One of the best college football players off all time is suiting up for his last game at the Swamp. I think you know that guy is Tim Tebow.
Not only does Tebow have a chance to win his second Heisman trophy, but he's also got an even better chance at [...]
Before Charlie Weis was officially announced as the new head coach at Notre Dame, he was preceded with praise from his colleagues and the press touting him as an offensive genius—a guru of X’s and O’s that, if anything else, could get the Irish offense firing on all cylinders.
Six years [...]
Clemson is still going to the ACC championship. That's the good news. The bad news is the Tigers got beat in every way by a very mediocre South Carolina team.
After C.J. Spiller returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the Gamecocks scored 24 straight points in a 34-17 victory. The [...]It wasn't meant to be for Thad Lewis and the rest of his senior cohorts.
The Duke quarterback who has started all but two games since arriving in Durham four years ago just wasn't able to put the Blue Devils on his back one last time.
So for the likes of Lewis, Leon Wright, Vincent [...]
How disappointing has this 2009 season been for Fighting Irish fans? How many would have believed Notre Dame would be limping across the country to play Stanford in the season finale with a 6-5 record?
When the 2009 schedule was first released, many pointed to this game against Stanford as a [...]
Former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe is available, Golden Domers. Today is the final day of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ era in South Bend. It is a perfect ending to the career of a coach of a has-been program, a paper tiger—if you will.
Weis has been horrible [...]
I’m all for college football traditions.
Traditions provide college football with the pageantry and passion that is often lacking from the professional game. Fall Saturdays would not be the same without someone dotting the I in Ohio, an orange-tinged crowd singing Rocky Top, or a whole stadium standing just in case [...]
Before I explain the title of this article, let me first confess some sentiments that are borne of being a fanatic USC Trojan fan.
I don't like the SEC or their fans.
More specifically, I have never liked or appreciated Florida fans.
As a USC fan, not liking Florida or their fans felt' [...]
As like the rest of the Auburn family, watching that last minute touchdown by Alabama made my stomach turn sour. Watching the final Hail Mary get knocked down to seal the deal for Alabama made me realize it would be another 364 days before Auburn has another shot.
But in the [...]
Watching football takes many different forms.
If you woke up this morning in Florida State slippers or a scarlet Oklahoma bathrobe, this article probably isn't for you.
There exists a very healthy segment of the population who love college football—the pageantry, the spectacle—but can't help but cast an eye forward. Each game [...]
When Virginia Tech and Virginia face off on Saturday the two teams will be playing for very little, other than pride of course.
Virginia Tech is trying to solidify a second-tier bowl, such as the Chick-fil-a or Gator Bowl, and Virginia is likely to move in a entirely new direction starting [...]
When Don James roamed the sidelines, the Huskies were known for two things; a rugged defense and a powerful running game behind a strong offensive line.
Coach Lambright carried on the tradition after James stepped away, but wasn’t as successful doing it in terms of wins.
Starting with Rick Neuheisel, the Husky [...]
The agonizing vividness of that photo is still freshly branded in my brain.
Down by two scores to unranked Kansas early in the third quarter of last season's Border Showdown, No. 13 Missouri scored 27 of the game's next 34 points to take a seemingly unconquerable 37-33 lead with less than [...]
(Will this be Jonathan Dwyer's last game in Bobby Dodd Stadium?)
Well, friends, the great day is upon us. Tonight, the Jackets and Bulldogs do battle again, as they always will on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
General wisdom says this is Georgia Tech's game to lose, and general wisdom would be correct. [...]
Nebraska fans need to be realistic. Those heading down to Arlington, Texas next weekend for the Big 12 Championship to encounter unbeaten Texas are in for a rude awakening.
Of course, a Husker shocker would be fantastic. A Husker win would make the Big 12 look more pathetic than it already [...]
In my preview of the Backyard Brawl that I wrote yesterday, I took Pitt quarterback Bill Stull over WVU's Jarrett Brown.
In my reasons for this I said that time after time, "JB has broken down in big situations when the team needed him the most."
This line echoed over and over [...]
Over the course of this past week, Clemson fans have found themselves pondering an interesting question. If it came down to it, would they rather beat the hated Gamecocks or win the elusive ACC?
Clemson fans seem to be split on the matter. I, for one, would take an ACC Championship [...]
Although Bama fans had hoped the Crimson Tide would have had a more convincing victory against the in-state rival Auburn Tigers, this win is the best thing that could have happened to this team on the weekend just before the SEC Championship game.
Alabama fans and players alike now know that an average team in the [...]
I will begin this article by giving my respect to the Auburn Tigers and Gene Chizik. They could not have been coached better, and they could not have played with more heart than they did against a VERY good Alabama team.
They came out and ran many trick plays that brought [...]
Unfortunately, it is quite impossible these days to complete a full college football game without a missed call or bad call from the officiating crew.
It is also growing more common for ESPN commentators to not know what they are doing.
To get to the point:
There were several missed calls in the [...]
If it’s possible to lose and still gain respect, then AU successfully completed that task Friday.
Auburn lost a thriller 26—21 to heated rival Alabama and brought an AU crowd to their feet for sixty minutes, gaining some much needed pride and respect to a team that was dismantled by the Tide in 2008.
Pushed to [...]
The sun has begun to set on the 2009 Notre Dame season, but not before the storm clouds set in this past week over the futures of Charlie Weis, Jack Swarbrick, Jimmy Clausen, and Golden Tate.
Weis could be fired, Tate and Clausen could choose the NFL, and Swarbrick could have [...]
Before the game, the Auburn fans were pretty vocal for an underdog. They had pestered Alabama fans all week, “We are going to shut Ingram down.” “Y'all haven't seen an offense like this.” For me, I let it roll in one ear and out the other. Lots of teams have [...]
The Arizona State-Arizona rivalry might be the most "heated" rivalry that no one talks about. This season, "The Big Game" does not carry the same cache as it has in the past, since one of the team's fate has already been determined. But there is no doubt, that both the [...]
I guess no person in the state of Alabama other than us fans believed a game like we witnessed was possible. Our Auburn team, one year removed from a 36-0 beating from our arch rival, Alabama, just played them to a standstill. This was the Alabama team that is better [...]
For USC and UCLA fans, this year’s rivalry game is what it is—the biggest game on the schedule. No matter if the teams are 11-0 or 0-11, the school that loses must live with that for an entire year.
It’s one thing to live with when your rival is across the [...]
Ugly Win? Yes it was. Under achieving? Perhaps it was that too. But there are five good reasons why this game could actually help Alabama in it's quest for continuing wins this season and next.
1. It was a win. When it's all said and done that's number one. For Alabama [...]
It was not pretty.
In fact it may have been downright ugly. Bo Pelini must have thought so.
"It was probably our worst effort of the season," Pelini said shortly following the 28-20 victory in Boulder.
Really?
I remember a 9-7 loss to Iowa State that seemed to look like the worst performance of [...]
As the Rascal Flatts song goes, “what hurts the most, is being so close.”
That is what Stanford is feeling after its gut-wrenching loss to those annoying little Golden Bears, losing out on a possible Rose Bowl trip.
That is why Toby Gerhart was emotional leaving the field.
“It hurts, it hurts a [...]
After 2006 and 2007 debacles, most college football fans might not want to see Ohio State playing for a national title ever again.
But with the maturation the team has developed and a 180 in mentality, the Buckeyes could end 2009 as high as sixth in the final polls, and primed [...]
The new year: a time of reflection, evaluation, thankfulness, and most importantly, a new outlook on the year ahead.
There's a rumor going around that New Year's Day is on Jan. 1. That could be true for the rest of the nation, but not around these parts, and by "these parts," of [...]
For many football fans in America's second largest city, this is the only game that matters.
This Saturday at the Coliseum, the UCLA Bruins will meet their crosstown enemies, the USC Trojans, for the 79th time in a clash that may not have Rose Bowl implications but will still mean much [...]
Oh, the hopes were there.
Shortly after the Big 12 conference was established, the powers that be decided that the Thanksgiving game, which had long since been reserved for Oklahoma as the Big 8 conference, would be switched to Colorado in 1996.
So let’s review to see how the series has gone [...]
Iowa sophomore safety David Cato was involved in a two-vehicle collision around 10:00 a.m this past Sunday, according to Oklahoma Highway Patrolmen.
As tweeted by Marc Morehouse from the Cedar Rapids Gazette , the Purcell Register reported that Cato, along with Iowa State cornerback Ter'ran Denton, were traveling' [...]
1-7.
That is the record Virginia coach Al Groh has posted over arch-rival Virginia Tech and Frank Beamer.
No other record matters more to Cavalier fans and no other record perfectly exemplifies why a change is so desperately needed in Charlottesville, Va.
I recently came across a column by Justin Cocchiola talking about [...]
As we enter the last few weeks of the season, we still have six undefeated teams.
Alabama and Florida will both be undefeated for their matchup in the SEC championship game if they can win their in-state rival games this week. Cincinnati has Illinois and Pittsburgh to finish their season. Texas [...]
It divides up the state of Mississippi. Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss—also known as the Egg Bowl.
Mississippi State has played well at home. They have one of the top rushers in the SEC, Anthony Dixon.
Ole Miss goes into this game a winner from the start, beating LSU by two points, [...]
The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that four-star tight end prospect C.J. Fiedorowicz has switched his verbal commitment from Illinois to Iowa after an official visit last weekend.
Fiedorowicz, a native of Johnsburg, IL, committed to Illinois back in July. After Illinois' horrid season and Iowa's first 10 win season since' [...]
According to some "experts" out there, there should never be a non-BCS team in contention for the national championship. Apparently, these teams from non-BCS conferences such as the Mountain West, the Western Athletic Conference, and Conference USA are undeserving of any accolades presented to them.
Experts, I present to you the [...]
It is the time of year we sit down with family and friends to feast together and fellowship over turkey and dressing, giving thanks for the many blessings in our lives. After our bellies are full and the thankfulness is over and done, we get down to what we have [...]
Whenever I think of the Backyard Brawl, my mind is immediately flooded with memories and emotions.
In fact, it was the weekend of the Pitt game when I spoke to my dear mother for the last time. She lapsed into a coma and passed away on Sunday, following the game.
I even [...]
Tennessee Volunteers at Kentucky Wildcats
Saturday 7:00PM ET TV: ESPNU
Line: Tennessee -3
The nations longest winning streak is put on the line when the Tennessee Volunteers try to take down the Kentucky Wildcats for a 25th straight time. The Vols have also won 26 straight [...]
Dick Vitale is about as famous as, well, Paul McCartney. Jack Nicholson? Donald Trump? Oprah Winfrey?
Let's just agree he is one of the most famous personalities of the past 25 years.
So when the college basketball guru makes a statement, the rest of the world perks up its ears to hear what [...]
Since Iowa’s regular season ended with the 12-0 white washing of Minnesota, all kinds of attention has been put towards the bowl destination. Justifiably so, given that there are no other opponents currently on the schedule.
Every pundit, talking head, newspaper journalist, Internet geek, and even the average fan have their [...]
The game clock showed 00:00. The embarrassment was over. The score was Syracuse 31 Rutgers 14 and out came the laptops and post-game articles.
Article after article talked about how after getting crushed by the Orangemen, Rutgers lost all their chances of playing in the Gator Bowl come January 1. They claimed that now even if the Scarlet Knights win out they [...]
With another losing season in the books, the Michigan football program appears to be in disarray to many outsiders, as well as a fraction of the Michigan fan base.
But is everything doom and gloom for this squad, or is there help on the way? Is head coach [...]
So, is Charlie Weis going to get fired? Lately, no one cares.
It's all about Les Miles. Is he going to get fired?
Well he isn't.
Want to know why? It's because Miles's buy out for this year is $13 million. LSU's athletic department does have that, but why spend it? Give the' [...]
The Boise State Broncos need a win against Nevada to claim title to the WAC once again. The BCS has the Broncos ranked sixth in their top 25 poll once again as if they were daring the Broncos to lose to Nevada.
After losing three games to BCS teams; one of [...]
By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season
CLEVELAND—If nice guys finish last, how do you explain Bill Stewart?
The West Virginia football coach offered up a few good quotes at his weekly press conference in Morgantown on Monday. His Mountaineers entertain Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl Friday night.
Stewart riffed on a variety [...]
As you all know, it's Thanksgiving week. It's also time for some of the greatest rivalries in college football. We'll take a look at every Top 25 matchup, plus a couple that are outside of the Top 25. Oh, and some advice: don't eat so much turkey that you'll miss Friday's [...]
Amidst the rumors surrounding high profile coaches such as Les Miles and Charlie Weis there is one coach silently making strides to greatness.
His name is Bo Pelini.
Now hold on a minute before you accuse me of wearing scarlet colored glasses.
This has nothing to do with being a Nebraska homer, but [...]
We all have family members that represent certain things to us. Our Grandma always has something special cooking, an uncle that shows up late and leaves early and a cranky family member who is always complaining about something. Some of the college football coaches may indeed remind us of those [...]
If you haven't seen it, I direct your attention to Mike Jensen's fabulous piece in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer on Temple's wonderful long-time football fans.
You can find it by going to Philly.com and doing a search for Temple.
I've said this for years and not just because he's a colleague of mine [...]
This year, the annual Holy War between Utah and BYU will take on a whole new meaning.
It will be much more than a single football team where the winner and the loser is clearly defined by the scoreboard.
The outcome of this game will be much more telling.
Not because of the [...]
With the 2009 Iron Bowl rapidly approaching, talk of Iron Bowls past has been abound.
Recently, the subject of which was the bigger blowout—the 2005 Iron Bowl or the 2008 Iron Bowl—was debated between myself, a huge Alabama fan, and my cousin, the most ardent Auburn fan who I can stand.
And [...]
I am, and I'm sure most of you reading this are, completely heartbroken and disgusted over the events that occurred "Between The Hedges" last night.
The way the Dawgs lost is what has me upset. So much that until I see drastic changes in the play, coaching, and overall performance of' [...]
When the Michigan State Spartans traveled to Happy Valley to play the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2008 season, both programs were having pretty good years by their standards.
Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio was leaving his mark in only his second year of tenure, while Joe Paterno had the [...]
Another good week of football is wrapped up, but it is saddened by the realization that just two weeks remain in the regular season.
It was also a good week picking games again going 8-1 Straight Up and 6-3 Against The Spread.
My thoughts on [...]
Another good week of college football is wrapped up and I'm saddened by the realization that just two weeks remain in the regular season.
It was also a good week picking games again. I went 8-1 straight up and 6-3 against the spread.
Here are my thoughts' [...]
Wow.
They picked a good game for College GameDay this week. As an overconfident Oregon fan, I expected a Duck blowout. I even turned the game off in the first quarter. But once I learned the Ducks were down in the third, I turned the game back on.
Oregon came back from [...]
Last week saw this humble enterprise beginning to peak with my second week of perfect picks, including the "upset" of LSU. I chose Les Miles' picture this week to represent the losers, as he was the biggest loser of the week.
Last week brought the season record up to 71-15, lifting' [...]
What a purely awful college football season this has been. For everything that is sacred in college football, where is the parody!?
At the end of this season everyone will win; the BCS teams raking in $17 million and the BCS itself making millions in ticket sales, merchandise, and T.V. contracts.
Everyone [...]
After finishing the season on a high note, the Penn State football team will have to wait until Dec. 6 to learn what bowl they will play in.
The Nittany Lions came into Saturday’s game against Michigan State with an outside chance of a BCS bowl bid and were able to [...]
Think you know your Virginia football team? Take the test and find out.
1. Virginia went away from the "Wildcat" Offense in the second half of the Clemson game because:
A. Clemson adjusted
B. Mikell Simpson got hurt
C. Al Groh is an idiot
D. All of the above
2. Which Virginia play would you MOST [...]
Running, Running, Running
The University of Nevada has done something no other team has ever done. They ran the ball. That isn’t the part no one has ever done. That comes in the fact that this season they have three different players that have now run for over 1,000 yards. Quarterback [...]
With a 49-0 at-home shutout against the Tulane Green Wave, the UCF Knights secured their seventh win and are now bowl bound. To which bowl will they go? It's not certain yet, but here's a look at the possibilities:
The Three Most Likely Bowls: St. Petersburg Bowl, Eagle Bank Bowl, R [...]
It will be the end of an era in a week’s time, as Charlie Weis almost assuredly won’t be coaching at Notre Dame any longer. To say this season was a disappointment for Weis is a gross understatement.
This was one of the most disappointing, if not the most disappointing, season [...]
Ever since Nick Saban joined the ranks and history of the Alabama Crimson Tide LSU fans have been quick to point to Les Miles as being the better of the two coaches.
They point to his record with the Tigers against Saban's. Never mind that Saban inherited a train wreck when' [...]
At this point in a season the Heisman Trophy race has probably never been more congested. There's simply no clear-cut leader right now.
Over the years the Heisman trophy has become an exclusive award for only quarterbacks, and the occasional running back. Wide receivers and defensive players often get wrongly overlooked.
It [...]
The AP Poll came out earlier and they actually had a few things right—having Clemson in the Top 15, giving accolades to Oregon State, and dropping LSU to No. 17.
But they somehow left the Rebels at No. 20, who just beat LSU, 25-23. In addition, they dropped Stanford from the [...]
This is what Auburn and Alabama fans live for. There is nothing more important to the state of Alabama, Auburn fans, and Alabama fans than the next edition of the Iron Bowl.
Becoming a fan of one of these teams can start much earlier than one realizes. As we approach this [...]
Ole Miss 25, LSU 23!
This is the headline of articles throughout the nation on November 22, 2009. Subtitles read, "Time Management an Issue."
This was a good, hard-fought SEC game won by the Ole Miss team favored to win by four, even though LSU was No. 8 in the [...]
Saturday was a fun day. I arrived to the stadium early and met with my publisher "TOUCHDOWN ALABAMA", met our photographer and learned more about photography in 15 minutes than I've known all my life.
We went over some of the beautiful pictures taken by the staff and discussed this past' [...]
My first recollections of just how important the Iron Bowl really was to me was the day that Alabama lost to Auburn in 1972 in the famous "Punt Bama Punt " game.
In that game, Alabama held a 16-3 lead with only six or seven minutes left on the clock. [...]
With the well documented chalk-fest that this college football season has been, it's no surprise that the sixth edition of the BCS rankings look a whole lot like the first five.
The only real changes came towards the middle of the BCS bowl eligibility line (Top 16). Oregon and Ohio State [...]
This may come as a shocker to some, but not much has changed this week among the top teams in the BCS race.
That was meant sarcastically, as their schedules almost guaranteed the six undefeated teams would remain unbeaten.
The top three teams manhandled their opposition, as expected. Florida beat up on a team [...]
In the eyes of many, the biggest game of the year is about to take place in South Carolina. The type of game that divides families or can ruin friendships; this is not just any old rivalry game but it is the “Battle of the Palmetto State.”
The USC/Clemson rivalry game [...]
Notre Dame's loss this week against Connecticut has cranked the heat up on talks of the inevitable demise of Charlie Weis. So what else is new you may ask?
I say one thing about this situation is for certain; it is becoming a distraction for Urban Meyer.
Now that FIU has been [...]
Today, Charlie Weis is doing his best, albeit unconscious, imitation of Alex Kapranos. Alex Kapranos is the lead singer of the band Franz Ferdinand, whose big hit is "Take Me Out." Weis has been singing this song for the past two years, possibly since the very beginning of his tenure. [...]
(Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt will be looking to go 2-0 against the Bulldogs as a starter Saturday.)
No Yellow Jacket football this weekend (not that I needed to tell you), a welcome reprieve, surely, for the battered bodies on Rose Bowl Field.
The weekend off gave me a chance to check [...]
You'll have to excuse Jerrell Jackson for being a bit of a late-bloomer.
After all, it's taken him nearly 18 months to morph from one of the country's lightest recruited wideout prospects into Missouri's most potent emerging receiving threat.
And it's not as if Jackson's journey is well-documented with drama, personal anguish, or a [...]
If you were within earshot of the University of Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, that tapping sound you heard might have been Athletic Director Joel Maturi pounding a nail into the coffin of Tim Brewster's coaching career.
After another embarrassing display by his offense in Iowa City, the Tim Brewster experiment could [...]
When the 2009 season began, the Washington coaching staff spoke of the possibility of a rotation of running backs. Heralded recruit Chris Polk, who was granted a medical redshirt after getting hurt early in the year in ’08, appeared to be the front runner.
Still the competition appeared to be tight [...]
Here is what we know:
Florida, Texas, Alabama, TCU, and Boise State all beat inferior competition to remain undefeated, along with Cincinnati, who had a bye this week.
Florida and Alabama are going to meet in the SEC Title game and unless Florida State or Auburn pulls off a major upset, then [...]
One of the biggest story lines entering the 2009 college football season was whether or not USC was on the verge of an uncharacteristic down year.
The Trojans had lost a significant part of last season’s Rose Bowl team. They would be forced to start plenty of inexperienced players—including a true [...]
Across the nation you will be hard-pressed to find anyone who is not familiar with Tim Tebow.
Tebow has been part of two national championships for the Florida Gators and has won a Heisman Trophy. He has already been immortalized by the University of Florida with his motivational speech plaque at [...]
Two-a-day practices in August, offseason conditioning, the basics. What do they have to do with this week's Ohio State-Michigan game? Simple, Michigan must do the little things correctly. With six straight conference losses and a bowl birth on the line, Michigan must return to the basics.
1. Run Blocking
In the six [...]
The Florida Gators are poets of destiny because they have defined recent times through actions and results translated into words.
The Florida Gators are poets of destiny because they have defined recent times through principles and standards translated into relevance.
The meaning we place on their performance should take into account our view of [...]
The UCF football team did something last Saturday it hadn’t done in 22 tries; beat a ranked team. After a historic 37-32 win over No. 13 Houston, the Knights are bowl eligible and face Tulane Saturday with an outside shot at the Conference USA title.
The match up
UCF (6-4 overall, 4-2 C-USA) [...]
Most Nebraska players and fans knew that the Big 12 North would come down to this.
All of us figured at the beginning of the season that a match-up between a Kansas school and Nebraska would decide the Big 12 North.
Just not this Kansas School.
Last weekend was supposed to be the [...]
The late 1960’s and early 1970’s marked the heyday of what would become the ultimate showdown in college football—appropriately referred to as “the game".
In a decade which signified Bo Schembechler’s initial head-coach season at Michigan in 1969, and ended with Woody Hayes last year as head-coach for Ohio State, the" [...]
This is the reason why they play the games, correct? You play all season long to get to the point where you have that one game that defines your season. Win and you are playing for the Big 12 championship. Lose and you are left pondering all the “what if’s” [...]
This is Iron Bowl week in Alabama.
The Iron Bowl is the yearly rivalry game between the University of Alabama and Auburn University.
It is the annual brother versus brother, sister versus sister, husband versus wife, father versus son, mother versus daughter in state rivalry game.
There is no other rivalry games in [...]
