The new AP, Coaches, and Harris Interactive polls are out.
In the AP poll, no real changes at the top, other than Michigan State and Missouri dropping out of the top ten after their losses yesterday. Nebraska and Stanford both jumped above Oklahoma and idle LSU.
In the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, despite beating Louisiana Tech at home last Tuesday to remain undefeated, Auburn has jumped above Boise State into second.
Auburn also leaps above Boise State in the Harris Interactive poll. Boise State has more first-place votes (12), than Auburn (10), but received 48 fewer points than the Tigers.
Oregon remained first in all three polls. NC State rejoins the top 25 in all three polls, while Nevada rejoins in the AP and coaches polls.
BCSKnowhow.com has their early projections for this week's BCS rankings. No change is predicted in the top four slots (Auburn, Oregon, Boise State and TCU). Alabama is predicted to be fifth.
Boise State is No. 3 in the BCS standings, right on the cusp of where it needs to be for the title game. And that's where the BCS establishment wants to keep them. The BCS was established by the six power conferences and Notre Dame, with no intention of ever including teams outside of that realm. But Boise State's win over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl changed things, and the power mongers have not been able to get the genie back into the bottle. Then Utah came along and whipped Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Even though the Crimson Tide gave up eight sacks because it was missing both starting tackles, people took notice. But the red pill was always a little out of reach. Yes, there are many times when Matrix references are worth making, and this is one of them.
The BCS is like The Architect, and Boise State is Neo. They've made it to the source, or in this case, the top five, but the BCS still maintains its control. In this case, it's the computer rankings. The humans are voting Boise State at No. 2, which must mean they think they the Broncos are good enough to play for the title. This is certainly not surprising in the case of the AP voters, because the consensus media agenda is to create as much bad publicity as possible to force a playoff. The power mongers in the BCS want the opposite. One has to assume, though, that if Oregon were to lose, that Boise would be voted the No. 1 team in the country. If that is so, and the Broncos continued to take care of business with blowout wins, they would almost certainly win the AP national title. What would make the writers drop them? Only the Broncos can hurt themselves in that regard, and if they won the AP title, the crown would at minimum be split. That would be if, when it comes to the BCS, Boise is still on the outside looking in. The Broncos are getting killed by the computers, including Jeff Sagarin's amalagam of crap he calls ratings, where they are 11th. So this begs the question - IF they ever needed to be, could the BCS computers be manipulated? This question becomes more important when you realize that ESPN - which runs the coaches' poll - also owns the rights to the BCS. I am not saying the BCS is fixed, let's be clear. But what if it needed to be? Could it be? Who among us knows what goes into those computers? A wise man once told me that computers can only do what humans tell them to do. Doesn't that at least bring into question the integrity of that portion of the system? I'm not one of these bleeding hearts who thinks Boise State is getting screwed or that there should be a playoff. I am just fascinated by how the entire sport is run by faceless rich guys who no one ever sees. Everyone is wondering what it will take for Boise to make the BCS title game, and maybe the Broncos still can. But for now, they are being kept just out of reach, just where the BCS wants them. There's still plenty of time to see this play out to see if Boise falls down the rabbit hole or not. * * * Just like his team, Boise quarterback Kellen Moore is running second in the Stiffarm.com poll for the Heisman Trophy. Auburn's Cameron Newton is the leader for now, as only one of 62 Heisman voters polled left him off their 10-player watch list. Moore was named on 55 ballots, as was Oregon's LaMichael James, and there is a big drop-off to quarterbacks Andrew Luck (Stanford), Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State) and Denard Robinson (Michigan). It would seem that Moore is poised to take over the lead if Newton stumbles, and I think all it would take would be one bad game to take him out of the picture as quickly as he got in.
So again, Boise is right on the doorstep of the elite, but do the Broncos have the key? Again, it's the most fascinating angle in a myriad of college football storylines this year. * * * Today's Florida-Georgia game is historic for two reasons. First, it's their first meeting as unranked teams since 1979. Second, it's the 30th anniversary of "Run, Lindsay, Run!" That occured the next year in 1980, when Lindsay Scott made his dramatic game-winning touchdown from deep in his own territory to win the game for Georgia. The Bulldogs went on to the national title, and it was regarded as the greatest moment in the school's football history. Meanwhile, Scott is reviled in Florida even by those too young to remember the play at all. The two teams are headed in different directions this year, though, as the Bulldogs are improving and the Gators are sinking. The main problem for the Gators has been offense, and a good friend of mine and prominent Gator supporter Dr. Tom Johnson summed it up best the other day. "Their offense is like your grandmother playing Tecmo Bowl." Sadly, that's accurate. If the Gators can't score this week, the organization once dubbed "The Firm" may just mail offensive coordinator Steve Adazzio his clothes.
As usual, the506.com and mattsarzsports.com have compiled college football TV listings for this weekend's slate of games. Select games, stations and announce crews are listed below:
20 Oklahoma State at Kansas State, 12:00pm ET/Select FSN and CSN, MSG+ (Bill Land, Dave Lapham, Emily Jones)
5 Michigan State at 18/19 Iowa, 3:30pm ET/ABC or ESPN depending on region (Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Heather Cox)
7/8 Missouri at 14/12 Nebraska, 3:30pm ET/ABC or ESPN depending on region (Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards)
15/16 Arizona at UCLA, 3:30pm ET/Select FSN and CSN, MSG2+ (Barry Tompkins, Petros Papadakis, Rebecca Haarlow)
3 Auburn at Ole Miss, 6:00pm ET/ESPN2 (Mark Jones, Bob Davie, Quint Kessenich)
13/14 Stanford at Washington, 7:00pm ET/Versus (Ron Thulin, Glenn Parker, Lewis Johnson)
8/7 Utah at Air Force, 7:30pm ET/CBS-CS (Jason Knapp, Aaron Taylor, Brooke Olzendam)
10 Ohio State at Minnesota, 8:00pm ET/ABC-Regional (Mike Patrick, Craig James, Ray Bentley)
This report filed by the Associated Press -- finally an end to an ugly saga at a northeastern mid-major that appeared to be on the rise:
Binghamton University has bought out the contract of former men's basketball coach Kevin Broadus, who guided the team to its first NCAA tournament berth and presided over its rapid demise.
In exchange for his resignation and withdrawal of all claims and potential future lawsuits, Broadus will receive a $1.2 million settlement. According to a release from the school, Binghamton University will pay $819,115 and the State University of New York will pay $380,884.
Broadus filed a racial discrimination lawsuit in March and one of his attorneys had asked for his reinstatement after the NCAA announced last week that an investigation found no major violations during Broadus's tenure.
Broadus was hired in 2007 and last year signed a contract extension through the 2013-2014 season on the heels of a season that featured the team's first-ever conference championship and NCAA Tournament berth.
The program was hit hard after star guard Emanuel Mayben was arrested just over a year ago on charges of selling crack cocaine. Five other players were dismissed and Broadus was suspended with pay for making illegal contact with recruits.
This week's Trentonian U Rankings will be released later today.
As a tease, Oregon remains #1, garnering three first-place votes. Boise State remains at #2, receiving one first-place vote.
*** Per WAC press release and ESPN, the conference has settled with Fresno State and Nevada in regards to those two team's exit to the Mountain West.
As part of the settlement, Fresno State and Nevada will remain in the WAC through the 2011-2012 athletic seasons. The conference also reduced the exit fee for each institution from $5 million to $900,000.
*** Amry will honor Rutgers' Eric LeGrand by putting red "52" and "R" stickers on their helmets for the rest of the season. The stickers will make their first appearance in this week's game against VMI.
LeGrand was seriously injured when tackling Army's Malcolm Brown during a kickoff return. The tackle during the October 16th matchup has left LeGrand paralyzed from the neck down.
As expected the "new" Pac-10, or Pac-12, will feature a north-south split for football.
The north division will be composed of Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, California and Stanford. The south division will be composed of USC, UCLA, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State.
The California rivalries will be upheld as the northern California teams will play the southern California teams annually.
The Pac-12 also announced that revenues will be split evenly among the member institutions. If revenues fall below a certain level, USC and UCLA are guaranteed to receive $2 million more than the other members.
It was also announced that the Pac-12 championship game would be held at the campus site of the team with the best conference record. This is intended to reward the team with the best record.
The divisional format will only be applied in football. The Pac-10 becomes the Pac-12 for the 2011-2012 season.
*** Saturday's Auburn-LSU matchup will feature the two remaining unbeaten teams in the SEC.
The future divisional alignment of the "new" Pac-10 is among issues that should be addressed Thursday by Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott.
The Oregonian breaks down the main issues that are not yet resolved.
At issue has been how to divide the 12 teams that will compose the "new" Pac-10. Geographically speaking, a north-south split has been discussed. However in the scenario, the two southern California schools would not be in the same division as the two northern California schools. This has been a sticking point as the California schools seem to prefer being in the same division.
Also, the north-south split does not have quite the support from the four Pacific Northwest schools, as they would not be in the same division as USC and UCLA. This would reduce the recruiting reach the four northern schools would have in recruit-heavy southern California.
A new revenue-sharing plan seems to be in the works as well, with rumors swirling that USC and UCLA would probably receive $2 million dollars more than the other Pac-10 institutions.
*** Kent State will be playing Alabama in Tuscaloosa to open the 2011 season.
Kent State was originally scheduled to start the 2011 season against Purdue. The Golden Flashes are reported to have paid Purdue $425,000 to escape the contract for the September 3, 2011 game.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban'salma mater is Kent State. He was a defensive back for the Golden Flashes from 1970-72.
Haven't done one of these in awhile, so here is a peek at some interesting spreads movement mid-week:
In Thursday's matchup between AP/Coaches/Harris #1 Oregon and UCLA, the Ducks began as a 21.5 pt favorite, and the line has ballooned up to 24-24.5 pts for Oregon.
According to ESPN Los Angeles, UCLA starting quarterback Kevin Prince (knee) will be a game-time decision. UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel has already announced that sophomore Richard Brehaut will start if Prince can't play tomorrow.
As pointed out by Addicted to Quack, the game at Autzen Stadium will be Oregon's first as the AP's number one-ranked team.
As expected, the injury to Eric LeGrand has shifted the lines in Rutgers' matchup at Pittsburgh. Pitt began as an 8 pt favorite, and it is now hovering around 12.5-13 pts.
Texas opened as a 23 pt favorite against Iowa State, but that has dropped to 20.5-21 pts.
Washington State is the current big dog of the week, as they are currently 34.5 pt underdogs against Stanford in their match up in NorCal Saturday.
Penn State defensive end Sean Stanley has been charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession stemming from a police call to his on-campus apartment in September.
Stanley has returned to practice, but his name does not appear in the Nittany Lions' depth chart for their upcoming game at Minnesota.
A preliminary hearing is set for mid-November.
*** Despite Washington's thrilling double-overtime victory over Oregon State last weekend, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer addresses the Huskies' need to find consistency in their game.
When asked about finding consistency, head coach Steve Sarkisian replied, "I don't exactly know that. If I did, I'd probably get paid a lot more money to travel around the country and answer that question for a lot of teams that sometimes don't come out with the same energy that they do week to week to week."
He added, "I think sometimes we put a little too much pressure on ourselves, like 'OK, we won, now we can go win two in a row.' Let's just go play and forget what just happened last week and what might occur if we win or we don't win. Let's just go play the game."
The need for consistency was evident in this past game, as the Huskies took an early 21-0 lead, only to hang on at the end to force overtime. A failed Oregon State two-point conversion after a touchdown in the second overtime, sealed the win for Washington.
*** According to the USC Rips It Blog, USC head coach Lane Kiffin is holding early morning practices during this week's bye week so that he and his staff can hit the recruiting trail heavily.
A 6 a.m. practice was held today, and scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday as well.
We have added (hopefully on a permanent basis) a fourth voter to the Trentonian U panel. Joey Kulkin chimes in this week along with the usual suspects.
We've also added a "Hi-Lo" feature, which has the highest and lowest rankings from the four panel members, as well as the team's current BCS ranking.
Without further delay, the Trentonian U rankings for this week:
We're halfway through the season, and much like the parity-filled NFL, I am not sure we've learned all that much yet.
Consider that a team no one is talking about - Oklahoma - is No. 1 in the BCS standings, mainly due to a love affair between computers and the Sooners.
Somehow, LSU is No. 1 in two of the computer rankings, which is strange, but no matter. The Tigers get to face those other Tigers from Auburn this weekend, which will give one of them a huge boost.
Auburn is already third in the computers and still has LSU and Alabama on its schedule, so a 12-0 Auburn team would figure to move up into one of the top two spots.
Or will it?
Would Oklahoma or Oregon be displaced if they both go undefeated? Hard to say, although the computers do not love the Ducks. Oregon plays at USC and at Oregon State still, though, both of which are dangerous - yet valuable - games. If the Ducks win out and keep No. 1 in the polls, it would be a crime not to see them play for the national title.
Stranger things have happened though.
Oregon does have to beware in that game against USC. That game basically stands as the Trojans' bowl game since they are on probation, and Lane Kiffin won't hold anything back.
Lost in all this is Boise State, which I still believe is going to need everyone else to have at least one loss to get to the title game. If Oklahoma, Oregon, Michigan State or Auburn finish undefeated, any of those teams will be ahead of Boise in the rankings when it is all said and done. Same goes for TCU, so any combination of those four finishing with no losses essentially eliminates them from the title game no matter what.
It should be interesting to see how it all plays out. Most years at this time, we are saying "What if all these teams undefeated?" And they almost never do.
* Going back to a year when no one had a perfect record, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the most messed up college football season of all time. Colorado won the AP national title with a record of 11-1-1, while Georgia Tech won the coaches' crown at 11-0-1 as the only unbeaten team.
That season is the ultimate example of how dumb poll voters were, are and always will be. In Colorado's case, the Buffs opened the season with a tie against then No. 8-Tennessee, and they lost to Illinois by one point two weeks later, dropping them from No. 9 to No. 18.
Colorado beat Texas 29-22 the next week, and incredibly, neither team lost another regular season game. Well, not on the books anyway.
On Oct. 6, 1990, Colorado came away with a 33-31 win over Missouri with the aid of a fifth down. Now, I don't care what the scoreboard says, if you know they had a fifth down, why would anyone consider that a win?
Colorado dropped from No. 12 to No. 14 the next week, but was that enough punishment for a team that now had a loss, a tie AND a game that clearly should have been a loss?
On Oct. 29, Miami was No. 8 despite two losses to top 25 teams, and Colorado was No. 9. Then four of the top five teams lost in one shot, including then-No. 1 Virginia, causing chaos.
Colorado had one of those wins over No. 3 Nebraska, a team that was wildly overrated at the time. Miami beat Pitt 45-0, yet found itself at No. 5 the following week, one spot BEHIND Colorado, which essentially had two losses and a tie.
More top five losses moved Colorado and Miami up to No. 2 and No. 3 behind No. 1 Notre Dame, which tne lost to Penn State, crowning the Buffaloes as the No. 1 team in the land.
The Buffs then played Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl and won 10-9 when a phantom clipping call negated Rocket Ismail's would-be game-winning touchdown. So now a team that has what amounts to three losses and a tie is the national champ.
By the way, the real champion should have been two-loss Miami, which destroyed Texas in the Cotton Bowl 46-3 despite racking up 202 yards in penalties, much to the delight of Luther Campbell.
The point of all this? Nothing is as it seems in college football, and logic will never ever apply to who plays for the national title.
* On the Heisman front, I have been participating in the Stiffarm Poll to take the pulse of voters on the Heisman and who is on their minds as the season progresses. It is an interesting poll, as it has taken on a kind of "Survivor" feel to it the last couple of weeks.
They orignally asked for an unlimited number of names that were on your mind, but last week the number was cut to 12 players. This week, someone gets voted off the island as they asked for just my best 11.
I had to go ahead and vote off three guys, though, after some dismal performances.
Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, NC State's Russell Wilson and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick got sent packing from my watch list with awful games in losses for their teams. The list of guys I am watching includes, in no particular order, Alabama's Mark Ingram, Boise State's Kellen Moore, Michigan's Denard Robinson, Ohio State's Terrell Pryor (who also took a hit but stayed in the top 11), Michigan State's Kirk Cousins, Stanford's Andrew Luck, Oregon's LaMichael James (despite his off-field past) and North Carolina's T.J. Yates, the ultimate dark horse. I added Ricky Stanzi of Iowa and Dominique Davis of East Carolina just to give those guys some love, but I suspect they will be the first ones off the island in the next round of cuts.
Oh yeah, that's only 10 guys. I forgot about Auburn's Cameron Newton.
Newton has already been the backup for a Heisman winner when he played behind Tim Tebow in 2007. Then he stole a $1,700 laptop (allegedly) and pulled a Han Solo by dumping the goods out the window then the cops arrived. He ended up getting suspended from the team and he eventually transferred to Blinn Junior College in Texas.
After winning the JC national title, Newton re-emerged at Auburn and became the Heisman frontrunner as of this moment. This is interesting, though, as the University of Florida was raked across the coals earlier this year for having so many arrests, discipline problems etc.
Urban Meyer has kicked a lot of these guys out of school, and yet Florida is called a "dirty program." How dirty are the teams that pick up these "free agents", turn them into Heisman contenders and become top five teams? Funny, I don't hear much of that being said.
It's not like Newton killed someone, but now he's the toast of the country. Somehow if Florida had held onto him and started him this year in the absence of Tebow, there would be something wrong with that, he would be a "trouble kid." On Auburn, though, he's getting a "second chance."
What's wrong with that picture?
While we're on the topic, James strangled his girlfriend (allegedly) and is now right back in the lineup for No. 1 Oregon, and he too appears ticketed for New York City if things stay as they are.
It's a tangled web we weave. Check this space for an update later this week on whether Newton is offically on top of this week's Stiffarm Poll.
As usual, the506.com and mattsarzsports.com have compiled a list of televised college football games for tomorrow. Some highlights below:
Boston College at 16/17 FSU (12:00pm ET, ESPN; Mike Patrick and Craig James) 21/19 Missouri at Texas A&M (12:00pm ET, FSN; Steve Physioc, Dave Lanham, Jim Knox)
Illinois at 13/11 Michigan St (12:00pm ET, Big Ten Network; Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Charissa Thompson) 12/13 Arkansas at 7 Auburn (3:30pm ET, CBS; Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson) 15/14 Iowa at -/24 Michigan (3:30pm ET, ABC/ESPN; Ron Franklin, Ed Cunningham)
Texas at 5/4 Nebraska (3:30pm ET, ABC/ESPN; Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Quint Keesenich)
BYU at 4/5 TCU (4:00pm ET, Versus; Joe Beninati, Kelly Stouffer, Lindsay Soto) 1 Ohio State at 18/16 Wisconsin (7:00pm ET, ESPN; Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews) 23 Air Force at San Diego State (8:00pm ET, CBS-CS; Dave Ryan, Aaron Taylor) 8 Alabama at Ole Miss (9:15pm ET, ESPN2; Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe)
***
Matthew Osborne has run out of excuses. Having said that, he has this week's picks (as always, for entertainment purposes only) here.
(Image: University of Mississippi, Student Mascot Selection Committee)
Mississippi has concluded its efforts to come up with a successor to Colonel Reb, seen to many as an unfavorable connection with the "Old South".
More than 13,000 votes were cast and the Rebel Black Bear won around three-fifths of the support to become the next mascot for Ole Miss.
***
In light of recent stories of agents providing college athletes with improper benefits, a legislator in Oregon is planning on addressing this issue.
Oregon state Senate President Peter Courtney revealed that he plans on introducing legislation next year that aims to limit agent contact and influence over college and high school athletes.
The legislation will, broaden the definition of a sports agent to include contract advisers, financial planners, etc., make agents register with the state as well as with each institution where they intend to make contact with athletes; protect athletes down to the elementary school level from these agents, and make it illegal to funnel improper benefits to the athlete via family members or friends.
In a release, the legislation will be introduced next year as he and his staff are working with officials at Oregon's colleges and universities as well as working with the state's attorney general regarding enforcement.
The Oregon Ducks--having moved up to the number two ranking in the polls--have closed practice to the media and public during their bye week.
Head coach Chip Kelly broke the team's silence, only for the weekly Pac-10 coaches' teleconference. He asserted that the team's silence is not due to the improvement in ranking.
“We don’t shield our team. I think our kids can read whatever they want to read. I don’t talk about that,” Kelly said. “But they also know that it means absolutely nothing. You can just look at Alabama; they were the No. 1 team in the country and they lost. Now they’re the No. 8 team in the country...I know our kids can read the paper, I know our kids can read the Internet. But we don’t need to discuss it. Because it means nothing.”
The statuses of Kenjon Barner and Darron Thomas--both injured in last week's game at Washington State--are not known due to the team's silence.
***
This week's USC-California game will feature a matchup of apprentice and mentor.
Current California head coach Jeff Tedford was the offensive coordinator when Lane Kiffin was a backup quarterback at Fresno State. When it was clear that he would not see major playing time with the Bulldogs, Tedford suggested that Kiffin become a graduate assistant.
Kiffin has parlayed that ultimately into his current gig at USC. He gives a lot of credit to Tedford in his development into a head coach.
"I was very fortunate to be in the meeting room with him all the time," Kiffin said. "He was the coordinator, but he coached the quarterbacks too. I learned a ton from him before I ever got started in coaching."
The Rose Bowl will undergo a renovation over a three-year period, thanks to a $152-million plan approved by the Pasadena (Calif.) City Council yesterday.
The renovation plan calls for increasing the number of premium seats from 550 to 2,500. The plan also would widen 12 access tunnels at the end zones, as well as increase the number of concession stands and restrooms. The renovation would be done in stages so as to not interrupt any UCLA and Rose Bowl games.
The majority of the funding ($144.5-million) would come from city-issued and federal stimulus bonds, from the city of Pasadena, the Tournament of Roses and Rose Bowl Operating Co.'s profits from past BCS games.
The $7.5-million gap will most likely be covered from favorable construction bids, proceeds from the 2014 BCS championship game, additional bonds, or from philanthropic efforts. If the gap cannot be trimmed, the project would be scaled back accordingly.
Construction is set to begin on January 11, 2011. The renovation should be complete in time for the 100th Rose Bowl and BCS title games in January 2014.
The city yesterday also approved 30-year lease extensions with both UCLA and Tournament of Roses.
***
Oregon State's James Rodgers will miss the rest of the season with the knee injury sustained in Saturday's victory over Arizona.
Detailed MRI results were not released, but coach Mike Riley did announce that the wide receiver would not return this season.
Rodgers was ranked sixth in the nation with almost 177 all-purpose yards per game.
Alabama's loss to South Carolina Saturday opened the path for Ohio State to be ranked number one in the AP, Coaches and Harris Interactive polls.
However continuing last week's trend, Oregon is once again ahead of Ohio State in the Trentonian U poll, and thus the Ducks are our number one-ranked team.
The severity of the injury sustained Saturday by Oregon State wide receiver James Rodgers is not yet known, but it seems likely he will miss at least the next game at Washington.
Rodgers had an MRI late Sunday and the test results are expected sometime today. Some have speculated that the injury may end his season.
If the injury is season-ending, Rodgers would qualify for a medical hardship redshirt as he has not played more than 30 percent of the season. Should he redshirt, James Rodgers would have the chance to end his college football career at the same time as younger brother Jacquizz, currently a junior.
***
In addition to James Rodgers' injury in the game against Arizona, in-state rival Oregon also suffered a serious injury to kick returner Kenjon Barner in their game at Washington State.
While Barner was ultimately able to walk off the field after the injury, he stayed overnight at a Pullman, Wash. hospital as a precaution. He was released Sunday and flew back with the team to Eugene, Ore.
Injuries are standard protocol in football, but as the Oregonian's John Canzano points out, we all need proper perspective when it comes to injuries.
Canzano highlights Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews, and his knack for sportsmanship and empathy.
He first took to Twitter to tweet, "...praying for Kenjon Barner hope everything goes well."
Hours after learning that James Rodgers had suffered a serious injury in his game, Matthews then tweeted, "Also praying for (Rodgers) and hoping everything is alright with his knee...Hell of a player and a person!"
It should be noted that Matthews and Rodgers follow each other on Twitter, and seem to have a respectable repoire, as seen in this recent exchange:
Matthews: "...hard fought physical game we just played...It feels good 2 come out with the W!!!" Rodgers: "...I didn't catch it but I heard it was a good one!" Matthews: "thanks man...ASU is better than they have been in awhile...I see you taking punts back to the crib good stuff"
As Canzano opines, we just don't hear much about things like this. Everyone should take note of how well-grounded Casey Matthews is.
***
As reported last week, former University of Washington president Mark Emmert recently took over as president of the NCAA for the late Myles Brand.
Seattle Times reporter Bud Withers caught up with Emmert for a Q&A session, covering a wide-range of topics, including a possible football playoff system, and large institutions such as California dropping sports programs.
*** (UPDATED 10/11/10 4:38PM ET-Combined into one post)
As noted by ESPN.com and confirmed via North Carolina release, Greg Little and Robert Quinn have been ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff.
Both players were under investigation for improper benefits received.
Marvin Austin, also under investigation for improper benefits received, was dismissed from the team per school release.
As Austin was released, his case was not submitted to the NCAA for reinstatement.
It's been a crazy week, and Roy Halladay's no-hitter threw me into a whole other universe. But college football marches on, and here we go with the picks for the week.
Navy (minus-3 1/2) over WAKE FOREST - Navy has served me well, and Wake Forest has a pretty terrible defense. This looks like another one of the ACC's many public humiliations.
Utah (minus-6) IOWA STATE - This one worries me because it seems too easy. Utah should be able to handle business here if it is really the No. 14 team in the country. It's that fact I'm not positive on.
FLORIDA (minus-6 1/2) over Louisiana State - This is a bounce-back week for the Gators. I'm not making excuses, but four turnovers in crucial situations handed last week's game to Alabama. Florida is better than it looked in that game.
Army (pick em) over TULANE - Yes, Tulane beat Rutgers up here. No, I am not impressed by that feat. If this pick is a winner, Rutgers better watch out in the Meadowlands next weekend when Army comes to town.
Baylor (minus-1 1/2) over Texas Tech (at Cowboys Stadium) - Baylor is the better team here from what I can see, and on a neutral field, I see no reason the Bears can't continue their rise toward bowl eligibility.
Auburn (minus-6 1/2) over KENTUCKY - I have WAY too many road teams for my taste, but that's the way the cookie crumbles some weeks. I am going with my old elementary school gym teacher Gene Chizik to get the job done against a subpar Wildcats team.
Michigan State at MICHIGAN, Over-64 1/2 - Michigan has no defense, and it also has one of the best players in the country in Denard Robinson. I smell yet another Michigan shootout, but I didn't trust them enough to go against Sparty. A trusted Ann Arbor source told me the Wolverines would not cover, so I am sticking with the over.
Oregon (minus-36) over WASHINGTON STATE - OK, now I am just being reckless. I have five road teams in eight picks, and I am laying more than five touchdowns on this one. But Oregon has something to prove to the BCS voters, and the only way to make that point against teams like Washington State is to kick the holy loving crap out of them.
Even after Utah and BYU depart the Mountain West Conference next year, the two teams will meet for the next two years, thanks to a contract agreed to by the two schools.
The 2011 matchup will be on September 17th in Provo, and the return game in Salt Lake City will be September 25, 2012.
***
While the athletic directors for Pac-10 member institutions wrapped up their two-day meeting in San Francisco, Calif., there were many questions left unanswered.
Among issues not resolved at the meetings include, revenue sharing, new divisional alignment and conference championship game options upon the Pac-10 becoming the Pac-12 next year.
The Pac-10 board of directors will meet on October 21.
As reported a few weeks ago, Playoff PAC has challenged the tax-exempt status of the BCS.
Now, four congressmen have joined the mix, urging the Internal Revenue Service to indeed review the tax status for the BCS. The four are, Joe Barton (R-TX), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Gene Green (D-TX), and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).
Barton has sponsored a bill in Congress to force a change to a playoff system to determine the national champion. Lummis is the co-sponsor of that bill. Green has asked for an investigation into the BCS system by the justice department. Chaffetz is a former BYU kicker.
***
Investigators with the North Carolina Secretary of State's office recently interviewed NFL agent Gary Wichard into the state's ongoing investigation of the University of North Carolina's football program.
The interview lasted about two hours, though no details have emerged in regard to the interview. Wichard has been a person of interest due to his longtime friendship with former UNC assistant coach John Blake.
***
Mark Emmert, chosen to be the successor to Myles Brand as NCAA president, completed his first day at headquarters. Brand passed away in September 2009 and the NCAA was under the direction of Jim Isch in the interm.
"It's been a long transition, but we in academia don't ever do things quickly," Emmert joked. "I want to see what the opportunities are to expand the interaction of what the organization can do beyond the sports world."
"The first order of business is to meet everyone in the office and to get out there and start listening to the constituents and hearing what their concerns and ideas are," Emmert told the Associated Press. "I've talked a great deal about the need to stay focused on the student-athlete, the academic progress of the student-athlete."
Idaho's athletic director Rob Spear made news last year when he refused to fly a Horizon Air flight, as the plane he was about to board was painted in rival Boise State's colors.
At the time, he stated that he would not fly Horizon Air, sister-company to Alaska Airlines, until they had a plane in Idaho colors.
Horizon Air announced yesterday that they would paint three Bombardier Q400 turboprops in three new liveries. They are for University of Idaho, University of Montana, and Montana State University.
In a prepared statement, Spear called the action a "bold recognition of Idaho's flagship university."
The rendition of the Idaho-themed plane is below.
(Image courtesy of Horizon Air/Alaska Air Group)
Here are renditions of the Montana and Montana State-theme airplanes. The three new liveries join five other University-themed planes, Boise State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State.
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Ohio State senior safety-linebacker Tyler Moeller will have season-ending surgery this week to repair a torn pectoral muscle suffered in last week's game at Illinois.
Moeller was already in the process of applying for a sixth-year of NCAA eligibility after sitting out all of last season due to a head injury. He was a victim of an assault in a Florida bar in July 2009.
AP voters were impressed with Oregon's victory over Stanford Saturday, vaulting the Ducks over Boise State into third place. It seems that the Trentonian U panel was equally impressed with the Ducks victory, as Oregon has jumped over Ohio State to second place in our rankings.
This week's edition of the Trentonian U Top 25 Rankings:
(October 4, 2010)
Dropped Out: No. 19 NC State, No. 21 USC, No. 23(t) Penn State Also Receiving Votes: UCLA 2, Northwestern 1, West Virginia 1 PANEL: Ben Doody (Assistant Sports Editor), Matthew Osborne (Sports Editor), and Fred Sakai (contributor)
First-place votes in (parantheses), last week's rankings in [brackets].
Many thought Boise State's 59-0 win over New Mexico State combined with Virginia Tech's upset victory over then 23th-ranked NC State would help the Broncos' argument for a BCS championship game berth.
Instead, when the new AP top 25 rankings were released, Boise State dropped to fourth. Oregon jumped over the Broncos into third place.
Oregon's jump can be attributed to their gritty win over Stanford. The battle of two top-ten Pac-10 teams Saturday was won by the Ducks, 52-31, in a game closer than the actual final score. Oregon fell behind 21-3 to Oregon in the first half, but was able to keep the Cardinal by scoring the final 28 points in the game.
Stanford's Andrew Luck threw for two touchdowns and 341 yards, but was matched equally by Oregon's Darron Thomas. Thomas threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for 117 yards and one touchdown.
***
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, hospitalized Thursday after a blood clot was found, has been released.
Dantonio had missed the previous two games due to a heart attack he experienced after the Notre Dame game.
His status for the Spartans' game against Michigan this Saturday has not yet been announced.
With the first full month of the Trentonian U blog in the books, we hope you are enjoying our college football blog, including our weekly rankings.
Please remember to check out our companion college basketball blog, Full Court Press.
Here are today's news and notes:
In what should be a gem of a matchup between two top-ten ranked Pac-10 teams, ninth-ranked Stanford visits Autzen Stadium Saturday to take on fourth-ranked Oregon.
Going into the game, Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh is trying to downplay his team. "To me, [there's] way too nice a stuff being said about us," says Harbaugh.
An interesting element to this game will be at quarterback. Stanford's Andrew Luck and Oregon's Darron Thomas have faced each other before in high school. The Houston natives played against each other twice in their high school days, with Luck's team winning both times.
To highlight the importance of this matchup, tomorrow's ESPN College Football Gameday will be from Eugene, Ore.
***
While not a college football story, this week's announcement that Southwest Airlines is acquiring AirTran Airways, has a football slant to it.
Many were surprised when Southwest announced their intentions to purchase AirTran this past Monday. The surprise factor was not only with the size and scope of the purchase, but also in how there were no leaks of the acquisition prior to its announcement.
Initial talks between the two carriers began in May. During numerous discussions that would subsequently take place, we learn that leaks were non-existent because Southwest CEO Gary Kelly and AirTran CEO Robert Fornaro were using code names to communicate with each other.
Southwest is based in Dallas, Tex., and thus Kelly used code name "Cowboy". While AirTran is based in Orlando, Fla., its largest operations are in Atlanta, Ga., and thus Fornaro used code name "Falcon". These code names were used so that any outsider who may have inadvertently gained access to sensitive documents and emails, would not know be able to identify the companies involved.
AirTran coincidentally has an aircraft, Falcons 1, in Atlanta Falcons colors.
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