The Sports Frog

My fundamental theorem of betting on bowl games (especially against the spread) is to try and identify how motivated each team is likely to be.

History proves time and time again that in the "lesser" bowl games, a highly motivated team is likely to perform better than a team that is "settling" for a particular bowl game (especially if it is a major conference team near .500 in a minor bowl game against a non-BCS opponent)

This is not a foolproof theory, nor is it the only factor that goes into my evaluation, but it is an important one and is only applicable to this time of year.

(Let me just also say that writing a sentence or two on 34 games is a lot harder than it sounds.)

Continue reading "College Bowl Game Picks" »

This is the first in what we hope will be many Swamp-user submitted posts. This is from papaduff, who in his spare time enjoys playing in corn mazes with Lou Ferrigno.

As I was flipping through the channels last night, I stopped on ESPN looking for a game. What was I thinking? There was no sporting event, just the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards at Disney's BoardWalk at the Walt Disney Resort. For one thing that name is much too long. And for another, does anyone really watch this drivel? I love watching college football, but this is way over the top.

In the brief time that I watched, I got to listen to Kirk Herbstreit chatting about who would win a chess match between Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford. Sam gave that one to Tim. The Tebows don't have much else to do on their trips around the world, apparently.

The excitement as I waited through commercial break to find out who would win the Frank Broyles Award was gripping. And how can someone win the Chuck Bednarik Award (USC's Rey Maualuga) and not the Bronco Nagurski Trophy (Brian Orakpo, Texas)? Both are awarded to the most outstanding defensive player. Of course, from what I heard while watching Florida vs. Alabama last Saturday, it should have been Tebow, as he was constantly compared to Nagurski.

Here's hoping they show the SOAPIES next year.

So, this is it -- the end of the season. I'm currently sitting at 55 percent for the year -- not bad by any means, but a little bit short of my 60 percent goal I had set for myself. I'll be doing a special bowl picks column a little later, but for now I'm going to wind out the year on a bit of a sad note -- it's been fun and I hate to see football season end.

Top Games

Florida (-10) vs. Alabama -- There's been a lot of discussion about installing Florida as a double-digit favorite and Tide fans are taking it as a slap in the face, but the line looks about right to me. If it were around seven, I'd love it a little better, but I think the Gators roll by about three touchdowns.

Missouri (+17) vs. Oklahoma -- The Big 12 Championship game seems to have a history of weird outcomes. I don't expect the Tigers to win, but they might throw a scare into the Sooners. Lucky for OU, style points aren't likely to count for too much at this point.

Ball State (-14) vs. Buffalo -- Ball State has only had one game decided by less than double digits so far this year and while Buffalo has shown promise at times, that streak doesn't look to get broken in the MAC Championship Game.

Virginia Tech (pk) vs. Boston College -- As usual, I have no idea where to go in an ACC game. It's fitting this line is a pick 'em. Betting the under (39) might be a better play, but I'll guess and take the Hokies.

Tulsa (-12.5) vs. East Carolina -- Both of these teams have been fairly unimpressive the last few weeks of the season. It is a classic matchup though as you have the defensive minded Pirates vs. the offensive juggernaut of the Golden Hurricane. Should be a surprisingly fun game to watch if nothing else.

Best Bets

Navy (-11) vs. Army -- A bit of a curious line since Army has not lost by less than double digits to Navy in six years. Navy is just way more talented and should be able to do what it wants to its rivals.

Arizona State (+10.5) at Arizona -- I not only expect this game to be close, I might put some money down on the money line for a Sun Devil win.

USC (-33) at UCLA -- I expect Pete Carroll to put the foot on the gas from the word go and embarrass the Bruins. This will be a good game in future years, but right now the Trojans are about seven touchdowns better.

Cincinnati (-7) at Hawaii -- This is also a bit of a curious line. The Bearcats don't have too much to play for and will no doubt be enjoying the Honolulu sun, but I can't see Hawaii keeping this game close. Also, the Warriors are bowl eligible already.

California (-36) vs. Washington -- Remind me again why Cal is playing Washington AFTER "The Game" and the Apple Cup? Anyway, hard to imagine what the Huskies have to play for. If the Bears get a couple of touchdowns early (and I expect they will) this one could get capital U ugly.

Last Week

5-5 last week, 76-62-3 overall

Top Games

3-2 last week, 38-30-2 overall

Best Bets

2-3 last week, 37-32-1 overall

Actual Bets

0-1 last week, 11-17-1 overall, -$174

I alluded to this last week, but my philosophy of betting on double-digit underdogs in rivalry games is fully in play this week. There are a lot of really huge spreads that are just begging to be bet. That said, I still like Florida to destroy Florida State.

Top Games

Oklahoma (-7) at Oklahoma State -- Oklahoma has been put into the position where it isn't enough just to win -- the Sooners need to make a statement. Fairly or unfairly, they're going to be judged on how much more badly they beat Oklahoma State compared to Texas.

Florida (-16.5) at Florida State -- The Seminoles and the points are tempting, but if the Gators play like they have the last few weeks I wouldn't take Florida State and four touchdowns.

Georgia Tech (+8.5) at Georgia -- The Yellow Jackets are playing well, clicking on offense and the Bulldogs have been occasionally uninspiring and struggling on defense. Add it all up and a straight up upset doesn't seem impossible.

Oregon State (-3) vs. Oregon -- This is probably the game of the week as far as pitting two closely matched teams whose fanbases do not like each other (they don't call it the Civil War for nothing). Oregon has a chance to scuttle the Beavers' Rose Bowl hopes, but I think OSU gets it done.

Notre Dame (+32) at USC -- Yes, Notre Dame sucks but they probably will only need 14 to 17 points to hit this number. I think they'll be able to do it.

Best Bets

Western Michigan (+10.5) at Ball State - Yeah, I was wrong about this one. WMU always chokes in big games and I should have probably remembered that.

West Virginia (-3.5) at Pittsburgh -- The Mountaineers will be looking for revenge from last year's upset and still have an outside shot at the Big East title with a win.

Colorado (+18) at Nebraska -- The Buffs need a win to be bowl-eligible and that motivation will be enough to keep the game close, though they're still going to lose.

Kansas (+16) vs. Missouri -- This is another bitter rivalry where the underdogs are just getting too many points.

Auburn (+14) at Alabama -- See above. Auburn seems to be improving and Alabama might come out a little tight.

Last Week

5-5 last week, 71-57-3 overall

Top Games

2-3 last week, 35-28-2 overall

Best Bets

3-2 last week, 35-29-1 overall

Actual Bets

1-2 last week, 11-16-1 overall, -$141

So after a very uninspiring slate of games last weekend, we should have two great weeks of football leading up to the conference championship games.

This week we begin to see many of the great annual rivalries contested, which brings me to one of my favorite maxims of betting on college football -- whenever a rivalry game features a double-digit point spread, always take the underdog. As you can tell from this list of games I haven't necessarily pulled the trigger on any of those games, but just because Michigan is getting 21 points I still can't advise taking the points. If I had to bet, I would take the points however.

Also, I've included the "epic" showdown in the Apple Cup among my best bets and as you can tell I'm not backing the underdog. Frankly, Washington giving seven points is probably my lock of the year. Washington State has not been the least bit competitive this season, which you can't say for Washington. The Huskies suck, no doubt about it, but they've played decent at times and should beat the Cougars by three touchdowns.

Top Games

Texas Tech (+7) at Oklahoma -- I really like the line Vegas set here. I went back and forth on this game. Again, the question is -- are the Red Raiders for real? I think they are or at least they're real enough to justify thinking they might keep this game within a touchdown.

BYU (+7) at Utah -- This partially falls under my rule of taking the points in a rivalry game. I've been unimpressed by BYU for the last half of the season, but the Cougars seem to be getting back into gear and should give Utah all it can handle.

Michigan State (+15) at Penn State -- I think Michigan State will be able to control the clock enough to keep this game close, but the Nittany Lions will lock up their Rose Bowl bid.

Cincinnati (-5.5) vs. Pittsburgh -- If not for the potentially distracting rumors surrounding Brian Kelly accepting the job at Tennessee I would recommend the Bearcats wholeheartedly. As it is, I still can't bet against them. The Big East title appears to be theirs for the taking.

Georgia Tech (-3) vs. Miami -- Damn, I hate having to pick ACC games. I'm not buying the "Miami is back" meme.

Best Bets

Washington (-7) vs. Washington State -- If you look at the records, it is tempting to think WSU and the points might be a solid play, but there's a difference between bad and wretched. Washington is merely bad, Washington State is wretched.

Toledo (-3) vs. Miami -- I think the Rockets will be up for one of Tom Amstutz's last games as coach of Toledo. Sometimes when you get these games pitting two teams playing out the string, it's important to evaluate motivation.

Colorado State (-2) at Wyoming -- Speaking of which, CSU can likely secure a bowl bid with a win. Wyoming has nothing to play for except a likely lame duck coach and couldn't score in a whorehouse. Yeah, I'll take the Rams.

Air Force (+20) at TCU -- Why are the Falcons getting so many points here? I don't doubt TCU will win, but I don't see them blowing Air Force out.

Oregon State (+3) at Arizona -- I've come full circle on the Beavers since writing them off after their loss to Penn State. Count me among those who think they're going to win out and secure that Rose Bowl bid and rematch with the Nittany Lions.

Last Week

4-6 last week, 66-52-3 overall

Top Games

1-4 last week, 33-25-2 overall

Best Bets

3-2 last week, 32-27-1 overall

Actual Bets

0-0 last week, 10-14-1 overall, -$106

One of the hard parts of being a college football fan while trying handicap the games is putting your personal biases aside. It is ironic that the teams that you're likely to have the most information about are the teams you're least likely to want to bet on.

Perfect case in point was last night's Central Michigan-Northern Illinois game. I suspected Central +4 would have been a very good play and despite their second half implosion, the Chippewas were still able to pull out a win, though it looked like it was going to be a blowout in the first half.

Still, if I had bet on them and they had then gone on to lose the game I would have felt doubly bad. Not all sports bettors have the same issues and can effectively bet with their head and not with their heart. I'm envious.

It is a pretty crappy slate of games this week, though next week promises quite a few interesting contests.

Top Games

South Carolina (+22) at Florida -- Florida's a damn good team, but c'mon? 22 points? Isn't that about what the line was against Ole Miss? Wouldn't surprise me to see South Carolina take this one down to the wire.

Air Force (+5.5) vs. Brigham Young -- Air Force is massively underrated and I'll gladly take the 5.5 points at home against a BYU team that has been scuffling the last few weeks. The Cougars might also be looking ahead to the big rivalry game against Utah.

Boston College (+7) at Florida State -- I hate betting on the ACC, but if I have to I don't mind getting a whole touchdown for the underdog.

North Carolina (-3) at Maryland -- Pretty much just guessing here to be honest. Who knows which Maryland team will show up?

Kansas (+13) vs. Texas -- I think the Jayhawks will be able to score enough points to keep the game close. The Texas defense is a cause for concern lately.

Best Bets

Buffalo (+3) at Akron -- This game could determine not only the MAC East champion, but also the MAC West champion (long story). The Bulls winning out and claiming a division title would be a great story after being stuck in among the dregs of the FBS for so long.

Wyoming (+7) at UNLV -- I don't know if UNLV is good enough to be giving seven points to a team with the same record. Both teams are fighting for bowl eligibility and the home advantage will be negligible with no one in the stands at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Notre Dame (-4) at Navy -- I can't imagine Navy beating Notre Dame two years in a row. Charlie Weis calling the plays isn't going to make a difference -- the massive difference in talent between the two teams will though.

Ohio State (-9) at Illinois -- I know a lot of people don't believe in payback games, but what does matter is Illinois is struggling big time and Ohio State needs this win to have a shot at the conference title.

San Jose State (+15) at Nevada -- I had to look twice at this spread. San Jose State isn't actually a horrible team -- in fact they're already bowl eligible.

Last Week

3-7 last week, 62-46-3 overall

Top Games

1-4 last week, 32-21-2 overall

Best Bets

2-3 last week, 29-25-1 overall

Actual Bets

0-2 last week, 10-14-1 overall, -$106

Top Games

TCU (-2.5) at Utah -- This line opened at a pick 'em and has been bet up to the point where TCU is actually giving 2.5 points on the road. I wish I would have gotten it when it was even, but I still think the Horned Frogs are the best non-BCS conference team and a solid bet to play in a BCS bowl.

Oklahoma St. (+3) at Texas Tech -- Aside from the fact that this game has letdown written all over it, Oklahoma State still has a lot to play for. If the Cowboys run the table they have an outside shot at the national championship.

LSU (+3) vs. Alabama -- LSU is probably still overrated, but this also has trap game written all over it, especially since it is likely going to be Alabama's last major test before the SEC Championship Game. I think both Texas Tech and Alabama could lose this week.

Cal (+17) at USC -- Don't know who is going to be lining up at QB for Cal, but this is a lot of points. I can't really figure USC out and hate betting on them one way or other, but since I have to...

Georgia Tech (+4) at North Carolina -- These could be the two best teams in the ACC. Then again, either of them could lose the rest of their games this season. Who knows? I like me some Paul Johnson though and think his gameplanning plus the points makes a solid bet.

Best Bets

Northern Illinois (+10) at Ball State -- As I write this, Northern Illinois is getting nuked by 24 points, but I picked this game earlier in the week and I'm not going to change just because it looks like I'm going to lose. I really thought the Huskies would be able to keep it close however. Looks like Ball State has a real shot at going 14-0. They're that good.

Illinois (-7) vs. Western Michigan (at Detroit) -- The geniuses in the Western Michigan athletic department scheduled this "home" game for Ford Field thinking their "fans" would actually want to pay inflated prices to watch the Broncos get stomped by a Big Ten team. Instead, they've only pre-sold 10,000 tickets and will have the indignity of having Juice Williams run all over them in front of a lot of empty seats. Oops.

Bowling Green (-3) at Ohio -- Bowling Green might be one of the most schizophrenic teams in college football, but I think they might have pulled it together a little bit. Even if they haven't, Ohio is not that good.

Rice (-10) vs. Army -- One of the more underrated teams in college football, Rice should be able to roll the Cadets by double digits.

Marshall (+9.5) at East Carolina -- Can't really figure this line out. Obviously, the oddsmakers still think this is the same ECU team that upset West Virginia and Virginia Tech. Marshall is showing some resurgence and may win the game outright, but the Herd should be able to keep this under the number.

Last Week

6-4 last week, 59-39-3 overall

Top Games

3-2 last week, 31-17-2 overall

Best Bets

3-2 last week, 27-22-1 overall

Actual Bets

0-0 last week, 10-12-1 overall, -$63

The magic number is 52.3. That's the percentage of winning bets you need to beat the house edge and make money as a sports bettor. After another really strong week (8-2), I've bumped my percentage up to 59 percent for the season and am hoping to make a run at getting over 60 percent.

At this point in the season, it's a little harder to exploit gaps in information -- for most teams outside of the ACC both the linemakers and the bettors know what the good teams and bad teams are and the lines now reflect this. (For example, I was down on Washington State from the get-go this season and was rewarded with some really easy wins, but the Cougars are not sneaking up on anyone (so to speak) at this point.

But that doesn't mean there aren't strategies to be employed. I'm not a big fan of teaser bets, but they become a better option later in the season since the lines are often locked in really well (especially for the defensively strong conferences like the SEC and ACC). You can also look for teams which might be overvalued (Tulsa, Northwestern) or undervalued because of their records and the competition they've faced.

This week should be an exciting week as six of the top 13 teams in the country all face off. (And yes...for those of you keeping score at home I picked 10 road teams this week. Just a coincidence.)

Top Games

Oklahoma State (+13) at Texas -- It's hard to bet against the Longhorns, especially since they've hung two losses on me in two consecutive weeks, but I have to stick to my guns when I declared the Cowboys a sleeper team at the beginning of the season. An OSU win would surprise me, but I think it can keep it to within a couple of touchdowns, especially since the Cowboys have one of the few functional defenses in the Big 12.

Penn State (-2.5) at Ohio State -- I should have my head examined betting against Ohio State in Columbus, especially given that the Buckeyes have won 19 of their last 20 Big Ten games, but I think the Nittany Lions are for real and will give Terrell Pryor fits.

Georgia (+2) at LSU -- A case could be made that LSU is the most overrated team in the country. It somehow managed to only put up 41 points on a North Texas team that everyone else is hanging 70 on. Close victories over Mississippi State and Auburn also give me pause. I think the Bulldogs win this one comfortably.

Texas Tech (+2) at Kansas -- This game is nothing less than a referendum on whether or not the Red Raiders will ever be able to put together a great season. A loss to Kansas and it is likely they'll lose four straight and be headed to a second-tier bowl again. I think they'll get it done against an uninspiring Jayhawk team this week though.

USC (-16) at Arizona -- Which Wildcat team will show up -- the one that upset Cal or the one that lost to Stanford and New Mexico? I'm not sure it matters.

Best Bets

Duke (+10) at Vanderbilt -- I've heard a few clever names for this game like the Egghead Bowl, but it is hard not to be impressed at the performance of both of these schools this season, despite their focus on academics. I like Duke and the points in this one since Vandy has a history of flaming out with bowl bids on the line. Betting Duke for the upset on the money line wouldn't be the worst bet in the world either.

Rice (+2) at Tulane -- I'm not certain at all why a Tulane team that squeaked by SMU and got stomped by Army would be favored against a very underrated Rice team. Rice's three losses this season are to teams that are a combined 19-2 (Vanderbilt, Texas and Tulsa).

Fresno State (-16) at Utah State -- I don't think there's any question Fresno State was overrated coming into the season, but with the bye week behind them, the Bulldogs will make a push towards the WAC crown. They still are the best chance to ruin Boise State's BCS hopes this year.

Michigan State (-4) at Michigan -- This is going to be Michigan State's best chance to exact some revenge on its big brother in a long time and I think they'll take it. If the Spartans can't win this one this year, they might not beat the Wolverines for another six years.

Central Florida (+24) at Tulsa -- Regular readers of this column know I love me some Tulsa, but I'm starting to think the rest of the world is coming around to the Golden Hurricane bandwagon. UCF is not a great team, but they're not a weak sister either and this is a boatload of points. Tulsa's offense might get "slowed down" to the tune of 35 or 38 points, but that should still allow the Golden Knights to beat this number.

Last Week

8-2 last week, 46-32-3 overall

Top Games

4-1 last week, 24-14-2 overall

Best Bets

4-1 last week, 21-18-1 overall

Actual Bets

0-0 last week, 10-12-1 overall, -$63

Another solid performance last week (6-4), headlined by taking Oklahoma State against Missouri, though I didn't think the Cowboys would be able to pull off the upset. Ironically enough, I'm still struggling on games I bet real money on. Maybe I should be betting on 10 games a week instead of just two or three.

Top Games

TCU (pick) vs. Brigham Young -- The Horned Frogs are underrated and I think they'll upset the Cougars at home. BYU's ranking has been propped up based on wins over UCLA and Washington that in retrospect aren't as good as they seemed at the time.

Vanderbilt (+15) at Georgia -- This is too many points to give to a decent SEC team, even with a new QB running the show for the Commodores.

Ohio State (-3.5) at Michigan State -- I honestly don't know what to make of this Michigan State team, though it has looked impressive for much of the season. The OSU offense is struggling and should continue to struggle against the Spartans, but I can't see MSU's offense scoring more than 13 points .

Kansas (+20) at Oklahoma -- This is the kind of game where you would expect the Sooners to bounce back big, but I don't think it will be big enough to cover this number. The Jayhawk defense is going to be tested, but OU's defense has also shown that it is vulnerable.

Missouri (+6) at Texas -- I honestly wasn't sure which way to come down in this one, so when in doubt take the points. Seems more likely that Texas would win by a small number than Missouri would pull the upset (especially in Austin), but I don't know that I can foresee a Texas blowout.

Best Bets

Penn State (-24) vs. Michigan -- Some wiseguys out there have paid off their BMWs by betting against the Wolverines this season and even this spread -- the biggest underdog Michigan has ever been -- seems too small. According to Sagarin rankings, Michigan should be getting closer to 31 or 32 points.

Mississippi (+13) at Alabama -- Same philosophy is at work here that I employed in the Vandy-Georgia game. This is a lot of points to give a good team.

Miami (FL) (-4.5) at Duke -- Miami is favored by less than a touchdown against Duke? WTF? I'm not on the Duke bandwagon.

Wake Forest (-1) at Maryland -- When is America going to believe this Wake Forest team is for real? Maryland has been schizophrenic, but I can't see the Demon Deacons losing this game.

Oregon St. (-14) at Washington -- How many times can I get burned on the Beavers in one season? Let's see. I still like OSU to put a big number on the Huskies, who are struggling on both sides of the ball.

Last Week

6-4 last week, 38-30-3 overall.

Top Games

3-2 last week, 20-13-2 overall

Best Bets

3-2 last week, 17-17-1 overall

Actual Bets

1-2 last week, 10-12-1 overall, -$63

If the BCS title game this year doesn't match the Big XII champ against the SEC champ, the game will be a bigger joke than it ever has been before. And that is saying something.

So yesterday three of the top 5 teams fell. Blah blah blah, historic, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Newsflash: the Big 12 and SEC are so damn loaded that their teams are going to spend the year knocking each other off. No way anyone is coming out of the SEC undefeated, and I in no way am certain Texas can finish an undefeated run through the Big 12.

So, let's just cut to the chase, and agree now that whoever survives those conferences meets for the BCS title, as it is beyond insane to imagine that if Penn State, say, runs the craptacular Big Ten + 1 undefeated, it should be in that game ahead of a one (or even two) loss team from either of those two conferences. Just saying.

Your morning reading from yesterday's college football goodness:

Stewart Mandel's wrap-up on si.com:

Saturday's loss marked the latest big-game disappointment for Stoops' program, which will now lose its first No. 1 ranking in five years after just two weeks in the top spot. The way both the Big 12 and national scenes are shaping up, however, the defeat is not necessarily a back-breaker, either. Just like Texas, OU plays another ranked foe next week, No. 16 Kansas, in Norman, followed by winnable games against Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas A&M. It closes the regular season with ranked foes Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Texas may have prevailed Saturday, but as Oklahoma's Cody Johnson pointed out, the same thing happened two years ago and OU still wound up winning its division. Whichever team emerges from the South is likely to be at or near the top of the polls come the Dec. 6 Big 12 championship game. Its likely opponent, Missouri, may be, as well. As Brown said, "I would think that everybody watching [Saturday's game] would be impressed with these teams today. ... Those are two of the best football teams in the country."

Gary Parrish on sportsline.com welcomes Tim Tebow to the 2008 college season:

"So welcome back, Mr. Tebow! Nice to see you again. Tebow completed 14 of 21 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns in addition to running 12 times for 22 net yards and one touchdown. Add it up, and the face of college football tallied 232 total yards -- which moved him into eighth place on Florida's all-time list with 4,879, some 31 yards ahead of a guy named Steve Spurrier. That's the individual story, the return of Tim Tebow.

He continues:

"But the game was also important in a larger sense because the Florida win combined with Vanderbilt's loss at Mississippi State means the Gators (5-1 overall, 3-1 in the SEC) are again tied atop at the SEC Eastern Division standings and by extension in contention for their second national title in three years. It won't be easy, of course, because there are still five undefeated teams (Alabama, Texas, Penn State, Texas Tech and BYU) that should be ahead of them when the polls are updated Sunday.

Texas and Texas Tech will work itself out with regard to what comes out of the Big 12. Florida can deal with Alabama, if it is good enough, to come out of the SEC. And Penn State and BYU? I don't care if they win every game left on their schedules by 50, they are not better teams than Florida, or whoever comes out of the SEC. Or Big 12 for that matter.

For the love of G-d, NCAA powers that be, give us a frickin' playoff. Even a +1 format. Something. As it stands, we are 100th verse, same as the first, yet again.

After Tennessee got them a Bengals win yesterday (you know- a moral victory) in their 26-14 loss to Georgia, falling to 2-4 on the season (or 2-3-1 if you are scoring it Bengals fan style), Fulmer pre-emptively argued against what will be calls for his head from legions of critics:

"You stay in this business long enough, you will have ups and downs," Fulmer said following UT's loss at Georgia on Saturday. "We've won a lot more than we lost. I've been disappointed in every dang one of them that we've lost. I've felt like this. I'm not going to do anything but keep fighting."

Handy drowning coach translation:

I won a national title for you ungrateful sons of bitches. A national title. Leave me the fuck alone.

That leads me to things I know part III of the morning:

Phil Fulmer will be kicked to an administrative position after the season in a retirement/firing. Book it.

When I'm compiling my list for the week of the lines I like, I just note as many games as possible where the lines look a little out of whack and then try to narrow that list down to the five games which comprise my best bets. Sometimes I have a hard time struggling to find five games and am kind of stabbing in the dark a little bit to fill out the list.

So imagine my surprise this week when my initial list of best bets was 11 games. I don't know if it just a strange week, if I'm getting a stronger feeling about certain teams or if I'm overconfident because of my 9-2 mark last week, but I had a hard time pairing the list down to five. Theoretically this is the time of year when the oddsmakers should be getting a lot more accurate at setting their lines.

Also unusual was how many games had big changes in their lines from the opening. I counted five games that moved four or more points including a jump from an opening line of 20 to 28.5 in the USC-Arizona State contest.

As I noted before, I had an especially strong performance last week, but unfortunately bet real money on the only two games I lost. Such is life.

Continue reading "College Football Bets, Week 7" »

It's one of the hazards of betting on sports -- sometimes even when you're right, you're wrong.

Case in point -- two games last week. I had thought Louisville -3.5 at home should be a pretty easy cover and after a slow start the Cardinals appeared ready to roll. Plus, UConn had lost its starting quarterback. But after Louisville starting QB Hunter Cantwell got hurt the Cardinals went in the tank and lost the game outright despite outgaining UConn by more than 200 yards. If Cantwell doesn't get hurt, I think UL wins by a couple of touchdowns, but again -- that's life.

Also last week I LOVED Ohio State giving 18 points to Minnesota. Again, at home with a healthy Beanie Wells back I figured the Buckeyes to roll and they did, running up a four touchdown lead. Unfortunately, the third stringers on OSU's defense gave up two late touchdowns while the offense ran out the clock and another win had been turned into a loss.

I illustrate these points not to complain, but merely to point out that the razor thin line between a good play and a bad play is sometimes a strange bounce. (Which I also benefited from last week by betting Southern Cal at -14 in the second half against Oregon State. The botched PAT from OSU which would have give the Beavers a 28-14 lead ended up giving me a win after USC raced down and scored a meaningless touchdown late in the game to make the score 21-6 for the second half. The gambling gods giveth and they taketh away.

Continue reading "College Football Bets, Week 6" »

In the midst of tallying the results from last week I realized that I'm now identical in picking the top games of the week and my best bets. If that doesn't tell you what a science oddsmaking is and what a crapshoot sports betting can be, nothing will.

But it was a good week nonetheless including a perfect 5-0 in picking the top games last week, a mark that surprised even me.

This week, the story is most conferences are starting to see close to a full slate of conference games. The opportunity here is for a bettor to identify teams that are overvalued because of their non-conference schedule.

A good example might be Ohio State giving only 18 points to Minnesota at home. Minnesota is 4-0, but the best team it played in the non-conference was probably Bowling Green. Meanwhile, Ohio State has struggled on offense, but I don't expect those struggles to continue against a grim Gophers defense. I expect the Buckeyes to handle Minnesota easily, probably by five touchdowns.

Top Games

Oklahoma (-18) vs. TCU -- The temptation is to take the Horned Frogs and the points, but I don't think OU's offense is going to be slowed down very much this week.

Georgia (-7) vs. Alabama -- I just don't think Alabama is ready to win a game this big on the road yet. I'd rather this number were a little lower, but I still think the Bulldogs are capable of covering it.

Illinois (+14) at Penn State -- Penn State's offense has been mighty impressive the first few weeks of the season, but against a fairly dreadful non-conference slate. This falls into my theory about teams being overvalued because of their non-conference schedule. I still think PSU wins, but only by a touchdown or so.

Virginia Tech (+7) at Nebraska -- I really hate betting on either of these teams, so when in doubt take the points. Nebraska seems overrated to me, but playing at home should be a big advantage for them.

Auburn (-6.5) vs. Tennessee -- As bad as Auburn's offense has been (though it did look better at times against LSU) I hate to give up a touchdown, but it seems like the wheels are ready to come off at Tennessee. I had thought the season opening loss to UCLA was just an anomaly, but it looks like the Volunteers might just be bad.

Best Bets

Ohio State (-18) vs. Minnesota -- Sometimes before I look up the lines I think about certain games and try to guess what the number will be. Usually, I can get it within a couple of points, so imagine my surprise to expect to see OSU giving 25 or 26 points and only giving 18. A lot has been made of their offensive struggles, but Minnesota was one of the worst defenses in FBS history last year and they haven't made enough strides to slow down anyone the Buckeyes might play at QB. (Plus, Beanie Wells is supposed to be back. That's good for at least one TD.)

Fresno State (-7) at UCLA -- This is free money. Fresno State is way better than Arizona, which hung a big number on the Bruins last week. The fact this game is in L.A. does nothing to convince me the Bruins are going to be able to keep it close.

Purdue (1.5) at Notre Dame -- No one seems to want to believe this, but Notre Dame is not a good team. They're lucky to be 2-1 and Purdue should be able to move the ball at will.

Mississippi (+23) at Florida -- Florida is a great team and they should beat Ole Miss rather easily, but this is too many points to give to a good football team. Don't be surprised to see a score like 27-13.

Louisville (-3.5) vs. Connecticut -- I don't really understand why so many people are high on UConn, though I give it credit for finding ways to win games. Louisville appears to have turned a corner after stumbling for most of last season and should be due for another big win on national TV.

Last Week

7-3 last week, 20-18-2 overall.

Top Games

5-0 last week, 10-9-1 overall

Best Bets

2-3 last week, 10-9-1 overall

Actual Bets

1-2 last week, 7-6-1 overall, -$14

It's starting to get to the point in the season where trends should be emerging. For example, the Pac 10 is getting beaten up as being weak, especially in lieu of an 0-for-4 performance against the Mountain West last week.

In reality, the Pac 10 is probably not that bad, last week's debacle aside. From top to bottom, the Pac 10 historically plays the most challenging non-conference schedules (surprising perhaps, given that there are only three non-conference games available for each school in the conference).

What does that mean if you're looking to put a bet or two on a game? You might be able to find weird lines that support a widely held belief (though despite all that, this week I'm picking against two Pac 10 teams at home. The lesson? Look for trends, but evaluate each game on its own merits.)

Top Games

LSU (-2.5) at Auburn -- The SEC hangs its hat on defense and these are two of the best defensive units in the conference. Were it not for the dominance of the Auburn defense this year, this number would likely be closer to 6 or 7 for LSU. Still, I think the Tigers will be able to muster up enough offense to hold Auburn at bay. Winning by a field goal to cover the number by a half-point is a strong possibility.

Wake Forest (+4) at Florida State -- The oddsmakers seem to be hoping the average bettor doesn't realize that the Seminoles are not a national power anymore. While Wake isn't quite there yet, it is still much better coached than FSU. Don't be scared that the game is in Tallahassee. It won't faze the Demon Deacons.

Florida (-7.5) at Tennessee -- It's doubtful Tennessee is as bad as the loss to UCLA would indicate, but it's hard to find reasons to take the points against a much more talented Florida team. Given that these two teams still don't like each other, there won't be much incentive for the Gators to take their foot off the gas.

Georgia (-6.5) at Arizona State -- This is a curious game. It will be interesting to see how Georgia reacts to its longest regular-season road trip in almost 50 years. Still, it would be hard to imagine the Bulldogs laying an egg with a chance to impress voters since Southern Cal and Oklahoma are off this week.

Boise State (+11) at Oregon -- This is strictly a defensive play since the quarterback situation at Oregon is unsettled. Eleven is a lot of points to give to a team like Boise State, which has thrived in road contests against Pac 10 foes in the past.

Best Bets

West Virginia (-3) at Colorado -- This is a good chance to give as few points as you'll likely see the Mountaineers giving for the rest of the season. They're likely to only be an underdog against Auburn. Colorado is much improved and the home crowd in Boulder will make a difference, but WVU should win.

Purdue (-10.5) vs. Central Michigan -- It kills me to advise betting against the Chippewas, but they just can't get it together against BCS schools. They've not been able to keep a game to single digits on the road since a 9 point loss to Kentucky in 2006 and they're not likely to keep this one to single digits either.

Arizona (-2) at UCLA -- Call this the Redemption Bowl. Both teams were among the victims of Mountain West schools last week, with UCLA of course famously losing by 59. The Bruins have a lot of problems and aren't as far along as the Wildcats.

Houston (-6) at Colorado State -- Houston is an underrated team that has lost a couple of games to good opponents (Oklahoma State, Air Force). In fact, I think they have a decent shot to upset East Carolina at home next week -- unless the spread in that game is out of whack, I intend to bet the Cougars next week also.

La.-Lafayette (-3) vs. Kent State -- The Ragin' Cajuns are favored only because they're at home, but that might be enough against a dreadful Kent State team. Home favorites giving three or less points seem to always cover the number in these inter-mid-major matchups (though I'm too lazy to do the research to verify that.)

Last Week

4-4-2 last week, 13-15-2 overall.

Top Games

1-3-1 last week, 5-9-1overall

Best Bets

3-1-1 last week, 8-6-1 overall

Actual Bets

2-0-1 last week, 6-4-1 overall, +$10

So, there's no sugarcoating that last week was a horrible one for me. Going 2-8 is not going to win me too many investors for my sports betting pyramid scheme (first prize is my retirement on a beach in Mexico).

The good news is that I was 2-2 on the bets where I put my money where my mouth was and losing $4 is not the end of the world.

This week's games finally feature some compelling contests at least, so it looks like the season is finally heading into gear.

Top Games

Ohio State (+10.5) at USC -- There's been a lot of nonsensical talk about the luster being off this game after Ohio State's scare against Ohio last week, but I think this is going to be a great game, likely to be settled by less than a touchdown. I think Beanie Wells will play and play well and the OSU defense (which was fine against Ohio last week) will play up to their potential. Put simply, any time you have a defensive unit as good as the Buckeyes and the oddsmakers are going to give you 10 or more points, take it and run.

Kansas (+3.5) at South Florida -- I think my biggest deficiency as a sports bettor is identifying games like this one where a small underdog is likely to win the game outright and taking the points and/or the money line. South Florida was not impressive against a much inferior Central Florida team last week and will have trouble stopping Kansas' offense.

UCLA (+8.5) at BYU -- I'm officially spooked by the poor play of the BYU defense and think UCLA, while unlikely to win, should be able to keep this within the number.

Fresno State (+1.5) vs. Wisconsin -- This is one of those games where I'd be likely to pick the home team as long as the spread is in the low single digits either way. The crowd is likely to be raucous and Wisconsin has struggled in some of their west coast road games.

Georgia (-7) at South Carolina -- Ironically, I'd feel a lot better laying the seven points had South Carolina performed better against Vanderbilt last week, but I still think the Bulldogs have way too much talent for the Gamecocks.

Best Bets

Florida Atlantic (+17) at Michigan State -- This is a game the Spartans might lose (and have lost in the past). This is just too many points to give to a decent team even with the intimidation factor of playing in a Big Ten stadium.

Nevada (+27) at Missouri -- The Wolfpack offense didn't perform as well as I would have thought against Texas Tech last week, but it did do a good job of keeping the Red Raiders somewhat in check. Again, this is a game I don't expect to be close, but Nevada losing by only two touchdowns is not out of the realm of possibility.

Utah (-24) at Utah State -- This is a curious line. Utah State might be the worst FBS team in the nation and Utah is favored by the same number as it was against a UNLV team that handled Utah State easily. I wouldn't be surprised if the Utes put up 50+.

Southern Miss (+1.5) at Arkansas State -- The Red Wolves (formerly Indians) broke in their new nickname in style with an upset of Texas A&M, but don't read too much into that. Southern Miss is one of the elite teams in Conference USA and even with the Sun Belt's increasing profile, a middling team from that conference shouldn't be able to hang with the best from C-USA.

Oklahoma (-20) at Washington -- I was wrong about Cincinnati hanging with Oklahoma last week and learned my lesson. I expect the Sooners to hang a big number on the Huskies this week.

Last Week

2-8 last week, 9-11 overall.

Top Games

0-5 last week, 4-6 overall

Best Bets

2-3 last week, 5-5 overall

Actual Bets

2-2 last week, 4-4 overall, -$30

In its apparent effort to corner the market on morons writing about sports, ESPN.com brings you Thomas Neumann, who felt compelled to provide a sidebar to his analysis of the most successful non-BCS teams by ranking the most surprising wins by non-BCS teams in the BCS era.

Those who have seen me post on this very topic in the Swamp might think I'm going to find fault with Neumann ranking Appalachian State's win over Michigan as #1, but I'm not even going to talk about that. It's probably accurate given the parameters of the list are non-BCS vs. BCS (otherwise, Stanford-USC from last year should be a clear #1).

No, take a close look at this list and see if you can figure out what is out of place.

Neumann has Utah's Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh in 2005 ranked as the third most "surprising" win for a non-BCS team. Utah. Which was a 16-point favorite in that game.

I don't know if he watches the same sport I do, but a 16-point favorite winning a game is never surprising. (To his credit, he at least mentions Utah was an overwhelming favorite in that game.)

I have some beefs with some of the other games he has included on the list (North Dakota State beating Minnesota last year was not very much of a surprise IMO), but he loses all credibility by including Utah's Fiesta Bowl win. Weak.

Let's say you're a Wall Street type and you've spent months and months researching a company that had its IPO last week and you're confident this company has a solid business plan and is going to be profitable.

Still, for some reason the price of the stock drops by 50 percent in the week after the IPO. The fundamentals of the company are the same, but for some reason the rest of the public isn't high on it.

What do you do?

It's not a rhetorical question -- the correct answer is "buy more stock while it is cheap".

Sports betting sometimes offers you the same dilemmas, but the answer is the same -- buy low, sell high.

Last week, Oregon State lost to Stanford and the Vegas oddsmakers are hammering the Beavers, making them a 16.5-point underdog on the road against Penn State. But if you look a little closer, Oregon State dominated Stanford statistically, outgaining the Cardinal by 180 yards and 10 first downs. Give me that kind of statistical domination and even out random events like turnovers and OSU will cover 8 out of 10 times.

Overreaction to surprisingly bad (or strong) performances can offer a lot of value to a sports bettor. Sticking to your guns with your overall assessment of a team's capabilities for at least a couple weeks into a new season can result in some great opportunities to pick up an easy win or two.

Continue reading "College Football Bets, Week 2" »

Much like the start of the baseball season heralds the beginning of spring in the hearts and minds of baseball fans, so does the start of football season herald the start of the autumn in football fans.

So while the calendar still says summer, the fall is here.

Put another way -- today is the best day of the year. Football season is back! Play kicks off with four games at 7 p.m. Eastern time, all of which feature Mid-American Conference teams. Several other games follow Thursday including a Pac 10 contest between Oregon State and Stanford. A full slate of games follow throughout the weekend with few signature games, though a Missouri-Illinois matchup does feature two top 20 teams.

The start of the college football season is 10 days away and while it still feels like an eternity, the light is at the end of the tunnel.

That means it's time for a wild guess as to the preseason Top 25. The Sports Frog continues to participate in the college football Blogpoll Top 25. At the end of the season, the national champion crowned by the nation's college football bloggers is awarded the prestigious Mom's Basement Cup.

Every week, I'll compose a ballot, post the first draft in the Swamp and get opinions and feedback from Swampers. Most Swampers didn't like my placement of Oklahoma, but I'm sticking with my guns.

So with that, here's the preseason top 25:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Georgia	25
2	Ohio State	24
3	Southern Cal	23
4	Florida	22
5	Missouri	21
6	Auburn	20
7	LSU	19
8	West Virginia	18
9	Oklahoma	17
10	Texas	16
11	Texas Tech	15
12	Virginia Tech	14
13	Oregon	13
14	Clemson	12
15	Arizona State	11
16	Wisconsin	10
17	Kansas	9
18	Brigham Young	8
19	Tennessee	7
20	South Carolina	6
21	South Florida	5
22	Penn State	4
23	Wake Forest	3
24	Fresno State	2
25	Central Michigan	1

(Editor's Note: Because the author is competing in Hood To Coast next week this entry is being posted one week early.)

Once upon a time, The Sports Frog had a feature called The Big Bet. The idea was every day one of the Frog's writers would pick a single game to bet on and then post the results. One day it might be basketball, the next college hockey and so on. Whatever that day's writer felt the most strongly about. Money would be made and fun would be had. Things didn't work out quite that well, but it was a cool experiment.

So with a half decade of discussing sports betting behind us, it's time to see how well I can do picking the week's college football games. Since I live in Las Vegas, I'm likely to throw down real money on a lot if not most of my weekly best bets and put my money where my mouth is. If this feature is a disaster, then you might see me panhandling on the Strip next time you come to town.

Here's how it is going to work -- I'm going to pick 10 games to feature every week, the top five games of the week (in my estimation) and the top five best bets across all of college football. On rare occasions, my best bets may overlap among the top games of the week, but more often than not they won't.

(If you're wondering why that is, typically there is better value following and betting on the non-BCS conferences. The services that set the lines are still smarter than the average bettor, but even they spend more time following the BCS conferences.)

Continue reading "College Football Bets, Week 1" »

Many who follow college sports were surprised to see Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White depart South Bend to take the same position at Duke earlier this summer.

Duke, while it possesses a very fine basketball program (men's and women's) and is marginally competitive in a few non-revenue sports, doesn't have nearly the Q rating that Notre Dame does.

Well, if leaving Notre Dame for Duke isn't bad enough for Irish fans, how about an alumnus spurning Notre Dame's offer to become its new AD to stay at...SMU?

The scuttlebutt I've seen suggests that White left because of too much interference from the school's administration which supposedly orchestrated the firing of Ty Willingham, the hiring of Charlie Weis and the absurd contract extension given to Weis after his first season at Notre Dame (which could go down in history as the most ill-advised contract ever given to a college coach, but I digress).

Given this news, you have to assume there's at least some fire to go with the smoke. It will be interesting to see who Notre Dame is eventually able to entice to take the position.

So, here's the thing.

There are any of a number of ways to defend civil lawsuits. Whether it is a breach of contract case, personal injury defense, car wreck, slip and fall, products liabilty, whatever, one of avenues of defense is to attack the alleged damages. Quite simply, you argue to the Court that the aggrieved party is not nearly as damaged as they say they are. If you prevail in your proof and argument, then, even if you are found liable for the plaintiffs injuries, their recovery is lessened, perhaps significantly. Defense 101.

So, consider that a brief background to the lawsuit filed by Louisville against Duke for Duke backing out of its contract to play Louisville in football through the 2009 season (three games affected). It was a breach of contract action, filed in Kentucky, and if Louisville was right that Duke breached the contract, then Duke had some damages to pay.

So, if you are Duke's attorneys, and defense 101 is to minimize damages, what do you do?

Say! Duke football blows mule! Let's point that out to the Judge and see what happens. Which is what happened in fact as "Duke's lawyers argued that the Blue Devils' performance on the field was so poor that any Division I team would suffice as a replacement. Duke is 6-45 over the past five years, 13-90 since 1999."

Did the Court buy it? Hells yes:

Held, by Judge Phillip Shephered of the Franklin County Kentuck Circuit Court, that:

"At oral argument, Duke [with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty] persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower," Shepherd wrote in a summary judgment issued Thursday, according to the paper. "Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville."

Fuck yeah. Nice work to the Duke attorneys and, really, what could the Louisville attorneys say? "No, they're awesome?" And, voila! Hundred of thousands of dollars of potential damages for the breach of contract gone with the wind.

Why?

3.6 rating for ND games on NBC in 2005
3.0 for the 2006 games
1.9 last year

Now I am no Nielsen guru, but are not ratings supposed to be getting larger to justify buying back into programming? So, why then?

"When Notre Dame is good, and they're often quite good, they bring more attention to football than anyone else," Ken Schanzer, the president of NBC Sports, said by telephone.

Schanzer has a son and a daughter at Notre Dame. The eldest son of Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, is a graduate. "We like them to be great," Schanzer said. "It's better when they're great, but when they're good, they maintain a high level of interest." The Rev. John I. Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, said in an interview that NBC's decision to renew the deal well before it was required to shows "that they're committed to a long-term relationship, not a short-term calculation about viewers and ratings."

He said the network "understands that we're a university, not a football franchise."

As for that last part: BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Yeah, that's why NBC is getting out of its millions, the chance to be associated with the University. Dear lord, but that shit is funny. Thanks Father. Good stuff. I look forward to the NBC block of programming of ND students walking to class or heading to the library to study.

As for Schanzer's italicized quote above, how about when they are bad? How's the interest then? Oh, wait, it's only a 1.9.

Swizzle. Another five years of rooting like hell against Notre Dame on a weekly basis. Nice to have some consistency in life.

And, I can take comfort in knowing that humiliations like this:

will continue to get maximum embarrassing exposure.

Peter Tom Willis, once a great FSU football player (and a member of the university's hall of fame) had been the analyst for FSU football games for a decade. Yes, "had". Because he got fired on Thursday, for, as near as I can tell, telling the truth. From the Palm Beach Post:

"Peter Tom Willis' intent was to call it like he saw it as the analyst for Florida State football. And when the program slips to consecutive 7-6 seasons, that means saying things people don't want to hear. Those opinions got Willis fired Thursday after sharing the radio booth with play-by-play announcer Gene Deckerhoff for 10 seasons. What are these? "They felt like I was too critical of the program and the team the last few years," Willis said Friday. "I hate that. That was not my intent. My intent was to call it like I see it for 10 years. "But if people are upset with me because I was telling the truth, if that's going to upset people, maybe I shouldn't be there."

Willis is a member of the FSU Sports Hall of Fame and a former quarterback who led the Seminoles to a 10-2 record and No. 3 ranking in 1989. He was critical of the offense under former coordinator Jeff Bowden, and said that he probably "stepped over the line" when he said the Seminoles resembled a "high school offense" during the 2005 game at Clemson. That comment upset coach Bobby Bowden, according to sources. "Anybody who listens to me on the radio knows nobody gets more excited when we are going well,'' Willis said. "If you do that you have to point out things that are going wrong."

That be true.

And, hey, Bobby Bowden? Getting rid of people pointing out ridiculously obvious flaws with your team doesn't really address the problem: namely, the ridiculously obvious flaws on your team. Just sayin'.

I don't get this.

LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux will not be allowed to play in the Tigers' spring game on Saturday, but he's been cleared by coach Les Miles to return to the team in full on Sunday.

What does that really prove? You're not really forcing him to miss anything of value. He's been with the team long enough that it's not like he is missing a chance to learn the playbook, or not going to be one of the best players on the team next year. You've basically just given him a "Get out of Practice" free card without inflicting any real punishment.

The only way to really get anything across, I imagine, is to take away playing time in real games, not practice.

And this is his third offense. Maybe Miles is taking the approach of the Bengals. You got two more, Perriloux!

Supposedly, he chose the school more ready to play for a nat'l championship (although apparently not actuall WIN one). So, no Pitt, no Penn State, and apparently no Michigan (although give Rich R. two years, and check back with me on UM for a nat'l title).

I guess that's as good a reason as any. Plus, those other schools could not match Ohio State's signing bonus.

Not Oregon.

That leaves Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State in the running for the alleged superman at quarterback. He is supposedly going to say what school it will be for all things Pryor tomorrow, and in the usual sign of the times:

"ESPNU and CSTV plan to carry Pryor's decision live. Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post and newspaper reporters from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan also plan to attend. Although Pryor said he is not totally sure he will announce his choice tomorrow, Jeannette school officials are proceeding with plans to have a news conference. Jeannette principal Stu Albaugh said only media members and Pryor's invited guests will be permitted to attend the event. The public will not be allowed in the school.

Here is where the observer would ordinarily say something caustic about the priorities of education nowadays, but that won't come from me. If Pryor is as good as he is supposed to be, his future is not going to be behind a desk like normal people. And his earning potential is going to dwarf normal people as well. So, cameras it is, then. And normal people will not avoid work while posting on blogs in front of 100,000 spectators either. So, yeah, cameras for his decision.

I'm not buying it. He hasn't been getting coffee from Baldwin for at least a decade.

At any rate, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Penn State has pulled out its alleged big gun, Paterno, to try and convince apparent football superman Terrelle Pryor to waste his talents in Penn State's ridiculously outdated offense. And, no matter how much I try to get rid of the thought, I can't help but imagine Paterno as Izzy Mandelbaum from the classic Seinfeld episode, inviting Pryor to get aboard the pain train while throwing a medicine ball at him.

Regardless, good luck to Penn State in talking Pryor away from new hotness Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, away from the fun of Oregon's offense, or Ohio State. Well, he ought to be able to argue him away from Ohio State. The other two choices? Not so much.

C'mon Pryor! It's go time!

Stewart Mandel at si.com taking West Virginia to the woodshed over their continuing reactions to Rich Rodriguez's decision to bolt to Michigan:

"• As tough as this may be for you to swallow, Michigan is a better job than West Virginia. Period. Richer tradition, bigger stadium, better resources, more prestigious conference, wider recruiting appeal ... I'll refrain from piling on. It should hardly come as a shock to you that Rodriguez would leave West Virginia for Michigan -- the stunner would have been if he'd turned down the Wolverines."

Ouch. All true, except for the more presigious conference part. Big X needs to wake up of that won't be so true going forward.

Seems the Mountaineers can use your help building a database to track player information. On the heels of charges that former coach Rich Rodriguez has something to do with dozens of missing player files:

"If a player spoke to a school or did public service, we don't have a record of it,'' the source said, according to the newspaper. "If he broke a rule or missed class, we don't have a record of that, either. We don't have anything."

It doesn't even have to be elaborate. I'm guessing a simple Excel sheet would do the trick.

Funniest story of the day comes from rotoworld:

"Arkansas RB Darren McFadden was handcuffed by police at a piano bar Thursday after being involved in a 'pretty rowdy scene.' Uh...a piano bar? A disturbance broke out shortly after midnight at the bar and had spilled into the street. The Heisman runner-up and All American was not charged with a crime and released after merely being cuffed for a few minutes because police felt he was getting 'rowdy.' If McFadden declares for the NFL Draft, this shouldn't adversely affect him."

What happened? Did Bugs Bunny slam his fingers in the keys?

...very early 2008 Top 10:

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State (I know, I know, I almost hate to see it too. Just two seniors on the latest Ohio State team to get ripped asunder by an SEC team)
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. Missouri
6. West Virginia
7. Florida
8. Kansas
9. LSU
10. Wisconsin

Hmmmmm. Let me go ahead and pare that list down to the actual national title contenders:

Georgia
Florida
LSU

Sorry.

Sorry for inflicting that on the general population one more time. Sorry that in one years time, Jim Tressell and his coaching staff still have no idea how to stop anything when the offense they are facing doesn't line up in simple two or three receiver sets and just run down the field. Sorry that the concept of "bunched" receivers is so foreign. Sorry that Ohio State can teach its receivers to do nothing more than run straight down the field. Sorry that, for a second year in a row, Ohio State's quarterback has a profound inability to find his second read. Sorry for the initial "fast touchdown" followed by three quarters of bending over.

Oh, and sorry for the Big 10. That too. Sorry that for Tressell's entire run there, there has been a dearth of coaches willing to try someting different and push Tressell to not be such a non-creative stick-in-the-mud. Maybe Rich Rodriguez will help that. Maybe SEC reject Ron Zook will continue to force some change. It's no coincidence that Illinois also beat Ohio State with its somewhat exotic sets. Sorry that the rest of the Big 10 has not put the same emphasis on overall coaching excellence that the SEC has, thereby challenging all of its programs to get better, thereby allowing Ohio State to relatively skate to national title games on a too frequent basis.

Oh, and sorry for the current non-playoff BCS bullshit. Sorry for the randomness of a good but not nearly in-the-same-class Ohio State team being given the precious shot at a "title" over a team like Georgia, USC, or even West Virginia. No good reason for it. Sorry that we don't really know how good LSU is. Sorry that they were not tested better than that. Maybe the only good that can come of it is a hastening of an end to the awful BCS and some sort of playoff being instituted. Ohio State fatigue may be that strong.

So, sorry for all of it. If I could have talked them out of that game ahead of time, I would have. With any luck, it won't happen again next year.

Stewart Mandel on the carnage here at si.com.
Some local Ohio State flavor here. Note the absence of Tressell blame. That's stupid.

At any rate, sorry.

Full disclosure, in case you did not know, I am a Buckeyes football fan.

That said, the excitement about this game is, well, missing? Yeah, missing. It might end up being a good game. Or it might not. LSU will romp. Or they won't. But I don't know that anyone particuarly cares all that much in the greater scheme of things. Assuming my general thesis is right, here's my guess as to why:

1. The winner won't really feel like a true national champ. USC, West Virginia, and Georgia, at the least, have decent arguments to make that they are at least as good, if not better, than whoever wins tonight.

2. tOSU fatigue. After last year's false coronation, and then subsequent humiliation, there is plenty of legit skepticism to hurl Ohio State's way. And people don't usually get fired up about potential blowouts.

3. LSU doesn't have a lot of star power, all things considered. Ohio State too, for that matter. Plenty of talent, but nothing that really pops, for excitement purposes.

But, regardless, they will play a game tonight. And one team will hold a pretty trophy and call itself national champ. And we will all get used to calling the winner national champ. Even though, at the end of the day, no one will really know.

If only there was some way to settle this on the field...

Stewart Mandel of si.com with a guess at what will matter in the game. He thinks the now fully healthy Tigers will be at a distinct advantage. I guess there is no good reason to disagree, other than my partisan hope that he is wrong.

Hopefully, on behalf of Buckeye fans, Jim Tressell will not coach this year's alleged title game with his head firmly lodged up his sweater-vested ass. That would be a nice start.

Edited to add: I am apparently not the only one feeling less than fired up about this game. Head to the Swamp and this thread where all-infinity swamper bobp is on a similar road.

And the only explaination I can give for Michigan's performance yesterday is that Rich Rodriguez sat him down and explained that his offense could in fact attempt and even complete a pass longer than 5 yards. Could in fact run a screen and attempt some misdirection from time to time. Because that was the Michigan team most fans were waiting to see all year. Add in a couple of Adrian Arrington circus catches, the obligatory fumbles by Mike Hart (part of a -4 turnover day), and some truly inspired defense and that was the most I've enjoyed watching a Michigan game in the past couple of years.

Here's hoping that Coach Rodriguez is able to build on that win and do read the Free Press's Michael Rosenberg's description of the scene where the team decided they'd like to win one for the Lloydster.

Really, really, really good teams? Georgia and USC certainly. Throw Missouri in that mix. Oklahoma too. West Virginia for that matter.

Now, can anyone say with anything approaching certainty that LSU or Ohio State is more deserving of the title "national champion" than those schools? Ohio State played no one this year to speak of and managed to lose to Illinois, last seen being disembowled by USC in the Rose Bowl. Course, Ohio State did manage to beat Michigan who just beat Florida, an entrant from the beastly SEC. Missouri ripped Arkansas asunder, just six weeks after Arkansas beat LSU.

The entire thing is a farce.

Make. it. a. playoff.

There is no earthly good reason to keep passing off this current system as acceptable. And don't tell me about how it is not affecting college football's viewing or interest this time of year. My assuredly unscientific sample of "me" tells me that I watched about 49 collective minutes of bowl games yesterday. Maybe I am alone in that, but I am betting not (based, at least, in the lack of Swamp chatter regarding the Bowls yesterday).

By the way, I am betting a Hawaii/Illinois game would have been a lot of fun in something like the Holiday Bowl while a playoff involving good teams unfolded. You can have the stupid bowl system AND a playoff. This ain't rocket science. I don't understand why the powers-that-be make it so.

But I am sure Booty enjoyed his glorified scrimmage...

It remains one of the giant puzzles to me that the rest of college football lets themselves be highjacked by old men with a rose fetish. It is bad for your average sports fan on two levels:

1. As the system is currently set up, the insane desire for Pac10/Big 10 to the exclusion of almost all else in the Rose Bowl yields stinkers like yesterday's USC/Illinois fiasco. It was obvious to anyone who was conscious at the beginning of December that Missouri should be in a BCS game, but they were passed over because of the Rose Bowl's insane need to feed a tradition that no one really gives a shit about.

What should have happened yesterday? Missouri/USC in the Rose Bowl (and in that case, people might have actually watched more than three minutes before looking to see if Mythbusters was on) with Illinois in the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas. Instead, thanks to the shithole Rose Bowl folks, two crappy games were foisted on the country.

2. The second way in which college football has let itself be highjacked by the Rose Bowl is that the Rose Bowl (and the Big 10 and Pac 10 by all accounts) are the current primary obstacles to the playoff that 99.4% of the fans want. Getting from what was to what is (however unsatisfactory the current system is) took decades too long thanks to the Rose Bowl and its Pac 10/Big 10 obsession, and even now has yielded a system that really doesn't work.

So what should the rest of college football do?

My humble suggestion to start 2008:

Tell the Big 10/Pac10/Rose Bowl to go fuck themselves. If they want to be together that badly, let them. At least in any given year those two conferences will be guaranteed at least one bowl win.

Then, for the remainder of college football's conferences, put in a playoff that excludes the Big 10/Pac10/Rose Bowl. If the other conferences do that, I am guessing the silliness from those entities will end. For too long college football has ceded disproportionate power to Pasadena and two of its Big Six conferences. Time to take some back. In my admittedly pipedream scenario, the others come crawling back to the fold or can spend a decade or so playing its stupid pretend important game while the rest of college football does something meaningful and interesting.

I'd like to see that.

Who?

The outstanding freshman quarterback for Michigan.

Whither? Well, he's thought to be more of a classic drop back pocket qb (although he operated out of a shotgun in high school) and new Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez runs the spread. So the thought is that Mallet might be mismatched with Rodriguez and his system. Mallet, for his part, will make a decision following the Citrus (Cap One, whatever) Bowl. Interestingly, Lloyd Carr had this to say about talking with Mallet:

"It's a career decision for him," Carr said. "I will support whatever he does. Other than that, sometimes a guy gets caught in a coaching change and that really changes things significantly. What I advised Ryan to do when Coach Rodriguez was named was to sit down and talk with him and don't listen to all the things that are out there. You have a conversation with him and you'll know exactly what your feelings are."

Well worth tracking in the days after the January 1st. I know from several die-hard Arkansas fans down my way that the hope is that Petrino's arrival in Fayetteville will entice Mallet to leave and come to Arkansas in 2009.

Sorry for a local post, but enough is happening in the city I call home that it cannot be avoided.

The good:

Memphis Tigers basektball.

I was fortunate to score a ticket (and a free one at that) to the Memphis/Georgetown game yesterday. It was easily the most electric college baseketball crowd I have ever been a part of, and the noise was deafening at critical times. The Tigers have a genuine home court advantage at this point, supporting a very good basketball team. The game itself? Played at a very high level by both teams before Memphis' defense wore down and overwhelmed Georgetown. When Chris Douglas-Roberts is on his game along with Derrick Rose, Memphis will be tough to beat.

Hard not to be a part of that crowd and again despair at Memphis' being marooned in Conference USA. A parade of teams like Georgetown, Connecticut, Louisville, and the rest of the Big East through Memphis would be most welcome. Instead, scenes like yesterday are fleeting, as the realities of a parade of East Carolina, SMU, and Tulsa conference games will suck the life out of the proceedings.

The bad:

Memphis Tigers football. It is beyond me my Conference USA has six bowl tie-ins. Absolutely indefensible that a conference that plays as bad a football as C-USA does will be able to send legitimately bad teams to play one more game. And the Tigers were a legitimately bad team this year. Their reward? Yet another game against a Sunbelt Conference team having already lost in the regular season to Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee State. The outcome Friday night? Preordained as far as I was concerned. When you can't stop anyone, then for certain, you will lose. Apparently if the Tigers were adrift in the Sunbelt they would never win. If I were calling shots for Memphis, Tommy West would not have a job this morning. I'm not, so he does.

The awful/hopeful:

The Memphis Grizzlies in close games are awful. Actually, they are pretty damn awful in not-so-close games too. Another buzzer-beating loss last night, this time to the Sixers, adds to a series of gut-punch losses this year. It has reached laughable proportions. Then again, if they were not busy choking away 11-point 4th period leads, it might not come down to last second shots.

The hopeful part of the wasteland that it is NBA basketball in Memphis is Rudy Gay as he continues to make a definite leap. He's averaging 20 points a game with 6 boards and showing increased desire to be the man at the end of games. In fact, there is little question locally that the leader of the team is now Gay, as opposed to Pau Gasol. That, at the least, is something positive for a bad team to build on as it waits for its latest top five overall draft pick.

And the wait was more than likely worth it.

Rich Rodriguez is a nice fit for the program and will bring some of that 21st century offensive philosophy to a team that needed a jolt of creativity. Since we linked to fantastic MGoBlog a few times during the low points of Michigan's coach search, it's only fair to point people there for the happy resolution. Look for more in-depth analysis today from the best site on the 'net for Michigan stuff.

As for what this tOSU fan thinks?

Damn.

I was still holding out hopes for the somewhat comical Les Miles to end up taking the job, as I remain unsold on him as what Michigan needed. Plus, living in Memphis, the screaming down here from LSU fans in the heart of SEC country would have made the whole thing extra fun. Rodriguez on the other hand? He was on my short list of guys I didn't want in that position. I suspect he will very quickly yank Michigan into this century in terms of offensive philosophy, and, more imporantly for Michigan, will find defensive coaches who will have a clue on how to defend the spread. That by itself will go a long way toward fixing what has been ailing Michigan in the final years under Lloyd Carr.

"You're asking me if I feel used at the moment. I feel abused at the moment."

"To have him talk [at the Arkansas press conference] about family, to have him talk about team, to have him talk about commitment, and then to come in and have a form letter sitting on the stool at your locker after seeing him do the... his hog... you know, his pig suey, with the Arkansas faithful... that's not how a man acts. That's how a coward acts."

"... And the fourth one is 'Finish'. I don't think leaving - quitting - after 13 games is equal to the word finish."

"He's definitely a liar... He had guys thinking 'I couldn't play football anymore', and thinking 'I couldn't run'. And it wasn't because I wasn't trying, it was because he was setting us up to fail. And when you look back on it, he wasn't in it."

"As many times as you see that Petrino press conference in Fayetteville, it just numbs your senses as to how badly he handled this situation."

One part of me feels bad for Michigan nation that the coaching search to replace Lloyd Carr has been handled about as well as Fred Thompson's presidential campaign. The other part of me is delighted because it has spurred the consistently excellent MGoBlog to fantastic nearly unmatchable heights of excellence in the last month.

Head there again and read through the latest broadsides at AD Bill Martin, the latest in the Les Miles fiasco, and make certain to read down to the "Profiles in Cronyism" takedown of the inclusion of Ball State coach Brady Hoke in the search. Linger on that post for goodness like this:

"Overall Attractiveness: Awful. Awful, awful, awful. The worst possible candidate. The mere idea this guy -- who's never even been a coordinator anywhere and has his MAC team performing at a level well below the program's historical baseline -- could get the job is infuriating. Only at Michigan could this happen, and if it does I guarantee you that Bo is going to haunt the mofo that signs the contract."

The rest of it is even better.

...from nighty cap, I could have sworn last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, Bob Griese and Sean Salisbury on espnews came within an inch of putting new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino into the same moral soup with:

Pol Pot

Hitler

Stalin

Perspective much? It's not like this just didn't happen one year ago with Nick Saban. I guess the extra games he "cheated" the Falcons of makes enough of a difference to take Saban completely off the hook. Oh, and apparently Jamaal Anderson, ex-Razorback and current Falcon, is doing nothing to smooth Petrino's way in Fayetteville. The Petrino letter to his players is not doing him any favors either.

The Atlanta perspective? Head to Braves & Birds. About the only thing that can possibly take the heat off of Petrino at this point? When Les Miles finally goes ahead and takes the Michigan job.

The Lord's reaction to Tim Tebow's Heisman win last night? Pure joy. And some relief. Said the Lord:

"It was a long campaign, but it is nice to see that my effort and focus on all things Tim Tebow wasn't for naught."

On criticism that the focus on Tebow meant neglecting actual problems in the world:

"Look, kids are always going to get cancer. The Arabs will always hate the Jews. The developed world will pollute the environment beyond recognition. But all of that pales in comparison to Tebow's needs. It's all about Tim Tebow."

On what is next for his chosen one:

"Another Heisman, I hope. And then 10 consecutive NFL MVP awards, each time ending with a reminder that me, God, has made it all possible for him. Tebow. Because you are not."

Fucked up. And, amusing, for pretty much everyone not associated with Michigan fandom. For those that are fans? Not so amusing.

At any rate, still not on the Les Miles plan, turned down by Greg Schiano, and drifting in the water, adrift, following some sort of pre--ordained process. Less than ideal. Particularly for a program as generally pleased with itself as Michigan is (and ought to be).

That all said, I am not a Michigan fan, and have not really been following the ins and out of this closely. But, and I promise you, I cannot sell you on this site enough, the spectacularly good MGOBlog most certainly has and, in a post mid-week entitled "We Must Detroit This Process to Save It", following further revelations about just how badly Michigan is bumbling the search, is among the more biting and wittily funny criticisms you will run across. Exhibit 1A in why the internets is the best place to turn (if you can find the goodness) for commentary that puts to shame that found in the mainstream media. Follow the link, scroll down (permalink isn't working) and have a read.

Enjoy.

"I'm not saying it's a mistake to hire Jimbo Fisher. I'm saying it's a mistake to limit yourself to Jimbo Fisher.

A year ago, Jeff Bowden was supposedly so wretched as an offensive coordinator that the university and boosters were willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get rid of him. Fisher is supposedly so valuable as an offensive coordinator that the university is committing more than $1-million to keep him.

So how come the Seminoles scored more points when the other guy was in charge? How come FSU had 36 offensive touchdowns with Jeff Bowden, and is on pace to score 26 with Fisher?

A few years ago, LSU was looking for a head coach to replace Nick Saban. Fisher had been in Baton Rouge for five seasons, including the 2003 national championship season. And, yet, the Tigers hired Les Miles.

Last season, Fisher was a candidate to be the head coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham but supposedly priced himself out of the job. The point is, how does he go from being a candidate at UAB to the head-coach-in-waiting at FSU after one season as offensive coordinator? "

From 1-32. Stewart Mandel with his now annual look at the inane bowl season here.

But, what? I was execting to see the fuck-awful Memphis v. Florida Atlantic game at #32. But he has it at #22. What say you, Mandel?

"New Orleans (Dec. 21): Florida Atlantic (7-5) vs. Memphis (7-5). This is the under-the-radar game of the year. Howard Schnellenberger's Owls are a team on the rise, while Memphis has two of the best receivers (Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton) you've never seen."

Well maybe. It is certainly true that Calhoun and Singleton have not been seen. And that goes for pretty much the entire metro Memphis population as well. The only reason to turn into that awful game? To see if Florida Atlantic will score 70. Memphis has the worst defense I have ever seen. Laughably bad. The only way that game should be watched is by coaches to learn what not to do.

The worst game according to Mandel? The New Mexico Bowl featuring New Mexico against Nevada. Well. Perhaps that's worse than Memphis/FAU. But I will have to not see it and read about it to believe it.

But thank G-d we have all these meaningful bowls and no icky playoff. Think of the horror of having a whole series of compelling meaningful games as opposed to just a highly questionable one. College presidents, I salute you for your stubborness and greed.

These are the salad days for those of us who hate the BCS. The wonderful mediocrity/parity/whatever that is college football this year has helped to shine light on the shambolic nature of the fucked up non-playoff system foisted upon the rooting public by the college presidents.

So, for the short term, happy days are here.

Now, can something helpful come from the chaos? That's the question. Will the pressure finally be sufficient on those who stand in the way of common sense that meaningful change will finally be fast-tracked?

Stewart Mandel in si.com on the carnage:

"But after all the excitement and intrigue caused by all those upsets the past 14 weeks, we've reached what should be the climactic point of the season, only to be treated to Ohio State-LSU and ... Virginia Tech-Kansas? USC-Illinois? Oklahoma-West Virginia? For that, the BCS will and should be held responsible. And in fact, this year's utterly unappealing postseason may finally bring some much-needed change to the way the sport decides its champion.

I've never been a playoff guy. I've always bought into the notion that the sport's regular season -- the most gripping regular season in all of sports -- is a de facto playoff. But that notion was based on a long history of regular seasons in which at least two teams distinguished themselves as being truly great over 11 or 12 games. That did not happen this season. Not in the slightest."

Mandel goes on to advocate for the current compromise-du jour, the +1 format. Which, I guess, would beat the shit out of the current mess. But it still doesn't give every team a chance.

Dan Wetzel at yahoo.com once again, on behalf of the countless millions who have previously made the same reasoned arguments, makes anew the compelling case for a 16-team playoff here (hat tip to JoeK715 in the Swamp for the heads up). Read it and join the movement to common sense.

For those of us who hate the BCS, this is like a holiday morning. There were always two scenarios that would lay the silliness of the system bare. Scenario 1: several quality undefeated teams. Scenario 2: multiple teams with losses on their resume and no clear way to distinguish them.

That would be "Scenario 2" this morning.

Let the guessing begin:

Stewart Mandel at si.com thinks it will be LSU who faces tOSU. Actually, he makes the argument for LSU. He yields that it all comes down to what the coaches and Harris poll voters do.

Dennis Dodd at sportsline.com also is guessing LSU will face tOSU. Again, it will come down to the voters making the Tigers a google-sized growth stock.

By the way, to all of you who are wondering why a relatively weak Buckeye team is given a wave into the title game when there appear to be more deserving teams who won't? Mandel captures it perfectly with this:

"Say what you want about the oft-criticized Buckeyes. They won a conference championship in one of the six recognized major conferences, and they were the only one of the six to make it through with just one loss. Like it or not, Ohio State has come the closest of any team to "earning" a spot in the title game."

That's pretty much it. Without a playoff system, such logic comes close enough to compelling to send the Buckeyes through. Bizarre. And, as usual, unfair. But, as always, is what it is.

As for what it should be? A playoff. How about this....a 12-team playoff? Take the champs of the BCS conferences, two more of the most deserving champs from the non-BCS conferences, add in four at-large teams, and have at it. That's pretty doable. Seed the teams 1-12, give the top four seeds a bye, and let's see who is the best.

It's really not that difficult. Everyone else does it. The question remains, year after year, just why do major college presidents hate us so? (and, yes, I know, greed. But it still doesn't make it right)

West Virginia loses is a world class shocker at home to heavy underdog Pitt.

Missouri down 11 with thirteen minutes to go in the 4th quarter to Oklahoma. IF Mizzou cannot come back, then 1 and 2 will have fallen on the last weekend of the college football regular season.

For those of us who hate the BCS, this would, of course, be absolutely a pleasure. In every respect.

If it comes to pass, then tOSU is in the title game again. Who would meet them there?

The candidates:

Georgia
USC
LSU
Va Tech
Oklahoma

Those are the best of the two loss teams. You would likely eliminate one-loss Kansas (beat no one, he said carefully, noting that tOSU's resume ain't all that great either) and Missouri (two losses to OU) from the discussion.

Of those five, who should go? Who knows? It's all frickin' arbitrary and ad hoc. Decent arguments can be made for each (except for maybe the Hokies).

My best guess? Look for the voters to engineer either USC or LSU to the sweet spot in the polls, and for one of those two to face the Buckeyes. Let's call it USC. Barely.

Maybe, hmmmm, perhaps, just a thought, a playoff might help with this? For the love of all that is holy, college presidents, just give us our fuckin' playoff already.

ETA: Now 35-17 with 10 minutes to go. OU almost cruising now. The barbarians are at the BCS gate.

Apparently so. In no uncertain terms. Quoth the current and apparently future LSU head coach today:

"Les Miles will remain LSU's football coach rather than bolt to Michigan. "I am the head coach at LSU. I will be the head coach at LSU," Miles said Saturday. "I have no interest in talking to anybody else." Wearing a purple tie, standing and gesturing, Miles angrily made his announcement two hours before the No. 5 Tigers played No. 14 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Miles said an erroneous ESPN report that he was going to Michigan prompted him to speak to his players and the media. "I've got a championship game to play, and I'm excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play," he said. "It's unfortunate that I had to address my team with that information this morning.

"I represent me in this issue, please ask me after. I'm busy," he said. LSU chancellor Sean O'Keefe chuckled as Miles charged off the podium. In an offseason that has seen several big moves, Miles did not want to jump on the coaching carousel. LSU athletic director Skip Bertman said the school and Miles were in agreement. "Coach Miles and the chancellor have already worked out a contract that they're happy with, but it hasn't been signed yet," Bertman said.

Well.

Guess this puts Michigan back at square one. Or back at Kirk Ferentz's door.

On a personal note as a Buckeye fan...damn. I sharply disagree with those who are impressed by what Miles gets done on game days, and was looking forward to having him at Michigan. Damn.

A Missouri win over Oklahoma.

West Virginia to hold serve at home against Pitt.

And a damn fine and highly entertaining Nat'l title game. In lieu of an actual playoff, a game that is practically guaranteed to 49-48 would be at least something to look forward to.

Both games are tonite. tOSU nation hopes for an upset. Everyone else? Hoping for wins by the top two teams (according to the lame system we have now).

College football fever. Catch it. Or try to, anyway.

Houston Nutt wasn't out of a job for long: He was hired as Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi's football coach just hours after resigning at Arkansas.

Nutt agreed to a contract late Monday night, and replaces Ed Orgeron, who was fired Saturday after the Rebels lost to rival Mississippi State to finish 3-9 and winless in the SEC.

No word if Donna Bragg will be relocating to Jackson, Miss or not.

Unsurprising:

Houston Nutt out at Arkansas. I'm officially on record as mocking Arkansas fans for forcing Nutt out. They're delusional if they think they're going to be able to entice a big name coach to Fayetteville and have Arkansas winning more games than Nutt won. This falls under the category of "being careful what you wish for." Hogs fans wanted Nutt's scalp and they got it. Now the hard part is finding a miracle worker who will be able to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

Chan Gailey out at Georgia Tech. Gailey was 0-6 against Georgia. That probably says all you need to know about this decision. Another failed experiment at trying to recreate the success of Pete Carroll by grabbing a mediocre NFL coach. Still, an overall amusing experiment since it led to the genius that is Charlie Weis.

Ted Roof fired at Duke. Yeah, it's probably the hardest place in college football to win, but six wins in four-plus years is just not going to get it done.

Pretty shocking:

Jeff Bower leaves Southern Mississippi. Bower had been at USM (his alma mater) for 17 years and had led the Golden Eagles to 14 straight winning seasons and bowl games for nine of the last ten years. That's a remarkable streak of consistency for a mid-major, even if it fell short of what a lot of USM fans would like. Those same fans are likely to rue this day.

Joe Novak at Northern Illinois. Unless Novak is leaving of his own accord (which is possible), this is a horrible decision by NIU. Novak turned a laughing stock (even by MAC standards) into one of the conference's premier programs in this decade. The Huskies slid to 2-10 this season, but a lot of that was due to injuries and being hit especially hard by graduations last season. NIU will be hard-pressed to replace Novak.

In:

Mike Sherman at Texas A&M. The Aggies didn't waste any time replacing Dennis Franchione. Kind of a surprising hire as Sherman has little college experience, but he was an underrated coach at the pro level and should be able to get the most of out whatever talent he's able to lure to College Station.

Bill Lynch at Indiana. Arguably the biggest feel-good story of the college football season, Lynch was rewarded for taking Indiana to its first bowl since 1993 and fulfilling the stated goal of late coach Terry Hoeppner.

...and we are just guests at the party. Missouri 36. Kansas 28.

First Big 12 North title in school history? Check.

Potential first time atop the polls since 1960? Check.

Coach who says all the right things? Check:

"Clutching a clear, square-shaped division trophy in his postgame news conference, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel remarked, "I like it, but now I want the round one." He was referring to the award given to the Big 12's overall champion. "We've got a picture of it in our locker room," said Pinkel. "That's how I know it's round."

Good one. And the correct perspective. Things I know from having seen them play in person earlier this year:

1. Their offensive sets are creative and hard to shut down.

2. Chase Daniel is the real deal at quarterback and will play on Sundays.

3. They have NFL caliber talent all over the field on offense, including a tight end in Martin Rucker that is a match-up nightmare for opposing teams. Oh, and having met his Dad in Memphis the night before the Ole Miss/Missouri game, I can tell you that he comes from a cool family.

4. Since the game in September in Oxford, the Tigers appear to have made some strides on defense, a must if they want to play for the national title.

And, if Missouri wins another to get to that title game, they will face a very good West Virginia team. Frankly, even as an Ohio State fan, I can acknowledge the Buckeye fatigue and skepticism that the country must be feeling, and rather hope that a fairly pedestrian Ohio State team does not play for the title this year.

If Missouri can get by Oklahoma and West Virginia takes care of business against Pitt, then a Missouri vs. West Virginia match-up has the potential to be extremely entertaining. And a game that might very well be won somewhere in the 45-44 region of the scoreboard.

Prior to today's game, the Mizzou/Kansas rivalry probably meant more to Civil War buffs.

Clearly, this is perhaps one of the most improbable big games in college football history. On a list of potential big games this season that might have been compiled back in September, it would probably have come in somewhere around 79th, somewhere around the Baylor/aTm game. At best. (hyperbole noted...but, still, this was not exactly a game that anyone really had marked as a big one back in the day)

And yet, here we are. Winner to #1 likely (or maybe #2 if Mizzou wins and doesn't leapfrog West Virginia) and on the cusp of an appearance in the national title game. Huh. At the least, on a cool note personally, if Mizzou wins its next two, I will have had the lucky privilege of seeing them live in the year they made such an improbable run. In hindsight, their thrashing of Ole Miss in Oxford back in September was what national title contending teams do to bad teams. I sure didn't analyze it that way at the time.

...after tOSU had become the latest #1 to fall, Sports Illustrated in their print edition went through the title picture and concluded that West Virginia and tOSU were too far back at #s 6 and 7 in the BCS to get into the title game.

Or, not.

After the latest carnage (Arkansas 50 LSU 48), with two wins, West Virginia gets to the BCS title game. And, if the Mizzou/Kansas winner trips up against Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, tOSU gets there too. Hell, let WVa stumble too, and maybe Georgia could sneak into the title game with two losses. Why not? It's all FUBAR anyway this year.

Say, here's a thought. Rather than guess at the best team in college football this year (and that's all we have at this point, a guess), why not some sort of tournament? Maybe something where the conference champs from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 10, ACC, Big East + two others get together and see whose best? How about that? I bet people would be interested in that. Might even sell a sponsorship or two. Make a little money...

Lloyd Carr is retiring. I've read/heard enough in the past few days about how University of Michigan fans are not doing enough to laud Carr's 13 seasons at the helm. Sentiments like this from Lenn Robbins in the New York Post:

"Shame to the victors...Carr, 62, has lost four straight and six of seven to the Buckeyes, so, of course, it's time for a new Carr in the Motor City.

Forget the 121-40 record, the four Rose Bowls and Carr's commitment to Michigan since he became an assistant coach in 1980."

To which I say, a resoundingly polite: Poo.

In thirteen years at Ohio State John Cooper was 111-43-4. Eerily similar to Mr. Carr's record now wouldn't you say? Any second guesses whether Cooper should have gone? Cooper couldn't win the big game and his record against Michigan was dreadful 2-10-1. Since Tressel took over the helm and at his pep rally introduced a countdown clock to the next Ohio State/Michigan showdown he has had Carr's number. Carr's Wolverines have managed just one win against Tressel's Buckeyes in the past seven years. Unacceptable.

Hey Mr. Robbins. Imagine that the Yanks and Bo Sox hooked up for just ONE GAME a year. You think King George would have suffered losing six times in seven years? Didn't think so.

Carr has been passed by. It's time for new blood. Yes, thank you Lloyd Carr for the national championship and the four Rose Bowls. I wish Michigan could have shown up for more of those bowl games and for more of the games agains the Buckeyes in the last seven years. For better or for worse I will remember the defeats more than the victories. Appalachian State was horrible. There's no two ways around it. Oregon, as good as they were this year laying the smack down in the big house. 91 yards of offense against your hated rivals.

We're sorry Mr. Carr, it's time.

(And Ohio State's too)...

Why? Not just because they all won yesterday. But because Oklahoma lost. That, along with Oregon's loss Thursday night, puts them all in prime position to finish making a run at playing in the BCS title game.

The road ahead for the contenders:

LSU: Home to Arkansas, SEC title game against either Tennessee (if they beat Kentucky next week) or Georgia

The Tigers will be favored in each of those games, but neither game is anything approaching a pushover. Particularly if it is Georgia that meets LSU in Atlanta. But, with two wins, they get to the desert.

Missouri/Kansas: This one is simple. They play each other next week in one of the most improbable HUGE games in college football history. The winner likely faces Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game. Win that, and the Mizzou/Kansas winner might very well be in the desert.

West Virginia: Big road win over a quality Cincinnati team last night sets the Moutaineers up with games against UConn and hated rival Pittsburgh. Win those two, and West Virginia has a solid shot at the desert.

Ohio State: Watching and waiting, but nowhere near as long a shot to back into the title game as they were back on Wednesday. The Oklahoma and Oregon upsets have opened that door more than just a crack.

Stewart Mandel, at si.com, is once again your must stop on the day that was. Zip touched on it in his outstanding nighty cap last night, and Mandel picks up the thought with regard to Nick Saban and the suddenly 6-5 Tide:

"The honeymoon is officially over for Alabama's celebrated first-year coach, whose now 6-5 team suffered an inexplicable 21-14 loss to Louisiana-Monroe -- yes, you're reading that right -- in what was supposed to be a harmless little pre-Auburn tune-up Saturday. Yet as bad as both that and last week's Mississippi State loss must seem to Crimson Tide fans right now, the reality is, all will be forgotten if Saban can put an end to 'Bama's six-year Iron Bowl drought next week. . . .Win, and Saban will earn another year's worth of devotion from the Tide's ever-demanding faithful; lose ... and he finishes the regular season with the same record Mike Shula did last year."

Absolutely jaw-droppingly shocking result, Alabama's loss to La-Monroe. On every level.

By the way, remember Cal? They are now 6-5 after losing for the fifth time in their last six games yesterday. Those wins over Tennessee and Oregon were a long time ago, at this point.

Navy hadn't beaten Notre Dame in 44 years. Yesterday, they went to South Bend and beat the Fighting Irish in triple-overtime. That was the fifth-straight home loss for Notre Dame, a school record.

And Charlie Weis is clearly in there-are-things-in-life-more-important-than-football mode, as he focused on the death of one of his player's brothers. Of course, Weis is correct. And I'm sure the team has been a wonderful support for the family.

But his team didn't do its job. And when you get paid millions of dollars a year, people are allowed to be upset about it, and question you without getting moral posturing in response.

---Ohio State is good, good enough that people (even me) might have to forgive them for their wretchedness against Florida last January. If they run the table on their last three (Wisconsin and Illinois in Columbus, Michigan in Ann Arbor), they will deserve to be the title game. Hopefully, if that happens, Tressel will approach that game with a plan not developed with his head firmly up his ass.

---Georgia's mid-year resurgence is remarkable. Most observers left them all but dead a few weeks back, but they are all of a sudden a factor in the SEC East again, and would be a very real obstacle to LSU should they get to the SEC title game. Amazing how much better teams can get that rely on freshmen as those freshmen get experience. That in part explains Georgia's improvement.

---I want to be cynical about Arizona State, I do, but they keep winning. Down 13-0 early to Cal, they rallied to cruise to a 31-20 win. Impressive. Do that against Oregon and USC and I will stop doubting.

---If Ohio State were to win out, Oregon would need help to get to a title game, which is a shame. I can't help but wonder if they are not really the best team in the country (with apologies to LSU). Damn but I wish we had a playoff in college football.

As usual, I leave you with Stewart Mandel's running blog on the day's games at si.com. As always, the first and last word for looking back at a Saturday in college football. A snippet:

"In yet another development we never would have dreamed possible a couple of months ago, 7-1 UConn is suddenly the team to beat in the Big East. I'll admit it, I hadn't taken the Huskies particularly seriously to this point, but not only is Randy Edsall's team alone in first following Saturday's 22-15 win over USF (making the Bulls the second straight No. 2 team to not only lose, but lose again the following week, like Cal did), they're playing absolutely lights out on defense.

The Huskies entered the game third in the country in scoring defense (12.7 points per game), sixth in total defense (272.3 yards per game). Last week, they held Brian Brohm to his lowest production of the season by far; this week, they did get burned on the ground by Bulls QB Matt Grothe (25 carries, 146 yards) but they picked him twice and, most importantly, allowed just one touchdown all day. Remember when Connecticut and Kansas were basketball schools?"

Vaguely.

Ohio State's last regular season loss? Two years ago in (not so) Happy Valley to Penn State. Salient, because that's where the for-the-moment #1 team in the country plays tonight. That game will be on ABC opposite Game 3 of the World Series. I wonder what the head to head ratings will be? I would presume there was a time when it would no question be the World Series game. I don't think that's the case now.

As for the rest of day's slate in college football, the best of the best appears to be:

USC at Oregon---two top 10 teams with very realistic national title hopes still. The loser no longer can say that. Look for this one on FSN at 3:00.

Cal at Arizona State---the Sun Devils are still undefeated and ranked #7 overall. At 10:15 tonight on FSN, I think the now twice-bitten Bears send ASU from the ranks of the national title hopefuls.

Florida vs Georgia in the renewal of the erstwhile World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville. At #9 in the country, and still controlling their own destiny to the SEC title game and another shot at LSU, Florida needs this one to badly to lose to an up and down Bulldog team. That one is 3:30 on CBS.

West Viriginia at Rutgers. The Mountaineers, back up to #6 as they recover from their early loss at South Florida, hope to keep relevant in national title talk at what has become a very tough place to get a win. Look for that one at noon on ABC.

Really, a helluva day for the sport. That is, if you have not had your 6-year-old son's friend invite himself over for a sleepover that will begin at roughly noon and last for 24 hours. I think I will be spending a great deal of the day yelling "go outside". Either that, or end up missing a chunk of the goodness while at a bargain theater still showing the Transformers. I bet it's the latter.

Required reading: Stewart Mandel at si.com

If you are bored reading: ESPN's preview of the college day

You can file this under better late than never. Looks like the USC Band and Song Girls went to Lake Tahoe over the summer. Sorry if this was posted before. Actually ... no I'm not.

Continue reading "USF Football at Rutgers tonight" »

Continue reading "USF Football - America's team!" »

Continue reading "USF Football - History" »

Yawn. Another weekend, another series of cataclysmic upsets. It's almost like we've reached a point where a tournament might make sense to decide who has the best team...

So, they're pretty happy in Lexington, yes? Yes. John Clay in the Lexington Herald:

"It was more about what his players have that mattered. Guts, said Brooks, and character and backbone. 'I'm just a lucky guy to be coaching this special group of young men,' said the coach. He left out the stubbornness they've learned from their head coach, who knew, deep down, that no matter what, his team would have to run the ball (and it did) on the vaunted LSU defense to have a chance, and that on defense the Cats would have to make plays and get pressure on the quarterback and fight through adversity."

Yeah, I touched on it in the post on my impressions last night, but, UK's commitment to running the ball to complement Woodson was a real eye-opener. It felt, watching that game, like UK had arrived as a program that might be a player on the national scene for the next quick minute or so. Or maybe even a bit longer. It has to be a good morning to be a UK fan.

Meanwhile, at Berkely, the Cal Bears looked square in the face of a #1 ranking and said: No! Not for us! Oregon State 31. Cal 28. Ray Ratto in the San Francisco Chronicle on the disappointment:

Continue reading "The Day That Was in College Football" »

A few random thoughts (special Saturday not-that-you-care edition) following Kentucky's 43-37 3OT win over the Tigers:

1. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, don't think that UK tricked their way to the win. By and large, they lined up with LSU, gave as good as they got, stayed committed to establishing a running game, and eventually were the tougher team. Seriously. The tougher team.

2. The hitting was hellacious, but, for the most part, it was LSU players leaving the field woozy and bleeding.

3. For those of you who continue to defend this ridiculous non-playoff system, I offer you the specter of an alleged BCS title game without an SEC entrant. I am a Big 10 guy (Buckeye football is my allegiance) living in SEC country, and ordinarily I find the woofing that goes on down here by SEC fans about the strength of their conference tedious, out-of-touch with reality, and myopic.

Not this year. The SEC this year is as deep a conference as I remember seeing. From the top (LSU-Florida-South Carolina-Kentucky) on down, it is full of teams that I think would probably win several of the other alleged big conferences. The only team in the conference that really is not particularly quality? I think Ole Miss, and even they would likely win five conference games in the Big 10. Hell, they'd probably have a shot at winning the ACC.

The SEC deserves to have its champion play in a tournament for a title this year. It simply does. I do find it ironic, that this current system that has been foisted on college football fans came from the SEC commish back in the day. But, still. It is a shame.

4. In the meantime, it will be fun to watch 10 quality teams (out of 12) beat the snot out of each other for the remainder of the year. I can't help but feel, should an SEC team indeed get shut out of the championship game, that the two who go won't be anywhere close to the best in the nation.

It would at least be nice to know who is. After, say, a tournament is played.

You've no doubt heard of Joe Paterno's traffic incident. And you probably care about it even less than I do.

But one of the reasons the internet is great is that it can take insignificant little incidents, and with some cleverboy photoshop magic, give us a chuckle as we sit at our desks counting down towards the weekend.

The Golden Dome, Touchdown Jesus and now digging up the dead.

The body of George Gipp, the Notre Dame football player who inspired the rallying cry "Win one for the Gipper," was exhumed recently for DNA testing in his Upper Peninsula hometown.

What exactly will they do with the DNA? Is there a cloning lab in South Bend?

An ESPN crew filmed the exhumation for an upcoming story, but a spokesman said the network played no role in arranging it.

How did NBC miss out on this? I thought they had a Notre Dame exclusive contract. Perhaps that just covered the living? And we creep closer to Halloween.

Scroll down for the scoop on LA's very bad college football night, but here, let's linger for a moment on the rest of the day.

That was a phenomenal football game in Baton Rouge last night, as Les Miles willed his team over a Florida team that brought a perfect game-plan with it to Louisiana. LSU 28. Florida 24. 10-point deficit erased in the 4th quarter by the Tigers. Gutty. Especially in, and its hard to admit this as a Big 10 fan, a conference that is as good this year as its fans usually think it is. For once, reality meets SEC fan-dom perception. Crazy how good the SEC is top to bottom (Ole Miss excepted). Good enough that Sam King, writing in the Baton Rouge Advocate, is right to already be warning LSU fans about the dangerous game for the #1 Tigers in Lexington next Saturday. That game really does set up well for Kentucky, coming off a loss Thursday in Columbia, and with two extra days to rest up for an LSU team coming off a hard-fought desperate win over Florida. Very few free passes in the SEC nowadays. And at Kentucky sure ain't one of them in 2007.

Meanwhile, in West Lafayette, the Buckeyes continued to serve notice that they are improving weekly, and have inserted themselves into National Title game chatter. The offense is still not consistent enough to make Buckeyes fans comfortable in any given game, but that defense is so good, that the offense may be good enough to keep them national title talk late into the year. Purdue's allegedly good offense was beaten up from the opening kick last night.

Ohio State 23. Purdue 7.

As always, for the best look back at the day in college football, I commend you to si.com's Stewart Mandel and his three-part blog-style discussion of the day as it unfolded. A taste of the goodness:

"Stanford just knocked off USC. I'm speechless. I know you've heard this twice already this season, but that is the biggest upset in college football history. The stunner of all stunners. The Cardinal was a 41-point underdog. They were playing with their backup quarterback, on the road, against a team that hadn't lost at home in six years. I need to turn my attention back to the game I'm at ... but wow."

I yield. You win, brian, the UM loss to Appy State really wasn't as surprising, in hindsight, as what happened in the Coliseum last night.

Bad. As bad as it is possible to look without being dead. How bad?

USC (41-point favorite at home) chokes late in a way that not even Dr. Heimlich could have helped, and falls to Stanford 24-23.

UCLA (19-point favorites at home)? Playing Div. I punching bag and winless Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl gets rolled by the Irish 20-6. At 1-5, some dumbfuck coach will probably give Notre Dame some top-25 love in the next coaches poll. And, hey! ND got to sing their fight song after the game! Twice! Don't tell Ty Willingham, but Charlie Weis probably got another ten-year extension for the win... The only team sadder about this than UCLA? Utah. Kinda takes the shine off of Utah's annihilation of UCLA earlier in the year.

The reaction?

Chris Dufrense in the LA Times:

"But as bad as Notre Dame's offense was, UCLA's was worse, as seven turnovers undermined anything a stout Bruin defense could overcome. Notre Dame won with 140 total yards. The Irish's two touchdowns and two field goals were direct room-service gifts after UCLA giveaways."

Well done, UCLA. By the way, to put the Pac 10 in some perspective, UCLA leads the way in league-play at 3-0. I am now marshalling my arguments on why an undefeated Ohio State team should go and lose to LSU over an undefeated Cal team.

TJ Simers in the LA Times:

"Today marks the last time Heisman and Booty will be included in the same sentence, and while Bruins fans will tell you they played much of the game against Notre Dame without Olson, as you can see, they were getting all the breaks....Booty the robot, and still the robot after everyone said he would be so much better this year -- maybe more spontaneous, better able to create -- is now as good as anyone to blame for a season thrown away."

True enough.

By the way, for anyone frantically trying to find that USC/Stanford game last night as you noticed the score tightening, you had to go to VS. VS. The correct answer was VS. Nevermind that trying TNT made more sense than looking at VS when you were scanning your 600 stations of programming, the joke's on you.

Well, and on USC and UCLA.

Welcome to the big-time, South Florida. Top ten ranking? Feel good story? Now, a target for folks to criticize. Which is to be expected. But what wasn't to be expected? That the targeting and open criticism would come from, say, Nick Saban. Nick Saban, what's your beef with South Florida?

"There are a significant amount of players who don't qualify and they end up being pretty good players at some other schools," Saban said in an interview with the Birmingham News. "I think there are six guys starting on the South Florida defense who probably would have gone to Florida or Florida State, but Florida and FSU couldn't take them."

Ooof.

Care to respond, someone from South Florida? Like say, South Florida coach Jim Leavitt?

""(Saban) and I have always had a good relationship, but to sit there and tell the world something that he doesn't know about is not right," Leavitt said at his weekly press conference in Tampa. 'Six defensive starters? Why's he making a statement like that? Florida, Florida State didn't recruit those guys anyway. Why that bothers me is it takes a hit at the credibility of our program that we can't do it with just hard work. There always has to be some reason. That is the heart and soul of our program. So he's attacking the heart and soul.'"

Class, as always, from Saban.

Big, big win last night for the South Florida Bulls. Only 11 years removed from not existing at all, a win over #5 West Virginia in front of their first-ever sellout home crowd means the party was on in Tampa last night.

Think about that for a second -- the program didn't exist almost a decade ago. Now they're in a BCS conference, front runners to win the Big East and likely to be ranked in the top 15. In the time the program has existed, Notre Dame -- #2 all-time in wins -- hasn't won a bowl game.

Now if they could only convince Dick Vitale to stay away from their games, they'd really have something going.

... you paid $1,200 a year to your favorite team's head football coach, Dennis Franchione, to get a newsletter with inside information before games, including details that were not shared with the press or any outsiders. Confidential items like who is really injured and weekly player performance assessments were included.

Of course, I'm sure this information was only used for the further enjoyment of the games. I'm sure that these boosters are all God-fearing men who don't gamble, right?

"Franchione made subscribers sign a confidentiality agreement and said he doesn't believe any of the inside information was used for gambling."

Whew! Well, that takes care of that problem.

And what did he do with that money? Well, he needed it to run his personal website. I mean, let me tell you from experience, running a website is expensive. You should see what we have to do keep this bad boy afloat. And the poor guy only makes $2 million a year.

And you know he had to hire a top firm, like Seriously Clued Consulting, to design the website to compete with firedennisfranchione.com.

And I doubt that the same compnay that brought the world kittyspankworthy.com comes cheap.

Go to ESPN's front page and find the video of Gundy going off at a press conference. I don't know much about him, but that's a pretty stand up thing to do, given the situation. Think he'll ever have to worry about his kids (both his biological and the ones on his football team) knowing that he has their backs?

(Sorry, dunno how to get that ESPN link to work. It's under "Video" on the rotating images feature just below the main page.)

"...a collection of mostly distinguished ex-coaches, [the] poll's Web site features links to its voters' Facebook pages. That's right, gang. LaVell Edwards, John Cooper, Hayden Fry and others have Facebook pages. Who knew? After all, most coaches are not all that wired. Nick Saban does not own a PC and has never used e-mail. Much like Mr. Corso."

"Chris [Fallica] says his Facebook page is bombarded with folks who want to be his "friend." So they can get access to his picks. He's not answering any of them. But as a consolation prize, I will simply say that Fallica is leaning to the under-Dawgs from Athens as they invade the Capstone this week."

Hat's off to Alabama/Arkansas (Tide 41 Razorbacks 38) and Kentucky/Louisville (UK 40 L'ville 34)for playing two of the most entertaining games you could ever wish to see. They are plenty pleased in Lexington this morning.

Hat's off to Tim Tebow, putting an end to the first-time-starters-can't-win-in-the-SEC nonsense.

Hat's off to Charlie Weis, for somehow continuing to find a way to have the horrible mess in South Bend blamed on Ty Willingham. Oh, wait, who the fuck are you, Jeff Carroll, in the South Bend Tribune, to actually start to point the finger at Weis? Someone hasn't gotten you your current page of the blame-Willingham-script? 38-0, Michigan gets off the schneid. And it wasn't really that close.

Hat's off to USC, for simply dominating Nebraska at the line of scrimmage. The rushing display to start their game against the Cornhuskers was stunning.

Hat's off to Nick Saban, who is still hatable, but, dammit, it's kind of fun to see that much excitement in Tuscaloosa again. That was always a great college football atmosphere, and it is again. While we are here, hat's off to Arkansas' Darren McFadden, who did everything possible to try and get Arkansas the come-from-behind win. I guess next time he will have to play defense too. He's a monster.

As it is every Sunday, your first stop should be a review of Stewart Mandel's blog entries on si.com as the day unfolded. Sample good stuff? Since 2003, ND has now suffered 13 losses by 20 points or more. In that same span, Vanderbilt has suffered just 7. Damn you Ty Willingham! Damn you to hell!

By the way, one more thing from Alabama: that was two ships passing in the night, one headed to beaches full of gorgeous nude woman and sunny skies, the other full of garbage headed to pick up more garbage. On a day where one of the SEC state schools beat Arkansas in a thriller and the the other lost to Mississippi State, it's easy to know which is which.

Really, a great day of college games all over the place. Good lord but I love fall weekends.

No, this isn't a Charlie Weis dig, but thanks for thinking it was.

Weis' former starting quarterback, Demetrius Jones, might just be though. Jones has apparently left Notre Dame and enrolled at Northern Illinois. Jones, you will remember, was the starter for the Irish in the season opener against Georgia Tech, but was replaced by Evan Sharpley and then Jimmy Clausen.

It has become obvious that Jesus Christ himself would struggle to lead the Notre Dame offense with that offensive line (and offensive works as a homonym there), so Jones bailing for the MAC and not having to endure Weis' famous prickly personality looks like a good move from where I sit.

Good. To damn good.

Tennessee to the Gainesville Swamp to play Florida.

USC heads to the cornfields to play Nebraska. Luke Winn's preview here.

Boston College at Georgia Tech.

Louisville at Kentucky (defenses merely a rumor)

Ohio State at Washington (I will join with nearly everyone else and call for the UW upset here)

Arkansas at Alabama

And, for the crane-your-neck-at-the-wreck game of the week: Notre Dame at Michigan

Damn, that's pretty solid line-up of football goodness. Stewart Mandel's picks/discussion of the games at si.com is a great place to start your day of college football gluttony. Chris Fowler's wrap-up at espn.com is well worth the read too.

Me? I will be watching a large sampling of these games while changing out a ceiling fan. My goal is to not electrocute myself. If I understand rightly, I should turn off the power to the fan in question before getting going. I'm not exactly the poster-child for one of those Do-it-yourself type shows...

Enjoy the games.

Once upon a time, Lloyd Carr was a history teacher (and football coach) at John Glenn High School in Westland, MI.

Still a self-proclaimed history buff, certainly Coach Carr knows the meaning and significance of seppuku.

So it is with great regret and much humbleness that Michigan fans ask Coach Carr to fall on his sword and allow the Michigan football program to reclaim its greatness. Losses to I-AA teams, blowout losses at home and soundbites like "most consecutive losses since 1967" and "most yards allowed at Michigan Stadium" are not befitting a man who was once a great coach.

Call it quits now, coach the rest of the season and stay in the shadows as Michigan brings in an outsider to rebuild the program and we will remember fondly the national championship and Big Ten titles you brought to Ann Arbor.

It's now a distinct possibility. After several voters wanted to include the Mountaineers in the latest AP poll but couldn't, the AP has modified their voting rules.

"Several AP voters expressed interest in putting Appalachian State on their ballots after a shocking 34-32 upset at then-No. 5 Michigan last weekend. But the poll guidelines, which mirrored the coaches' rankings conducted by USA Today, limited eligibility to teams competing in the former NCAA Division I-A, now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The Mountaineers compete in the Football Championship Subdivision, known before this season as Division I-AA.

The AP decided to make the change because schools that show they can compete with big-time teams on the field should have a chance to be recognized with them in the top 25, Sports Editor Terry Taylor said."

That's all well and great, and is a pretty neat possibility, but come on, Appy State beat a team that isn't even ranked. Oh, wait.

How bad was Louisville's defense? The Cards conceded three scoring plays of 71 yards or more; two other scoring plays of 39 and 23 yards; 10 scrimmage plays of at least 20 yards; 555 total yards; and 35 first-half points. Middle Tennessee players performed well, but even then, some of the Blue Raiders' biggest plays should have been prevented. A big-gainer occurred for MTSU when, on a 3rd and 2, the Cardinals failed to line up properly, leaving a receiver uncovered. A quick snap and equally quick flip resulted in a gain of over 50 yards. Later in the game, a number of Louisville defenders were dragging down Blue Raider running back Philip Tanner, only to let go of a sure tackle. In a scene shockingly reminiscent of Tommie Frazier's run through several spineless Florida defenders in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, Tanner somehow slipped through the arms and bodies of red-shirted pursuers on his way to a 79-yard touchdown run. Louisville was beyond bad... and by the most reasonably conservative standards.

So says Scott Van Pelt, ESPN personality, Terrapin fan, and internet sports message board enthusiast.

(Thanks to wlu_lax the linker).

Here is this week's Blogpoll ballot. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to post a preliminary ballot in the Swamp because of the Monday game and other responsibilities, but there's still not a lot of data out there based on last week's games. (Except we do know Michigan sucks.)

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	LSU	--
3	West Virginia	1
4	California	8
5	Oklahoma	--
6	Louisville	--
7	Wisconsin	6
8	Texas	5
9	Arkansas	2
10	Ohio State	--
11	Florida	3
12	Virginia Tech	3
13	Georgia	3
14	UCLA	1
15	Rutgers	2
16	Tennessee	3
17	Penn State	1
18	Auburn	5
19	Nebraska	5
20	TCU	2
21	Clemson	3
22	Oregon	1
23	Miami (Florida)	3
24	South Carolina	2
25	Texas A&M	1

Football season is here and so is our frequent linkage to one of the better sprtswriters out there, The Betting Fool. Today, Le Fool is looking at his beloved Cal, fresh off a big win over Tennessee. He cannot believe Cal didn't blow the game, and wonders what it would take for the Bears to actually have a successful season this year. Seems like a Rose Bowl appearance would do the trick, although I agree with him on this point: "Defining a lack of blowage is difficult."

Maybe Florida State football isn't as dead as I thought it was when I went to sleep at halftime last night of Clemson's eventual 24-18 win over the Seminoles. The half I saw? Clemson was far more physical, far more athletic, and far better prepared. Hell, the half I saw was a reminder of just how beautiful a running game that can dominate action can be. It looked like Clemson had the next two Heisman trophy winning running backs in their backfield.

Then, apparently, Clemson only gets 89 yards of total offense in the second half and barely hangs on as some weirdness at the end of the game costs Florida State one last desperation throw to complete the comeback. So maybe there is some life in Florida State after all. Or maybe Clemson got bored. Or maybe the corpse that is Bobby Bowden was re-animated enough at halftime to remind his team of the need to tackle. At any rate, looks to me like another year where Florida State will be lucky to get to nine wins. At best. Tell me again why Florida State continues to get pre-season poll love?

I remember when that used to be a feared college program. Most people should. It wasn't all that long ago.

By the way, they are still plenty happy on the West Coast, as fans of the Pac 10 bask in Cal's undressing of Tennessee Saturday night. Scott Ostler in the SF Chronicle (thanks to swamp hall of famer sancarloskid for the heads up on this piece) on the suddenly physical ball displayed by Cal:

"Earlier in the summer, LSU coach Les Miles sniffed that USC had a "much easier road to travel" to the national championship game than did LSU. Because LSU played gnarly foes, and USC played Cal and the like. Miles might ask Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer how easy that road was to travel Saturday. Seemed to be a lot of nasty potholes."

Indeed. The Pac 10 probably had the best weekend of all of the power conferences as the initial arguing over who belongs in the National title game gets underway. The Big 12 and Big 10 probably the worst. The unknown? As always, the Big East, which watched its best team rip asunder horrible competition. It will be awhile before we know how good Louisville and West Virginia are. And Michigan, for that matter.

By the way, the reason I didn't give a local look in the post below to the view from Appalachian State? Well, that's because the Mountain Times, the paper serving the beautiful Boone, North Carolina area, only publishes weekly. I can tell you there is a water shortage there, though, perusing the headlines. I am guessing next week's edition will have a thing or two to say about what unfolded in Ann Arbor. And maybe an update on a local festival or church bake sale.

Meanwhile, in the rest of college football:

Cal gets its revenge on Tennessee, displaying a much better appreciation of the need to play fast and hit hard than it did one year ago in Knoxville. Cal 45. Tennessee 31. Tell you what, from watching that game last night, Cal has the play fast stuff down pat. Some eye-opening speed on the edges from the Bears, including a genuine star-making performance from Cal's running back, Justin Forsett.

The 45 points given up by UT is the most they have allowed since Florida hung 62 on them back in 1995.

Stewart Mandel, the best in the college football business right now on the national sites, has a good recap of the day with assorted observations in his si.com blog. It includes this thought among others:

"I caught a lot of flak from Virginia columnists (though not so much Cavaliers fans) when I placed Al Groh on top of my annual worst-coaches list this summer. I wonder if any of them are starting to reevaluate America's least productive $2 million coach in light of this score Saturday: Wyoming 23, Virginia 3."

One of the Swamp's resident die-hards would be in agreement with Mandel, I think, with regard to his take on Groh. But, hey, if you are Groh and can talk someone into paying that kind of jack for that kind of incompetence, I guess good for you.

By the way, Texas, for those who missed just barely missed out in turning in a notable loss of their own, barely escaping with 21-13 win over Arkansas State. Someone let Longhorns fans know when the team re-discovers the ability to run the ball in short yardage situations. It appears to still be missing.

Really interesting first weekend of college football, to say the least. Although one wonders which si.com female staffer gave the go-ahead for si.com to run the headline "An All-Time Shocker" with regard to the Appy State win. Guess she hasn't had better...

Reacting aplenty, especially in Detroit:

Bob Wojnowski in the Detroit News:

"Appalachian State, the two-time defending champion of what used to be called Division I-AA, was terrific in stunning U-M, which should immediately plummet from fifth-ranked to unranked. As good as the Mountaineers were, that should not detract from how sloppy and ill-prepared U-M was."

True dat. Come up with every reason for why this happened, but in the end, it's all on Lloyd Carr's doorstep.

Michael Rosenberg in the Detroit Free Press:

"Michigan players, fans and alumni all face the same "dastardly fate," as announcer Bob Ufer used to say. Wherever they go, whatever they do, people will say: You lost to Appalachian State! Michigan will not get over this for a long, long time. College football, more than any other sport, is a perception game. The championship-game matchup is decided, at least in part, by public opinion. People argue about the relative strength of their conferences long after the bartender asks them to leave. And the perception is that Michigan just lost to the Washington Generals. There is no response to that. If you're Michigan, you simply cannot lose to Appalachian State."

Also true dat. And let me say, from here in Memphis, where conference supremacy arguments rage each year as jockeying for the fucked up BCS title game appearances unfold, the taunt to Big 10 supporters with regard to Michigan's loss will be next to impossible to argue against. It's not like Michigan was the presumptive pre-season conference favorite or anything like that. Oh, wait. Well, at least it's not like the Big 10's last national championship game entrant wasn't humiliated in the big game. Oh, wait. Jim Tressell still doesn't know what happened. You are perhaps left with this...the Big 10 is as down as a conference in terms of strength as it has been in my lifetime (stretching back 37 years now).

More after the jump.

Continue reading "App St owns Michigan---The Day After Local Look" »

Touchdown Jesus was given a Saturday afternoon off. Today in South Bend the Irish managed only a field goal versus a Georgia Tech juggernaut. Notre Dame fielded three QB's during the course of the game each producing some interesting results.

• Demetrius Jones - two fumbles

• Evan Sharpley - sacked seven times (He will now be on the Texans draft board)

• Jimmy Clausen - 4/6 for 34 yards minus the two rushing attempts for -14

With the sacks Notre Dame rushed for a grand total of minus 8 yards. I had a better day.

On the other side of the field, Tashard Choice rushed for a career-high 196 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 3 passes for 22 yards. So Tashard's net yards were 96 more than the entire Fighting Irish.

I hope NBC is happy with their exclusive Notre Dame deal this season, I can only guess that the ratings will drop like Charlie Weiss' weight.

Appalachian State 34. Michigan 32.

And, re: my headline question...its got to be in the discussion, right? A 1-AA school (or whatever they are calling that division nowadays) knocking off a supposed top five team in the nation. In their house.

Yes, Appy State is damn good (two time defending 1-AA champs). But, still. Damn.

Michigan was outclassed for most of the game in trying to deal with creative offensive sets from the Mountaineers, and for too long Michigan's offense was sleepy. For reasons not clear to anyone, Mike Hart didn't see the field for long chunks of the third quarter, before trying to single handedly save the Wolverines late. I have no idea what Lloyd Carr was thinking as that game unfolded, but as it ended, I would imagine the fleeting thought may have occurred to him that perhaps his 401K needs to be in order. Michigan was unprepared in all phases of the game, and did not do enough to adjust as the game wore on. Even when they broke ahead briefly late in the 4th quarter, they were not ready for the Appy State response.

Absolutley staggering.

Add in that this was the debut day for the Big X network, and it was beyond memorable. For those of use with DirecTV, stunning to watch.

Edited to add:

Brian (UM die hard for anyone who doesn't know) is adamant in the Swamp that not only is this NOT one of the biggest upsets in college football history, it's not even the biggest upset in Michigan home game history. And swamp all-star bobp rightly notes that 1-AA Appalachian State entered the weekend 80th in the Sagarin ratings. So there is that bit of rational analysis as well. What say you? Drop by with a thought or three.

Pretending that the games Thursday night didn't happen (and, in LSU/Miss State's case, I'm not sure it did), we get to real football today. The best of the best?

Tennessee at Cal

Oklahoma State at Georgia

Kansas State at Auburn

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

Stewart Mandel at si.com has predictions on these and other games here. Nothing says Labor Day weekend like 10 hours of college football on Saturday. I will be pretty firmly planted near a television starting at noon today.

Oh wait, they already do.

LSU 45, Mississippi St. 0

Louisville 73, Murray St. 10

Boise St. 56, Weber St. 7

Rutgers 38, Buffalo 3

Cincinnati 59, SE Missouri St. 3

Wake me up when a team with a number in front of it loses.

Sometimes it is possible to take the whole rivalry thing just a little too far. Dateline, Oklahoma City:

"Thomas said Beckett, whom he had never met, called him "everything under the sun" for wearing a Longhorns T-shirt into the bar. He said he and his friend sat at a table in the corner and tried to ignore the other man, but other man -- who apparently is a University of Oklahoma fan -- kept screaming at him. Thomas said he decided he'd had enough after about 20 minutes of Beckett's abuse so he went to the bar to pay his tab. When he turned around, he said Beckett grabbed his crotch and refused to let go. Thomas hit the other man several times before several bar patrons intervened, but Thomas said Beckett didn't let go until Thomas heard his scrotum tear and blood ran down his leg. Thomas, who grew up a Texas fan, said it took more than 60 stitches to close his wound."

To recap: friendly banter back and forth between opposing fans? ok. Ripping an opposing fan's scrotum to the point where 60 stitches are needed to fix the damage? NOT ok. In fact, any grabbing of anyone's scrotum? NOT ok.

Thanks to swamp all-timer Keg for the heads up and thread on this. Too long absent (and greatly missed) swamper telkins probably is most familar with this brand of OU fan insanity.

"Flynt is giving new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he's a grandfather and a card-carrying member of AARP. He's eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates."

"A longtime strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska, Oregon and Texas A&M, he's spent the last several years selling the Powerbase training system he invented. Clients include school systems and the military. His colorful life story includes being the son of a Battle of the Bulge survivor and having dabbled in gold mines and oil wells -- successfully.

Flynt's position is still being determined, but he used to play linebacker. Wherever he lines up, he'll likely become the oldest player in college football history. Neither the NCAA or NAIA keeps such a statistic, but research hasn't turned up anyone older than their mid-40s. And even those are rare, for obvious reasons."

You may just get your wish next week when ESPN airs a 25(!)-hour pre-game show for the LSU-Mississippi State college football opener on Aug. 30.

The show will be hosted by Rece Davis, who will apparently also be blogging throughout. While he won't be on-air the entire time (there will be regularly scheduled airings of SportsCenter that will be heavy on college football content), he will apparently not be sleeping or significantly resting throughout the marathon.

This year the folks who run the Blogpoll Top 25 college football poll have decided to have two preseason polls, which are roughly about double as worthless as the normal single preseason poll.

I don't mean to be snide -- I'm certain there would be much admitting that preseason polls really function as nothing more than a way to generate excitement for the upcoming season and to try gauge how smart the individual voter is relative to their poll they post at the end of the season if we were to have a theoretical conversation about the preseason polls and their worth.

The second preseason poll is supposed to come after each Blogpoll voter makes a case for the team he or she believes is overrated and underrated. I will be doing that here within the next 24 hours or so. Then after perusing those cases, each voter will determine what if any changes they want to make in their polls. Since I try to gather a wide variety of opinions from Swampers in making my weekly ballot I don't expect mine will change very much at all, but there you have it.

So I will dutifully post two preseason ballots, the first of which appears here and which will regularly appear in this space on Tuesday(ish) during the next 16 weeks or so.

Without further ado:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	25
2	LSU	24
3	Texas	23
4	West Virginia	22
5	Oklahoma	21
6	Louisville	20
7	Michigan	19
8	Florida	18
9	California	17
10	Ohio State	16
11	Wisconsin	15
12	Virginia Tech	14
13	Arkansas	13
14	Tennessee	12
15	UCLA	11
16	Georgia	10
17	Penn State	9
18	Rutgers	8
19	Nebraska	7
20	Florida State	6
21	South Carolina	5
22	TCU	4
23	Oregon	3
24	Auburn	2
25	Oklahoma State	1

• Charlie Weis sticking up for Jimmy Clausen after he was cited for transporting alcohol as a minor.
• Nebraska names Sam Keller their starting QB.
• Ex-Rainbow WR Ian Sample alleging Hawaii manipulated NCAA-mandated drug testing.
• Two Iowa kids suspended for unauthorized use of a credit card.
• A Kansas State kid was arrested and charged with domestic battery.
• Alabama had a fifth player in the last two months to be arrested.

In hindsight, that alumni night mentor program didn't work out as planned.

"Two West Virginia University football players were arrested over the weekend and charged with transferring and receiving stolen property.

James Thomas, 18, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Ellis Lankster, 21, of Whistler, Ala., were arrested early Sunday, Morgantown Police said in a news release.

Morgantown police didn't release any other details, but a police dispatcher who declined to give her name said Monday that the stolen property was a computer."

That's the only explanation for the Purdue coach coming out so strongly against moving college football kickoffs back to the 30-yard-line.

Tiller's argument? Moving the kickoffs back will result in few collisions leading to more injuries. Quoth Tiller: "So now they're moving back 5 yards so we can create more g-forces as these kids are running into each other...I think about the health and safety of the players, first and foremost."

OK, here's an idea if you're so dead set against collisions. Why not just play two-hand touch? Hell, even that could result in some torn ACLs. Why not just compete in chess instead?

No wonder Purdue remains mired in mediocrity -- their coach is a pansy ass. Woody Hayes wouldn't have worried about a couple extra injuries. He would have punched out Tiller during the pregame handshake, pissed on his head and then proceeded to have his team beat Purdue 62-3.

Sunday Morning Quarterback checks in with a note about the NFL Hall of Fame game on Sunday and one of the coolest things (maybe the ONLY cool thing) about NFL preseason action -- checking out how the guys down the depth chart who are used to being Big Man On Campus are doing.

In case you're not counting, that's three football posts in a row. Thank G-d it's August. I love baseball, but they don't call it the dog days of summer for nothin'. August 28 cannot get here fast enough.

(By the way, if you are even just a casual college football fan, you NEED to bookmark SMQ -- for my money, the most intelligent and thorough college football blog on the planet.)

Want to play a football game then, and then nineteen more years after?

Michigan and Notre Dame have agreed to play each other in each season until 2031. The current contract was to run out in 2011, but no worries.

Hey, I see why MIchigan does this, it's been a guaranteed win for a long time that most observers overvalue. It's great for your BCS coefficient when you beat a team that people assume should be good just because they have freshly painted golden helmets each week. Only a true elite program would go to that kind of effort.

Seriously, though, the two schools are the winningest all-time programs and this match-up is good for college football. I kid because I care. And by care I mean "hate Notre Dame."

Sooner or later, the Big Ten will probably have to add a 12th team and contest a conference championship game. But thanks to the new Big Ten Network, will that be sooner?

Speculation in USA TODAY centers around Rutgers and Syracuse since any expansion would be with an eye towards increasing the Big Ten's footprint -- a new member in New York or New Jersey would certainly accomplish that. But there are a couple of other possibilities not mentioned:

Pittsburgh -- The pros of adding Pittsburgh are obvious. A large media market, the university fits into the profile of existing Big Ten universities (as do Syracuse and Rutgers), a natural rival in Penn State, generally competitive in football and very solid in basketball. The major strike against Pitt would be the fact that the Pittsburgh media market is somewhat already in the Big Ten's sphere of influence.

Missouri -- It might be surprising for a Big 12 team to jump to the Big 10, but Missouri has never been a great fit in the Big 12. The Tigers would be leaving a rival in Kansas, but Missouri-Illinois could also develop into a bigger rivalry than it currently is. Missouri, as a academic institution, is arguably more in line with existing Big Ten universities than any of the other possibilities. Missouri's major two sports teams have been rather pedestrian, but certainly are no worse than the other candidates on the whole. Plus, it would give a foothold in the St. Louis and Kansas City media markets.

So when it is all said and done, if the Big Ten thinks about expansion, don't be surprised if it makes a run at Missouri.

I like to think that Boise State's coaches are spending their last days of free time thinking up more sweet plays to torture BCS conference schools with in 2007.

I assume most every reader here knows this, but on the off chance a few passers-by don't, rivals.com is THE stepping off point for all things college football chatter. Head to their main page and then break off to the particular team destination of your choice. You won't be disappointed.

According to the New York Times, the Big Ten is seeking a staggering $1.10 per subscriber in the conference's eight states (by comparison, the NFL Network as of last year was seeking 70 cents per head nationally) and 10 cents elsewhere.

Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner has tragically lost his battle with a brain tumor and has died at the age of 59.

Hoeppner becomes the second Big Ten coach to die in the last two years following the passing of Northwestern coach Randy Walker of a heart attack.

Hoeppner had only coached at Indiana for two years and managed to win five games last year, no mean feat for a program that has been perpetually rebuilding. He had some dominant teams in the Mid-American Conference with Miami (Ohio), where he recruited and coached Ben Roethlisberger.

Recently it appeared that Indiana had started to recruit well relative to the rest of the second division of the Big Ten, even with the specter of Hoeppner's illness, and a bowl appearance in the next year or two may not have been unreasonable. A few days ago Hoeppner had asked for a leave of absence for this season. Bill Lynch will be Indiana's interim coach for 2007.

92,000 showed up for the spring game.

92,000.

Capacity. People had to be turned away.

Put that one in the southern-college-football-fans are a breed apart side of the ledger.

Coach Robinson passed away at age 88 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for ten years. One of our Swampers, bobpentfs11 recalls the time they met. Here are his words:

We used to go to a QB/WR camp that was held down in Arkansas. Great camp (and a big part in the development of every QB that played for my pa), and fun for us Wyoming kids because we got to show our stuff against kids who were going to big southern schools and such. One year, before we left on the trip, dad sent a letter to coach Robinson wishing him luck on getting his 400th win, and asking him if he'd be interested in coming up and speaking at the camp (three hours north of Grambling). A couple of days later, Dad got back a long letter which deflected all the praise that dad gave him to his wife. He also said that he wouldn't be able to speak at the camp, but he'd be more than happy to say hi to us if we stopped in on our trip.

We went to the camp, had a blast (my roommate went on to play at Arkansas - I was not impressed), and then piled in the van to detour south before heading home.

For those that have never seen it, Northern Louisiana is rough. A really high poverty rate and you can see that just by driving through. Grambling itself is rough. Really rough. On that day it was hot as hell, and the air was so thick you had to chew each breath. We rolled into the campus and stopped the first person we saw to ask for directions. It was Coach's son. He laughed and chatted with us, showing a glimpse of the same warmth his father was legendary for. He took us over to the athletic offices, where he said his father was making calls to his players for summer progress checks, and that he'd come and get us when he was off the phone.

I'll say it now because I think it is relevant to the memory of the man - we were the only white people around. Growing up in WY, I only went to school with one black kid, and he was there for just one semester. To be there, and see the way the college kids looked at us was a unique experience. The south is no-longer segregated, but it still kind of is. There are places where blacks and whites live together, and there are places where they don't. I had never seen this, and it was both an eye-opener and nerve wracking. I'll freely admit that my naive ass was a little bit nervous. Not that I thought something bad would ever happen, but that was the first time in my life that every face I saw looked at me in that way. They didn't trust me. I'm sure my nervousness was plainly visible on my face, which only made it worse.

Coach's son came back out, and said his Dad was just finishing up a call and would be glad to see us.

We walked in and the first thing he said was "Coach Pentland, it's wonderful to meet you." He shook all of our hands, even gave my mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek, told her she had a warm smile. We sat down in his office and proceeded to chat for well over an hour. He told us a number of stories. He smiled and laughed, and asked us about our careers and our hopes for playing in college. All around his office were pictures of his old players, gifts of course, they covered every spot of the wall they could. He had little stories about almost all of them, and beamed like a proud father while sharing them. He reused to answer when Dad asked him who was the best player he'd ever coached - said they were all special in their way. He lamented the kids he couldn't reach, and the players he'd lost. He lamented the kids who never got a chance and the kids he missed. He was honest, honest and to the point. He was critical of the culture of black youth. He was critical of the unwillingness of many black men to step up and be accountable. He said that the biggest problem he saw with the young men coming into his program is that few of them had a father to tell them no. The one thing he preached to us over and over, was that a man had certain responsibilities and that if he didn't live up to them, he was no man at all. You could see why he was who he was. He wore it on his face. He shared some of the stories of the hard times, and the bad things he'd experienced. He made it plain to us that he never would have been able to do any of it without his wife. Every bit of praise we offered him, he in turn offered up to her.

I started looking around his office some more. This man was a legend, a guy who had received every honor that a coach can get. Countless awards and plaques and magazine covers. He had to have them right? They had to be in there somewhere. Not on the wall - all that space was for his kids. Not on his desk - the only pictures there were of he and his wife. To my right was a box full of copies of a recent SI with him on the cover, but it was obvious that they had been brought in there by someone else. He could care less. Then I saw other boxes, filled with similar things. He was too nice to put them away, after all, someone felt it was important he received these accolades so it wouldn't be fair to that person to put them away. But he was much too humble to hang them on his wall.

The time flew. It was evident from the start that this was a special person. I knew then that I would be lucky to meet another in my life like him. He finally kicked us out because it was lunch time - not because he was hungry, but instead that he had to walk back to his house to give his wife a kiss, and that was a date he never missed. He said thanks to us! That he'd never met people from Wyoming before, and that if we were representative of the folks there it must be a heck of a place. The twinkle in his eye made it clear he was fibbing. We didn't mind, he made us feel good. The drive out, things looked much different. A man like that was one who had made a difference. Had made the world around him a better place. The heat didn't feel so heavy. The air not so thick. That distrust in peoples faces quickly switched to a smile when you smiled and said hi.

When we got home, 2,000 miles and a week of vacation later, there was a letter waiting. He thanked us again! Wished my brother and I luck in our careers, and my dad luck in his next season. It was a pleasure, watching him get that 400th win. To hear the people talk about him, and the stories they shared was wonderful. We knew they were true. That love people shared for him was real, but insignificant to the love he shared for them.

You can add the University of Toledo to the dubious roster of schools tarnished by point shaving scandals.

Harvey "Scooter" McDougle was apparently recruited by a suburban Detroit man to affect the outcome of Toledo football games, with the involvement of some other -- as yet unidentified -- players. The players were treated to meals and other benefits at Greektown Casino in Detroit.

With Detroit's proximity to Toledo, it is probably the most important recruiting area for the football program. One of the reasons for Toledo's success in the MAC has been the ability to outrecruit the three Michigan MAC schools in Detroit.

The federal investigation is still not revealing all its cards, but before it is done the fallout could be wide-ranging at Toledo. A likely NCAA investigation to follow could result in a severe ban which could include the loss of several scholarships to a postseason ban.

(Perhaps most importantly, I wonder how many points are assigned for point shaving in the Fulmer Cup.)

There's a discussion underway in the Swamp.

In the department of bad decisions a college football player could make, this one ranks up there.

So you're a white kid on an elite D-1 football team and racial dynamics are a reality. One of your black teammates gives you the nickname "White Nation." You think this is hysterical, and you're happy there's a rapport between the two of you. In fact, you think it's so funny that you go ahead and create a Facebook group called "White Nation" where you and a bunch of your teammates sign up and - as a gag - post this (courtesy of dailytrojan.com via Deadspin):

"All members are athletes of Caucasion descent. DISCLAIMER: In no way are the following memebers intolerant of others, we are just doing our duty of protecting the Arian brotherhood."

There was also a picture of a black baby in handcuffs with the caption: "Arrest black babies before they become criminals."

My first reaction is how did these guys get into USC? Not only is the post full of spelling errors, but how stupid do you have to be to think that this is going to end well? If you read the full article, it doesn't appear that these guys have any true ill-will towards black people. They don't appear to be skinheads or Nazis. Contrary to the way it is being portrayed elsewhere on the net, the article paints a picture of a group of idiots, not a group of white power maniacs.

But how insensitive do you have to be do this? How little must you understand racial dynamics in this country? One interesting result of the internet, to me, is how easy it is to expose yourself as a complete and total tool to the rest of the world. These guys fall firmly into that group.

Ah recruiting visits. The forbidden fruit for all of us slow, weak people. At any rate, apparently taking a page from how you used to get it done in Boulder, Colorado, the University of Cincinnati is investigating whether there was an 8-1 tag team on a willing female ex-soccer player during a recruiting weekend at some point in the last few months. What is the basis for thinking such a thing might have occurred? A tape. Which has apparently made its rounds (go figure) among various UC dormitories.

A quote on the potential shenanigans from UC football coah Brian Kelly:

"'If anything of the nature described in the allegations did occur', Kelly said, 'It's absolutely inappropriate behavior, period. End of discussion. ... That is pretty standard relative to student conduct or even appropriate human-being conduct.'"

Aw, come on Coach. Not appropriate human being conduct? THAT'S a little strong, don't you think?

At any rate, this pic from Kelly appears to show him demonstrating some of what the mind imagines was documented on that tape:

Some possible Swamp discussion of this developing (thanks to Swamper Zibby with a nice heads up on this story) here. Bring all of your gang bang stories there. Or, you know, what you imagine gang bangs must be like.

The Illini need to find a new mascot, and Mark Tupper of the Decatur Herald & Review is ticked off. If you are a fan of the university or interested in this debate, please stop by and read his article. Because he makes a decent point about the NCAA's uneven ruling on Chief Illiniwek:

"If the use of Native American imagery and symbols is wrong, then it's wrong everywhere. It makes the NCAA look foolish and without the courage of commitment when it allows a school like Florida State to flaunt its Native American imagery (without a shred of the dignity that some of us see in Chief Illiniwek) on its athletic fields simply because it pays money to a 'namesake' tribe to say it's OK."

I would take that argument a step further. Either you allow ethnic mascots, or you don't.

The problem with this, of course, is that it could result in banning the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (and other mascots like the only slightly lesser-known Fighting Scots of the Division III College of Wooster). Because a dancing leprechaun putting up his dukes is completely inoffensive to anyone of Irish heritage, right? I mean, who wouldn't want to have their history represented by a conniving belligerent mythical twirp? But we know the NCAA won't touch their sacred cow.

This is a difficult debate because you will never appease all the members of a group. Because of this dilemma, if the NCAA is concerned about ethnic mascots being offensive, it should ban them unilaterally. But that would require the NCAA to have a shred of consistency and dignity. Clearly, it does not.

Once again, this group that allegedly represent institutions of higher learning and thinking has danced around the issue. They have singled out one group bowing to political pressure, and ignored the same problems elsewhere. Sadly, we have grown to expect little else.

Today is the Super Bowl for the weirdo recruitniks who spend every waking moment in their mother's basement stalking 17-year-old boys and it looks like Florida is winning a unanimous decision amongst the various recruiting boards/weirdos.

Scouts, Inc. likes the Gators while Rivals.com agrees.

CNNSI.com also has a regularly updated list of signees so you can figure out which high schoolers you'll be cheering for and/or booing during the upcoming five years.

Really drunk. Mario Danelo's blood alcohol content was .23 according to the coroner. The coroner did not say how Danelo fell to his death, but I'm gonna guess the .23, almost three times the legal limit, had something to do with it.

Wow. It reads like SportsPickle piece, but it's real. Apparently the new Alabama coach, in talking with reporters about LSU fans' reactions to his coming back to the SEC, went there. Where? Here:

"'He was walking down the street yesterday before the Sugar Bowl,' Saban said on the taped comments. 'He calls me. There was a guy working in the ditch, one of those coonass guys that talk funny.I can't talk like them, but he can. Most people in Louisiana can.'"

Oh Nick. Nick, Nick, Nick. Dammit. I am working so hard not to insert a comment here about your attempt to appeal to some of the racially less progressive members of your new teams fanbase. But it's hard.

And, your apology? It needs work. No, it does need work:

"Saban, in a statement Wednesday, said the word 'can be taken as derogatory by some people. Those comments need to be placed in the proper context, so as to understand the meaning of what was said,' Saban said. 'The words were used in paraphrasing a story told to me by a friend. I was simply using the same wording used by the person who told me the story. The term in question is not language that I use or condone, and I can understand how some would take offense. However, I think it must be noted that those comments were made 'off the record' and the words merely reflected an anecdote that was told to me using that language.'"

Got it. Why, yes, Nick, "coonasses" really CAN be taken as derogatory by "some people". "Some people" are funny that way. And defending it by saying you were just repeating what you heard? Weak. Real weak. Need a primer on "coonass"? Wikipedia has your back.

Onward and upward. I guess getting prime recruits out of Louisiana for the next little bit is now off of Alabama's "things to do" list.

Predicting college football class recruiting is as exact as predicting the flight of a snowflake. But it sure is interesting.

According to Rivals.com the SEC has 5 of the top 10 classes for 2007. Click here for the top 125 schools. The Richmond Spiders are dead last. Of special interest to a certain Swamper UC-Davis is a woeful 121st.

1. Florida 2,746
2. Texas 2,497
3. Tennessee 2,470
4. LSU 2,114
4. South Carolina 2,114
6. USC 2,078
7. Notre Dame 2,054
8. Georgia 1,903
9. Nebraska 1,875
10. Oregon 1,774

Don't blame Jeff Tedford if he's starting to wish he coached anywhere other than the People's Republic of Berkeley.

Seems a bunch of "activists" have convinced a California Superior Court judge to halt construction of a $125 million sports center at the University of California that would have included a long overdue renovation to Memorial Stadium, a project Tedford has been championing since he was hired at Cal.

Why? Because the project would have required cutting down three dozen oak trees.

Anywhere else in the country those trees would be kindling right now and the trees probably would have been cut down with the hippies in them for good measure.

First of all, it sucks that college football is over for another eight months. It also sucks that the powers that be have once again decided to leave us with an unfulfilling conclusion to the season.

Who's the best team in the country? Sure, Florida has all the hardware, but how certain would you be that they couldn't be beaten by USC or Boise State on a neutral field?

Some notes about the final ballot:

I got some grief about putting Wisconsin over Michigan despite Michigan's relatively easy dismantling of Wisconsin, but I think 12-1 counts for something, even if Michigan's two losses were to Top 5 teams. Ohio State gets ranked over LSU for much the same reason.

Boise State at #2 is not a protest vote or an attempt to be cute. If there was a plus-one, you could make a legitimate argument for the Broncos to get a shot against the Gators for the national title. Their schedule sucked, but they beat three ranked teams, exactly as many as Ohio State.

I'm not really happy with the bottom of the poll. There are about seven or eight teams which would have a legitimate claim to spots 23-25. I picked Central Michigan and Kentucky, respectively for spots 24 and 25 because all of their losses came to bowl teams, they're both arguably as good as any team (Georgia, Hawaii, TCU, etc.) I omitted and I was sick of aaronbond's whining about Kentucky not being ranked (jk, chief). Plus, who knows when I'll ever have a chance to rank Central Michigan legitimately in a Top 25 again?

As always, thanks for all the discussion and feedback this year.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	2
2	Boise State	7
3	Ohio State	2
4	LSU	1
5	Southern Cal	1
6	Wisconsin	4
7	Louisville	3
8	Michigan	6
9	West Virginia	2
10	Oklahoma	3
11	Texas	4
12	Rutgers	--
13	Auburn	5
14	Arkansas	1
15	Brigham Young	5
16	Wake Forest	2
17	Virginia Tech	2
18	Oregon State	4
19	California	2
20	Notre Dame	6
21	Penn State	5
22	Boston College	4
23	Tennessee	7
24	Central Michigan	--
25	Kentucky	1

Unless you are form USC. For the rest of you it is a prize for reaching the pinnacle of the Peter Principle. Since 1989, Eddie George and the USC boys are the only players to have a solid Sunday career. That's four out of nineteen if you include OSU's Troy Smith.

I dont see any reason not to include Troy Smith. He completed four passes in the biggest game of his life. At this point Mel Gibson could even complete four passes at a B'Nai Brith luncheon. Four passes.... well at least he had ten rushing attempts, for -29 yards. I stayed home and I had more positive yardage than this year's Heisman winner.

1989 Andre Ware Houston Quarterback
1990 Ty Detmer BYU Quarterback
1991 Desmond Howard Michigan Wide Receiver
1992 Gino Torretta Miami Quarterback
1993 Charlie Ward Florida State Quarterback
1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado Running Back
1995 Eddie George Ohio State Running Back
1996 Danny Wuerffel Florida Quarterback
1997 Charles Woodson Michigan Cornerback/Wide Receiver
1998 Ricky Williams Texas Running Back
1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin Running Back
2000 Chris Weinke Florida State Quarterback
2001 Eric Crouch Nebraska Quarterback
2002 Carson Palmer USC Quarterback
2003 Jason White Oklahoma Quarterback
2004 Matt Leinart USC Quarterback
2005 Reggie Bush USC Running Back
2006 Troy Smith Ohio State Quarterback

That list looks more like a where are they now article than a group of "accomplished" football players. Looks like three of them never took an NFL snap. Charlie Ward was a smart guy. So next year when the wave of hype hits, remember the guy who finishes second usually becomes the better pro. (Marshall Faulk, Peyton Manning, Rex Grossman, Larry Fitzgerald, Vince Young)

Not a bad year for the University of Forida. First, they cut down the nets of March Madness, and now they take the football title to Gainesville as well.

If The Ohio State University of Choking played as poorly as they have in the first half of the national champinship game, they wouldn't be beating anyone in the Top 25 ... except maybe Notre Dame.

Florida is smacking the nuts off the Buckeyes: 34-14. The over for the entire game is already covered.

But yeah, I agree with the BCS folks. No way a team like Boise State even belongs in the same competition.

Or Ted Ginn Jr. is really fast. Taking the opening kick-off 93 yards for a touchdown, the first returned for a TD by Ohio State this year, Ginn was untouched. Here's a score for you: 7-0.

On the Florida return, Ohio State's kicker resorted to cheating to save a touchdown.

Chris Leak to Dallas Baker nets the Gators a TD. All tied at 7. We hope you didn't elect to choose the under.

Wow. Tragic news from Southern Caifornia. From baltimoresun.com:

"Southern California kicker Mario Danelo was found dead yesterday about 120 feet down a rocky cliff near Point Fermin lighthouse in San Pedro, Calif ... Danelo, the 21-year-old son of former NFL kicker Joe Danelo, made 15 of 16 field goals this season and led the Trojans in scoring with 89 points. The junior made two field goals in the Rose Bowl on Monday to help USC beat Michigan, 32-18."

This update 15 minutes ago from the local NBC affiliate: "Investigators had information that Danelo was out with friends Friday night and that he was last seen around midnight. He said police had no information as to whether Danelo had been driking.

"Pierson said so far there was nothing to indicate it was a suicide.

"Someone flying a remote-control airplane in Point Fermin Park noticed something at the bottom of the cliff and a friend traversed a trail down to the beach and discovered the body, Pierson said.

"Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said at the scene investigators had not found a surf board, scuba-diving tanks or anything else to indicate Danelo might have been down there for any of the recreational activities common to the area.

"Humphrey said over the years a handful of people had fallen from the cliff.

"'It's entirely possible that he fell,' said Humphrey."

The lack of a playoff system in college football has baffled me for years. Considering how much public support there has been and how much sense it seems to make, the obstruction to a playoff system in college football has long seemed inexplicable. the vague answer of the "Bowl Games" didn't really make sense to me or stand up to scrutiny. But thanks to Josh Peter of Yahoo Sports, the wool has been pulled away from before my eyes.

And so we have an early nomination for sports column of the year for what is quite simply the most informative article I've ever read on why there is no playoff system in college football. Peter explains how Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany is the grinch who steals a college playoff system every bowl season:

"BCS haters may decide Delany is public enemy No. 1. But inside the corridors of college athletics, he is respected, envied and, in some cases, feared.

"Delany, according to one colleague, can exhibit 'Doberman-like aggressiveness.' With a bite to match his bark, he has further enriched the wealthiest conferences and cemented the BCS system that has drawn the ire from two of the most powerful men in his own conference - Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr.

"But as he has done with the public outcry, Delany has largely ignored the coaches' call for a playoff. He readily admits a playoff could be good for Division I-A football at large, but quickly adds, 'I don't work for college football at large.'"

This is an extraordinary piece of journalism that qualifies as a must read for any college football fan, or anyone who wants to criticize the BCS system. Peter, who does seem to be an advocate for a college playoff system, nevertheless paints a fair picture. Delany isn't an evil megalomaniac whose sole intent is to ruin college football for millions of fans for the mere fun of it. Rather, he's a powerbroker advocating for his conference to retain as much power and much money for as long as possible.

The good news is that even Delany believes that playoffs are an inevitability. Only it probably won't come fast enough for most college playoff advocates.

Still on. For a few more hours at least.

I was tipped to the two below linked YouTube videos by a local sportstalk show host in Memphis yesterday. After viewing them, I am sad that Joe Kines (the interim Alabama coach) appears to be getting no further considersation for the job. Judging by his halftime interview during Alabama's bowl game, well, I think the college football world needs more of his vocal stylings.

At the least with Nick Saban, should he come on back to the SEC, we know he will handle winning better than Texas Tech's Mike Leach did following their comeback win over Minnesota. For gawdssake man, stop crying on national tv.

Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl might be the greatest football game I've ever seen. Wild lead changes, huge plays on both sides of the ball, two-point conversions galore, overtime, trick plays, and finally, the upset special.

While people will remember the bag of tricks Boise State pulled out at the end, culminating with a take on the Statue of Liberty play on the game's final game-winning two-point conversion, what is forgotten is that Boise State built a significant lead over Oklahoma by grinding out long drive after long drive with an impressive traditional running and passing game.

Oklahoma, to their immense credit, climbed back into the game, eventually and improbably taking the lead with just over a minute to play on an interception return for a touchdown. Instead of giving up, the Broncos offense was actually smiling on the sidelines after losing the lead.

It was like they wanted the additional challenge, a challenge they met when they converted a 4th and 18 with a designed catch-and-lateral that went the distance to tie up the ballgame.

But how about the best moment in the game? Oklahoma scored on the first play in overtime to take a seven-point lead. Adrian Peterson just runs right over the Bronco defense for a 25 yard touchdown. Statement play, right?

Boise State proceeds to unconvincingly eek and scrape its way to a touchdown on a running back pass. Then, instead of kicking the extra point to tie it up, they decide to go for the jugular and try for two points and the win. And they make it on a trick play that the back-up quarterbacks had been running in practice all week!

On top of all that, Boise State running back Ian Johnson, after scoring the game-winning two-point conversion, proposed to his girlfriend, captain of the cheerleading squad - who wrote this script? - on the field and on national television.

Was it the greatest game of all time? The mere fact that the question is being asked lets you know how special it was.

Memo to the BCS: You suck. The only reason we got this game was after you were threatened with a lawsuit. And now you are denying this Bronco team a shot at the title. Get a playoff system, and delay the polls til the season is truly underway.

I was going to post on the highly-entertaining Bowl Game in Atlanta between Georgia and Virginia Tech , but seeing as how it's Sunday and all, it just doesn't seem right. Never on Sunday.

Hear that? It's the drumbeat of Charlie Weis's music and it's being played by the New York Football Giants. At least the Post's Steve Serby wishes it were:

"When the Giants begin cleaning their crumbling house, Plan A should be going after Weis the way Lawrence Taylor went after quarterbacks.

Plan B, if he is attainable, would be to lure Scott Pioli away from Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick, make him the next GM and tell him to go get Weis out of South Bend, which he would want to do anyway."

Eh. I bet Weis is more interested in becoming an institution at South Bend than taking over the reigns of the Gints right now. Of course getting out of those recruiting trips could be a tempting offer.

I think I can run a 4.4 - 40 if you gave me a few extra seconds. Read that again, because it doesn't make sense. But that is what the NCAA is doing with college football. They are giving guys extra chances to set season records. Until a few years ago, bowl game statistics did not count toward season achievments. Why? Perhaps because there were only 6-8 bowl games back in the day. Now that there are 74 different bowl games (some teams having to play in two bowl games) the NCAA decided, in their infinite wisdom, to include the statistics.

After breaking the NCAA single-season touchdown record, Colt Brennan isn't sure he's ready to take a shot at the NFL just yet.

So fuck the NCAA. They get their labor for "free" and then foist phony records on us while diminishing their stars of yesteryear.

And I am shocked -- shocked I tell you! -- to imagine cheating like this happens in the SEC. It's truly hard to fathom.

It is not often that I quote Nathan Lane's character from the Birdcage, but it seemed appropriate because of the whiny behavior displayed by some Idaho football players after Dennis Erickson decide to jump ship. Erickson is going to relocate to Arizona State and at least benefit from a 50-60 degree increase in temperature. Seriously where would you rather live ? Idaho or Arizona ?

Takes from the players, who have yet to learn how the world works.

• From senior-to-be linebacker David Vobora, "It doesn't really matter who the coaches are -- well, it does -- but we're the reason they have jobs," he added. "If they're going to do that and play the politics game, its going to be hard for us to trust our next coach because we've been [messed with] a couple of times, so it's hard to deal with." Nothing personal dude, but you play at Idaho

• From junior running back Jayson Bird, "It was kind of weird with Erickson talking and telling us he thinks he can win a national championship at Arizona State. It makes us realize the doubt he had in us," Bird said. "I guess he has to do what he has to do. We just didn't expect it, but it's certainly something we can get over.

"Hopefully they can get a guy in here that genuinely cares about us and wants to build a program. The hardest thing is to find a guy that isn't going to use us and not use the school as a stepping stone."

I did say this is Idaho, right ? They do have an interesting nickname though, the 'Vandals'. Well kids you have just matriculated through Reality 101, deal with it and move on. Life is full of disappointments quit acting like whiny drag queens.

Troy Smith has won the Heisman Trophy. [END SPOILERS]

Didn't want to give it away for the two or three of you who have been in a coma for the last four months and are just now getting around to checking out the Internets.

In a cute nod to actually acknowledging players for their performance on the field, Arkansas' Darren McFadden was second and Brady Quinn was third.

Voters were apparently impressed enough by Quinn's stat padding against the service academies to get him among the finalists, but had enough recollection of Quinn shitting his pants against the only above average teams on Notre Dame's schedule to not vault him above McFadden. Curiously, Quinn received 13 first-place votes. I can only conclude the Downtown Athletic Club must have mailed 13 ballots to Beano Cook.

The following people are no longer believed to be interested in the Alabama coaching job:

1. Bear Bryant's ashes
2. Anyone with a pulse

The view from Birmingham remains...bleak. To echo dtw's post on this, that's one motherfuck of a reality check for the Crimson Tide faithful at this point.

I th