CFB Week 15 (12/3-12/6) News and Picks

Bradford to have surgery after Big 12 title game

from SI.com - NCAA Football
Read full story for latest details.
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Gators likely out two defensive linemen for SEC title game

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<!-- T11143075 --><!-- Sesame Modified: 11/30/2008 22:03:38 --><!-- sversion: 2 $Updated: johnnyr$ --> GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- No. 2 Florida could be without two defensive linemen against top-ranked Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game Saturday.
Matt Patchan has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, defensive line coach Dan McCarney said Sunday night, and the freshman won't play again this season. Patchan won't have surgery, but probably won't return until after spring practice.
Patchan, who has seven tackles and 1½ sacks in 10 games this season, hurt his knee last weekend against The Citadel.
Defensive tackle Brandon Antwine, who missed the first five games of the season while recovering from back surgery, sprained a knee in the second half Saturday at Florida State. Coach Urban Meyer said Antwine is "probably doubtful" against the Crimson Tide.
"He's not moving around at all," Meyer said.
The good news for Florida is Lawrence Marsh, the player Antwine replaced in the starting lineup against the Seminoles, should be full-go Saturday.
"He was 70 percent (against FSU)," Meyer said. "He'll be 100 percent (against Alabama)."
Marsh, a sophomore defensive tackle who started the first 11 games, has 21 tackles and three sacks this season. He sprained the MCL in his left knee on the first play against The Citadel.

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rj,

you the man bro...thanks for all of the articles this year...great thread you have going again this week and it's only Sunday...
 
Pags and Hunt--

Thanks. I'm holding out hope that Florida doesn't jump Texas in the last poll. Longshot, but mathematically possible.
 
5 Thoughts ... Dec. 1
Five Thoughts: 2007 Thoughts | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
- Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11
- Week 12 | Week 13
Part One: 45-35 (a.k.a. Eh, screw it. Put in USC.)

[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]By Pete Fiutak [/SIZE][/FONT]
1. You can spin it, massage it, and lobby it any way you want, but there’s one simple reality involved in the Big 12 South debate: Oklahoma doesn’t really have a case. (Before you fire off that angry e-mail, full disclosure, the fan in me is actually happy about how this shook out. For fun's sake, I really do want a Florida – Oklahoma national title, even if it offends my sense of justice. One other item of note, by the CFN Season Rankings, our formula that’s all about the strength of schedule, Oklahoma wins this debate by a HUGE margin thanks to the wins over TCU and Cincinnati.)

Had the situation been reversed, we would’ve had the mother of all hissy fits on our hands. Bob Stoops would’ve gone ballistic … ballistic. You wouldn’t be able to get him off the TV because he’d be screaming and lobbying to anyone who’d listen, and everyone who wouldn’t. Politicians would’ve gotten involved, just like they did in the embarrassing aftermath following the 2006 instant replay controversy at Oregon, and you’d hear screaming and yelling all across Oklahoma about how the Sooners beat the two teams playing in the Big 12 title game.

Instead, OU has to hide behind the weak, “well, you have to count Texas Tech” argument, which has nothing to do with the Texas vs. Oklahoma debate. The one thing Stoops is going by is that his team throttled Tech, but when asked to give the pro-Texas argument, he started out by mentioning that the Longhorns beat his team head-to-head ... done. Over. Texas beat Oklahoma. Texas beat Oklahoma. Texas … beat … Oklahoma. If you want to make this a Texas Tech over Texas debate, let’s roll, but if this is just about Oklahoma and Texas right now, which it is, then it’s over.

If you still want to bring up the Texas Tech side, then at least use your head and be rational about this. It took a dropped interception with 11 seconds to play, and the greatest pass play in the history of Red Raider football, to beat the Longhorns with one second to play. Remember, that was in Lubbock. (You know, the place where Oklahoma lost last year.) That was worse than losing by ten on a neutral field? Also remember that in the three-team equation, Texas didn't get a home game.

So what’s the answer, point differential? So what if a team tacked on a garbage time touchdown or two? Oklahoma is better than Texas because it scored 61 on Oklahoma State rather than 54? If that’s the case being made, then why not go by the Kansas game? Oklahoma beat KU by 14 at home, and Texas won in Lawrence by 28. Why not go by Texas A&M? OU beat the Aggies by 38, and Texas beat them by 40. You can’t do it because it’s silly. You don’t need to go by a third standard when you have one iron-clad tie-breaker when we’re breaking down two teams … 45-35.

So really, what is the answer? In a case like this, bring in the Big 12 athletic directors and commission to make a ruling. If you're going to use opinions for the tie-breaker, use the people in the know rather than coaches and Harris types who don't know the difference between a Joe Ganz and a Robert Griffin.

No, Oklahoma isn’t playing better than Texas right now (remember, defense and special teams are part of the game, too); Texas has won its last three games 129 to 37. Yes, Oklahoma's offense is putting up ungodly stats, but that's partly because it has to thanks to its mediocre defense. No, it isn’t a given that Oklahoma would beat Texas in a rematch. And yes, sadly, the season is now tainted.

In the end, Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field. All the bells, all the whistles, and all the 60 point performances can’t change that Texas was the better team on that day on the field. If you’re arguing for anything else, and if you’re going to debate me on this, then you already know what the answer is.




Part Two: 39-33 (a.k.a. Eh, screw it. Put in Utah.)

 By [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2] Pete Fiutak [/SIZE][/FONT]
2. Alright, now let’s take this one step further. What if Missouri beats Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game?

Texas will go off to the BCS championship, sliding up from the No. 3 spot, because bleeding hearts like me who bitched and moaned about how the system screwed things up will be heard just enough to make it acceptable for a Longhorn – SEC Champion national championship, even if UT didn’t win its own division. After all, Texas lost out because of an opinion, while Georgia last year and Michigan two years ago lost out on the field. However, Texas playing for the national title wouldn’t make any more sense than Oklahoma playing in this year’s Big 12 title game.

39-33.

If Oklahoma loses to Missouri, then there will be a real, live, clear-cut tie-breaker that doesn’t exist now between the three teams in question. If OU loses, then it’s a pure two-team argument and not a theoretical three-team discussion: Texas Tech wins, and there’s no debate.

If you’re going to accept the premise that the Big 12 screwed up by using the BCS rankings to break a tie, then you have put aside your memory of the 65-21 Tech loss at Oklahoma and go by what actually happened on the field. Should Texas Tech play for the national title if Missouri beats OU? I don’t think so, I’ll probably argue for Utah or even Penn State, at least as far as the deserve factor, but in a two-team battle, Texas shouldn’t be in the BCS Championship any more than Georgia of last year because of the head-to-head, 39-33 loss in Lubbock.

The only way Texas should be allowed to play for the title is if Oklahoma beats Missouri in a close game. The uglier, the better for Longhorn purposes. Considering the way Texas blew away the Tigers 56-31 in a game that wasn’t really even that close, then the voters might consider moving Texas higher in the rankings. As I’ve mentioned before, the computer formulas still have to take into account the whole season and could change around at the end meaning the gap could close there, too.

No matter what happens, there will almost certainly be a “yeah, but” attached to this season in some way.






And Rich Rodriguez couldn't make his system work, why?
[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]By [/FONT][/SIZE] Richard Cirminiello[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2] [/FONT][/SIZE]
3. When Paul Johnson was hired to replace Chan Gailey a year ago, he was reminded that beating Georgia, which hadn’t happened since 2000, needed to be near the top of his to-do list in Atlanta. Johnson knew it. Heck, he’d spent the last few seasons coaching in Annapolis, so the importance of a rivalry game didn’t escape him.

On Saturday, the rookie head coach engineered a statement upset of Georgia that will resonate throughout the state, especially during recruiting time. Hey, the Dawgs still have the edge in these parts, but the Yellow Jackets’ 45-42 victory in Athens sent a resounding message that the pendulum has slowly begun to shift. For teenagers in the region, going to Georgia Tech no longer means choosing a Plan B, especially if you’re a multi-dimensional quarterback or a bruising B-back. The other truth coming out of Atlanta is that you can win in the ACC—or the SEC—by running the option. Over the last two weeks, the Yellow Jackets have gashed Miami and Georgia, a pair of pretty good defenses, for 881 yards rushing and 86 points. Oh, and also two important wins that could be launching points into the bowl season and beyond.

When Coach of the Year discussions pop up, Johnson’s name gets drowned out by the likes of Nick Saban, Mike Leach, Joe Paterno, and others. Too bad. He’s done a marvelous job of inheriting less-than-ideal players for his system, and quickly molding them into a dynamite ground game and a nine-win team. There’s finally some life back in the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry, thanks largely to the arrival of Paul Johnson to the Yellow Jacket program.
Have you seen the last two BCS Championships? (Part one)
By Richard Cirminiello[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2] [/FONT][/SIZE]
4. I fully understand what motivates bowl games and the committees that run them. Sexy match-ups. No empty seats. Plump television ratings. Like all of us, the balance sheet cannot be ignored by bowl games, which also have bills to pay. Yet, despite being armed with all of that knowledge and a glimpse of what’s likely to happen seven days from now, I’ll still spend the next week imploring the bowls to step up and make the right decision when it comes to the last true opening among the at-large berths. In other words, do the unconventional and select 12-0 Boise State over 10-2 Ohio State.

Yeah, Ohio State brings instant recognition and a bigger fan base, but it’ll also bring a couple of losses and a vanilla program that’s been dressed down in its last two BCS bowl games. Boise State is not your typical mid-major, having given the sport one of its most memorable bowl moments ever in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Wouldn’t it be fun to see if they could do it again against another national powerhouse, like Texas. Or better yet, how about Boise State versus Utah in the only postseason game pairing a couple of unbeatens. Tickets will still sell. Viewers will still tune in. Honest, if you didn’t get your degree in Columbus, wouldn’t you much rather see the Broncos try to knock off the No. 3 ‘Horns rather than the Buckeyes get rewarded for a two-loss season?

Boise State is ranked higher than Ohio State in the BCS rankings. The Broncos are one of just four schools without a loss this season. Their win at Oregon is more impressive than anything on the Buckeyes’ 2008 resume. They’ve earned the right to play in one of the five BCS bowl games, even though Utah has already locked down a seat at the table. Now, all it’s going to take is one bold committee willing to, er, buck the trend, and extend an invite to the more deserving school. Trust me, you’ll be rewarded with a ton of positive publicity from parts well outside of Idaho for such a pioneering decision.












You did see the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, right? (Part two)
By Matthew Zemek

5. Now that Oregon State has lost and given someone else a chance to step into a BCS bowl, it's time to plead for justice in the college football world.

Fiesta Bowl honchos and Sugar Bowl execs, you need to work together to do the horsetrading necessary to satisfy both the little guy and the appetites of the fans who will fill your ballparks, University of Phoenix Stadium and the Louisiana Superdome, in early January.

First, put Boise State in over Ohio State for the last remaining at-large slot.

Second, have Boise State and Utah play in each of your bowls, instead of putting the two teams together in the Fiesta.

The first decision is more important than the second one. A team that goes 12-0, even in the WAC, deserves special consideration for a premium postseason prize. A 10-2 year is a fine year, and the Capital One Bowl (against Georgia) represents a reasonably high-paying bowl for Jim Tressel's Buckeyes, who should relish the chance to play an SEC team and gain some respect for the Big Ten. Ohio residents should have a great time flying down to Orlando. It's not a bad destination for that program.

Boise State might come from a lightweight conference--no one can deny how brutally Georgia destroyed Hawaii last year--but the Broncos, after all, are the team that delivered the goods in a BCS bowl, justifying the decision to expand the BCS bowl pool in the first place. If any of the "little guys" in FBS competition deserve a nod in the still very much politicized and tourism-driven world of the bowls, it's Boise State. And if the Broncos get bucked by the SEC runner-up or the Big 12 runner-up, then the WAC will have to go to the back of the line in future years when its unbeaten champion is being considered for a showcase game. For now, Boise State deserves the benefit of the doubt.

On point number two, it's almost as important (not quite, but almost) for Utah to play someone other than Boise State. The Utes, after all, were rightfully steamed when, at the end of the 2004 regular season, Urban Meyer's ballclub drew a weak Pittsburgh Panther squad for the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. When America wanted Utah to play Auburn in a super showdown (while USC and Oklahoma battled for that year's controversial national title), the Fiesta Bowl failed to serve the interests of its paying customers in Salt Lake City. This year, Utah--back in the BCS derby--deserves to play a name school. Coach Kyle Whittingham will privately fume if his team has to play Boise State, and not a Big 12 or SEC team, in Glendale (or, perhaps, New Orleans).

It's up to you, John Junker (Fiesta Bowl godfather). The ball's in your court, Paul Hoolahan (Sugar Bowl CEO).

Do the right thing. As the BCS system itself proves--along with the horrible (non-)leadership of college football's university presidents and conference commissioners--the right thing isn't usually done in this sport.<rte_text></rte_text>
 
Overwhelmage

from Building The Dam by Jake
Everything seemed to fall apart for the Beavers on Saturday night at Reser Stadium.
Yeah, the Ducks were well rested, and had a week off to prepare. Yeah, we didn't have Quizz. I think we can all agree that the officials made some poor decisions, but aside from all of that, nothing was going right for the Beavers.
Oregon State was simply overwhelmed.
I utter those words not as excuses, because really, they're not. Give us Quizz, and maybe the game is closer at the end. Give us that touchdown off of the non-reviewable fumble, and maybe it is closer at the end.
But ultimately, the Ducks outright won the 112th rendition of the Civil War. And I take nothing away from them.
I'm proud of the way our team has handled this season. We exceeded expectations all year long, and made it so close to smelling roses.
Trust me, Beaver Nation, it won't be 44 years until we get a whiff of those aromas again. But, the job isn't done yet. There's still one more game to play.
Mike Riley has built this program into something special. It's something we can all be proud to be a part of, and it's now a program that's going to be relevant for a long time.
It's definitely a sad time for Beaver Nation. But it should also be a proud time.
Look at OSU's baseball program in 2005. Out of nowhere, they earn a trip to Omaha, and are quickly eliminated in two games. It was definitely a disappointment to get that far and be stopped short of the dream, but look at what they did the next two years.
That being said, the foundation is here. I feel for the seniors whose blood, sweat, and tears helped boost this program to heights greater than anything that had been witnessed before. Those players will never know what it feels like to strap on the pads on January 1, but because of their efforts, an equally impressive group of men probably will.
But don't worry, even though those seniors lost their last game in Reser Stadium, they'll be back. In 10 years, it will be Al Afalava, Sammie Stroughter, Victor Butler, Brandon Hughes, Slade Norris, Shane Morales, Andy Levitre, and all the others who are introduced in front of record crowds at Reser Stadium. The ride they've brought us on won't always be remembered in the brightest light, but we'll all remember just how close they came to breaking through. They're lifelong members of the Beaver Family. I mean, look at this guy:

via photos.oregonlive.com
You've gotta admit: For Corvallis, Oregon, this ride has been and continues to be special.
Would anyone have ever expected that we could have made it this far 20 years ago?
Thanks, Coach. And thanks, seniors. You'll be missed.

GO BEAVERS!
 
The Girls of College Football’s Biggest Rivalries

<abbr class="published" title="2008-11-29T18:33:09+0000"><script type="text/javascript">document.write(time_since(1228001589, "November 29, 2008 - 6:33 pm,"));</script>November 29, 2008 - 6:33 pm,</abbr> By COED Staff
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Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in the thick of football season and that means college rivalries are in full swing. Since we already know which games are the most heated, we’ve decided to cover this sacred college tradition of hating one other school more than all the others by bringing you the best party pictures from these competition-fueled weekends. Sure, most of the pictures are of hot girls showing their school spirit, but what can we say? We’re biased.​
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1. Texas vs Oklahoma​
Fought equidistant from both cities in Dallas, the Red River rivalry is a striking image event, with burnt orange on one side of the stadium and crimson and white on the other. And this one goes back ages, to 1900 - before Oklahoma was even a state! It’s even been said that political elections have been lost because of this game. And the beef is only getting hotter as the years grind on.​
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2. OSU vs Michigan​
No college football rivalry has a better history than the epic school scuffle between OSU and Michigan. The two teams have 70 Big Ten titles under their belt, compared to 81 Big Ten titles for everyone else, since 1913. And they’ve both landed the #1 or #2 spot 15 times since 1968. Beat that!​
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3. Alabama vs Auburn “Iron Bowl”​
Even the fans might want to wear pads and a helmet for this one. As the absolute most important game in the state every year, Alabama vs Auburn, known as the “Iron Bowl,” ranks as the meanest and most passionately fought games of the season. The game stopped for 41 years, between 1908 and 1947, because the two schools couldn’t agree on which referees to use. But today, it’s a fantastically fiery ordeal.​
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4. USC vs Notre Dame​
Legend has it that in 1925 a USC graduate assistant met “legendary” ND coach Knute Rockne, telling how much nicer the weather was in southern California and that it was a better place to play a game. Rockne’s wife loved the idea, and now we have a Top 10 rivalry. While not the fiercest battle of the bunch, the winner of this end-of-season game between the popular Midwest Irish and the glamorous sunshine boys of LA has gone on to win the national title 19 times, and the two school have produced 11 Heisman winners.​
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5. Florida Vs. Florida State​
The 53 years old, Florida FSU rivalry may not be the oldest, but it’s quite possibly the hottest. With both teams hailing from the great state of Florida, you can always expect to see two things filling the stands- an insanely hot student body and a heluva lot of old people. We can’t help you if your into geriatrics, but we got you covered on the hot student bodies.​
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Kirk Herbstreit breaks down the BCS, thinks the Horns got hosed


Posted December 1st, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

0 comments


ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit thinks the Longhorns deserved to be ahead of Oklahoma but like most of us saw this coming. In a decision between two teams with nearly identical resumes, the Longhorns settled the head-to-head on the field back in October. Watch Herbie break it down below:


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9 Greatest Stadium Sex Moments Of 21st Century

Published by J Koot at 6:31 am under Sex Advice

Visited 24851 times, 24851 so far today
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Playing ‘I’ve got your stadium dog right here’ game​
In less than one month a new cottage sex industry has been born - stadium eroticism.
All it took was one woman who cheated on her husband while the Iowa Hawkeyes were stomping Minnesota. Suddenly Lois Feldman is the hippest Cougar in America.
She gets tanked and doesn’t mind taking her 26-year-old stallion to a handicapped stall for a romp that has made her an instant star.
But this isn’t the first time this century where couples have become infamous for ‘doing it’ at a stadium.
In fact, Busted Coverage researchers worked all weekend to compile the “9 Greatest Stadium Sex Moments Of The 21st Century.”
All sports related, of course.

In no particular order so feel free to rank them if that is how you like to roll.
Tampa Bay Rays game - This century

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Baseball Game Handjob in the Stands - Watch more Free Videos</center>Screw striking out the side, all this guy can think of is how his girlfriend’s hand is going to town. How do we know this is his girlfriend and not his wife?Would wives really do this for a husband at a baseball game?Formerly Enron Field Sex - 2006 Via former Deadspin honcho Will Leitch
The officer, Jeffrey Olesen, was relieved from duty after a fan found him, his wife and one of his wife’s friends enjoying each other’s company in a Minute Maid Park unisex bathroom. The witness, to his credit, wasn’t just running out to narc on the bad man and his two ladies; he saw the policeman’s gun and thought an assault was taking place.
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RFK Stadium - 2006
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That ‘I’ve got your stadium dog right here’ game was huge back in ‘06.
Camp Randall Stadium (Wisconsin) - 2007
The police officer gives his report.
“They were both pulling up their pants, of what I could observe, and I asked them quite loudly to get out of the stall,” Pehler said in the report. The two were asked to present their football tickets. The male gave over his, but the female could not locate hers while trying to button and zip her pants, which turned out to be inside out.
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Digging for gold outside UTEP football stadium - 2008
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True, not on stadium property. Take it up with the editors. We just write this garbage.
Ralph Wilson Stadium - 2008
When it just won’t wait until after the Bills game.
It didn’t take security officers long to figure out the cause of what police later called a “public disturbance” in the restroom.
A woman, law enforcement officials said Monday, was having sex with her boyfriend in a bathroom stall.
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Qwest Field (Seattle) - 2006
A Thurston County senior deputy prosecutor who was ejected from Qwest Field Sunday after employees said he was having sex in a bathroom told his boss he was just using the facilities.
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In a woman’s restroom….with a coworker from his office.
Metrodome Sex - 2008
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The granddaddy of them all. Lois Feldman goes to town with another dude while her husband is watching the game.
The 38 year old fan and mother of three attended the game with her husband, who declined an invitation to accompany his wife to the restroom. She set off on her own and the next thing she knew, she was being thrown around by police officers in a handicap stall of the men’s bathroom after engaging in sex with a 26 year old stranger.
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Skydome - July, 2008
Being naked with the curtains open isn’t new at the Skydome.
This summer a cameraman caught a naked chick hanging with some fratties, whom we can only assume, were getting a few lap dances between innings.
Now, true, there is no ’sex’ going on. But, back in ‘97 it was a different story.
Bonus Coverage:
Lesbian kissing at Safeco Field - 2008
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Sirbrina Guerrero, 23, says she and her partner, who requested anonymity, were just “exchanging pecks,” not acting any differently than heterosexual couples at the game, when park officials told them to stop “making out” or leave the facility.
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The problem? As long as they are hot we see no problem with this.
 
Headlinin': Clemson's search ends under its nose

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-926615009-1228142363.jpg
• Swinney's a keeper. Clemson won four of its last five under Dabo Swinney and put a foot in South Carolina Saturday to finish 7-5, so it's no surprise given the smoking crater left by Tommy Bowden's midseason liquidation that Swinney will have the 'interim' title removed as early as today. Staff assembly is already under way. With some of the names flying around at the time, it didn't seem conceivable that an obscure wide receivers coach who immediately came off as trying way too hard could hold down this job -- the Tigers fancy themselves a major destination for a proven coach, after all, or a hot up-and-comer -- but Swinney's record down the stretch now makes him a bit of both. It helps that C.J. Spiller vowed to stick around another year for the man.
The happiest man in media is Tim "Baby Schwam" Brando, who gets to add "A Dabo'll Do Ya" to "The Fighting Manginos," "Fly In the Ointment" and "Aaaaaaaaalabehma!" in the stable of unbelievably irritating catchphrases he's compelled to break out every time he's on camera.
• Percy, no! After kicking off the Gator rout by scoring the game's first touchdown, Percy Harvin spent the last few minutes of Saturday's win over Florida State wearing a boot on the sideline, the casualty of a sprained ankle that might keep him out of the SEC Championship game this week. Other than the Tebow Child, Harvin is the one player on Florida's offense whose absence raises and eyebrow: As Nick Saban notes, UF has a bottomless well of versatile offensive speed that can run and catch, Harvin touches the ball more often than anyone on the offense except Tebow and has been one of the engines that makes Meyer's system go since about the middle of his freshman year, when healthy. He might be worth a touchdown a game, and if he's not going to play against Alabama, a steep drop in the 10-point opening line in the Gators' favor, as well.
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Florida could also be without a pair of defensive linemen, Matt Patchan and Brandon Antwine, which could force some shuffling, including SEC co-sack leader Carlos Dunlap moving to tackle.
• The Fast Lane. Lane Kiffin's not set to be introduced as boss at Tennessee until this afternoon, but the boy wonder was already getting recruits out of bed on Sunday morning and met his new team on Sunday night.
Kiffin also looks set to confirm the longstanding rumor by naming his dad, Monte, as defensive coordinator. Monte is 68 years old and entrenched in the NFL game -- who knows what kind of recruiter he can be -- but as a Saints fan who had to watch the elder Kiffin's vaunted "Tampa Two" befuddle New Orleans for the umpteenth time Sunday, I wholeheartedly endorse the hire. And if Lane wants to confirm another rumor and take defensive line coach Ed Orgeron off the Saints' hands while he's at it, I endorse that, too. Coach O brings 'em in, Monte actually coaches them: It's a wining combination.
Quickly ... Tommy Tuberville is committed to returning to Auburn but might shake up his longstanding staff on offense if it means landing a better coordinator. ... Tuberville's old defensive coordinator, Gene Chizik, is cleaning house at Iowa State, firing both coordinators in preparation for a make-or-break 2009. ... Besides losing to Cincinnati, Syracuse spent part of last week interviewing a pair of offensive coordinators: Oregon's Chip Kelly and Illinois' Mike Locksley. ... Fresno State's Pat Hill had "a great conversation" with Washington a day after his team was trounced 61-10 at Boise State. ... Steve Spurrier fired his offensive line coach, John Hunt, and quarterbacks coach David Reaves resigned. ... Sam Bradford has torn ligaments in his non-throwing hand. ... Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell underwent surgery Sunday on his non-throwing hand but should be fine for (probably) the Cotton Bowl. ... Hawaii's going to the Hawaii Bowl after a win over Washington State. ... And the woman in the bathroom sex sendoff to the Metrodome is suggesting she may have been the victim of foul play.
 
I wouldn't look for a BCS Bowl let-down from Texas. Look at Orakpo's comment below:

Longhorn players' comments on tiebreaker slight

from Bevo Beat
Longhorn football players have not spoken to reporters about the Big 12 / BCS tiebreaker mess that’ll keep them home this weekend, but the UT media relations office did get the following statements from three Longhorn seniors:
Quarterback Colt McCoy:
“Today was a really tough day, waiting around to find out we didn’t make the Big Championship game. That was very disappointing because we had finished the season so strong and done so well against the two teams that are playing in the game. But, we had a great team meeting and Coach Brown pushed all of the positives with us, like he always does. He told us that it was okay to be disappointed but after the meeting it was time to move forward and be prepared to get ready for a big bowl game. As a leader on this team, it’s one of my jobs to make sure we do that. There is a lot left out there to play for and crazy things happen all the time in college football so who knows where we’ll end up. We’ll stay focused and be ready to finish this season strong, especially for our seniors. Once we know where we’re going, we’ll get ourselves prepared to play our best game of the season.”​
Defensive end Brian Orakpo:
“Coming into the season, we faced a lot of adversity. There were a lot of people saying that we weren’t going to be that good. A lot of people doubted us. But, we played great this season. We were consistent each and every week. We worked hard, played hard and acted right during the year. The word I would use to describe it is phenomenal. There aren’t a lot of people that can say they were 11-1 during a college football season, especially considering that we beat both of our rivals. It is a great accomplishment for this team and it shows how much hard work we put into this season. This has been my favorite season. It’s been great playing with these guys each and every week. We’ve had a lot of fun. We really haven’t cared about anything but playing with our teammates, playing for the guy beside you out on that field, and the main thing was having a lot fun. Now, we’ll get a chance to play in a great bowl game. I’ve just been telling the guys to keep their heads up. We have a lot to play for. We’ll use this as motivation. We still want to prove to everyone that we’re the best team in the country. It’s really important to us that we play well in the bowl game because we want to finish this season off right.”​
Wide receiver Quan Cosby:
“We’re still in a good position. It’s very unfortunate for us that two teams we beat are playing in the Big 12 Championship, but that’s the way it works. We have to stay positive, and I think that’s what the older guys and leaders on the team are doing for the younger guys. We still have a lot to play for. We’re fortunate enough to have a really good bowl record. We take big pride in that and preparing for that. First and foremost, we’re going to try to get healthier in these days off and relax and take care of schoolwork, but then get right back to work and be hungry to play in a great game. There are a lot of teams who would love the opportunity to have been to two BCS games in the last four years, and even three in the last five, and would love to be in our situation right now. All of the one loss teams out there are really good teams. That’s the way it works out and you have to play with the cards you’re dealt. This team is a family. We’re going to let this go. One of our goals was the Big 12 title, but we slipped up in the process. Now we have to overcome it, come closer as a family and play as a family in our bowl game. We still have other goals in front of us - for one, to be in BCS bowl, and two, to win the bowl game in general. Fortunately, we’re going to be in a really nice one no matter how it plays out. Everybody wants to go the National Championship, but to be in a BCS bowl is great and we’re going to come together, work hard and prepare well.”​
 
NC State Hopes To Expose Loophole To Get Into a Bowl Game

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Sportz AssassinFiled under: NC State, ACC, Bowl Games
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As it stands right now, NC State won't be going to a bowl game. They are one of ten ACC teams who are bowl eligible (6-6) and beat Wake Forest, North Carolina, Miami-FL and East Carolina this year.

The problem is that the ACC has only nine bowl tie-ins and the Wolfpack would have to get one of the few at-large berths. However NCAA rules state that seven-win teams must be given at-large berths before six-win teams.

NC State hopes a loophole can let them into a bowl. The bowls aren't legislated by the NCAA and can make whatever deals with whomever they want ... as long as they are bowl-eligible. The EagleBank Bowl in Washington, DC and the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte would rather bring in NC State than some Sun Belt or MAC school. The Meineke Bowl would like to have NC State over Maryland or Wake Forest.

There is also a loophole involving Maryland's exam schedule which I'll touch on later.
 
This’d Be Game Of The Year

from The Futon Report by Matt Sussman
Ray Bentley mentioned this during the Ball State-Western Michigan game (scroll to 10:06), but Boise State and Ball State really do need to play each other, assuming Ball State can beat Buffalo in the MAC Championship. The Mid-Major Championship. The BSU Bowl.
One problem though; they’ll probably have to play the game in Boise.
Pairing Boise State and Ball State may hinge on luring the Cardinals to Boise and the Dec. 30 Humanitarian Bowl, to which Ball State coach Brady Hoke already has expressed some aversion. He doesn’t relish meeting the Broncos in Boise, he said. To counter that concern, officials are working on sweetening the Humanitarian’s $550,000 monetary and ticket guarantee, designating Ball State as the dark-jerseyed home team and perhaps obliging Boise to make a regular-season return trip to Muncie, Ind.
​
Image by BlueTurf via FlickrSo, yeah, playing on the blue field would certainly favor the Broncos. They could also play the game in Detroit, but that’d favor Ball State, even though the ground is green and not red. They could play in Shreveport, which would benefit the Independence Bowl custodians since few will travel to that game.
Sidenote: anyone screaming “playoffs” at this point needs to remember that in a playoff system, these two teams probably wouldn’t play each other unless they were to, y’know, meet in the championship. Maybe if bowl tie-ins weren’t so conference-specific and conferences actually worked to pair interesting teams together, more people would like them.
 
Ball State and Boise State Decide to Have Their Own Bowl

from The Sporting Blog
BallState.jpg
Ball State and Boise State, both undefeated at the end of the regular season, are angling to face each other in a bowl that for the purposes of this blog we will call the "Mid-Size Hybrid Affordable Family Sedan Bowl Championship Series," or MSHAFCBCS.

The MSHAFCBCS would likely feature the two teams playing on the Smurf Turf of the Humanitarian Bowl, something both the bowl itself and the Western Athletic Conference are angling for instead of the usual WAC versus ACC matchup.

The WAC and Humanitarian Bowl are trying to get Ball State interested in a game against the Broncos instead of Boise playing a non-descript team from the ACC.​
Those "non-descript" teams from the ACC may be criminally undervalued, now that we've mentioned them here. The ACC went 3-1 against the SEC this weekend, including a 45-42 pasting of preseason number one Georgia at home.

As descript as a Ball State/Boise matchup would be, there's still dickering around on finding a truly neutral site, how much the payouts would be, whether Ball State would accept the bid over a MAC-affiliated bowl, etc. The MSHAFCBCS game would be the only national title game with two undefeated teams , though, and they can't take that away from either team.

This is quite unlike the BCS computers, who may take a national title away from Florida thanks to the wonders of the BCS's IT community and their formulas, who may have Texas and Oklahoma on a rematch path no matter what happens in Atlanta this weekend.

The common thread in this all is the weakness of the SEC as a conference overall this year; aside from Alabama and Florida, the conference has been a disappointing collection of failed preseason top ten teams (Auburn, Georgia,) rebuilding projects (LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss,) and general muddle and collapse (South Carolina, Tennessee, and Miss State.) In short: if Florida wins and is snubbed, it's not you we mind. It's the crowd you run with, who looks objectively scruffy when compared to the peaking programs of the Big 12 right now.
 
Resurrecting N.C. State with Russell Wilson

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Russell Wilson was one of the first quarterbacks to take the field this season, in N.C. State's Thursday night opener at South Carolina, and it was an inauspicious debut:
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Wilson was a very fringe starter to begin with, a two-star, redshirt "athlete" out of high school who upset returnees Daniel Evans and Harrison Beck and incoming blue-chip Mike Glennon (yes, Sean's little brother, with much higher expectations) for the job in August, and when he had to be carted after taking his third big hit in the first half of his first game, I just assumed he'd had his shot and probably wouldn't be heard from again. When he did come back to stay in October, he was still good for a "Prepare the emergency room: it's Russell Wilson" joke or two -- if you even realized N.C. State was playing. That's what happens when your nationally-televised games consist of a woeful shutout to kick off the season and a nine-point loss to Florida State memorable only for an entertaining halftime interview with the opposing coach. Most of college football took one look at the debacle at South Carolina and wrote off the Pack as lame ducks for the year. I'm pretty sure I wondered at some point if they would score an offensive touchdown all season.
So, with all the returns in, let us revise our assumptions. Here's N.C. State's offense in September, when Wilson started and finished only one out of four games (the Evans/Beck-led win over William & Mary on Sept. 9 is excluded, because it's William & Mary), compared to the seven games since the start of October, when Wilson took over full-time:
ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-37589173-1228154144.jpg
It should be noted that the lone win in the first four games was the only game Wilson played from start to finish, the 30-24 upset of then-undefeated East Carolina; the two games he missed entirely or almost entirely (other than William & Mary) were 34-0 and 41-10 humiliations at the hands of South Carolina and South Florida. Overall, NCSU finished 5-3 when Wilson went the entire way, including four straight wins (the last three over winning teams -- Wake Forest, North Carolina and Miami) from a 2-6 grave to close the year at .500 and within sniffing distance of a bowl game.
The main reason is in the final column: Wilson finishes the season not only as the ACC's top-rated passer, but with a single interception to his name against 16 touchdowns; the interception came on essentially a Hail Mary near the end of the Pack's loss at Clemson in September, Wilson's final throw of that game, meaning he went 226 attempts over his last eight starts without giving the ball away, and the team was +12 over the last two months.
Because every single team in the ACC Atlantic is bowl-eligible, and N.C. State is the low man on the pole at 6-6, a bid might be hard to come by unless a long, unlikely chain of events breaks in the Pack's favor over the final weekend. But a rock-bottom bowl game's almost not worth it, anyway -- as far as optimism and momentum into the offseason goes right now, NCSU finishes as strong as any team in the conference.
 
Race for the Heisman: The Deciding Regions

from Burnt Orange Nation by PB @ BON
Race for the Heisman: The Deciding Regions

My longstanding distaste for the Heisman due to its being entirely a publicity/politics vote combined in 2005 with Vince Young's losing out to Reggie Bush to tip me deep into the "don't care" camp. Nevertheless, I think I've overstated my apathy, as I find myself hoping McCoy gets the nod next week.
That's well short of an enthusiastic endorsement for the award ("The Heisman: Fans Care A Little If Their Guy's A Finalist!"), but I won't pretend to be wholly disinterested. Colt's a great kid and had a season I had no idea he had in him. Best of luck to McCoy.
[Click through link in the headline for analysis on the politics of each voting region.]
 
Jesus Fuckin' Christ:

Harris Poll voters have no clue (prepare to get really angry)

from Bevo Sports by Brian
Want to be really pissed? Read this story about a Harris Poll voter from The Oklahoman’s Barry Tramel:
Some have questioned the validity of the Harris Interactive poll, which has had a spotty run in its four years as being part of the BCS.
The skepticism could be valid.
True story from the Boone Pickens Stadium pressbox Saturday night.
I asked Harris poll voter Pat Quinn, the former Oklahoma State University sports information director, how he would vote OU and Texas if the Sooners won Saturday night.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Quinn said. “Doesn’t really matter.”
Really?
“I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship,” Quinn said.
You do?
“They’re the only undefeated teams, aren’t they,” Quinn said.
Uh, actually, Penn State has a loss.
“Oh well,” Quinn said, “those Big Ten teams have a lot of votes.”
​
Sigh. It’s so awful it’s almost hard to get angry about it. It’s not exactly unexpected as I was already under the impression that a great deal of Harris Poll voters watched little to no college football every weekend. I hope the BCS takes a long look at exactly who is voting in these things (including the current coaches) and whether they’re qualified to do so. Just a wild guess, Mr. Quinn won’t be a voter again next year.
 
Poll shows Bradford, McCoy in tight Heisman race

from Bevo Beat
The race for the Heisman Trophy might be just as close as those Bowl Championship Series standings that gave Oklahoma a narrow edge over Texas for the Big 12 South berth in the conference championship game.
The latest tracking poll from the Rocky Mountain News, which surveys 10 Heisman voters each week, shows Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford holding a narrow lead over Texas’ Colt McCoy.
Bradford was ranked first on seven ballots, up from five a week ago. McCoy was first on two ballots, down from three last week. In terms of overall points, Bradford has 44 to McCoy’s 42. Last week, Bradford led 42-41.
Those vote totals mean that almost all of the 10 voters are putting Bradford and McCoy in the top two spots on their ballots, making for one of the tightest Heisman races in a while.
Last year’s Heisman winner, Tim Tebow of Florida, is third at 30 points and one first-place vote. Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell is fourth.
 
Miss COED: Louise Glover

<abbr class="published" title="2008-12-01T13:15:28+0000"><script type="text/javascript">document.write(time_since(1228155328, "December 1, 2008 - 1:15 pm,"));</script>8 hours, 43 minutes ago</abbr> By COED Staff
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Twenty-five-year-old model, beauty queen and photographer Louise Glover first started modeling and entering beauty pageants at age 14. By age 20, she was modeling full-time, appearing in publications like FHM, Maxim and Loaded. And she was the first British model to be named Playboy’s “Model of the Year” in Playboy Special Editions.​
[Click images to see each full gallery]​

 
Mizzou getting help against OU from 'Horns?

from Fanblogs.com by Kevin Donahue
In college football, there are rivalries, Rivalries, RIVALRIES... and then there's Texas-Oklahoma.
Via a Longhorns fan message board (which means this may have no basis in fact, btw), members of the Texas coaching staff will be working with the Missouri coaches to help them gameplan for the Big XII Championship game against Oklahoma.
The poster goes on to say that Texas will turnover its own game film vault from scouting the Sooners as well as plays/playbook against differing OU schemes.

Again, this may have no basis in reality. This may be big-time tin foil hat material and it's extremely doubtful that anyone will ever be able to confirm this from a credible source. Of course, the Area 51'ers may take any denial to be a denial ruse... thus confirming the rumor as FACT!
A-HA! Colonel Mustard with the candlestick!
But... if it's true, the Texas is upping the ante in this rivalry BIG TIME.
 
Who's excited about heading to Tampa for the Virginia Tech-Boston College grudge match?

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-322805600-1228166554.jpg
It's just like 2007, only with a few hours' extra travel time for more non-descript teams, neither of which has scored 30 points in a game in over two months! I'd say that's worth 24 bucks.
Last year's championship featured Matt Ryan quarterbacking his powerful little brain out against a senior-laden Hokie defense that ranked in the top five nationally in every possible way, including "Best Lunch-Related Container" and "Most Disproportionately Successful Relative to Own Offense." This year's game features total offenses ranked 94th and 103rd, respectively, against a pair of defenses that again rank in the top eight. When the Eagles and Hokies played in mid-October, the defenses and special teams accounted for as many touchdowns (three) as the offenses; all told, both teams have accounted for a dozen non-offensive touchdowns on the year. So Sean Glennon and Chris Crane don't have to do everything.
 
Welcome to the SEC, cheater. Signed, Ol' Ball Coach.

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
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Welcome to Tennessee, Lane Kiffin. Your grace period ended 12 hours ago:
South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier questioned whether new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin broke an NCAA rule when he called a recruit a day before he was introduced as the Volunteers’ new coach.
According to a story published on VolQuest.com, part of the Rivals’ network, Kiffin and former Gamecocks recruiting coordinator David Reaves called Tampa running back Jarvis Giles on Sunday and left him voice messages.
[...]
"You’re supposed to have passed the NCAA test and be on board, I think. But maybe he was just calling him as an interested observer," Spurrier said today, laughing. "I don’t know. But technically to be able to recruit you’re supposed to pass the NCAA test."
​
Wow, kid. Unless you're Nick Saban, it usually takes at least a winning season before opposing coaches start accusing you of recruiting violations. They're already accepting you in the club! (If you're going to get accused, anyway, just make sure your next alleged violation really counts).
Meanwhile, Kiffin was determined to show during his introduction today that he may be naive and unprepared to lead a major program, but he's not backing down: Echoing Jim Tressel's "In 310 days in Ann Arbor" speech at Ohio State, Kiffin told reporters "It's going to be fun hearing 'Rocky Top' after we beat Florida next year." Cute, but a little forced.
I'm not saying Tennessee's not going to beat Florida next year in Gainesville. But has Lane Kiffin ever heard "Rocky Top"? Played 200 times over the course of three hours? He's not from Tennessee, you know; he hasn't been immunized to the repetition, or bred to appreciate the intricate sublimity of "Corn from a jar." Win or lose, by the end of the game, he'll be calling his agent about NFL openings just to get away from it.
 
Mountain West Bowl Projections

from The Mountain West Conference Connection by Jeremy

Their will be one more bowl projection which will come next Sunday night once the season officially ends. The Mountain West teams most likely will not change but their opponents most likely will.
Also, do not but the hype of Boise State playing in the Poinsettia Bowl against BYU or TCU, because last year Boise spurned their own bowl in Boise to go to Hawaii and they will not let that happen again.

Utah vs. Texas
This could go either way with Utah in the Fiesta or Sugar. The way the Fiesta Bowl picks is that if Oklahoma or Texas play in the title game the Fiesta gets first pick and will most likely keep it in the Big XII, then Fiesta gets the third pick which could come down to Utah or Ohio State. My gut is Utah because last time Utah went to the Fiesta they brought 55,000 to the stadium and I was one of them. Ohio State is as attractive because they will travel.
The other possibility is Utah in the Sugar against Florida or Alabama, which is very likely. I think the Fiesta Bowl wants more of a sure thing since Ohio State has traveled well in their last two BCS bowl games

TCU vs. Rice
If you read what most ‘experts’ say they put Air Force in this bowl, but do not buy that. TCU has never traveled well in bowl games, and the stadium is going to most likely be a sell out with the home team playing. Also, Rice is only a few hours away from Fort Worth and this is an old Southwest Conference matchup.

BYU Vs. Arizona
Same thing can be said about BYU, the Vegas bowl will have an automatic sell out by picking BYU who has won the last couple of these and packed the sponsors hotels. TCU should go here but why would the bowl want to risk having a half full stadium, even though TCU should be going to this bowl game.

Colorado State vs. Nevada
The Rams are all but locked up since the New Mexico bowl has the last pick in the Mountain West pecking order. The Rams will bring the fans since Albuquerque is not too far, plus this is the Rams first bowl game since 2005.

Air Force vs. Louisiana Tech
Air Force goes bowling a second year, and while the Pac-10 is slotted here they do not have enough teams and Louisiana Tech is 7-5 and is guaranteed a bowl spot. Other possibilities are Fresno State out of the WAC or Houston from C-USA.
 
Big 12 should do something drastic: Drop the divisions

11:02 AM Mon, Dec 01, 2008 | Permalink | <script src="http://d.yimg.com/ds/badge.js"></script>Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon <!-- Bio --> E-mail News tips
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe should do much more than consider changing the league's tie-breaking procedures. How about revamping the whole system?
My suggestion: No more divisions. Every teams plays the other 11 teams in the conference each season. The top two teams play in the championship game, which would have delivered a Red River Rivalry rematch this season. (Sorry, Tech, but any reasonable tie-breaker scenario makes the Red Raiders the odd team out.)
That's the fairest possible way to determine a champion. It'd mean reducing the nonconference schedule to only one game per team, which would be a side benefit.
We'd get interesting Big 12 football in September and a controversy-free champion in December.
 
Can Florida catch Texas?

from Fanblogs.com by Ben Prather
BCS GURU, who I can not touch in ability to prognosticate the BCS, raised this question in this weeks break down.
With #1 playing #4 and #3 sitting idle the NCG comes down to two games. Alabama vs Florida and Oklahoma vs Missouri.
Despite a lower rating Florida is the running favorite, generally running around 3:2 odds.
Oklahoma is more like 20:1 favorites.
If Oklahoma loses it will be Texas vs the SEC Champion.
If Oklahoma and Alabama both win they will play each other.
If Oklahoma and Florida win, the favorite in both games, things get interesting. Oklahoma would be in, but the common thought that they would play Florida could be mistaken. They would still need to jump Texas.
Last week Oklahoma needed 0.0084 BCS points to jump Texas for the BCS Championship. With a win over Oklahoma State and a Texas win over Texas A&M Oklahoma gained 0.0212 BCS points to take a 0.0128 lead and a trip to the Big 12 Championship game.
Florida, with a game against ranked FSU was able to gain 0.0082 BCS points on Texas, but still trails by 0.0372 BCS Points, almost twice the ground Oklahoma covered last week.
Florida plays BCS #1 and Texas is Idle, notoriously bad for losing ground. Teams don't usually lose BCS points during a bye week, they accumulate less than the teams around them from the attrition ahead of them. With Alabama falling there will be points to grab.
BCS GURU points out that the components of the BCS are aligned in a manner that favors Texas. Simply put, the computers strongly favor a Big 12 rematch and the polls favor Florida. Since Florida is already nearly maxed out in the polls the voters don't have much room to elevate them, even if they tried.
Florida could gain 0.02-0.03 of the difference in the computers, but are already ahead of Texas and Oklahoma in the polls. Florida would need to gain a point on Texas by roughly 1/3 of the voters. Since Florida is limited in upward mobility this will require Texas moving down.
Florida needs roughly 1/3 of the voters to move Oklahoma or Alabama over Texas. If one assumes the voters putting Oklahoma over Texas are as close as the points between them, this means convincing 2/3 of the voters who put Texas over Oklahoma that a win over Missouri is enough to change their minds in the matter. These are predominately voters who believe head to head matters most.
Nothing is final, and two games remain to be played. Florida's best odds are with a close game over Alabama and Oklahoma with plenty of style points over Missouri.
[END NOTE]
BCS GURU also indicates the Fiesta Bowl has expressed interest in the concept of facing off undefeated Utah and Boise State in the event of a BIG 12 rematch in the NCG. This would up Boise State's odds significantly.
Then there is also the thought of a Utah vs Florida AP title game... plus a story line.
 
Hal Mumme has called his last bubble screen at New Mexico State

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
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Expectations aren't exactly high at New Mexico State: The Aggies haven't been to a bowl game since 1960 and haven't put together back-to-back winning seasons since the Johnson administration (uh, Lyndon, not Andrew). Hal Mumme wasn't exactly charged with reviving a proud tradition. But even at NMSU, a 47-2 loss to Utah State, another perennial bottom dweller bidding its own coach adieu after five hopeless years, is unacceptable. And so the old swashbuckler bitten the dust, again -- literally, as I envision it, being thrown from a saloon through the swinging doors and into the Painted Desert after the Aggies' seventh straight loss to finish 3-9.
That's pretty much what happened to Mumme once Mike Leach left his staff and Tim Couch turned pro at Kentucky, after all, where news of his latest termination was met with predictable scorn:
not a big surprise....he's not much of a coach without cheating
New Mexico State actually began the year 3-2 and generated some minor bowl buzz, as well as some good will for its fundraising efforts to fight breast cancer, a pet cause of Mumme's wife, a breast cancer survivor. Once the Ags broke out the pink accessories for San Jose State, though, the cuddliness sept into their bones: Beginning with that game, NMSU mounted what must be the most pathetic rushing offense in NCAA history down the stretch, totaling 135 yards during the seven-game losing streak and failing to crack double digits in three of the last four. The best effort of the skid was 38 yards on 39 carries in a 49-0 home loss to Boise State. Saturday, the Aggies closed the year by piling up –7 yards on 19 carries, most of it a result of six sacks by Utah State, and were effectively shut out by possibly the least successful program in the nation over the last five years.
We'll miss Hal, even if you didn't know he was still around, because somewhere, college football always needs a coach willing to call 73 passes in a game or annoy the hell out of everyone by taking three time outs in a row in a rainstorm to ice a kicker:
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Who will fill this crucial annoying timeout void? Are we witnessing the passing of era?
 
Charlie Weis, Totally Honest, Tells Recruits He'll Be Coaching the Irish Next Year

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Will BrinsonFiled under: East Carolina, Notre Dame, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB Gossip, NCAA FB Recruiting, General CFB Insanity
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a feel good story if there ever was one, are in a precarious position with regard to their head coach, Charlie Weis. See, in case you missed it, Weis has been stinking the joint up since he got to South Bend. But the Irish just can't punt on Ole' Slim, because they'll owe him an insane amount of money.

On the other hand, they've got a pretty good shot of landing East Carolina head coach Skip Holtz, should they pounce now, and frankly, about anything seems like a viable option compared to Weis. But Chuckles doesn't think he'll be gone next year. In fact, he's telling recruits (via the unfathomably awesome Mouthpiece Blog) that he'll be back next year. Specifically, Shaquelle Evans.
"I asked him about his job status," Evans told the web site after Weis visited him Sunday. "He told me he's good to go; he'll be there. He said he made sure he's good before he left and it's just the media spreading that he's going to get fired. He said if he didn't know if he was going to be there or not he would tell me. It makes me feel good that he'll be there."
​
See? I told you he was being honest -- if he knew he was gone, he would tell Evans. But clearly Weis doesn't know if he's gone or not, because he doesn't meet with his boss until December 8. But imagine that you were in charge of a company that was failing miserably and you had to meet with your investors in a week: would you be confident of your job status?
 
Penn State Mascot Doubtful for Rose Bowl After DUI Arrest

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
by Chas RichFiled under: Penn State, Big 10, NCAA FB Police Blotter
pennstmacot.jpg
Apparently the Nittany Lion celebrated a little too much in anticipation of Penn State winning the Land Grant Trophy and clinching the Rose Bowl bid. That or because of the honor he was to receive at the game for serving as the mascot since January 2007. Well the celebration part was not the problem for the college senior, it was the pure stupidity of getting behind the wheel.
The officer who made the stop saw that the vehicle was overloaded, with passengers piled onto each other and blocking the driver's view.
​
So I'm guessing that none of the passengers were in a much better state to think it wasn't a good idea or that someone else should be driving.

The arrest took place at 3:15 a.m. Probably a good thing it was a 3:30 game Plenty of time to get processed and released. Anyone else wondering if he had a hangover for the game?

According to the article, it will be up to Joe Paterno and the Penn State coaches to determine whether the mascot travels to Pasadena. Anthony Quarless may have some advice to him on how to deal with the coaches after a DUI arrest. No word of ESPN's Outside the Lines is planning a follow-up.
 
BCS Breakdown 2008 V1.7 (Won't Get Fooled Again Edition)

from Burnt Orange Nation by Horn Brain
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We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgment of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again​
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Well, we did get fooled. We were tricked into thinking we had a shot to stay ahead of OU, when the computers had us doomed, doomed, doomed long before the Cowboys gave up that last touchdown run in garbage time. Still, we came much, much closer than most of you realize. We were behind OU by one rank in both the Sagarin and Wolfe systems. Reverse those two and we'd be headed to KC. Sigh.​
Anyway, don't completely give up hope, because there's still a chance - and it's a heck of a lot better than a Lloyd's chance in Mary...​
keith-moon-1_medium.jpg
The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the foe, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
No, no!​
Damn those bastards. There are now really only two ways for us to get to Miami. Obviously the first is OU crapping the bed against Mizzou. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like Chase Daniel may actually suck as much as or more than OU. I'm not going to count on it. The other way we get in has been discussed previously, but I want to look at it a little more. BZ did a great job earlier with his BCS numbers post, and it gave me the idea to compare quantized rankings (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) with continuum rankings (Texas is 2.94 instead of 3.00, kind of strong). Let's look at it in a big old table like we normally do:​
2008Week14expectedrank.jpg
The Average column shows where a team is expected to land in the rankings given their scores in the three components. It's basically one minus the BCS average times 25, plus one so that a perfect ranking doesn't rank you "zero". In math, that's 25(1-BCSAvg)+1. It gives a meaning to those awful numbers that the BCS attaches to their printouts every week. BZ explains the concept in his post, I've just manifested it in terms of rankings instead of looking at how many poll points a team has compared to their expected score. The benefit of looking at it this way is that it makes intuitive sense. The BCS expected ranking is the same as the average of the three component expected average rankings, so you can see right away how many ranking points one team would need to leapfrog another, and in which polls they would need those points. Confused? Great, it'll make more sense when we look at our very special example:​
In a Fair World, Texas Plays OU for the National Championship​
That's kind of misleading, because in a really fair world, Texas would be going to KC right now and we'd get to play someone else to prove that we're number one, but this world isn't fair at all, so this is as fair as it gets now that we are where we are. Both Florida and Texas are strong in their positions, while OU and Alabama are weak. Right now, Florida is basically a full ranking behind Texas. If the voters continue to vote Texas and Florida relatively the same and Florida wins the SEC, the Gators would need to gain 3 spots (relative to us) in their continuum computer ranking to pass us. That means they would need each of the four computers that count to rank them three spots higher than they are right now, for a total of 12 computer points. That would bring them into a tie with us, where their narrow human advantage would put them ahead.​
The thing is - I don't think that they can get that many points by beating Alabama. Their resume would have one win over Alabama, one win over a suddenly awful computer #13 Georgia, and not much else to brag about. Plus they have a very bad loss to Ole Miss. Texas, on the other hand, has a win over the computer #1, #13 and #20 teams (#20 and Big 12 North Champ), with a loss to the computer #4. Hands down, Texas has the better resume, so I think Florida can't come closer than 8 of their 12 needed points in the computers. Any teams that fall between us and Florida would widen that gap, but they could jump us in one or two polls, so we'll call that a wash.​
If the humans vote us where we belong (ahead of Florida with that resume), then we're in. They won't, though, because the last thing they want is for a trivally-decided non-conference champion to play for it all (in a rematch, to boot). The question, then, is how much can we give up to Florida and stay ahead? If our lead stays at 1 full ranking in the computers, then we can't be behind them in the human polls by more than 1 full ranking combined. That's 114 Harris votes or 61 Coaches votes, spread around however you like. Right now, Florida has us by 44 in the Harris (39% of needed) and we have them by 11 in the Coaches (They need 118% of 61 votes). I think it's going to be close unless the coaches and the Harris pollsters start ranking us down and Florida up just to avoid the rematch. If they vote based on who's played the tougher schedule and who has the best resume, then we're in. If they don't, we're probably out. This may sound promising, but do you really trust them at this point to keep ranking us where we belong instead of pulling shenanigans to try and get what they want? Hell, some of them don't even know that Penn State lost this year, so you can bet on random luck having something to do with it.​
So the gist is: Root for Mizzou to beat OU by some miracle, because that's a free ticket to the dance. If Mizzou doesn't beat OU, hope that they get demolished, as every #1 vote for OU is a vote for Texas at this point. The closer Florida is to us the better. We need to get back out on the campaign trail and convince the voters to keep ranking us fairly and not play shenanigans with their ballots to avoid the inevitable. I'd give us a 10% chance to get past Florida based on what I've seen, with a 50% chance to get past them if the voters weren't a bunch of blockheads.​
I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers* and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

Do ya?

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!​
* Someone please photoshop this.​
Outliers Watch:​
Short and sweet this week:​
2008Week14chartdiff.jpg
Hopefully whills finds this version of the graph easier to read. I took away physical borders and fattened the bars around my words like they were illegally entering my country. Your weirdos this week:​
Alabama - You're going down, Stampy. You've skated by with the perfect schedule full of horrible teams that everyone thought would be good, and you've barely beaten half of the really, truly bad teams you've played. I just hope you keep it close enough so that Florida doesn't get OMG !!!11111!!!!-ed out of reach of our computer numbers.​
USC - Could this be a sign? Just before a gimme game against your horrible, awful rival across town? With that offense? If you sleep-walked through a 12-7 shocker it wouldn't shock me at all.​
Tech - Tech is high because the computers like them a lot. They don't play anymore games. Meh.​
Oregon - The computers are rightfully not as impressed as the humans with your shelacking of OSU. That pissed me off. Couldn't you have let us beat the tar out of USC in the Fiesta? Screw you and your incredibly fast and strong monster running back that will forever haunt the dreams of Beavers both orange and pink (I'm sure) for many, many years to come.​
Florida State - Oh please. Normally I wouldn't bother hanging around down here, but this is such a high standard deviation I have to look into it. It seems the computers still give you a little credit for having lost to Florida. Maybe you deserve it. I honestly think that the ACC is better than I've griped about all this year, and I can't wait to see the champ take on Cincy and then compare/contrast with the potential Boise/Utah kiddie bowl. I don't even know if I'm kidding anymore.​
Billingsley Report Card:​
Meet the new boss,
Same as the old boss...​
I felt like this one came across well without links...​
2008Week14companalysis.jpg
Again, least useful of the bunch, again highest standard deviation. Most importantly, though, these are his top five: Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, USC. WTF Billingsley? I defy you to give me one good reason to have Florida ahead of Texas. I. Defy. You. Send me an email.​
All of you faithful readers who made it this far, I encourage you to send me emails as well. I recently received one from an Aggie who said something along the lines of "my t-sip ego can't understand" that OU should be ahead of Texas. That's fine, but that's not what I want. Send me an email I won't laugh at, and I'll reply to it fully either in my BCS Breakdown or in a separate post. Ask for nerdy blog stuff, maybe I can help you out.​
Finally: Don't let me down, people. Canvas the way we did for 45-35. Let the voters know that we deserve to be ranked ahead of Florida, and let's get as many of them as we can to vote that way. We're not giving up on this team, just like they didn't give up on us down 22-6 at the half in Lubbock, or down 14-3 in Dallas. If we have to beat the Sooners twice to prove we're better than them, then that's what we have to do. We have one more week to go, and once those votes are in they can't be changed, so let's give it one more shot. My beard ain't gettin' any shorter overnight.​
 
Auburn Taking the Low Road Once Again

from The Wiz of Odds by Jay Christensen
<embed class="content-block-fix" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iOPFd2cH17A&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="470" height="389">PopoutKeep an eye on the right tackle for Auburn, who tries to take out an Alabama lineman from behind during Saturday's game in Tuscaloosa.Blocks such as this have become all too commonplace at Auburn. Who can forget the cheap shot last season to Louisiana State's Glenn Dorsey, followed by another cheapie by the Tigers in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
 
There's Bad, Then There's Notre Dame

from The Wiz of Odds by Jay Christensen
Alan Abrahamson of NBC Sports.com attended Saturday night's Notre Dame-USC game as a fan. Even from a corner seat 60 rows from the L.A. Coliseum field, this much was clear: Notre Dame is bad. Really bad.
And Abrahamson is "an expert on bad football." He attended Northwestern, and during his four years at Evanston, the Wildcats won three games.
He writes: "Thus my college years served me well in understanding, truly understanding, a lack of physical talent combined with bad schemes plus unimaginative coaching — all the ingredients on display when watching a bad football team.
"All of that was there to be seen Saturday night in the Coliseum. USC won, 38-3. Brutal."
Not that he's cheering for Charlie Weis to be dismissed.
"The Northwestern fan in me would love to see Charlie Weis stay on. The college football fan in me says Notre Dame must be better. Like, as soon as possible."
 
[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]Fiu's Cavalcade of Whimsy ... Dec. 2[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
a.k.a. Frank Costanza's Festivus Airing of the Grievances [/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]

By Pete Fiutak
What's your beef? ... Fire off your thoughts
Past Whimsies [/SIZE][/FONT] 2006 Season | 2007 Season
- Preseason Cavalcade | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
- Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
- Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13
If this column sucks, it’s not my fault … my lobbying and politicking didn’t seem to matter. I couldn’t convince the BCS computers that the column didn’t suck, so they kept me out of the Big 12 title game.


“Well, I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation! It's a quest! It's a quest for fun. I'm going to have fun and you're going to have fun. We're all going to have so much f***ing fun ... we'll need plastic surgery to remove our g**damn smiles. You'll be whistling zippity-doo-dah out of your a**holes! I have to be crazy. I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose. Praise Marty Moose! Holy s***!” … The fans have lost it. I hear it when I talk to them. I read it in their e-mails. The Big 12 disaster has really pushed fans over the edge, mainly because it sucks from all angles.


If Oklahoma beats Missouri and loses in the national title game, everyone will be wondering what Texas would’ve done. If OU loses to Mizzou, then Texas gets into the national title game even though it didn’t win its conference title. If OU wins the national title, then 45-35 will take on even more significance in Texas football lore than 13-0, which morphed into BEVO, the UT mascot. The only way this thing ends cleanly is if Texas loses its bowl game, then whatever happens to Oklahoma, happens.

Even so, whatever happens, the calls for a playoff are becoming deafening, even if one wouldn’t solve all the problems this year.


Want a plus one? The SEC champion plays USC (figure the SEC Championship loser would fall out of the top four) and Texas plays Oklahoma. Uhhhhhh, but that doesn’t solve the Texas Tech question, Texas already beat Oklahoma, and Utah and Penn State would be screaming, and deservingly so, about USC getting in.


Want an eight-team playoff? The Fiu Plan, taking the six BCS conference champions, the top non-BCS conference champion, and one wild-card to allow the highest ranked team that doesn’t fit this format to get in, would be the fairest way of doing this. It would be the only way of having a playoff while keeping the full integrity of the regular season. However, Texas Tech would still have a major gripe, Boise State and Ball State would get left out, and the Florida/Alabama loser would argue that it belonged in over Texas. In other words, as fair as this would be, it would still create a controversy.


Look, this year stinks because of the mess made by the Big 12 and its tie-breaker problem, but there’s one thing to keep in mind. As much as you might hate the BCS, and as unsatisfying as this might be when all is said and done, more often than not, college football gets it right when it comes to crowning a champion more than other sports.


Jack: Your worship, I wish to plead my clients guilty to statutes 125 and 233 of the criminal code, and not guilty to all other charges due to mental incompetence.

Prosecutor: Objection! You cannot split pleas like that!

Bob (to Doug): Two bowls of split-plea soup to go, eh!? … Texas, I’m on your side in this. I’ve spent my Monday trading e-mails with Oklahoma fans trying to explain why the Texas Tech factor doesn’t really matter (if the Longhorns were No. 2 last week, then the loss to Texas Tech has nothing to do to make them No. 3 this week, and it really is just an OU vs. Texas debate … but I move on). I’ve done what I can to argue your point for you, considering that if the situation was reversed and OU had been the one with the 45-35 win, then Sooner fans would be going out … of … their … minds.


However, if Oklahoma loses to Missouri, you’re on your own because I’ll battle just as hard to argue that Texas has no business playing in the national title because then it would become a Texas Tech vs. Texas head-to-head debate. I’m also going to scream like my one-year-old after turning off Elmo if there’s any discussion of a split national title because of the AP poll.


Here’s the potentially annoying storyline we’ll all have to deal with. Texas is ranked ahead of Oklahoma in the AP, Oklahoma wins the national title, but Texas wins its BCS game by 27, and the AP ranks Texas No. 1 to end the season and OU would be number one in the real world.


It might suck, but the BCS is college football’s national championship. That’s it. The AP poll has the history and it might be better than the Coaches’ or Harris, but ever since it decided that it was a conflict of interests to be a part of the BCS, but not enough of one to stop doing a ranking system altogether, it has become irrelevant and it continues to take away focus from the polls that, for right or wrong, actually matter. Case in point …


And if you can buy this, maybe you can watch The Mentalist without the image of how Simon Baker’s character of Matt Reynolds dies in L.A. Confidential … CBS, Alabama vs. Florida doesn’t need any hype or hyperbole. The sports world knows this is the equivalent of a Final Four game, and other than Oklahoma vs. Texas, it’s the biggest game of the year. It’s the one we’ve all been waiting around six weeks for. In this year of bad football, there’s finally going to be a non-Big 12 South game to care about, and it’s going to be a doozy worthy of cancelling all Saturday night plans to watch. However, CBS, it’s the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. the No. 4 Florida Gators. Quit using the AP poll that has Bama 1 and Florida 2 to pump it up more.


“Oh cool, the Alabama – Florida game is here! Oh, wait, Florida is only ranked No. 4? Honey, uh, yeah, Florida is ranked fourth, not second. Oh well, I guess we can go see Twilight.”


Somewhere, Sage Rosenfels is smiling, safe in the knowledge that there will always be a place in the league for him … If I’m Georgia QB Matthew Stafford, I make it very clear that Matt Ryan’s six-year, $72 million contract, with almost $35 million of it guaranteed, will not be a starting point. It won’t be a negotiating tool. It won’t even be relevant. No, if I’m Stafford, I’m starting my holdout now to get in the Peyton Manning range of about $100 million for seven years, and some NFL team would pay it.


Insane, right? The NFL is chock full of awful, awful quarterbacks. (By my rough estimate, at least 12 teams need a real, live NFL quarterback, and at least five others could use a serious upgrade. In other words, the quarterbacking in roughly half the NFL is horrible.)


Oh sure, Sam Bradford is a possible first rounder in some circles, and Colt McCoy will find out from the NFL advisory board that he’s a top 75 pick, but Stafford is the only sure-thing NFL quarterback prospect on the horizon.


Thanks to the infiltration of the spread offense, there’s a whole new generation of mediocre, ill-prepared college passers with mechanics that don’t just need to be broken down, but thrown out entirely. Finding an adequate pro-style passer in college football right now is next to impossible, and it’s making the NFL scouting types nuts. They all have to look through the poor fundamentals to try to root out actual talent, while fans are expecting the next Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco to produce right away.


$75 million or the Heisman. Heisman, or $75 million … Forget about it. Stafford’s gone. So is Knowshon Moreno. However, there might not be as big a mass exit to the NFL that there normally is, mainly because so many superstars are going to work a bit more on their respective games. Oh sure, Beanie Wells, Shonn Greene, Percy Harvin, Jeremy Maclin and Michael Crabtree will all be millionaires next year at this time, but Sam Bradford is likely to stick around, as is Colt McCoy, as is Mark Sanchez, as is Tim Tebow, even though he really wants to go. Throw Juice Williams, Todd Reesing, Terrelle Pryor, Dan LeFevour, Nate Davis, Max Hall, Zac Robinson, Robert Griffin, LeSean McCoy (who really needs to be gone), the P.J. Hill/John Clay combo, Dez Bryant, Kendall Hunter, Jacquizz Rodgers, Matt Grothe, Jonathan Dwyer, and Jahvid Best in the mix, and 2009 should be a special year for skill players as well as the Heisman race.

 There’s no truth to the rumor that if they get in, Chris Myers will spoil the news that Ian Johnson’s wife is pregnant … The WAC might stink, at least compared to the Mountain West, but beyond the sheer weight of all the wins over the last decade, the win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to reference, and all the success that still goes unnoticed, Boise State really does have a decent talking point in the theoretical fight against Utah, that’s now over, for the automatic non-BCS league bid. Boise State beat Oregon at Oregon, Oregon obliterated Oregon State in Corvallis, and Utah’s big non-conference win it’s hanging its hat on came against Oregon State. So, really, what’s it going to take for Boise State to ever play for a national title? The undefeated season thing isn’t making much of a dent in national perception. The wins upon wins upon wins aren’t bringing the benefit of the doubt. It’ll likely take a few more big wins against BCS teams to finally earn the respect needed, and those are tough to come by since no one wants to deal with the Broncos anymore.

Larry: “You know anything about changing a tire? Wanna help me change a tire here? No? I could use a little help. I need a little assistance. I never took a shop class, and I need a little help. Okay, I'm just coming flat out and saying 'help me'. Anybody want to help a semi-retarded individual change a tire? 25, 30 dollars. 30 dollars to change this tire. 35 dollars to change this tire right now. I'll give you 10 dollars for a verbal response. 10 dollars. Anybody want to make 10 dollars and respond verbally? No?” … In this time of utter economic disaster, people are hurting all across the board. Do something good for the world this holiday season … http://feedingamerica.org/. With that in mind, the news channels have to do a better job of making the case that people should donate even though we’re all worrying about their own wallets. For example, this Thanksgiving weekend, one national network did a story about an empty food bank, complete with an interview with a woman who was driving away empty handed … in her sweet convertible. Another story on another network had a heartbreaking story with a bawling mom freaking out that she couldn’t feed her two kids. And then they showed the kids. The shockingly obese, ridiculously out-of-shape kids. Donate anyway.

But he didn’t (gasp!) throw the ball in the air. … First of all, how big does that celebration penalty on Washington’s Jake Locker against BYU look now? How much could UW have used that win?

Kansas was able to beat Missouri thanks to a brilliant final touchdown drive finished off by a Todd Reesing touchdown pass to Kerry Meier. The KU sideline went wild with some of the players joyously jumping out on the field. Reesing ran around celebrating and was shown taking his helmet off … an automatic penalty that wasn’t called. Fortunately, the officials didn’t ruin the moment by throwing a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct, and it made a difference. Missouri’s last second field goal attempt was low and partially blocked, and who knows what would’ve happened with an extra 15 yards. Thank you, officials, for using the proper judgment and for letting the players show the raw emotion of the game without punishing them.

“My point is that you have to think for yourself. If your parents told you that chocolate was dangerous would you take their word for it? Exactly! So perhaps instead of acting like sheep when it comes to cigarettes you should find out for yourself.” … If you have to make an argument about why your team deserves to be in the national title, your team probably doesn’t deserve to play in it.

Yeah, I checked. FireLaneKiffin.com is already taken … Admittedly, I’m a bad human being for not being all that interested in the lack of minority head coach storyline. Maybe it’s because I find coaching carousel talk boring. Maybe it’s because I naively believe that racism isn’t a problem in the upper echelons of the coaching world in today’s day and age. Maybe it’s because I don’t have any real solutions, and maybe it’s because I think that one day, we’ll wake up and this won’t be an issue anymore.

With that said, minority head coaching candidates have to see the Lane Kiffin situation and be more than a little frustrated. Kiffin might turn out to be the next great college football head coach, but so far, besides his last name and because of his father, the great NFL assistant, Monte, he’s known mostly for being a solid co-offensive coordinator at USC. My sister could’ve made the Trojan offense go with Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White and Dwayne Jarrett to work with, and in reality, Steve Sarkesian had as much to do with the success as Kiffin did. Instead of going for the Norm Chow disciple, why not actually try to get Norm Chow, even if he might not have a great rep around those parts after his stint with the Tennessee Titans? Soon, Kevin Sumlin, Turner Gill, and DeWayne Walker need to get high profile looks, or else there really will be something to get curious about.

 Now that you’re just getting back to normal after the Big 12’s “Three-Way Tie” drinking game … The Arizona State win over UCLA has to have set some sort of unofficial record for the number of times two quarterbacks had gotten hit in one game. UCLA’s Kevin Craft and Arizona State’s Rudy Carpenter were punching bags. If you’re looking for something to do on that pub crawl this weekend, or if you’re by your lonesome, play the Craft/Carpenter game and take a shot of something every time one of them has to get up off the ground in their respective rivalry games.

The C.O.W. airing of the grievances followed by the feats of strength
Breaking down the 2008 Heisman race with the five who should be in it, but aren’t, and the five who are in it. Here’s the attempt to make the case for each candidate.

The five who aren’t in the race, but should be …

5. Chase Clement, QB Rice

He deserves to win because … remembering this is Rice we’re talking about, Clement has been the ringleader for one of the nation’s best offenses, cranking out 3,812 passing yards with 41 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go along with 621 rushing yards and 11 scores. Rice is currently 9-3 and on a six-game winning streak, complete with a win over Houston last week, as Clement has gotten hotter and hotter.
He won’t win because … he plays at Rice and no one outside of the greater Houston area has ever seen him play. When it comes to national attention, what little there has been, he has taken a back seat to his tremendous battery mate, Jarett Dillard. His team got rolled over in the two really big games of note early on, losing to Texas 52-10 and to Tulsa 63-28.

4. Case Keenum, QB Houston

He deserves to win because … he’s the nation’s leader in total offense. The sophomore has thrown for 4,768 yards on the year with 43 touchdowns and ten interceptions, and he also has five rushing scores. Basically, he’s out Graham Harrelling Graham Harrell, throwing for 317 yards or more in every game and for 400 yards or more in five games including going over the mark in each the last three. In his last three outings, Keenum has thrown for 1,376 yards with 14 touchdowns and one interception.
He won’t win because … Houston lost to Rice last week. As brilliant as Keenum was against the Owls, throwing for 494 yards and five touchdowns, his team still blew its chance to play for the Conference USA title.

3. LeSean McCoy, RB Pitt

He deserves to win because … he’s carrying the Pitt offense. With spotty quarterback play and a defense that’s good, but not great, Pitt has needed McCoy to be the consistent, steady producer. The nation’s scoring leader, with 20 touchdowns, was shut down by Louisville in a 41-7 Pitt win, but he wasn’t needed and he still got a score. Last week in the key win over West Virginia, he ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and in the middle of the season, he was everything for the offense with a string of five straight games with 142 yards or more. Beyond the stats, he’s arguably the nation’s third most talented back behind Knowshon Moreno and Beanie Wells.
He won’t win because … he doesn’t lead his own conference in rushing, and Big East players tend to get overlooked in the Heisman discussion. If Pitt was the Big East champion, McCoy might be a fringe candidate.

2. Rashad Johnson, S Alabama

He deserves to win because … the nation’s No. 1 team deserves someone in the race, and while OT Andre Smith might be the country’s best blocker, Johnson, along with LB Rolando McClain, is the reason the nation’s third best defense has been so dominant. Johnson is the team leader and the quarterback for the secondary, and he has also been a premier playmaker in game after game with a team-leading 73 tackles, five interceptions, taking two for scores, while being one of the nation’s leaders in broken up passes.
He won’t win because … there’s the defense factor when it comes to the Heisman, the fact that Tennessee’s Eric Berry is probably the nation’s best defensive back, and the lack of overall recognition despite being on TV every Saturday. If you consider the Heisman the MVP award, think of it this way: Alabama isn’t in the national title hunt without Johnson.

The winner of the NIT … or the honor of being the most worthy player not in the Heisman hunt is …

1. Donald Brown, RB Connecticut

He deserves to win because … he’s the nation’s leading rusher. The Connecticut offense doesn’t have a passing game, winning games on defense and Brown’s legs. The junior is averaging a nation-leading 148 yards per game with 16 touchdowns, and with one game left to go against Pitt, he’s just 96 yards behind Iowa’s Shonn Greene for the rushing title. A true workhorse, he has touched the ball a whopping 325 times this season and has only been held under 100 yards twice. However …
He won’t win because … … those two games have come in the last three. He hasn’t had the national showcase game that has demanded the spotlight, even if he has come up with his share of highlights. As is the problem for LeSean McCoy, the Big East just doesn’t get any recognition in the Heisman chase.

The five finalists (with some debate about No. 5) are …

5. Shonn Greene, RB Iowa

He deserves to win because … he’s the only back in America to run for 100 yards or more in every game this year, and currently, he’s the nation’s leader in overall rushing yards with UConn’s Donald Brown 96 yards behind with one game to go. Greene carried the sputtering Iowa offense through the rough patches and the quarterback problems earlier this season, and he came through big against the big boys with 117 yards and two scores against Penn State, 217 yards and four touchdowns against Wisconsin, and he outduled Pitt’s LeSean McCoy rushing for 147 yards (to McCoy’s 78) and a touchdown in the loss.
He won’t win because … no one outside of the Big Ten knows who he is. Normally, unless the stats are jaw-dropping, like a 2,000-yard season, it’s hard for an unknown player on a team that doesn’t win its conference to get any recognition. The voters will look at the stats and will give him some consideration as a No. 3 pick on several ballots.

4. Graham Harrell, QB Texas Tech

He deserves to win because … the nation’s leading passer in completions per game, Harrell has put up the tremendous numbers, as expected, despite having the bull’s-eye on his back. He has completed over 71% of his passes for 4,747 yards with 41 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Remember, he’s doing this in the Big 12 and not Conference USA.
He won’t win because … Oklahoma 65, Texas Tech 21. It’s not necessarily fair considering Harrell bombed away on Texas for 474 yards and two touchdowns, but his offense struggled early on against Oklahoma while Sam Bradford came away as the star.

T1. Tim Tebow, QB Florida

He deserves to win because … 25 touchdown passes, two interceptions, 12 rushing touchdowns. He might not have last year’s overall stats, but he’s been cranking them out ever since the loss to Ole Miss with two touchdown passes or more in each of the last eight games and 10 rushing scores since the loss. Most importantly, he took the entire program on his back, apologizing for the defeat to the Rebels when he threw for 319 yards but missed a couple of open receivers for touchdowns late. This tremendous run to the SEC title, and possibly the national championship, is because he’s the conductor of the juggernaut. He might not get that many No. 1 votes, but he’ll be no worse than No. 3 on everyone’s ballot.
He won’t win because … there’s the two-time thing. While he’s proven to be worthy of being the second two-time Heisman winner, there’s going to be a bias against him reaching that immortal status. Voters who go purely on stats will have a hard time giving him the nod.

T1. Colt McCoy, QB Texas

He deserves to win because … if the Heisman goes to the MVP, this is over. McCoy is third in the nation in passing efficiency and sixth in the nation in total offense. Not only has he thrown for 32 touchdowns and 3,445 yards, with just seven interceptions, but he leads the team in rushing with 576 yards and 10 scores. He fought through the problems against Texas Tech to lead the way to what should’ve been a game-winning drive late, and then Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree had their say.
He won’t win because … he’s not the hot player that Bradford and Tebow are. While McCoy has been brilliant, he won’t get the national stage to close out the campaign. If Bradford and/or Tebow take their teams to wins, McCoy doesn’t have a shot.

T1. Sam Bradford, QB Oklahoma

He deserves to win because … the guy is on fire at just the right time. Getting the national spotlight game after game hasn’t hurt, considering he has produced big time with everyone watching. Second in the nation in passing efficiency and fourth in total offense, Bradford has thrown for 4,080 yards and 46 touchdowns, and he has only thrown one interception in the last six games. Flawless, absolutely flawless.
He won’t win because … there might be a backlash. OU got the break in the Big 12 South debate, and now voters might feel badly about Texas not being in and will go for McCoy. While he threw for 387 yards and five touchdowns against Texas, he was picked off twice, didn’t get the offense into the end zone late, and, of course, the Sooners lost.

Random Acts of Nutty … Provocative musings and tidbits to make every woman want you and every man want to be you (or vice versa) a.k.a. things I didn’t feel like writing bigger blurbs for.


- After the Missouri loss to Kansas, there was a shot of a kid with a Tigers hat on crying. That’s just poor parenting. C’mon, Dad, tell the little guy that this week is all that matters. While it would be nice to go into the Big 12 title game on a hot streak, there had to have been some looking ahead going on.


- Last week I said a chart should be put together to know when to take a knee. In the fourth quarter with a big lead, a team can kill roughly a minute a play simply by going into the victory formation. Georgia Tech just about did that against Georgia, running the clock out late, helped by a little wiggling around on fourth down. Again, why risk handing the ball off when you don’t have to, but there had to be some nervous Yellow Jacket fans with Georgia swarming all over the ball.


- My two favorite moments from last weekend, and they were both were slightly mean-spirited. I’m sorry, but I chuckled a bit at the suckiness of the situation as Boise State tried to do the right thing by starting senior Bush Hamdan at quarterback in his final home game, and then he came out a threw a pick-six against Fresno State on his first throw. He would later get back in the game. Meanwhile, I loved Colorado’s Jimmy Smith interception for a touchdown off the goofy fake field attempt against Nebraska. There’s a part of me that likes seeing trick plays fail miserably.

- Texas fans, don’t get too hung up on Colt McCoy looking to get a little feedback from the NFL advisory board. Every player who has any sort of pro dream should do that so he knows whether or not he needs to focus a little harder in the classroom. For McCoy, he’ll be told he’s a mid-second round pick, and he’ll probably stay around.


“I hearby designate Tim Tebow, Florida (but I’m flipping a coin as of this immediate moment. Honestly, I have no freaking clue where I’m going with this right now.) as my First Choice to receive the Heisman Memorial Trophy awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the United States for 2008. To the best of my knowledge he conforms to the rules governing this vote.”


My Second Choice Is: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma

My Third Choice Is: Colt McCoy, Texas


“You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools/But that's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever” … The three lines this week that appear to be a tad off.

2-1 for a fourth straight week. That’s a peach, hon! I’m hot today. … I’m up to 18-23-1 overall.


I press on by taking the three games I’m sure of … 1) East Carolina +13.5 over Tulsa, 2) Oklahoma -17 over Missouri, 3) Cincinnati -7.5 over Hawaii


Last Week: 1) Temple -2.5 over Akron (WIN), 2) Georgia Tech +8.5 over Georgia (WIN), 3) Texas Tech -20 over Baylor (LOSS)


Sorry this column sucked, but it wasn’t my fault … it was Pete Fiutak appreciation day on my last day as the Tennessee head coach, but the stadium as only about half full because of the rain and because my column had no pop this year.
 
Bring It On: Cavalier Girl Toni

1 Dec, 2008 Babes
<center></center>
Why did you want to be a Cavalier Girl?
“I want to be a member of the 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavalier Girls Dance Team because I love everything the Girls stand for. My love for dance, performing, interaction with a diverse group of individuals, and love for the city of cleveland are all attributes that attract me to the Cavalier Girls Dance Team. “
​
Well I think with this post, Cleveland Cavalier Girl Toni shows us what the Cavalier Girls really stand for. Bubble baths and digital cameras. God bless the Internet.
Cleveland Cavaliers Girl Toni
Plenty of pics after the break. Might not be safe for work unless your boss is cool with a NBA cheerleader in a bubble bath with a lady friend.

 
Top 9 Cheerleader Leg Kicks

<!--post with more link -->
#9 Flexibility is poor. Lucky for this pocket rocket, we like orange boots. Don’t ask.

#8 Excellent flexibility. This Longhorn would’ve scored higher on our list if her hair wasn’t a wreck. We appreciate the effort and look forward to seeing her again next season. PS- Everything is bigger in Texas.

#7 This is one of those pics that improves with time. Seems like an average kick, flexibility is good, but we really think this Duck has a bright future. This kicker is pretty hot. Look at her. You don’t like her? There you go again.

#6 Can’t really beat this cheerleader’s form. Eh, maybe she’s overrated. She looks a little bit like Jessica Biel, on a low carb diet, without a power butt. Or not. Next.

#5 Like a sore ________, you can’t beat it. Great form and poise. Is this chick in high school? If so, we are NOT cool.

#4 This bombshell has ridiculous calves and core musculature. Look at her left leg. Is that a Johnny Drama calve implant? You really can’t bend any better than her. Seriously, you can’t. Very athletic.

#3 She’s got a look of total domination. Completely focused and in control, this cheerleader could easily have taken the crown. She is the Praying Mantis of our list. Mr. Miyaggi would be proud…and would also be staring at her…

#2 USC. The synchronization going on in this picture is blinding. Flexibiltiy is decent but the technique is flawless. Interesting Note: Underwear Torque and Positional-Suction (UTPS). Each girl has her own UTPS. Isn’t that neat.

#1 The clear winner is no stranger to the Juice. She’s hot, successful, and a mother of 6. No, we made that up to add dramatic effect. But she wins, and you’re the big winner today. Get over to the snack machine, big guy. You deserve it.
 
I want to know more about Kim Cloutier

I don't know who the hell Kim Cloutier is, but golldamn she looks good in some lingerie...



Damn, she doesn't even have a Wikipedia page?! All I can find is that she is a model... well, no shit, Sherlock... bitch, with that body, you need some better P.R. people. I just happen to be taking on clients so email me and we'll talk payment options...




 
BCS 'Exciting,' Which Apparently Makes it Right

from The Sporting Blog
texasfanjs7.jpg
Regardless of what Spencer Hall would have you believe, the BCS is not alright. Sure, we’ll likely get an exciting National Championship game between Florida/Alabama and Oklahoma, but it won’t be without controversy. Texas is obviously getting the shaft, having beaten the Sooners face-to-face on a neutral field, yet being leapfrogged by Oklahoma, which will play in the Big XII title game for a shot at making it to the BCS Championship. But forget all this nonsense about what’s “fair” or “just” because hot damn, the BCS has made this regular season exciting! This from one of the system’s creator’s Roy Kramer:
"I'm tremendously pleased with how it's working," said Kramer, the former SEC commissioner who put the controversial structure in place as the first BCS coordinator in 1998. "One of the purposes was to make the regular season more interesting and exciting, and I think it's accomplished that to an enormous degree. I'm watching an NFL game [Sunday] and in the middle of the game, they're talking about the BCS. You never heard that in the past."​
In the same way that making the season “interesting” doesn’t make its outcome fair, nor does people “talking about the BCS” make the current system a positive for college football. More than likely, those NFL commentators were discussing some sort of BCS controversy. But I guess any publicity is good publicity, a theory that will continue to apply to NCAA football for some time to come, according to Kramer:
"The BCS is the system we have, and I don't see a playoff on the horizon," Kramer said. "I don't see the support. I think we are as far as you'll get."​
Is there a sport fan in the athletic universe that gets more screwed over than college football enthusiasts? The fact that nine-out-of-10 fans want a playoff system just isn’t enough support to get it done. But hey, all this complaining sure does make it “exciting,” no?
 
Texas Campus Police Are Surprisingly Witty

from The Sporting Blog
103569.jpg
I don't remember campus police having much humor about them when they towed my car off the lawn of Weaver Hall at the University of Florida. I thought having 21 parking tickets in a month was uproarious, but we disagreed on this point of humor, with their punchline being taking my big hunk of pure sex on four wheels -- a 1987 Ford Escort station wagon -- and impounding it behind barbed wire and a locked gate. The University of Texas Campus Po-Po are a different sort, though. This tiny two-sentence blurb appeared on the "Campus Watch" police blotter, nestled between a criminal trespass notice and an underage consumption of alcohol charge the day after Oklahoma edged out the Longhorns in the BCS standings:
DKR- TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM, 2200 Robert Dedman Robbery: Several UT staff members, faculty, students, and Texas Ex's discovered a fraction of a percentage point had been taken and was transported across state lines. The percentage point was discovered north of the Red River at the campus of another Big 12 South University.
​
Well-played, Longhorn policemen. If my own campus' policemen had had half that jollity in their hearts, they would have found me passing out stone drunk on the stairs of Turlington Hall to be "side-splitting," and not "misdemeanor public drunkenness."
 
Texas discover comfort and unity in blinding frustration

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-955367469-1228232995.jpg
Consiglieri Peter Bean has thrown his hands up, but for the most part, Texas fans are on the warpath about their BCS snub in favor of Oklahoma: Flooding the Big 12 office with angry letters, blaming poor Blake Gideon, wondering if Will Muschamp should spend the week with Missouri's defensive coaches and stalking Gerald McCoy's suspiciously blingin' ride. Everywhere in Horn Land -- the real one or the virtual one -- there is hate and bloody-minded vengeance. At least the campus police department has a sense of humor about it in last week's activity report:
DKR- TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM, 2200 Robert Dedman, Robbery: Several UT staff members, faculty, students, and Texas Ex’s discovered a fraction of a percentage point had been taken and was transported across state lines. The percentage point was discovered north of the Red River at the campus of another Big 12 South University.
​
Thus a meme is born, the kind that will live on forever in Longhorn and Red River lore; if Texas fails to slide into one of the top two spots next Tuesday, opinion is unanimous and vociferous enough around UT that 2008 will always be "The Year Texas Got Screwed," joining the illustrious company of Ohio State (1998), Miami (2000), Oregon (2001), USC (2003), Auburn (2004), Michigan (2006) and, if you ask them, Georgia (2007) on the wrong end of the BCS' annual stick. It could have just as easily -- and just as maddeningly -- been Oklahoma's turn this time around, given the Sooners' exceptional resumé and dominant stretch run, but their time will come. Everybody gets their turn at outrage.
And who knows: It's still possible for the Longhorns to pass the torches and pitchforks to Florida -- how's Percy Harvin's ankle, anyway? Isn't it "exciting?"
 
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