Oklahoma is in the middle of spring practice right now, but the 2008 season will be put on the backburner for Tuesday as the Sooners host their pro day for all prospective NFL Draft selections to make on final impression on scouts.
Georgia president Michael Adams, and chairman of the NCAA executive committee, has been outspoken this week about the need for a playoff in college football. In Adams' eyes, the NCAA should create an eight team playoff, seed the teams into four bowl games and eventually crown its first football champion in the organization's history. And as he goes about trumping for big change, he's picked up one prominent supporter in Athens.
It doesn't seem that long ago that Boston College was flying high, up to No. 2 in the nation and only a handful of games away from a potential berth in the BCS Championship game. Then the Eagles were grounded by Florida State and eventually stumbled home with a 2-3 record over the season's final month. So much for that dream.
Honolulu is not where Boise State wanted to finish its 2007 season, but for the darlings of college football, circa 2006, they'll have to settle for a few days in paradise and a matchup with East Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl.
Quite unfairly, Jeff Bower takes to the sidelines for his final game as the Southern Miss coach. And ironically it's happening in the same city - Birmingham - that his tenure with the Golden Eagles began back on Dec. 20, 1990.
There's a first time for everything. And for FAU, tonight is their first bowl game as the Owls, led by Howard Schnellenberger, take on Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl, the second of our 32 postseason games. But just how magical will the Owls first taste of the postseason be?
Back in the summer I tried predicting - as accurately as possible, not just a bunch of stabs in the dark - the matchups in each of the 32 bowl games. So now that we know who's playing who, I figured I'd look back and see if I got any even half right. The results, I have to say, are pretty. Pretty pathetic.
Few things in life are easy. And predicting, analyzing and understanding college football is not one of those things because Saturday night we saw more of the unexpected and more of the chaos that has come to exemplify the 2007 season.
Rules changes have become the norm in college football, most especially those involving tweaks to the clock the past few years. So after the NCAA's attempts to speed up the game last season were met with dismay and disgust from many of the nation's coaches, the NCAA changed the rules again this past off-season in an effort to drive down the times of these marathon-like games. But after 10 weeks it looks like it's time for the to go back to the drawing board.
CBSSports.com came out with its College Football Halfway All-America Team this afternoon, and while the CBSSports.com staff did a pretty good job putting it together, here's a case for a few who maybe should have made the team over a few who did.
It's officially The Year of the Upset. We've had a few wacky weekends and just when you think things are about to return to normal, we have the top two teams in the nation lose on the same day for the first time since Sept. 21, 1996 and scramble up the polls yet again. Just in time, of course, for Sunday's season premiere of the BCS rankings.
Despite it's undisputed status as the premiere conference in the country, the SEC hasn't been immune to criticism, especially when talk has turned to the league's non-conference schedule.
Sometimes you leave a movie theater feeling high. Sometimes you leave a move theater feeling low. And sometimes you leave it emotionally drained, but smiling as you make your way to the exit. That was the case for me Thursday evening after I had the chance to catch a special screening of Warner Bros. new release, “We Are Marshall,” in Midtown Manhattan.
For those who subscribe to the idea that SEC offenses are struggling this year, there’s a perfectly good explanation. It’s those stacked defenses and a glut of new, relatively inexperienced QBs manning the posts at several schools, that’s bringing the conference’s offensive numbers down.
Well, was that 37-yard TD from Troy Smith to Brian Robiskie a Heisman-caliber moment, or what? That was some play Smith made – with his feet – during an otherwise less than stellar performance out of the Buckeyes offense. It was a weird game.
It should be pretty clear now who the No. 1 team in the nation is. Ohio State, behind quarterback Troy Smith, showed the country they are the best team with a 24-7 win over the Longhorns on the road and I think it's safe to say we learned some things from this game.
The rules changes went over without any major gripping or complaining from the majority of Big East coaches Monday. No one felt the rules were a hindrance or a pain, but some noticed more of a difference than others.
Well, a win’s a win and that’s what the Irish got Saturday. It wasn’t pretty and the offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but Charlie Weis’ squad got the job done. They won and survived, lived to face Penn State next without a loss hanging over them and still one of the favorites to make it to the national championship game. For that, they should be satisfied. For other reasons, there should be concern.
Since the season is officially here, I figured it was time to do what everyone else around the country has done: make the obligatory predictions. This way, I’m on the record and I’ll be able to look back in amazement about how poorly - or precisely - I predicted things would pan out.
Things are actually finished over here in what seems like a blink of an eye. The only people left in the Sheraton Grand are Conference USA officials cleaning a few things up.
Tulsa's Nick Bunting and Brandon Diles were good sports, but wouldn't bite on the some of the questions asked of them. They apparently wanted to avoid the bulletin board.
Hats off to Matt Forte and Chris Beckman. It's unimaginable what these guys, their Tulane teammates and every one who was caught in Hurricane Katrina's fury have gone through since.
The early favorite to go down as the best personality here at C-USA Media Day is clearly UTEP coach Mike Price. Price is quick with a one-liner, a witty response and just genuinely entertaining.
Just made the rounds with UAB coach Watson Brown, C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky and UCF coach George O'Leary. Nothing earth shattering or particularly news worthy so far from anyone.
Just had a nice chat with Tulane coach Chris Scelfo about a number of different topics. Great guy, was a very good interview. Answered all my questions. But the biggest thing I took away from talking with him was his resolve.
