At first glance, it would seem to reward teams that played a tougher schedule rather than padding their record with cupcakes. The change would also give bowls more flexibility to create the most interesting matchup, potentially boosting revenues for struggling bowl committees.

Matt Sanderson, co-founder of Playoff PAC, told the San Diego Union Times that the rule could allow bowls with open slots for at-large teams to select power-conference teams with 6-6 records over smaller-conference teams with winning records.

Sanderson points to this season’s GMAC Bowl, which took 9-3 Troy as an at-large team. Under the revised rules, the GMAC Bowl could have offered the at-large slot to 6-6 Notre Dame.

While the new provision still needs an OK by the greater NCAA, most rule revisions that make it out of committee are approved.

Suffice to say… no one wants to see a bad 6-6 team stink it up in a marquee bowl game. The reality is that – with new bowls coming on in Yankee Stadium and the Cotton Bowl – there are going to be 70 teams in bowl games this year. If a bowl needs to dig deep and get an at-large team, I would prefer them to create the most interesting game they can.

No disrespect intended, but I would *much* rather see a hypothetical 6-6 Southern Cal as an at-large against Alabama, for example, over a 7-5 Louisiana Monroe.

Just sayin.

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Comment on New bowl rules to open more doors to 6-6 teams…

At first glance, it would seem to reward teams that played a tougher schedule rather than padding their record with cupcakes. The change would also give bowls more flexibility to create the most interesting matchup, potentially boosting revenues for struggling bowl committees.

Matt Sanderson, co-founder of Playoff PAC, told the San Diego Union Times that the rule could allow bowls with open slots for at-large teams to select power-conference teams with 6-6 records over smaller-conference teams with winning records.

Sanderson points to this season’s GMAC Bowl, which took 9-3 Troy as an at-large team. Under the revised rules, the GMAC Bowl could have offered the at-large slot to 6-6 Notre Dame.

While the new provision still needs an OK by the greater NCAA, most rule revisions that make it out of committee are approved.

Suffice to say… no one wants to see a bad 6-6 team stink it up in a marquee bowl game. The reality is that – with new bowls coming on in Yankee Stadium and the Cotton Bowl – there are going to be 70 teams in bowl games this year. If a bowl needs to dig deep and get an at-large team, I would prefer them to create the most interesting game they can.

No disrespect intended, but I would *much* rather see a hypothetical 6-6 Southern Cal as an at-large against Alabama, for example, over a 7-5 Louisiana Monroe.

Just sayin.

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Comment on New bowl rules to open more doors to 6-6 teams…

Steele’s methodology differs from the NCAA’s own strength of schedule calculation in that it factors changes to the team for 2009. For example, Steele takes into account a variety of factors including number of starters returning per team, whereas the NCAA just looks at each team’s record from 2008 and projects it into this coming season. The difference? historically, is that Steele’s projections tend to be more accurate at this point in the season.

Without further ado….

PHIL STEELE’S 2009 TOUGHEST SCHEDULE RANKINGS

1. South Carolina
2. Florida St
3. Oklahoma
4. Mississippi St
5. Minnesota
6. Arkansas
7. Georgia
8. Virginia Tech
9. Tennessee
10. Michigan St

…

115. Ball St
116. Florida Atlantic
117. Boise St
118. Army
119. Ohio
120. Kent St

A couple of trends jump off the page right away:

First and foremost, the top ten is stacked with SEC East teams. Three big factors are at play here.
- The SEC returns an great percentage of starters almost across the board. There are a few key holes to fill, but no team is remotely close to starting from scratch.
- The SEC East scheduling in 2009 brings strong divisional matchups this season.
- And last but in no way least, the Florida Gators are hugely rated by Steele this season and six of the top ten teams have games scheduled against UF.

Secondly, if you’re Boise State, you not only have to win every game but you need to play some scoreboard pinball in order to make into a BCS game. The Broncos aren’t getting any help from their schedule this season.

Third, the WAC & MWC have broken the glass ceiling on the BCS, but don’t expect the MAC to join the party any time soon. Seven of the ten weakest schedules are from the MAC. Ouch.

Finally, and this might be the most important item to remember, Phil Steele’s rankings have been a good predictor but they don’t factor into the BCS in any way. The BCS has its own strength of schedule component within the computer indexes.

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Comment on Who has the toughest football schedule in 2009?…

The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection hosted the hearings. Of the twenty-nine House members on the committee, three showed up to participate

The hearing leader, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), introduced the key guest, BCS coordinator John Swofford, as the commissioner of the Athletic Coast Conference. Rep. Rush, I pretty sure it’s the Atlantic Coast Conference, although they do play athletics, so I guess we’ll give you partial credit, Congressman.

Craig Thompson was introduced as the commissioner of the West Mountain. Seriously? The West Mountain? Is Thompson the chief ski lift operator there or something? Could someone not point out to the leader of the BCS committee hearing that MWC is an acronym for the Mountain West Conference and not West Mountain?

None of the congressmen attending the hearing was aware that all eleven major conferences are members and financial benefactors of the BCS.

I mean… seriously… is this how our congressmen prepare for an on-the-record House hearing? I cringe to think what would happen if the discussion was the future of medicare. In the words of Britney Spears, “Ding dang, y’all!”

Rep Joe Barton (R-Tex.), an outspoken advocate for scapping the BCS in favor of a playoff format, demonstrated his grasp of playoff proposals by insisting that a March Madness style bracket format may be the solution for college football.

“You could have a playoff system with 64 teams, and use every bowl that’s currently in there,” Barton said Friday. “You could do that.”

No you couldn’t.

“We’d still be playing,” Alamo Bowl CEO Derrick Fox quipped.

Congressman, if 64 teams are play in a single-elimination format… then it takes 63 total games to determine the winner. That’s how it works.

Barton has proposed legislation that would forbid the BCS from awarding a “national championship” trophy. Within the bill, any organization would be barred from “the marketing, promotion, and advertising of a postseason game as a ‘national championship’ football game, unless it is the result of a playoff system. Violations of the prohibition will be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.”

Let me see if I understand the implication: Since the BCS does not award a National Championship trophy… the BCS would continue unchanged. Yep. The American Football Coaches Association would still hand out the Coaches Trophy. The AP would still crown its own champion as well. In other words, Barton’s legislation would permit the BCS to continue unchanged.

So… Barton’s bill means nothing to the BCS… at all? Well, yeah. Congressman Barton told Swofford during the hearing that the BCS wouldn’t be obligated to institute any change.

“You don’t have to change it. Our bill doesn’t say you have to change it.”

(That said… I would still love for someone to start handing out the “Barton Cup”.)

Later Barton — who’s bill was the entire basis for the hearings — left the committee meeting to catch a flight home.

Now maybe it’s just me, but when you introduce a bill to change the BCS… that you GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to explain will not change the BCS… and then you leave your own hearing to fly home… I’m going to have a hard time taking you seriously. Maybe it’s just me.

Rep. Rush went on to ask the Athletic Conference and West Mountain conference commissioners if they believed the current BCS system was fair. Thompson stated that the current system was “grossly inequitable.” Swofford said that the revenue distribution “represents the marketplace”, which is really just a nice way of saying some BCS teams are drawing 70,000+… for their spring practice games. Blutarsky points out that Georgia drew 42,458… which would have ranked them 54th in attendance last season (pdf!), just ahead of… UTAH!

Was Thompson hoping for a federal bailout with the “grossly inequitable” comment? Seriously, man… some of your schools don’t even offer ESPN on campus cable networks??

But Thompson got in his own polite comment when asked if he believed Congress should intervene in the BCS.

“The U.S. Congress represents fans and constituencies,” Thompson said. “Our university presidents work with that same group of constituents.”

In other words, they guy who is paying lobbyists to push for an eight-team playoff would kindly like Congress to mind its own business and stay out of college football.

Well said, Commissioner. Well said.

The full hearing is posted online at CSpan, but — I’m warning you — regardless of where you stand on this one, you’re probably going to hate yourself for enduring this.

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College Football Coaches who Twitter

ACC Coaches
@DavidCutcliffe – Duke Blue Devils Football Coach David Cutcliffe
@CoachSwinney” – Clemson Tigers Football Coach Dabo Swinney
@ CoachFridge” – Maryland Terrapins Football Coach Ralph Friedgen

Big East Coaches
@CoachStewart – West Virginia Mountaineers Football Coach Bill Stewart
@jimleavitt – University of South Florida Bulls Football Coach Jim Leavitt
@dougmarrone – Syracuse Orange Football Coach Doug Marrone
@coachwannstedt – Pitt Panthers Football Coach Dave Wannstedt

SEC Coaches
@CoachUrbanMeyer – Florida Gators Football Coach Urban Meyer
@LSUCoachMiles – LSU Tigers Football Coach Les Miles
@LaneKiffinUT – Tennessee Volunteers Football Coach Lane Kiffin
@rollwiththetide – University of Alabama Crimson Tide Football Coaches (collectively)
@MarkRicht - Georgia Bulldogs Football Coach Mark Richt

Big10 Coaches
@Play4brew – Minnesota Gophers Football Coach Tim Brewster
@RonZook – Illinois Illini Football Coach Ron Zook
@UM_CoachRod – Michigan Wolverines Football Coach Rich Rodriguez
@JayPaterno – Penn State University Nittany Lions Assistant Football Coach Jay Paterno
@BretBielema – Wisconsin Badgers Football Coach Bret Bielema

Big12 Coaches
@BoPelini – Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Coach Bo Pelini
@mizzoufootball – Missouri Tigers Football Coach Gary Pinkel
@CoachSherman – Texas A&M Aggies Football Coach Mike Sherman

Pac10 Coaches
@CoachSark – Washington Huskies Football Coach Steve Sarkisian
@PeteCarroll – USC Trojans Football Coach Pete Carroll
@CoachWulff – Washington State University Cougars Football Coach Paul Wulff
@JimHarbaugh – Stanford Cardinal Football Coach Jim Harbaugh

MAC Coaches
@coachbeckman – Toledo Rockets Football Coach Tim Beckman
@ron_english – Eastern Michigan Football Coach Ron English
@TUCoachAlGolden – Temple Owls Football Coach Al Golden

Conference USA Coaches
@CoachFedora – Southern Miss Football Coach Larry Fedora
@UCFFootball – University of Central Florida Football Coaches (collectively)
@CoachCollins – University of Central Florida Knights Assistant Football Coach Geoff Collins
@CoachSnyder – Marshall University Thundering Herd Football Coach Mark Snyder

Mountain West Conference Coaches
@KyleWhittingham – Utah Utes Football Coach Kyle Whittingham
@Cowboysfootball – Wyoming Cowboys Football Coach Dave Christensen
@CoachFairchild – Colorado State Rams Football Coach Steve Fairchild
@Coachlocks – New Mexico Lobos Football Coach Mike Locksley

Sun Belt Conference Coaches
@coachdavidelson – Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Football Coach David Elson

Independent Coaches
@NDHFC – Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis

Know of other college football coaches who use Twitter? Send us a tweet @fanblogs!

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Comment on Twitter Accounts for College Football Coaches…

Graham Watson:

BYU offensive line: The Cougars will have to fill four of the five starting spots on the offensive line, but do have some depth there since several players received playing time due to injuries and some shuffling last year.

Boise State wide receivers: Boise State lost its three starting receivers, including Jeremy Childs, who left early for the NFL. Childs led the team in receiving yards and receptions last year and now quarterback Kellen Moore is going to have to break in some new playmakers.

Brian Bennett:

Louisville: The biggest bunch of newbies are at quarterback, where there are four candidates for the job but not one who’s seen any significant playing time at this level.

South Florida: Look no farther than the offensive line, where four of five starters need to be replaced.

Tim Griffin:

Oklahoma offensive line: The departure of starting center Jon Cooper, tackle Phil Loadholt and guards Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker means that Sam Bradford will have an inexperienced group protecting him next season. Trent Williams moves to left tackle and Bob Stoops likes his incoming talent, if not its early work habits.

Texas defensive line: The major question dogging the Longhorns’ national title hopes will be rebuilding a defensive front that loses All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo, defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive tackleAaron Lewis and defensive end Henry Melton from last season.

Texas Tech offensive line: New quarterback Taylor Potts will be relying on a retooled offensive line protecting his blind side after left tackle Rylan Reed, left guard Louis Vasquez and center Stephen Hamby all departed from last year.

Chris Low:

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are replacing three-year starter John Parker Wilson at quarterback, but losing the threesome of Andre Smith, Marlon Davis and Antoine Caldwell on the offensive line leaves the biggest void. They were at the crux of just about everything Alabama did on offense last season.

Georgia: Much of the focus this spring will be on Joe Cox and the quarterback position, but the Bulldogs’ most glaring weakness is the lack of a dominant pass-rusher from the defensive end position. They’ve got to find somebody who can consistently get to the quarterback.

LSU: Jordan Jefferson started the final two games at quarterback last season as a true freshman and enters 2009 as the favorite to win the job. His main competition will come from another true freshman, Russell Shepard, who graduated early and is going through spring practice.

Heather Dinich:

GEORGIA TECH — Having lost three of four starters on the defensive line, it’s easily one of the greenest groups in the whole conference.

MIAMI – The Canes are still young everywhere, but remember quarterback Jacory Harris has only started two games and his backups have no collegiate experience.

NORTH CAROLINA — The Tar Heels lost their top three receivers and will be counting heavily on inexperienced players to replace Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.

Ted Miller

Arizona State — QB: Combined starts of the five candidates to replace Rudy Carpenter at quarterback? Zero.

Oregon – DT: Both starting defensive tackles are gone and this unofficial depth chart shows 14 combine tackles for seven potential replacements.

Oregon State — DE: Sackmasters Victor Butler and Slade Norris and their 41.5 combined sacks over the past two seasons are gone. Sophomore Kevin Frahm and senior Ben Terry, who split two sacks between themselves in 2008, are in.

Adam Rittenberg

Ohio State’s offensive line — Don’t be shocked if Ohio State enters 2009 with three sophomores (Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts) and a transfer (Justin Boren) on its starting line.

Penn State’s defensive ends — Jerome Hayes should be back from another knee injury, but Penn State will be on the lookout for a proven pass rusher after losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines.

Purdue’s wide receivers — New coach Danny Hope made wide receiver a peak priority in his first recruiting class after losing Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, who combined for 136 receptions and 1,596 yards last year.

Wisconsin’s defensive line — The Badgers lose three multiyear starters (Matt Shaughnessy, Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman) and don’t return many proven players aside from ends O’Brien Schofield and Dan Moore.

And — of course — everyone’s favorite green unit:

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Comment on Who are the nation’s greenest units?…

First, the method to their madness:

ESPN’s Prestige Rankings are a numerical method of ranking the best FBS college football programs since the 1936 season. Point values were assigned for certain successes (win a national title, earn 25 points) and failures (get your program banned from the postseason, lose two points). The research department ran all the numbers through the computer to come up with the No. 1 program (and Nos. 2 to 119) of the past 73 seasons.

The full breakdown of how points were accumulated (and deducted) is online as well, with the “biggies” being National Championships, major bowl berths, major bowl wins, Heisman winners, and points for various finishes in the AP top twenty five poll.

The results are… pretty interesting. In fact, it’s really hard for me to quibble over all but a few positions – and even that might be subjective.

ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRESTIGE RANKINGS

1. Oklahoma
2. USC
3. Ohio State
4. Notre Dame
5. Nebraska
6. Alabama
7. Texas
8. Michigan
9. Florida State
10. Miami
11. Penn State
12. Tennessee
13. LSU
14, Georgia
15. Florida
16. UCLA
17. Washington
18. Georgia Tech
19. Arkansas
20. Texas A&M
21. Auburn
22t. Clemson
22t. Colorado
24. Ole Miss
25. BYU

Click here for positions 26 – 119

Again, this is more of a prestige spotlight list than a comparison of team A versus team B. That’s obvious when you look at the criteria, and then also compare the rankings above with head-to-head records, for example. Case(s) in point… Oklahoma has a losing record all-time against Texas, but is ranked ahead in prestige. Florida State has a losing record all-time against both Miami and Florida, but gets the presige nod. The Noles have a winning record over both top five Notre Dame and Ohio State, but I digress.

Even still, it’s hard for me to look back at the history of college football and not put the Sooners at or near the top of the list. Certainly Ohio State, USC, Notre Dame, and Nebraska all deserve to be near the top as well. You can debate where everyone falls (ie should “x” be #6,#7, or #8) but it’s hard to see someone in the top 25 that doesn’t belong.

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Comment on What are the most prestigious college football programs?…

Asher Allen CB 5-1 198 Georgia
Chris Baker DT 6-2 298 Hampton
Kenny Britt WR 6-4 215 Rutgers
Eben Britton OT 6-5½ 310 Arizona
Donald Brown RB 5-10 210 Connecticut
Everette Brown DE 6-4 252 Florida State
James Casey TE 6-4 245 Rice
Jeremy Childs WR 6-0 196 Boise State
Glen Coffee RB 6-1 198 Alabama
Austin Collie WR 6-2 206 BYU
Emanuel Cook S 5-10 203 South Carolina
Jared Cook TE 6-5 243 South Carolina
Michael Crabtree WR 6-3 214 Texas Tech
Andrew Davie TE 6-5 266 Arkansas
Nate Davis QB 6-1¾ 217 Ball State
Vontae Davis CB 5-11⅞ 203 Illinois
Josh Freeman QB 6-5½ 238 Kansas State
Shonn Green RB 5-10¾ 233 Iowa
Percy Harvin WR 5-10¾ 187 Florida
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR 6-1⅞ 203 Maryland
P.J. Hill RB 5-11 236 Wisconsin
Greg Isdaner OG 6-4 322 West Virginia
Ricky Jean-Francois DL 6-3 289 LSU
Paul Kruger DE 6-5 265 Utah
Jeremy Maclin WR 6-0 198 Missouri
Sen’Derrick Marks DT 6-0⅞ 289 Auburn
Aaron Maybin DE 6-3½ 250 Penn State
LeSean McCoy RB 5-11 205 Pittsburgh
Gerald McRath LB 6-3 220 Southern Miss
D.J. Moore CB 5-10 184 Vanderbilt
Knowshon Moreno RB 5-10¾ 207 Georgia
Captain Munnerlyn CB 5-9 185 South Carolina
Hakeem Nicks WR 6-1 215 North Carolina
Kevin Ogletree WR 6-2 189 Virginia
Jerraud Powers CB 5-9 191 Auburn
Mark Sanchez QB 6-2½ 225 USC
Andre Smith DT 6-4⅞ 341 Alabama
Sean Smith CB 6-2½ 212 Utah
Matthew Stafford QB 6-2½ 235 Georgia
Brandon Williams DE 6-5 246 Texas Tech
Chris “Beanie” Wells RB 6-1 235 Ohio State

Of course, it’s worth mentioning a few standout players who are not going pro this year:

Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson
Greg Hardy, DE, Mississippi

Equally notable, FSU S Myron Rolle will leave the Noles, but isn’t going to the NFL… yet. Rolle accepted a Rhodes Scholarship and will study medical anthropology at Oxford. Rolle was expected to be a top 50 or better pick, but will instead look to enter the 2010 NFL draft.

The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 26th and 27th in New York City.

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Comment on Jumping Ship: Who’s leaving early for the NFL?…

With more returning starters than USC or Oklahoma, the early favorites of the talking heads are the Florida Gators and Texas Longhorns.

Here’s a breakdown of the pundit pre-pre-preseason projections, with click-through links to their full lists.

Rivals.com
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. LSU
Highest Projected non-BCS: #9 – Boise State

Mark Schlabach (ESPN)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. Alabama
Highest Projected non-BCS: #8 – Boise State

Dennis Dodd (CBS Sportsline)
1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Virginia Tech
Highest Projected non-BCS: #15 – Utah

Mr. College Football Tony Barnhart (Atlanta Constitution-Journal)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma
Highest Projected non-BCS: #17 – TCU

Bruce Feldman (ESPN)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Oregon
5. Virginia Tech
Highest Projected non-BCS: None in Top 10

Matt Hayes (Sporting News)
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
Highest Projected non-BCS: #18 – BYU

So… if you believe the pundits… go ahead and book your reservations now, Gator & Longhorn fans. But… then again, that didn’t work out too well for Georgia fans last year, so… maybe just watch the games, first.

PS – On a side note, let me just say that I am glad to be back in the saddle. It’s nice to see the community has grown to the point where our contributors have taken over with amazing, self-generated content. Keep these great posts coming because… there is no off-season, boys.

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Comment on Who will be the 2009-2010 BCS National Champion?…

But… the past is the past. THIS time, I think I got it right. (And I don’t have any teams playing in more than one bowl!)

So… without further ado… my updated bowl game projections for games played through November 22, 2008.

Click here for the complete 2008-2009 College Football Bowl Game Schedule

BCS National Championship Game – Florida vs Oklahoma
Fiesta Bowl – Texas vs USC
Rose Bowl – Oregon State vs Penn State
Sugar Bowl – Alabama vs Utah
Orange Bowl – Boston College vs Cincinnati

New Mexico – Colorado State vs. Nevada
St. Petersburg – Rutgers vs. Memphis
Las Vegas – BYU vs. Arizona
EagleBank – Clemson vs Navy
New Orleans – Southern Miss vs Troy
Poinsettia – TCU vs Fresno State*
Hawaii – Hawaii vs Western Michigan*
Motor City – Ball State vs Minnesota
Meineke Car Care – UNC vs West Virginia
Champs Sports – Miami vs Iowa
Emerald – Maryland vs San Jose State*
Independence – LaTech* vs U La-La*
Papajohns.com – Pitt vs Arkansas State*
Alamo – Northwestern vs Oklahoma State
Humanitarian – Boise State vs Wake Forest
Texas – Northern Illinois* vs Rice
Holiday – Cal vs Missouri
Armed Forces – Air Force vs Tulsa
Sun – Oregon vs Notre Dame**
Music City – Kentucky vs VaTech
Insight – Wisconsin vs Kansas
Peach/Chick-fil-A – LSU vs Georgia Tech
Outback – Michigan State vs South Carolina
Capital One – Ohio State vs Georgia
Gator – Florida State vs Nebraska
Cotton – Texas Tech vs Ole Miss
Liberty – Houston vs Vandy
International – UConn vs Buffalo
GMAC – ECU vs Central Michigan

* At large teams shown with asterisk when partner conference aren’t projected to have enough eligible teams.
** Yeah, I know. I said ND was a lock for the Gator. They suck and so do I.

The full list of college football bowl games is online.

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