messier situation that what’s continuing to unfold in the SEC, where there are still seven teams with two or fewer losses overall and eight teams with two or fewer losses in conference play.

The SEC even had nine teams in this week’s CFP rankings released Tuesday: No. 3 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 10 Alabama, No. 11 Mississippi, No. 12 Georgia, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 22 LSU and No. 23 Missouri.

The newcomer was South Carolina, which has three SEC losses but has wins against in the past two weeks against Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

But the big story was Georgia, which came in behind the two teams it has lost to – Alabama and Mississippi. The Bulldogs and Army lead Tuesday night’s winners and losers:

Winners

Army

Getting Tulane into the rankings at No. 25 is very good news for No. 24 Army, which moved up one spot from last week. While Louisiana-Lafayette is hanging around in the Sun Belt with one loss, the American Athletic will eventually put forth the Group of Five champion with the résumé to steal the automatic playoff bid should No. 13 Boise State fail to win the Mountain West. Looking down the line, Army takes on No. 8 Notre Dame next Saturday and then closes with Texas-San Antonio and Navy. Even projecting a loss to the Fighting Irish, having Tulane climb the rankings before facing off in early December would give the Black Knights the chance for a résumé-building victory.

Indiana

No. 5 Indiana was able to fend off No. 6 Brigham Young and continues to stand in terrific shape to make the playoff even with a loss next weekend against Ohio State. In the end, the Cougars might’ve been able to leapfrog ahead had they put together a convincing rivalry win at Utah. But BYU needed a late touchdown goosed by a controversial penalty to escape, allowing Indiana to stay in front despite struggling offensively in a 20-15 win against Michigan.

BOWL PROJECTIONS: New SEC team joins playoff field after Week 11

Mississippi

Give the committee credit for valuing key head-to-head results in the SEC and placing Mississippi and Alabama ahead of Georgia. Heading into Tuesday, the thought was Georgia’s strength of schedule and wins against Texas and Clemson would be the difference in the comparison with the Rebels. But that 28-10 win against the Bulldogs on Saturday night was a wire-to-wire, borderline dominant win against a team that went into the weekend as the favorite in the SEC. At a minimum, the Rebels have moved themselves into good position to earn an at-large spot by winning out.

Losers

Georgia

This was a terrible but not fatal ranking for the Bulldogs. Looking down the line, that the committee has use these head-to-head results will impact seeding and could result in Georgia being the odd team out from the SEC should the league only send four teams to the playoff, as things stand based on Tuesday’s rankings. But it’s not all bad news in the big picture: It’s highly likely the committee reverses track and puts Georgia back ahead of the Mississippi with a win on Saturday against Tennessee. But the committee is saying that Georgia has work to do to get back into the field and likely is out with a loss Saturday.

Miami

No. 4 Penn State and No. 9 Miami have similar résumés, with multiple victories against second-tier conference opponents but no marquee wins – the closest would be Miami’s win against No. 19 Louisville. The difference looks like the one loss: to Ohio State for the Nittany Lions, to Georgia Tech for the Hurricanes. Another factor is Miami’s lack of game control in multiple ACC games, including Virginia Tech and California. Overall, the drop definitely puts a dent in the Hurricanes’ at-large playoff chances but wasn’t quite the stumble predicted heading into Tuesday. You can safely say at this point that Miami has to beat No. 13 SMU in the ACC championship game to make the field.