Fall is creeping ever so closer and with falling leaves and sweatshirt weather comes the great sport of college football. This off-season was one of the craziest in recent memory. Huge scandals in Columbus and Coral Gables, accusations of wrongdoing in Eugene and Baton Rouge, coaches unexpectedly fired (Bill Stewart at WVU and Butch Davis at UNC), and more conference musical chairs made for pure entertainment the past 8 months. Here's a quick refresher or for those who don't know the difference between FBS and FCS, a good primer.
Let's take a quick look back at last season. Auburn, led by Cam ($Cam, as Bama fans like to say) Newton, won the BCS National Championship over the mighty Ducks of Oregon. Newton went on to be the number pick in the NFL Draft. TCU also finished out the season unbeaten with a win over Wisconsin the Rose Bowl. Another possible BCS spoiler, Boise State, had it's season crushed underfoot like a 6 inch heel and a testicle, with a stunning loss on the road to Nevada in the regular season. Nebraska, Utah, and Colorado bid farewell to the Big 12 and Mtn. West respectively as they enter new conferences this year. Nebraska joins the B1G while the Utes and Buffs join the newly minted Pac-12. The Big 12 now becomes the Big 12-2=10.
Here's how the final AP poll shook out:
The Scandals
Now on to the scandals. Nobody died when Tressell lied, but his coverup of several players receiving several impermissible benefits cost him his job. Several players were suspended for part of the season including star QB Terrelle Pryor. Pryor subsequently left school and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 3rd round of the supplemental draft.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/...tball-findings
Miami once again reached into it's bag of dirty tricks and violations. If the accusations turn out to be correct (some players already have been suspended), this is the biggest scandal in college football since SMU putting recruits and players on their payroll in the 80's. The mountain of evidence compiled here suggests that Miami will suffer the wraith of the NCAA, sans the death penalty. If you want some great entertainment I suggest reading this damning and hilarious article:
http://sports.yahoo.com/investigatio...trouble_081611
Oregon, Cal, and LSU might have committed a no-no when they paid notorious street agent Willie Lyles cash money for “Recruiting Reports” that were full of outdated info, making them essentially worthless. A check signed by Oregon coach Chip Kelly to Lyles himself made the rounds within the football world recently. Peep this shit if you like sleeze balls pimping out high school players for cash:
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports...regon/related/
Notable New Coaches
Florida
Out – Urban Meyer
In – Will Muschamp (Former DC Texas)
Miami
Out- Randy Shannon
In – Al golden (Former HC Temple)
Pitt
Out – Dave Wandstedt
In – Todd Graham (Former HC Tulsa)
Pitt had actually hired Miami (OH) HC Mike Haywood but then a week or so later he beat up his wife and got fired, thus opening the door for Graham.
Michigan
Out – Rich Rodriguez
In – Brady Hoke (Former HC San Diego State)
Ohio State
Out – Jim Tressell
In – Luke Fickell (Former OC Ohio State)
Stanford
Out – Jim Harbaugh
In – David Shaw (Former OC Stanford)
Minnesota
Out – Tim Brewster
In – Jerry Kill (Former HC Northern Illinois)
Maryland
Out – Ralph Friedgen
In – Randy Edsall (Former HC Uconn)
Heisman Contenders
Last year Cam Newton blew the fuck up in his first year at Auburn, not only winning the NC but also the Heisman Trophy. With Newton leaving for the draft, here are 10 players that could very well win the award this year (in no particular order):
LaMichael James, RB Oregon
Andrew Luck, QB Stanford
Trent Richardson, RB Bama
Kellen Moore, QB Boise State
Landry Jones, QB Oklahoma
Marcus Lattimore, RB South Carolina
Brandon Weeden, QB Oklahoma State
Justin Blackmon, WR Oklahoma State
Knile Davis, RB Arkansas
Ryan Broyles, WR Oklahoma
Conference Shakeup
The B1G finally expanded to 12 teams with the addition of Nebraska. This also allows the league to FINALLY hold a legit conference championship game. This year's game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The 12 teams are broken up into two divisions, which are so horribly named it isn't even funny:
Legends Division
-Iowa
-Michigan
-Michigan State
-Minnesota
-Nebraska
-Northwestern
Leaders Division
-Illinois
-Indiana
-Ohio State
-Penn State
-Purdue
-Wisconsin
The newly upgraded Pac-12 welcomes the arrivals of Utah and Colorado. No craziness abounds when it comes to division names; the Pac-12 managed to keep it simple:
Pac-12 North
-California
-Oregon
-Oregon State
-Stanford
-Washington
-Washington State
Pac-12 South
-Arizona
-Arizona State
-Colorado
-UCLA
-USC
-Utah
The site of the championship game will be held at the home stadium of the division champion with the best conference record.
Also, next year Hawaii, Boise State, Nevada, and Fresno State leave the WAC for the Mountain West. Replacing them will be FCS (1AA) UT-San Antonio and Texas State. TCU will be leaving the Mtn. West for the Big East and it's automatic BCS berth. Also there are strong rumors that Texas A&M, incensed at Texas and it's monolithic Longhorn Network, will be bailing out of the Big12-2=10 for greener pastures in the SEC. Mormon powerhouse BYU left the Mountain West and is now an independent joining fellow rogues Notre Dame, Army, and Navy.
New Threads
Ok State got new jerseys. Supposedly they have 48 different uniform combos:
Arizona State got a new logo and jerseys, including this sweet black alt:
And of course Oregon has these new Pro Combat unis:
Under Armour likes to rip off Nike's Pro Combat unis so they puked all over Maryland and gave them these hideous pieces of shit:
These helmets are shit too:
Addidas gave Michigan these throwbacks:
A few other schools got new uniforms or Pro Combat editions but these are the ones that really stood out to me.
Here is the pre-season AP Top 25 Poll:
On the cusp:
Texas 114, Penn State 75, Arizona State 67, Miami (FL) 32, Utah 25
Before each weekend hopefully by thursdays, i'll be doing a small preview of which games to watch and why and also various news and tidbits relevant to that weekend.
Here's to college football!