USC VERDICT PUSHED BACK, SOME PRO NOTES & WHAT MIGHT COLLEGE REALIGNMENT LOOK LIKE?
The long-awaited NCAA report on their investigation of USC, thought to be released on Friday, will be pushed back until at least Monday. The way some former Trojans are ducking for cover, the news could be really bad. Reggie Bush, who was the focus of the football side of the probe, said just 90-days ago he had no doubt everything would turn out O.K. He also stated no matter what happened, he was a Trojan for life, bleeding cardinal & gold. Contacted Thursday about the pending verdict, Bush said he was too busy to think about the inquiry, he was a Saint now & that took all of his focus, "SC is old news, defending Super Bowl Champs is all I care about now." Pete Carroll fled SoCal last year for the Seattle Seahawks' head coaching vacancy & he's doesn't want to talk about the pending results either. The probe is centered on Bush & his family receiving money, a house & cars from boosters & shoe reps. Former freshman basketball sensation O.J. Mayo is also being investigated.
Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch is doing his dead-level best to derail his career. A first round draft pick in 2007, he made the Pro Bowl in 2008 & then Lynch ran in the ditch. He was suspended the first three games for a weapons violation. When he returned to the Bills, he had been replaced as the starter by Fred Jackson. He never started for Buffalo again. This past off-season the Bills selected Clemson speedster C. J. Spiller & Lynch's behavior continued to spiral out of control. He has stayed away from all off-season workouts, a mini camp & the OTA's, not speaking to anyone from the Bills. For the kind of money Lynch makes, I doubt the Bills will keep him, but his lackluster effort last year & this off-season, certainly doesn't make trading him any easier. He's a very talented back who can be very effective in the right scheme, but his focus & discipline are so lacking at this point, I wonder what Chan Gailey's Bills can get for him.
The Ravens are thrilled with rookie nose tackle Terrence Cody. Jim Harbaugh said Friday Cody picked up the defenses very quickly & he continues to get into better shape. Harbaugh said barring injury, Cody & starter Kelly Gregg would split the snaps at nose tackle come September. Their skill sets are very different, Gregg is an 11-year veteran who plays every snap at full speed, should be a good mentor for Cody. Pairing the 350-pound Cody with 345-pound Haloti Ngata just makes the Ravens defense that much more difficult to beat.
ESPN.com had a poll Friday on their college football page that caught my eye. After the horrendous call wrecking Armando Gallaraga's perfect game the other night, the website wondered what was the worst call in college football history? Without even looking at the choices, I knew the one I would vote for & sure enough it was one of the five finalists. I'm speaking of the infamous "5th down" in the 1990 Colorado/Mizzou game in Columbia. With a 1st & goal at the one yardline, the Buffaloes were given 5 snaps from the officiating crew, without calling a penalty. After Colorado was stopped on 3rd & goal at the one, QB Darian Hagen got his team lined up & he spiked the ball, stopping the clock with 2-seconds to play, but that was the 4th down play, it should have been Mizzou's ball, game over, Tigers win 31-27. The officials failed to notice the down marker hadn't been changed & gave the Buffs another snap, on which Hagen barely broke the plane of the goaline to win the game. I recall they had a 10-minute discussion between the officials whether Hagen had crossed the line, but nothing about the "5th down". Colorado went on to win the national championship, that's how big that game was. Anyway, I cast my vote & then was given the results. This "worst-call-of-all-time" was the easy winner, doubling the second place finisher(the pass interference on Miami(Fla) in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl for the BCS Championship). Over 22,000 people voted in this poll & 46% voted for the "5th Down Game." Still makes me sick to think about it 20-years later.
So lets say for conversation purposes the first domino falls in what could lead to massive realignment in college football. What could the new conferences look like? Who would go where? I'm a 1st class speculator, so I'm going to take a stab at it. Please hold all your snarky emails, it's strictly for fun O.K.?
PAC-10(16 teams)
Western Division - USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington & Washington State.
Eastern Division - Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State
BIG-10(16 teams)
Eastern Division - Rutgers, UConn, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue & Notre Dame.
Yes I said Notre Dame, if these conferences start expanding to 14 & 16 teams, the independent Irish may have a tough time scheduling many of their former rivals. The BIG-10 makes huge TV money & adding the Irish could pump those revenues much higher.
Western Division - Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri & Nebraska.
SEC(16 teams)
Eastern Division - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Miami & Wake Forest.
Western Division - Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia Tech & Clemson
BIG-12(12 teams)
Northern Division - Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Boise State, Colorado State & Utah
Southern Division - TCU, Baylor, BYU, New Mexico, Louisiana Tech & Troy
ACC(14 teams)
Atlantic Division - Florida State, North Carolina State, Boston College, Maryland, South Florida, UAB & East Carolina.
Coastal Division - Virginia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, West Virginia, UCF & Pitt.
Conference USA(14 teams)
Eastern Division - Syracuse, Cincinnati, Louisville, Southern Miss, Marshall, Memphis & UAB.
Western Division - Houston, Tulsa, UTEP, SMU, Rice, Tulane & New Mexico State.
Western Athletic Conference(10 teams)
Mountain Division - Wyoming, Utah State, Air Force, Idaho & Nevada
Coastal Division - Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State & UNLV
Mid-American Conference(15 teams)
Eastern Division - Temple, Buffalo, Army, Akron, Ohio, Kent State, Navy & Miami(Ohio).
Western Division - Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois & Toledo.
Sun Belt Conference(8 teams)
Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas, Tennessee State, Florida International & Louisiana-Monroe & Western Kentucky.
While we're at it, can we pleeeeease get a playoff system for the teams in the FBS?
Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch is doing his dead-level best to derail his career. A first round draft pick in 2007, he made the Pro Bowl in 2008 & then Lynch ran in the ditch. He was suspended the first three games for a weapons violation. When he returned to the Bills, he had been replaced as the starter by Fred Jackson. He never started for Buffalo again. This past off-season the Bills selected Clemson speedster C. J. Spiller & Lynch's behavior continued to spiral out of control. He has stayed away from all off-season workouts, a mini camp & the OTA's, not speaking to anyone from the Bills. For the kind of money Lynch makes, I doubt the Bills will keep him, but his lackluster effort last year & this off-season, certainly doesn't make trading him any easier. He's a very talented back who can be very effective in the right scheme, but his focus & discipline are so lacking at this point, I wonder what Chan Gailey's Bills can get for him.
The Ravens are thrilled with rookie nose tackle Terrence Cody. Jim Harbaugh said Friday Cody picked up the defenses very quickly & he continues to get into better shape. Harbaugh said barring injury, Cody & starter Kelly Gregg would split the snaps at nose tackle come September. Their skill sets are very different, Gregg is an 11-year veteran who plays every snap at full speed, should be a good mentor for Cody. Pairing the 350-pound Cody with 345-pound Haloti Ngata just makes the Ravens defense that much more difficult to beat.
ESPN.com had a poll Friday on their college football page that caught my eye. After the horrendous call wrecking Armando Gallaraga's perfect game the other night, the website wondered what was the worst call in college football history? Without even looking at the choices, I knew the one I would vote for & sure enough it was one of the five finalists. I'm speaking of the infamous "5th down" in the 1990 Colorado/Mizzou game in Columbia. With a 1st & goal at the one yardline, the Buffaloes were given 5 snaps from the officiating crew, without calling a penalty. After Colorado was stopped on 3rd & goal at the one, QB Darian Hagen got his team lined up & he spiked the ball, stopping the clock with 2-seconds to play, but that was the 4th down play, it should have been Mizzou's ball, game over, Tigers win 31-27. The officials failed to notice the down marker hadn't been changed & gave the Buffs another snap, on which Hagen barely broke the plane of the goaline to win the game. I recall they had a 10-minute discussion between the officials whether Hagen had crossed the line, but nothing about the "5th down". Colorado went on to win the national championship, that's how big that game was. Anyway, I cast my vote & then was given the results. This "worst-call-of-all-time" was the easy winner, doubling the second place finisher(the pass interference on Miami(Fla) in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl for the BCS Championship). Over 22,000 people voted in this poll & 46% voted for the "5th Down Game." Still makes me sick to think about it 20-years later.
So lets say for conversation purposes the first domino falls in what could lead to massive realignment in college football. What could the new conferences look like? Who would go where? I'm a 1st class speculator, so I'm going to take a stab at it. Please hold all your snarky emails, it's strictly for fun O.K.?
PAC-10(16 teams)
Western Division - USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington & Washington State.
Eastern Division - Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State
BIG-10(16 teams)
Eastern Division - Rutgers, UConn, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue & Notre Dame.
Yes I said Notre Dame, if these conferences start expanding to 14 & 16 teams, the independent Irish may have a tough time scheduling many of their former rivals. The BIG-10 makes huge TV money & adding the Irish could pump those revenues much higher.
Western Division - Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri & Nebraska.
SEC(16 teams)
Eastern Division - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Miami & Wake Forest.
Western Division - Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia Tech & Clemson
BIG-12(12 teams)
Northern Division - Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Boise State, Colorado State & Utah
Southern Division - TCU, Baylor, BYU, New Mexico, Louisiana Tech & Troy
ACC(14 teams)
Atlantic Division - Florida State, North Carolina State, Boston College, Maryland, South Florida, UAB & East Carolina.
Coastal Division - Virginia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, West Virginia, UCF & Pitt.
Conference USA(14 teams)
Eastern Division - Syracuse, Cincinnati, Louisville, Southern Miss, Marshall, Memphis & UAB.
Western Division - Houston, Tulsa, UTEP, SMU, Rice, Tulane & New Mexico State.
Western Athletic Conference(10 teams)
Mountain Division - Wyoming, Utah State, Air Force, Idaho & Nevada
Coastal Division - Fresno State, Hawaii, San Diego State, San Jose State & UNLV
Mid-American Conference(15 teams)
Eastern Division - Temple, Buffalo, Army, Akron, Ohio, Kent State, Navy & Miami(Ohio).
Western Division - Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois & Toledo.
Sun Belt Conference(8 teams)
Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas, Tennessee State, Florida International & Louisiana-Monroe & Western Kentucky.
While we're at it, can we pleeeeease get a playoff system for the teams in the FBS?
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