Now, this is a weird one.

On Wednesday, Manti Te'o was a well-liked college football star. A day later, he was the butt of the latest Internet fad -- posting pictures of yourself with your arm around an imaginary girlfriend.

They call it "Te'oing."

The nation was abuzz Thursday with talk of Te'o after the sports website Deadspin reported Wednesday that the girlfriend Te'o said died as his team marched toward the BCS National Championship Game not only didn't die -- she never existed.

Te'o, 21, said Wednesday that he'd been tricked into an online relationship that ended with him being told the woman had died from leukemia. He said he'd been taken in by a "sick joke."

Notre Dame said Te'o was the victim of an "elaborate hoax."

But many fans, sports experts and media critics took to the airwaves and the Internet, questioning that someone could pull the wool over Te'o's eyes for so long, and saying he had to be in on it.

"The level of hoax would have to be so elaborate that it really would strain credulity," said Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and Newsweek's Washington bureau chief.

The media also took its share of lumps, with Kurtz and others questioning why reporters covering Te'o's emotional tale didn't do more to check the young linebacker's story.

Meanwhile, the story became overnight social media sensation, spawning a seemingly endless discussion of the whys and hows of the baffling case.

And while none of those commenters claimed to have any inside knowledge, the Heisman Trophy was front and center in many of those theories.

Te'o was among the top candidates for the trophy, which goes to the best college football player in the United States. He did not win.

"Manti Teo faked having a girlfriend for Heisman Votes!!!!!" tweeted Cliff Harris, one of many outraged fans to voice the sentiment.

Others said such a plan would need years of impractical planning.

"He most likely didn't make it up. To make it up, he'd have to have been scheming enough to make it just elaborate enough and just the right story to get people to pay attention," said a commenter using the handle Choo on a CNN.com story.

"He'd also have to have known that he would have played really well the exact game that she "died." He'd also have to be (unfazed) by it all. He'd also have to have the ability to lie straight-faced. I just don't think he is that smart or sneaky."

Eddie George is a Heisman Trophy-winning former Ohio State running back and NFL star. He met Te'o at the Heisman ceremony and said he thought he was a good kid.

Asked to comment on the echo chamber online, George said, "I can't believe that it could be."

He added, "If it turns out that this was done for recognition and to get publicity for the Heisman, that would be despicable, deplorable."

The Heisman is a carefully choreographed mating dance.