College Football(NCAA) (CF & CB BALL)

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College Basketball Bubble Watch
Where will the bid thieves come from?
In this week's Bubble Watch video, we warned fans of bubble teams everywhere to beware the bid thieves. This is one of those general, evergreen pieces of bubble counsel -- something even we forget, every season, right up to the point that the first wave of conference tournaments reminds us. Oh yeah. The bubble is going to shrink.

The bubble always shrinks. It's not really a question of if. The better question -- especially this season -- is where: Where, exactly, will the bid thieves come from?

What makes the 2014-15 season different? Loyal Bubble Watchers will note that this season's "others" (read: mid-majors) category has been startlingly thin all winter. (Outside of Wichita State and Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley, and Gonzaga -- and BYU -- in the West Coast Conference, naturally.) It's not we haven't tried; every week, we scour the sport's mid-major leagues looking for fresh résumés worthy of consideration. And it's not that there aren't good mid-major teams out there. Sure, conference consolidation has gobbled up many of the perennial "others" favorites (Butler, VCU, Davidson, etc.), but there are plenty of good teams still plying their trades in mid-major leagues. Murray State. Buffalo. Stephen F. Austin. Louisiana Tech. Harvard. Green Bay. We're probably missing a few.

The problem is that none of these teams have worthy NCAA tournament résumés. All of them need to win their conference's automatic bid to get in. A so-so mid-major league with one great team is the would-be bid thief's path of least resistance. This season, those paths don't exist. If Murray State loses in the Ohio Valley final, its conqueror won't steal a bubble team's bid. It will take Murray State's.

This means the bid thieves will have to come from high-major leagues. There, the chances are far more dim. Think about it: If you're, oh, Kansas State, to steal a bid you have to beat at least three of the Big 12's best on consecutive nights. That's insanely hard. It happens, but it's rare.

To pre-cog 2015's bid burglars before they commit their vile deeds, the best bet seems to be the sort-of-but-not-really-high-major conferences -- the tweener leagues. UConn is playing the American tournament in Hartford, Connecticut. There's one suspect. Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference. Wyoming in the Mountain West. Richmond or Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10. All conceivable. All of which could steal a bid from a team that has been on the bubble since January.

Of course, any such predictions are folly. And not just because college basketball is kind of crazy. Predictability is antithetical to the bid thief's nature. That's how they get to be thieves in the first place. If they seemed tournament-worthy already, they wouldn't be thieves.

So, no, no one really knows how much the bubble will shrink these next few weeks. One bid? Three? Five? We only know that it will -- and, when it does, a tiny mid-major won't be to blame.

Did we miss a team? Include the unworthy? Want to stump for your favored mid-major? Send your feedback, suggestions and hilarious jokes to me on Twitter @eamonnbrennan

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NCAA Suspends Boeheim, Cuts Scholarships

Jeff Goodman reacts to the news that the NCAA has suspended Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim for nine ACC games and has taken away scholarships as a result of a multiyear investigation into the university's athletic programs.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12432471/ncaa-suspends-jim-boeheim-nine-games-cuts-syracuse-orange-scholarships

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Oliver cited for theft after shoplifting
By Chris Low
ESPN.com

On the heels of three players being arrested last week on attempted armed robbery charges, Tennessee has another player in trouble with the law.

Freshman defensive back Nyshier Oliver, who was redshirting this season, was cited for theft after shoplifting at a Knoxville mall on Nov. 7, only hours before Tennessee faced Memphis later that night, according to a Knox County Sheriff's Department report.

SEC blog

Low ESPN.com's Chris Low writes about all things SEC in his conference blog.

• Blog network:
College Football Nation

According to police, Oliver was spotted putting a brown Polo shirt valued at approximately $110 into a shopping bag. He was cited at 1:45 p.m., and Tennessee's game that night kicked off at 7 p.m.

Oliver's punishment was handled internally, but he was taken off the dress roster for that game and banned from team activities, according to Tennessee athletic department spokesperson Tiffany Carpenter.

Four days after Oliver's run-in with the law, Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin went on the SEC coaches teleconference and praised his team for not having any arrests in 11 months.

Then early the next morning, freshmen Nu'Keese Richardson, Mike Edwards and Janzen Jackson were arrested and charged with attempting to rob two people sitting in a car outside a convenience store near campus.

Vols coaches are holding out hope that the charges against Jackson may still be dropped, although Kiffin wouldn't comment specifically Tuesday on the chances of Jackson returning to the team.

"We don't have all [Jackson's] information in," Kiffin said. "I can't get into too much detail with it. But the easiest thing to look at is that he was released right away and was treated differently in this matter. You can tell that by what has come out. I can't get into too much more detail than that until we get the information in."

Following his arrest, Jackson's bond was reduced and he was released on his own recognizance. The other two players had to post bond before being released.

Jackson is also one of the better freshman players in the SEC and has been a key component in the Vols' defense. He hasn't played in the last two games but had started in all but the opener at free safety prior to his suspension for the Memphis game. None of the three players arrested last week made the trip for the Ole Miss game.

Kiffin said Jackson's suspension for the Memphis game was an administrative suspension, but sources have told ESPN.com that a failed drug test was one of the factors that led to Jackson's suspension.

Kiffin called it a sad day in having to dismiss Richardson and Edwards but said the team was more important than any one or two players.

"Our No. 1 rule is to protect the team," Kiffin said. "As the head coach, I have to make decisions that sometimes you don't want to make. It was a sad day yesterday for those two kids. I wish them the best of luck. They obviously made a very poor decision. We can't allow that to be a part of our team. That decision-making can't be anywhere near what we are doing.

"The last thing I want is to have something like that go on and keep people around who do that, then go in on someone's couch and say, 'When you come here, we're going to have a great culture. This is the best place for your son.' I had to make the best decision for our team," he said.

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Rutgers steals one!http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=69455

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Life of Reilly
There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.
by Rick Reilly


Melinda Wright
Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.



They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

"I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANOTHER PARENT TO TELL SOMEBODY TO HIT THEIR KIDS. BUT THEY WANTED US TO!"

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.

Love the column, hate the column, got a better idea? Go here.
Want more Life of Reilly? Then check out the archive.

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OJ's team is looking good

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Go Penn State Kick Ass

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Rutgers completes turnaround with bowl win

December 29, 2008 7:10 PM

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

The Papajohns.com Bowl was like Rutgers' season in a nutshell. Shaky start, tremendous finish.


Marvin Gentry/US Presswire
Mike Teel threw for 319 yards and two scores for the Scarlet Knights.
The Scarlet Knights (8-5) outscored NC State 23-6 in the second half to win the game 29-23 at Birmingham's Legion Field. They ended the season with seven straight victories after a 1-5 start.

The biggest key to this in-game turnaround was an NC State injury. Freshman quarterback Russell Wilson had the Scarlet Knights' defense on its heels in the first half with his mobility and deft passing. The kid is really, really good and is going to be something special over the next couple of years. But Wilson injured his knee late in the first half and was not able to play after guiding his team to a 17-6 halftime lead.

No longer having to worry about the quarterback scramble, Rutgers brought pressure against replacement Harrison Beck in the third quarter, and the Wolfpack (6-7) barely moved the ball. Third-stringer Daniel Evans came in for the fourth quarter and led a touchdown drive, but Greg Schiano dialed up a change to a three-man front and zone coverage on a key third down. Evans didn't read it and threw an interception. Wilson was picked off only once all season; Beck and Evans combined to toss three interceptions in this game.

Mike Teel had 319 yards and two touchdowns for Rutgers, and like he did during the season, played much better in the second half. The senior quarterback was a touch off early in the game, thanks in large part to the pressure NC State's defense managed to apply. Teel's offensive line did a better job of giving him time in the second half, and the results were much the same as they were for the last several weeks.

Receiver Kenny Britt, playing perhaps his final game before declaring for the NFL draft, became the Big East's career leader in receiving yards with six catches for 119 yards. He caught the game-winning score from 42 yards out, less than a minute after NC State took its last lead.

Rutgers has now won three straight bowl games, which is really something since before this stretch the program had never won a single one in its 139-year history. The Scarlet Knights should be one of the favorites in the Big East next year, though they must fill huge voids that will be left by Teel, Tiquan Underwood, Britt (if he leaves) and others.

The Big East is now 3-0 in bowl play and 2-0 against the ACC (and the state of North Carolina). Cincinnati will try to give the league a clean sweep over the ACC in the FedEx Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech.

Should Rutgers be in the final Top 25? I think so. Few teams played better in the last two months.


Papajohns 0829, Papajohns.com Bowl, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Mike Teel, Kenny Britt, Greg Schiano, NC State Wolfpack, Tiquan Underwood

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All American Rosters-http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=880&CID=866621

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Sizing up the Army All American Rosters - Mike Farrell
Recruiting Analyst

MORE: Army All-American Bowl rosters | Army AA Bowl coverage | More all-star coverage

SAN ANTONIO - Heading into next Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl, both the East and West teams are loaded with talent on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. However, these games usually come down to quarterback play and gamebreakers, and on paper the West squad seems to have the edge led by speedster Randall Carroll and the nation's No. 1 prospect, Rueben Randle.



Shaquelle Evans is part of a deep and talented group of receivers for the West.
Randle, a 6-foot-3, 195-pounder who plays quarterback in high school, is as dynamic a playmaker as you'll find in the class of 2009. The Bastrop (La.) High star will line up at his future college position at wideout and will be hard to handle for the East defensive backs. Throw in Carroll, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound blur from Los Angeles Cathedral who can make opponents look foolish from the slot, and you have an amazing 1-2 punch for a potent West offense.

Randle and Carroll aren't the only talented wideouts on the West team. Macon (Miss.) Noxubee County standout Patrick Patterson, Gadsden (Ala.) Gadsden City star Kendall Kelly and Inglewood (Calif.) High wide receiver Shaquelle Evans are all big, physical targets and potential matchup problems.

The quarterbacks on the West lucky enough to throw the ball to this talented group of receivers are led by Mobile (Ala.) St. Paul's gunslinger AJ McCarron and Mission Viejo (Calif.) High signal caller Allan Bridgford while Sulphur Springs (Texas) High dual-threat Tyrik Rollison will be difficult to keep in the pocket.

The East counters with some talented defensive backs led by five-star cornerback Darius Winston from West Helena (Ark.) Central and the top two players from the state of Ohio in safeties Jamie Wood from Pickerington (Ohio) Central and Justin Turner from Massillon (Ohio) Washington. However, aside from Winston there isn't a lot of size on the corner and Michael Carter from Pompano Beach (Fla.) Ely and Justin Green from Louisville (Ky.) Male could struggle with the bigger receivers. Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway star Corey Brown could play defensive back and be pressed into service at corner because of his 6-1 frame.

It will be up to the East defensive line to get pressure on the West quarterbacks to help the secondary. Five-star defensive tackle William Campbell from Detroit Cass Tech will need to provide a big push up the middle while rush ends Ryne Giddins from Seffner (Fla.) Armwood, Donte Moss from Jacksonville (N.C.) Northside and Florence (S.C.) West Florence star Malliciah Goodman will need to get pressure off the edge and contain Rollinson when he's in the game.

The West offensive line, at least on paper, looks up to the task when it comes to protecting the quarterback. Foley (Ala.) High five-star D.J. Fluker and Slidell (La.) Northshore tackle Chris Faulk anchor the outside while San Bernardino (Calif.) Arroyo Valley Michael Philipp leads things up the middle. In addition to giving the quarterbacks time to pass, the offensive line will also try to open up holes for massive backs Christine Michael from Beaumont (Texas) West brook and Chris Whaley from Madisonville (Texas) High and slasher Cierre Wood from Oxnard (Calif.) Santa Clara.



East running back Bryce Brown is the nation's top-ranked player at his position.
The East linebackers will be charged with keeping the running game in check. Five-star Dorian Bell from Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway is a tackling machine as is Wellington (Fla.) Palm Beach Central 'backer Jon Bostic, but both are a bit vertically challenged. Pawling (N.Y.) Trinity Pawling linebacker Shayne Skov has the size to support the run and the quickness to drop in coverage and could be the key for the East defense.

On the offensive side of the ball, it appears that the running game and short passing game could be the strength of the East squad. Wichita (Kan.) Wichita East running back Bryce Brown is the top player at his position in the nation and Oak Park (Mich.) High back Edwin Baker and Monticello (Miss.) Lawrence County Kendrick Hardy both run with great leverage. Sumter (S.C.) High all-purpose back Roderick McDowell will likely be utilized in the passing game and Lynchburg (Va.) Brookville tight end Logan Thomas is a matchup nightmare for anyone at 6-6 and 233 pounds.

The West linebackers will have their hands full with Thomas and the running backs but it's hard to find a better combination than Corona (Calif.) Centennial monster Vontaze Burfict and Andalusia (Ala.) High star Nico Johnson who are both at least 6-2 and weigh more than 225 pounds. However, Brown and McDowell will be hard to check and if Thomas is utilized properly in the slot, the flat and middle of the field could be open.

When trying to get the ball downfield, the East will rely on East St. Louis (Ill.) High wideout Kraig Appleton, Philadelphia (Pa.) Northeast star Je'Ron Stokes and Apopka (Fla.) High waterbug Jeremy Gallon out of the slot. They'll be checked by huge cornerbacks Dre Kirkpatrick from Gadsden (Ala.) Gadsden City and Gabe Lynn from Jenks (Okla.) High and the deep middle will be patrolled by Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne safety Byron Moore and Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure athlete Patrick Hall The secondary looks to be the strength of the West defense.



Jamarkus McFarland and the West defensive line will try to make life miserable for the East offense.
The play of the East quarterbacks will be the key for the East team. Two of them, Tampa (Fla.) Plant's Aaron Murray and Hampton (Va.) Phoebus standout Tajh Boyd will be less than 100-percent going in. Murray is recovering from a broken fibula and dislocated ankle while Boyd will be playing with a torn ACL. The other two quarterbacks, Chatham (Va.) Hargrave dual-threat Kevin Newsome and Springfield (Pa.) Cardinal O'Hara signal-caller Tom Savage could end up getting more reps as a result.

With the mobility of Murray and Boyd limited and with Savage's strength as a pocket passer, plenty of pressure will be on the East offensive line. Tackle Morgan Moses from Richmond (Va.) Meadowbrook and LaGrange (Ga.) Troup guard Chris Burnette are excellent run blockers and Fayetteville (N.C.) Jack Britt tackle Xavier Nixon and Naples (Fla.) High stud Nick Alajajian are both polished technicians. They will try to keep massive tackles Jamarkus McFarland from Lufkin (Texas) High and Chris Davenport out of Mansfield (La.) High from blowing up the middle and defensive end Alex Okafor out of Pflugerville (Texas) High from getting around the edge. And watch out for five-star Sheldon Richardson from St. Louis (Mo.) Gateway who could play tackle or end. The West defensive line has the size advantage, but the East offensive line is agile.

In the end, this game will come down to which team can keep its quarterbacks clean and which playmakers can bust loose and make a difference. On paper at least it appears that the West has the clear advantage in that department.

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ND 49 Hawaii 21- Clausen's 401 yards passing, 5 TDs lead way as Irish end bowl skid
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283590087

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4 Star picks RU over Florida,USCOklahoma& Miami ,Rutgers receives verbal commitment from DT Antwan Lowery
by Tom Luicci/The Star-Ledger Thursday December 18, 2008, 8:09 PM
Rutgers added another four-star player to its 2009 recruiting class when defensive tackle Antwan Lowery of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami confirmed Thursday night that he gave Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano a verbal commitment.

Lowery, whose brother Antonio is a backup linebacker for Rutgers, is ranked the No. 34 defensive tackle in the country by Rivals.com and No. 8 at the position by ESPN.com. The 6-3, 335-pounder had his pick of schools, including Florida, Florida State, Miami, USC, and Oklahoma. His commitment keeps Rutgers' pipeline to South Florida flowing, since he is the only Florida recruit in the incoming class, which now numbers 22.

"Yes, I committed to (Rutgers)," Lowery said by phone while attending a basketball game at his high school.

Lowery said that while he originally wanted to stay close to home to attend college "Rutgers was like home to me."

"I just felt real comfortable every time I was there," he said late Thursday night.

Columbus High School head coach Chris Merritt said Rutgers and No. 2-ranked Florida (which is playing in the national championship game against Oklahoma) were Lowery's final two choices. It was Merritt, according to Lowery, who called Schiano with the news of the commitment -- after Schiano visited Lowery at his home on Wednesday night.

"He (Lowery) knows Coach Schiano and what he's going to get because his brother is there. There are no doubts or questions," Merritt said. "He knows how he's going to be treated, and he felt real comfortable.

"To be honest, I've seen a lot of big bodies here in South Florida, and with the way he moves, I can tell you Rutgers is getting one heck of a football player."

Mike Farrell of Rivals.com called it "a great get for Rutgers."

"It's a comeback victory in recruiting for them with Lowery," he said. "Early on they were strongly involved with him, then they got off to that horrible (1-5) start and with Antwan having so many big-time programs after him, I think he was leaning toward staying down south. Then the season turned around and the coaching staff never stopped working on him."

Though Lowery originally planned to make a decision in August, he said he held off because "I didn't know enough about all of the colleges that were interested in me. I needed to take some visits and see some schools."

He said he was also waiting to see if Rutgers would pull out of its 1-5 start.

"That was big for me," he said. "I liked the way they were able to turn the season around. They never quit. That meant a lot to me."

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Taking Penn State + 10 vs FUSC

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BCS bowl games offer storied programs, great coaching matchups
By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: December 8, 2008

If you are looking for someone to hold the BCS' hand and tell it that the bowl matchups are correct, you had best read elsewhere.


I don't know whether No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida are the two best teams, and anyone who tells you they are doesn't know, either. He just has a louder opinion.

But this much is true: Of the five BCS games announced Sunday night, three of them, including the championship game, are keepers. A fourth, the Allstate Sugar Bowl between No. 4 Alabama and No. 6 Utah, is a plate of fusion cuisine that will feel right at home in the Big Easy. And what if the BCS were to hold the FedEx Orange Bowl and a Metro Conference reunion broke out?

But back to the big three. The BCS National Championship Game and the Rose and Fiesta bowls will put storied programs and great coaches on the same field in the kind of intersectional games that we crave but don't see often enough.

Aaron M. Sprecher/Icon SMI

Bob Stoops and Co. will face Florida for the first time.

In fact, we have never seen Florida play Oklahoma. They will meet for the first time on Jan. 8, unless you count the meeting seven years and one day earlier. That's when Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, searching for a replacement for head coach Steve Spurrier, flew to Norman to woo Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, the defensive coordinator on Spurrier's 1996 national championship Gators.

Stoops, 12 months removed from winning a crystal football of his own with the Sooners, declined to pursue the discussion. Foley hired Saints defensive coordinator Ron Zook and gave him three years, then beat Notre Dame to the altar to woo then-Utah coach Urban Meyer.

Because Meyer has won one national championship, in 2006, either Florida will deny its onetime fair-haired boy a second BCS title or vice versa.

The FedEx BCS National Championship Game will be Meyer's 100th game as head coach. He is 82-17 (.828) and already has won a national championship. As good as that is, it's not difficult to find a coach with a similar record. Stoops, in his first 100 games, went 82-18 (.820) and won a national championship. Stoops has increased his pace of winning, raising his record to 109-23 (.826).

Meyer and Stoops rank second and third in winning percentage among active coaches (behind USC's Pete Carroll), and their records are so similar that an Oklahoma victory would reverse their positions.

The Sooners have won four of the past five Big 12 championships and six in Stoops' 10 seasons. Meyer has won his second Southeastern Conference title in four seasons, adding that to the pair of Mountain West championships he won in his two seasons at Utah (2003 and '04).

The Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi between No. 5 USC and No. 8 Penn State is a keeper as well, a matchup of two rich traditions and a rematch of the 1923 Rose Bowl. The Trojans won that game 14-3, defeating the young Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno.

Correction: Paterno did not begin coaching Penn State in 1923. Really.

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Mack Brown and Texas will meet Ohio State for the third time.

When No. 3 Texas plays No. 10 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, the matchup will feel a little more familiar. This will be the teams' third meeting in four seasons. The Longhorns won in Columbus 25-22, on their way to winning the 2005 national championship. The Buckeyes won in Austin 24-7, on their way to the championship game a season later.

Alabama, like Texas and USC, will be expected to win its BCS bowl by a healthy margin, even if the Utes are the only undefeated team to play in a BCS bowl game. The Crimson Tide will have an edge in athleticism, and the Louisiana Superdome can't print enough tickets for the Alabama fans. They are a short drive from New Orleans, and they haven't been there for the Sugar Bowl in 16 years.

No. 12 Cincinnati's first trip to a BCS game, the Orange Bowl against No. 19 Virginia Tech, doesn't bring much sizzle. The Bearcats and the Hokies spent 17 seasons together (1975 to 1991) in the non-football, defunct Metro Conference, and we'll pause here for you to say, "Wow."

They both lost more than one game during the regular season, and the Bearcats' ranking is the highest that either team has achieved this season. In fact, Cincinnati didn't appear in the BCS standings until after the games of Nov. 8, and Virginia Tech didn't arrive until last week.

The Hokies feel they arrived right on time. So do eight of the other nine teams. Texas may be smarting, especially now that the Associated Press voters moved Florida past both the Sooners and the Longhorns by a substantial margin.

You may resume your regularly scheduled argument about who deserves to play for No. 1.

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Send your questions and comments to Ivan at [e-mail]. His new book, "The Maisel Report: College Football's Most Overrated & Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions," is on sale now. For more information, go to TheMaiselReport.com.




Related Topics: College Football

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Florida, Oklahoma 1-2 in AP poll, leaving Texas on outside looking in
Associated Press

Updated: December 7, 2008, 9:16 PM ET

Florida was No. 1 and Oklahoma jumped Texas to become No. 2 in the AP Top 25, leaving the Longhorns little hope of winning a championship trophy.

The Longhorns were No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll released Sunday, behind the two teams that will play in the BCS national title game Jan. 8 in Miami.

The Gators finished the season No. 1 in the AP poll two seasons ago, but before that Florida last led the media rankings in October 2001.


Poll Positions
The top five of The Associated Press poll released Sunday:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

For complete AP and USA Today polls, click here.

The final BCS standings had Oklahoma No. 1, Florida No. 2 and Texas third. The USA Today coaches' poll lined up that way, as well. The Harris poll had Florida on top, followed by Oklahoma and Texas.

The coaches' poll is obligated to rank the BCS title game winner No. 1. The AP poll is not. The last time the two major polls had different final No. 1 teams was after the 2003 season, when LSU won the BCS title and Southern California was No. 1 in the AP Top 25.

Tim Tebow and the Gators won the Southeastern Conference championship Saturday with a 31-20 victory against previously unbeaten and then-No. 1 Alabama.

Florida, which received 50 first-place votes in the AP poll, becomes the sixth team to be No. 1 this season. Georgia started there. Southern California took over after the first games were played and held the top spot for four weeks.

After USC lost at Oregon State, Oklahoma rose to No. 1 in the AP poll and stayed there for two weeks. The Sooners lost to Texas 45-35 on Oct. 11.

The Longhorns were No. 1 until losing 39-33 on a last-second touchdown at Texas Tech on Oct. 25. That made Alabama No. 1, where the Tide stayed until losing to the Gators and falling to No. 4.

The last season in which there were six No. 1 teams was 1984.

The Sooners won the Big 12 championship, a game many felt Texas deserved to be in instead of Oklahoma because of the head-to-head result, by routing Missouri 62-21 on Saturday night. The latest offensive barrage by the Sooners, who have set an NCAA record for points in a season with 702, helped OU move up two spots in the Top 25 and jump over Texas in another close vote.

Last week, Texas was ranked third, eight points ahead of Oklahoma. This week, Oklahoma is 10 points ahead of Texas.

Oklahoma received nine first-place votes. Texas had six. Last week, 40 voters had Texas ahead of Oklahoma in the AP poll, most by one spot. The Longhorns were ahead of the Sooners on 34 ballots this week.

The shift means it's unlikely Texas could finish No. 1 in the AP poll after the bowls are played -- the Longhorns are expected to be matched against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl -- no matter how the BCS title game between Oklahoma and Florida plays out.

The next and final AP Top 25 will be released hours after the BCS championship game.

The rest of the latest top 10 stayed the same the day after championship Saturday.

Southern California, Pac-10 champions for the seventh straight season, was No. 5 and the Trojans' Rose Bowl opponent Penn State was No. 6.

Undefeated Utah was No. 7, followed by Texas Tech and undefeated Boise State. The Utes, champions of the Mountain West Conference, and the Broncos, champs of the Western Athletic Conference, are the only unbeaten teams left in major college football.

Ohio State rounded out the top 10.

The next 10 started with TCU at No. 11, followed by Oklahoma State at 12. The Cowboys join Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech and give the Big 12 South a third of the top 12 teams in the country.

Big East champion Cincinnati was No. 13, followed by Georgia Tech and Oregon.

Preseason No. 1 Georgia was No. 16. BYU, Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Mississippi completed the top 20.

No. 21 Virginia Tech re-entered the rankings after beating Boston College to win its second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship Saturday.

Ball State slipped 10 spots to No. 22 after losing for the first time this season. The Cardinals lost the Mid-American Conference championship game 42-24 to Buffalo on Friday night.

No. 23 Northwestern, Oregon State and Missouri, which fell six spots to No. 25, closed out the rankings.

BC was the only team to fall out of the Top 25 this week

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Weis says Irish must be in discussion for national championship every year
Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Success for Notre Dame football does not necessarily mean playing for the national championship every year, but it does mean being in the discussion for a Bowl Championship Series berth, coach Charlie Weis said Friday.


"I don't think you can be just a mediocre team at Notre Dame. I'm not saying you're playing for the national championship game every year. But you have to be in the discussion," Weis said before the team's football banquet. "If you're not in the discussion, I don't think that's what anyone who went to Notre Dame or roots for Notre Dame would ever be looking for."

The Irish, whose 20 year championship drought is the longest in school history, went to BCS bowls during Weis' first two seasons. The past two years, however, the Irish have gone 3-9 and 6-6, leading to speculation Weis might be fired despite having seven years left on his 10-year contract.

Weis admitted he had a restless night's sleep after the 38-3 loss to USC on Saturday when he stayed in Los Angeles to recruit. He traded text messages with athletic director Jack Swarbrick when he woke up in the middle of the night. After two recruiting visits Sunday, Weis talked to the Rev. John Jenkins, the university president, by telephone on Monday. Then he met with Swarbrick in San Jose, Calif., to discuss his future and the future of the program.

Weis and Swarbrick didn't see eye-to-eye on everything, but agreed generally on what changes need to be made, Weis said. Weis, like Swarbrick earlier in the week, declined to talk about what changes will be made other than to say some of the changes would be obvious and others more subtle.

Jenkins and Swarbrick wants to know three things from Weis: whether he would be happy returning to Notre Dame; what would be his commitment if he came back; and whether he would be accountable.

"I told them without a doubt that I would be happy to be here and would appreciate the support of Father John and Jack," said Weis, speaking to the media for the first time since after the USC game.

Weis said he's confident he can be successful.

"I don't think it's going to be five years down the road or 10 years down the road for that answer to come to fruition. Because you've gone from three wins to six wins, now what's it going to be?" he said. "I think we'll all have a better answer for that question sitting here this time next year."

Former Irish standout Joe Theismann, the banquet speaker, said before the banquet that he believes Weis can be successful and is glad he was given a chance to return, saying he doesn't think a change would have been good for the school.

"How do I evaluate Charlie? I know he has to do a better job," Theismann said. "He'll sit here and tell you he needs to a better job. I'm not naive to stick my head in the sand and say, 'We're OK.' We're not OK. But we can be. That's what I look for."

Asked to assess his performance the past four years, Weis said he would break his four years into two stages, the first two years when they went 9-3 and 10-3, and the next two years they lost 15 games, the most ever in two seasons at Notre Dame.

"Last year we were a crummy team that very often was noncompetitive. This year I thought we were a decent football team that blew three double-digit leads in games. You are what you are, as Bill (Parcells) always said. But the difference between 6-6 and 9-3 is blowing three double-digit leads."

Weis also spoke indirectly to reports by some fans and some in the media that Weis is brash and arrogant, saying he went out of his way this season to make sure his players knew what he is really like.

"I think that the players now know the other side of me that most other people don't know. Probably the side I get scrutinized the most for, they know the other side. I don't think there's any of them that doesn't," he said.

Weis said they have to know that so they can understand why he is so hard on them.

"Because once the players know both sides of you, it allows you to coach them hard," he said. "And we're going to need some hard coaching."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press



Related Topics: College Football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

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Four fumbles doom No. 12 Ball State in MAC finale
Associated Press
DETROIT -- Ball State rose to relevance in college football, finishing the regular season undefeated thanks in large part to Nate Davis.

The 12th-ranked Cardinals lost for the first time, though, because the star quarterback didn't take care of the football.



Fast Facts

• Buffalo ends Ball State's perfect season, outscoring the Cardinals 35-14 in the second half for the school's first-ever league title.

• The victory is the first for Buffalo against Ball State (previously 0-7) and the school's first win vs. a ranked opponent.

• The Bulls' defense forced four fumbles (five total turnovers) and converted them into 28 points.

• Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy passed for 206 yards and three touchdowns, making him the first Bulls quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season.

-- ESPN research

Davis played a part in each of Ball State's four fumbles and the Bulls scored off each turnover, routing the previously unbeaten Cardinals 42-24 Friday night in the Mid-American Conference championship game.

"It was a big effect," Davis said. "They took two fumbles to the house."

Davis hurled his body toward the end zone, but Josh Thomas popped the ball loose in mid-air about a yard short of the goal line and Mike Newton scooped it up for a 92-yard, go-ahead score late in the third quarter.

"I was trying to make a big play," Davis said.

Instead it was the Bulls who had one, and took the lead on the way to their first MAC title.

On the next possession, Davis couldn't field a shotgun snap he wasn't expecting and Sherrod Lott returned that fumble 74 yards for an 11-point lead.


Watson: MAC Dreams Deferred
When Ball State fell 42-24 to Buffalo in the MAC championship game, it was hard to keep a record-breaking season in focus, since the one thing the team had concentrated on was now gone, writes Graham Watson. Blog
The last

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Army cool looking uniforms but Navy will pound them!

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Rutgers routs Louisville, 63-14, to secure bowl bid
by Tom Luicci/The Star-Ledger
Thursday December 04, 2008, 10:59 PM

Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger
Mike Teel pitches the ball to Richard McCann in the second quarter.If style points mean anything, maybe Rutgers should be the party deciding which bowl game it wants -- not the other way around.

The Scarlet Knights didn't just secure the program's fourth straight bowl bid Thursday night. They put on an offensive show the likes of which has been 15 years in the making, one that should convince any selection committee that this isn't your typical 7-5 team.

Quarterback Mike Teel called the display "surreal at times."

Head coach Greg Schiano said it was the "best offensive performance by a team I've been the head coach of -- maybe ever that I've been a part of."

Don't ask where any of this was the first six games. Just enjoy the numbers that Rutgers' record-breaking 63-14 rout of Louisville, played before a crowd of 42,347 at Rutgers Stadium, produced.

The school-record seven touchdowns by Teel, a fifth-year senior, who also set a school mark with 447 passing yards. He finished 21-of-26.

A point total that was the program's highest ever in a Big East game and the most against any opponent since a 68-6 rout of Colgate in 1993.

The career-best 173 yards on four catches (two for touchdowns) by Tim Brown and the 61 yards on three catches that enabled junior wide receiver Kenny Britt to break the school's single-season receiving yardage mark he set a year ago.

It was 49-0 at halftime, and the only suspense then was which bowl Rutgers would be headed to.

The possibilities are down to four and they depend on how Ball State fares Friday night and how West Virginia and Pittsburgh do Saturday. The destination du jour seems to be the Dec. 26 Motor City Bowl in Detroit, where a 13-0 Ball State -- if it beats Buffalo Friday night -- would await. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl and Sun Bowl are Rutgers' other possible postseason landing spots.

"It helps," defensive tackle Pete Tverdov said of the Knights' latest impressive victory. "It can't hurt to win like this on a big stage. I really don't know how it works, but I would think we're an attractive bowl team now."

That's hard to believe given the rocky start. By winning their sixth straight the Knights will become just the seventh team in major college history to open 1-5 and wind up in a bowl game.

"This was the team we thought would be here all along," Brown said.

Rutgers' 671 yards of offense (on 59 plays) were the most in Schiano's eight years as head coach. In the first half, the Knights scored 49 points on 25 plays and needed just 9:49 to do so.

"It was just one of those games where I saw things well, threw the ball well and the guys kept getting open," Teel said. "It seemed like every series they were open. We just kept scoring and scoring and scoring."

Teel left to a rousing ovation with 14:35 to play, where he was met by Schiano.

"Mike deserved this, for everything he has been through," said wide receiver Tiquan Underwood, who had two touchdown catches in his final home game.

Britt said he has never seen Teel play better.

"Once in practice I saw him like this. Our defense couldn't stop our offense," he said. "But to do that in a game? That's amazing. It's really amazing."

There wasn't much Rutgers did wrong on either side of the ball. Playing without leading rusher Kordell Young (head injury), the Knights saw redshirt freshman Jourdan Brooks step in by rushing for 124 yards on 11 carries -- highlighted by a 62-yard run in which he was finally dragged down by Travis Norton, who ripped out one of Brooks' dangling dreadlocks to make the tackle.

"It means a lot to go out like this for the seniors," Tverdov said. "I don't think I've even been in a game where we've been up 49-0 at halftime -- and I've been playing football since I was 7."

Teel said he hoped the statement Rutgers made over the second half of the season, punctuated by last night's performance, will be taken into account.

"This is a very good football team right now," he said.


See more in Breaking News
Tags: The Star-Ledger

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Rutgers vs. Ball State in the Motor City Bowl?

December 4, 2008 3:55 PM


Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Tom Luicci has a very interesting story on The Star-Ledger's Web site that says Rutgers might be looking at a date with undefeated Ball State in the Motor City Bowl if things can be arranged.

Ken Hoffman, who's the executive director of both the Big East-affiliated International Bowl and the Motor City Bowl, tells Luicci that he could take Rutgers for the International and then swap the Scarlet Knights to Detroit to play Ball State. The two teams played in last year's International Bowl, with Rutgers winning 52-30. But it would be an intriguing rematch this year because Ball State will be 13-0 if it wins the MAC title game, while Rutgers will have won six straight if it beats Louisville tonight.

The deal would require the approval of the Football Bowl Association, and of course both teams have to win their games this week. But if it works out, this is a far, far more appealing prospect for Scarlet Knights fans than g