College Football's Year-End Top 10
Once again it is execution and near perfection by the Florida Gators as they win the BCS Title for the second time in three years.
We can now all sit back and mope around the house for the next eight months of boring Saturdays without college football. But for today, let's determine who fared well at years end.
With the current bowl system in place, the Florida Gators have earned the recognition as the number one team in the country - and deservedly so. After their heartbreaking loss to Ole Miss 31-30 in Gainesville, the Gators added an element to their team that gave them a clear-cut advantage on the field of play for the remainder of the season.
The will and determination of Tim Tebow was the answer.
Sure, one can break down any match-up to try and gage the on-field advantages and disadvantages. Though when delving into the BCS Championship Game, it should be the coaching scheme (Meyer vs. Stoops), SEC defense vs. Big 12 offense, bowl history, emotion and motivation, as well as O-line vs. D-line to determine the winner.
Overall, with an exception of a few turnovers and miscues, both teams were well prepared schematically, emotionally, and physically. Well into the second half, when Florida began to control the clock and move the ball, it wasn't that Oklahoma was out of place defensively or not making plays, it was "superman" Tim Tebow who was refusing to lose, refusing to go down, and refusing to let his team fall. Apparently, that was neither in Stoop's defensive playbook.
Jumping into another region of the country, the USC Trojans, to no one's surprise, finished on high-high note once again. Home field advantage usually matters, but it didn't help Alabama playing in their backyard against the Utes. It certainly did, however, fire up Pete Carroll's crew at the Rose Bowl.
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc
Campbell ends suspense: It's Michigan
SAN ANTONIO - Detroit Cass Tech defensive tackle William Campbell has been keeping people guessing all week when it comes to his college destination.
However, the 6-foot-5, 317-pounder finally made his choice public on national television at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday. Campbell has decided to play his college football at Michigan and play for Rich Rodriguez.
"I like how they let everybody play," Campbell said of his choice to re-commit to Michigan. "They give you a chance to earn a spot like they did with (fellow defensive lineman) Mike Martin. They let him play as a true freshmen. I just like how they do things and rotate a lot of people."
Campbell re-committed to Michigan over LSU, Miami, Alabama and Florida. He had been committed to Michigan early in the process but decided to de-commit back in September in order to take official visits.
The big man took officials to all five of his favorites before choosing the Wolverines in the end.
Campbell is rated at the No. 1 prospect in Michigan and the nation's No. 4 defensive tackle prospect by Rivals.com. He checks in at No. 25 in the 2009 Rivals100.
(c)2007 STATS LLC
College Bowl Exhibitions: Do They Matter?
Yes! Enjoy the college football bowl season! It's our last views of live college football until late August 2009.
Oops. Time out!
The following is not want I want to write about today.
I favor a college playoff or tournament over the current Non-BCS and BCS Bowl system. I also conclude that the NFL offers a superior brand of football over the NCAA not only because of superior skills and speed, but also because of its system that determines the actual champion on the field of play via post season playoffs and the Super Bowl.
I don't want to write about that stuff today.
I could write a lot of negative information and opinion about the college bowl exhibition season. I use the term exhibition, which implies that these games mean nothing on the college conferences standings, which is true. Conference champions have already been determined.
Hmmmmmm. Not today.
I could also point out that it is also true that many, if not most, of the 34 bowl games, involving 68 teams, will have no impact on the final BCS standings, which are ultimately based on season-long opinions, based on mythical preseason polls.
However, approximately 10 to 15 of these games potentially impact the BCS Poll. Then only one game - the BCS Championship Game between Oklahoma and Florida - ideally is the only one that substantially matters. It may be also argued that the bowls involving other one-loss teams (like Texas and USC) may come into play if the Sooners-Gators game is sloppily played and if the outcome is close, especially if settled in overtime.
Ideally, bowl games are rewards for teams and their fans for the team achieving a certain level of success in the regular season. We could argue that the standards of becoming bowl eligible are too low since it allows teams with a record of 6-6 to be eligible.
OK, I have already written more than enough negativity about college bowl games but let's not go there today.
The time out is over.
Let's first throw a lot of positive thinking cliches on the wall and see what sticks.
Today I prefer to view the silver lining in the cloud. Why not look at the college bowl season as a glass half-full, instead of half-empty?
Doing stupid things certainly makes life more interesting. All sunshine makes a desert. Defeat is just a down payment for victory. No pain, no gain. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
And one more: when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad!
Yes! Enjoy the college football bowl season! It's our last views of live college football until late August 2009.
Yes, college bowl games matter and mean a lot to the individual teams, their families, and their fans (for the most part). Some college bowl contests are very entertaining and offer a few of the best games of the entire season. Bowl games give teams extra practices, more recruiting exposure, and the seniors one more game and, for most, their final football game of their lives.
And college bowl games provide large sources of revenue for universities and their conferences. Perhaps the bad economy will slow down ticket sales, but these bow games mostly sell out quickly.
Want a little poetry? In addition to all the athleticism, conditioning, courage and determination required to excel in any sport, football combines the moves of ballet and battle with the intelligence of a chess master and a military commander.
While most bowl games do not appeal to me, they do matter to certain people. While the NFL playoffs are much more substantial in terms of deciding the real champion on the field, the college bowl games do matter more than the NFL Pro Bowl and the NFL Preseason of exhibition games.
Sometimes I enjoy a football game just for the pure sport, sportsmanship, skills, fun, and entertainment of it. This happens at every level - Little League, junior high, high school, college, and pros. Sometimes I get too caught up in the notion that to enjoy a game, it must point towards determining the eventual champion.
Winning isn't everything; preparing and being prepared to win is what matters in context of genuine sportsmanship and the integrity of a game. Be our best and try our best to achieve our goal.
Yes! Enjoy the college football bowl season! It's our last views of live college football until late August 2009.
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc
Blue Devils' Cutcliffe Gets Two More Years Added To Contract
Durham, NC (AHN) - Duke rewarded head coach David Cutcliffe an additional two more years in his current contract Sunday, keeping the 54-year-old tactician in the Blue Devils sidelines until the 2015 season.
Cutcliffe helped Duke win four out of 12 games this season, a stark contrast to the Blue Devils' four-win total the previous four years under former head coach Ted Roof.
With Cutcliffe onboard, the Blue Devils went 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, their lone win coming at the expense of Virginia 31-3 in September.
That victory halted a 25-game losing streak against conference foes, dating back to the 2004 season.
"Coach Cutcliffe has clearly established himself as an elite player within the entire college football coaching community," Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White said in a press release. "David has hired a phenomenal staff, and the efforts of the coaches have already paid dividends both on and off the field."
Cutcliffe wrapped up his first season at Duke after spending seven years at Ole Miss. He guided the Rebels to a 44-29 mark, including a 25-23 stint in the SEC.
He directed Ole Miss to four bowl wins, the last one coming in the Cotton Bowl in 2003, when the Rebels finished with a 10-3 overall record and 7-1 in the conference.
Copyright (c) 2003 - 2008 AHN
Auburn should have learned from Bama
Thank you, Auburn University, for the past 10 days. It had been nearly 23 months since this fine state had been able to wrap itself in the sheer absurdity of a coaching search.
It's almost a shame it has to end so quickly. With multiple media outlets, both on the state and national level, reporting the Tigers have settled on Iowa State's Gene Chizik to lead the program, this one appears to be in the books.
Nobody does a coaching search like the state of Alabama. While Auburn has to go back 10 years to its last one - when they hired Tommy Tuberville - the University of Alabama has kept us entertained time after time.
From Mike Dubose to Dennis Franchione to Mike Price to Mike Shula to Nick Saban, the Tide turned coaching searches into a season all their own. Over the course of those four searches, we learned a good bit about what to do and not to do in a coaching search.
The first three times, Alabama went quick and cheap. None of the group of Franchione, Price or Shula were splash hires. And as a result of a series of unfortunate events involving each of these men (the last one being simply an inability to effectively coach), the University of Alabama had become a laughing stock in the college football world.
The Crimson Tide perfected the art of plane tracking. Jimmy Johnson was going to be the next Alabama coach at least three times. Steve Spurrier had the job twice and I think Butch Davis even had it a time or two. Alabama showed us how not to run a coaching search.
But last December, they got it right. They made a run at West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez. Media reports even surfaced confirming that Rodriguez would become the next head coach. Of course we know that it didn't happen. Whether Rodriguez backed out or some reporters jumped the gun really didn't matter. What happened next did.
Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore suddenly disappeared from the limelight and news on the Alabama coaching search went silent. Moore knew what he was doing, though. He was waiting it out, waiting for Nick Saban. He had decided that rather than quick and cheap, he would break the bank and be patient.
We all know what happened from there. Saban bolted from the NFL, took over at Bama and began implementing his process for restoring Alabama to college football giant. And with that hire, Auburn should have had their blueprint for hiring a coach when Tuberville was dismissed - I mean when he resigned.
Tigers' Athletic Director Jay Jacobs even appeared to get it, saying "Financially, we will not have any restraints."
And with that, the floodgates opened. Houston Nutt got a raise out of his name being mentioned. Georgia Tech's Bobby Johnson was working on one, but the abrupt hire of Chizik may have ruined it for him. We heard about Will Muschamp, Mike Leach, Turner Gill, Bobby Petrino and even Spurrier again.
One News outlet reported that Spurrier had been offered the job. Another said Muschamp would be the next coach. None of it stuck.
That brought us to Chizik. Friday night a report out of Iowa surfaced that he was a serious candidate for the job. Saturday morning, he was the leading candidate. By early afternoon, he was the next coach of the Auburn Tigers. What?
In case you're unfamiliar with Chizik, his reputation as a defensive mind is not in question. He spent the 2002-04 seasons in Auburn, helping lead the Tigers to an SEC Championship and 13-0 season in 2004.
From there, he moved on to the University of Texas where he helped lead the Longhorns to a BCS National Championship in 2005.
He was Will Muschamp before Will Muschamp.
He's spent the past two seasons at Iowa State, leading the Cyclones to a 5-19 record. This season, the Cyclones started 2-0 with wins against South Dakota State and Kent State, before reeling off 10 consecutive losses to end the season. That's right. The new Auburn head coach is riding a 10-game losing streak into the job.
There is always the chance that Chizik was a great coach trapped in a terrible situation.
Maybe. But what about Turner Gill? The Buffalo head man inherited a team that had won five games in the four seasons prior to his arrival. He just won a conference championship. The only real advantage Chizik holds is a tie to Auburn.
To say this is a shocking hire would be an understatement.
A standard rule for athletic directors (or for whoever making the decisions at various institutions) should be not to get rid of a coach unless you've got someone better ready to take his place.
Is there anyone at Auburn University today who can say with a straight face that Gene Chizik is a better football coach than Tommy Tuberville?
Patience is a virtue. I thought we had learned that in this state. Auburn didn't show it when they got rid of Tuberville and they certainly didn't show it in making this hire.
Copyright (c) 2008 GadsdenTimes.com
Purdy: College football no rainbow coalition
Tyrone Willingham comes to Berkeley this weekend for his final game at the University of Washington. The school fired him as football coach last month.
And what's next for Willingham?
"Something could be out there for me and something could not," Willingham told reporters this week.
Well, I can tell him what is almost surely not out there: another college head-coaching job.
Willingham has been a certified flop at Washington, losing 36 of 47 games. But wait a minute. Before that, Willingham won at Stanford and Notre Dame (at least more than beleaguered successor Charlie Weis. Some situations just aren't the right fit. There is no reason that, at some point, another university shouldn't hire Willingham. But the odds are way against it. Way, way against it.
As an African-American, Willingham's chances of becoming a head coach in the NFL are far better than doing so in college.
Right now, with so much talk about the BCS and bowl pairings - and of all things, the jersey colors of USC and UCLA this Saturday - it has again been possible to ignore the far more significant issue of minority coaching opportunities at the top level of college football.
So here's a quick update: The situation is still shameful. Vexing. And preposterous. And getting worse, not better.
"I just wish people could feel the frustration that black coaches feel," Fitz Hill said the other day.
Hill, you may remember, was San Jose State's head football coach from 2001 to 2004, when he resigned after being coaxed to do so by administrators. Hill was one of the few in his profession with a doctoral degree - which he earned with a research thesis about the barriers faced by minority college football coaches. He has also testified on Capitol Hill about the subject.
Numbers don't lie. With last week's resignation by Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State, there are now just three African-American head coaches at the 119 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. That's the fewest since 1993.
By my calculations, three coaches at 119 schools works out to 3 percent of the available opportunities. Meanwhile, in the 32-team NFL, there are seven African-American head coaches - or 22 percent of the available positions.
That means if FBS colleges simply want to match the NFL, then 23 schools would need to hire African-American head coaches immediately.
Good luck with that. Willingham is hardly the only candidate. Currently at FBS schools, there are 31 African-American coordinators. You'd presume they are qualified to become head coaches. But so far, there are no reports of any being interviewed for current openings. Could you blame them for fleeing to the NFL?
The sad absurdity of the situation has obviously not escaped Hill's radar. After leaving SJSU, he made a right-turn career move and is now the president of Arkansas Baptist College in his home state. But he still monitors the status of the African-American college coaching progress - or rather, non-progress.
Full disclosure: Hill and I are working on a book project regarding this topic. Know what we've learned? The same craziness happens every year at this time. At the conclusion of the football season, there is a flurry of activity as coaches are fired and hired. Sometimes, on the same day. And at the same school.
Hill calls this craziness the "hurricane season" because it's a storm of coaches coming and going that A) lasts just a few weeks and B) has no standards to ensure a fair interviewing process.
Hill has kept a day-by-day diary of the past few "hurricane seasons" as they unfold. He has been remarkably accurate in predicting, as jobs open up, which schools might hire a minority coach and which ones definitely won't. Hill will be starting a blog this year. You'll be able to find it, plus his previous year's diaries, on his Crackback.org Web site. I will also be contributing to the "hurricane season" blog there.
Hill isn't demanding that more African-American coaches be hired. He's just adamant that more African-American candidates need to be interviewed. It isn't that university administrators are racist. It's that many have a vision in their head for what they want their coach to look like - these days, the role model is Nick Saban or Pete Carroll - and allow that vision to limit the possibilities.
Often, the door doesn't just shut on minority candidates, it never even opens. The latest trend is for schools to designate successors to head coaches long before those coaches quit. Purdue did it last year. Texas and Florida State did it this year. Oregon did it this week, announcing that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will be the new coach whenever Mike Bellotti retires .
In the NFL, that can't happen so routinely. The league mandates, through its so-called "Rooney Rule," that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for every job.
The NCAA has resisted any attempt to initiate an equivalent, claiming it cannot force such a regulation on member public institutions. But absent that, Hill is convinced, the system will stay the same. Big-money boosters will have major influence on the firings and hirings, another situation that doesn't exist in the NFL.
Hill even believes the election of Barack Obama, the country's first minority president, will lessen the pressure to hire minority football coaches. If an African-American can become president, how would African-American college coaches have a beef?
"Barack Obama was hired by the people," Hill said. "Coaches are hired by a small pool of administrators or boosters. It would be interesting to see if, had the president been selected by just the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives - or lobbyists - instead of all the voters of America, whether Barack Obama would have won."
Copyright (c) 2008 - San Jose Mercury News
Shuman honored for play against Virginia
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Georgia Tech A-Back Roddy Jones and NC State Quarterback Russell Wilson headline the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Players of the Week for the games of Nov. 29. Jones ran for 214 yards and two scores on Saturday to lead the Yellow Jackets past arch-rival Georgia. Wilson threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns in NC State's regular season finale against Miami. Joining them this week are Virginia Tech offensive lineman Ryan Shuman, Duke linebacker Michael Tauiliili, Boston College linebacker Robert Francois and Boston College holder Billy Flutie.
Jones averaged 16.5 yards per carry in the win over the Bulldogs to claim Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Yellow Jacket freshman also scored two touchdowns. Wilson was 11-of-23 through the air to earn Rookie of the Week honors, accounting for three scores. The Wolfpack redshirt freshman extended his streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to 226.
Virginia Tech's Shuman earned Offensive Lineman of the Week honors as he posted five knockdown blocks to help give Virginia Tech the Commonwealth Cup and a bid to the ACC Championship Game. He played all 80 snaps on offense, helping Virginia Tech to gain 392 yards of total offense. Duke's Michael Tauiliili was named Defensive Lineman of the Week honors after making 20 tackles in his final collegiate game on Saturday against North Carolina. His 20 tackles are the most in the league this season. He also made his fourth interception of the season in the game.
Boston College linebacker Robert Francois led the Eagles with 10 tackles (9 solo) to earn Defensive Back of the Week accolades. Francois also returned an interception 36 yards to help put the game out of reach and send Boston College to the ACC Football Championship Game. Boston College holder Billy Flutie completed his first collegiate pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal to earn Specialist of the Week honors. Flutie rolled out on the fake field goal and completed the pass, which helped cement the Eagles' place in Tampa.
OFFENSIVE BACK - Roddy Jones, Georgia Tech, A-Back, 5-9, 240, R-Fr., Stone Mountain, Ga.
Jones rushed for 214 yards on 13 carries (16.5 yards per carry) and two touchdowns in Georgia Tech's 45-42 win at 13th-ranked Georgia on Saturday. Jones scored on runs of eight and 54 yards and he had a long rush of 62 yards against a Bulldog defense that ranked 15th nationally in rush defense. Jones also had four kickoff returns for 98 yards to give him 312 all-purpose yards on the day.
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN - Ryan Shuman, Virginia Tech, Center, 6-3, 313, r-Sr., Fork Union, Va.
Shuman played all 80 offensive snaps for the Hokies in their 17-14 win over Virginia. He graded out at 88 percent with a team-high five knockdowns as the offense racked up nearly 400 yards.
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN - Michael Tauiliili, Duke, MLB, 5-11, 235, Sr., Houston, Texas
Tauiliili posted a career-high 20 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 interception in Duke's 28-20 loss to North Carolina. The 20 tackles are the most by an ACC player this year and one of just three 20+ tackle performances by a BCS conference player in 2008. The interception was his team-high fourth of the season. Tauiliili leads the ACC and ranks third nationally in tackles per game (11.67).
DEFENSIVE BACK - Robert Francois, Boston College, LB, 6-2, 253, Sr., Highlands, Texas
Francois led the team in tackles with 10 (9 solos), notched one sack for a four-yard loss and three tackles for loss in Boston College's win over Maryland on Saturday. With the Eagles clinging to a 21-14 lead late in the fourth quarter, Francois intercepted a Chris Turner pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to seal the victory. Francois' touchdown marked the Eagles' eighth non-offensive touchdown of the season. BC is now tied with Alabama and Kansas State for the most non-offensive touchdowns in the country.
SPECIALIST - Billy Flutie, Boston College, QB/H, 6-2, 186, So. Natick, Mass.
Flutie, the BC backup quarterback, punter, holder and wide receiver threw for a 9-yard touchdown on a fake field goal Saturday to lead the Eagles to a spot in the ACC Championship Game. Flutie, the holder on field goals, took the snap, rolled right, and completed his first collegiate pass to tight end Jordon McMichael, who made his first collegiate reception. Flutie also punted once for 37 yards.
ROOKIE - Russell Wilson, NC State, QB, 5-11, 191, R-Fr., Richmond, Va.
Wilson threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns in NC State's win over the Hurricanes. He also ran for another 58 yards and a score as NC State improved to 6-6 to become bowl eligible. He scampered 29 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 14-14 in the second quarter. This was the sixth straight game that Wilson threw for multiple touchdowns. He leads the ACC with 16 touchdown throws. Wilson extended his NCAA-long active streak of pass attempts without an interception to 226. He has thrown only one interception all season, the fewest among any FBS quarterbacks ranked in the NCAA top 100 for passing.
(c) 2008, hokiesports.com
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