|
|
|
| Site menu | Dr. Saturday - NCAAf | Ads |
|
Main page
Top Stories
Baseball
- MLB
- NCAA Baseball
NFL
- NCAA Football
NBA
- NCAA basketball
WNBA
- NCAA Women's Basketball
BasketballLive Scores!
NHL
- NCAA Hockey
TennisLive Scores!
Golf
Motor Sports
- F1
- Motor Sports: CART
- Motor Sports: IRL
- Motor Sports: NASCAR
SoccerLive Scores!
- Premier League
- MLS
Athletics
Swimmming
Winter Sports
- Skiing
Cycling
Volley
Olympic Sports
Horse Racing
Poker
Videos Bettor's Corner Rumors All Blogs - Shutdown Corner - NFL - Big League Stew - MLB - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Puck Daddy - NHL - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - The Dagger - NCAAB - From the Marbles - NASCAR - Devil Ball Golf - Golf - Roto Arcade - Fantasy - Cagewriter - MMA - Early Doors(UK) - Soccer - Jim White(UK) - Soccer - Paul Parker(UK) - Soccer |
Friday Roundtable: Should we, as a society, care about spring football? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 11:04 am] Welcome back to our offseason roundtable, the equivalent of tossing a beach ball around the office on a lazy Friday afternoon. Today, the Doc Saturday staff (minus the good doctor himself, who is vacationing in an undisclosed tropical location) discusses the beautiful mirage that is spring football, and why its consumption may be hazardous to our general well-being. Chris Brown: We should not care about spring practice. Spring ball should be, and typically is, focused on one thing: getting better at the most mundane part of football -- fundamentals. The good part of this is it is truly football for football's sake (and if you like watching footwork and technique drills you should go visit your team's practice), but it's difficult to glean anything meaningful about your team's prospects or even lineup with such a heavy focus on minutiae. And coaches tend to hew to this "back to basics" approach for strategy and plays as well: why show anything off, especially when spring games are now available on TV and the 'net? In the end, I think spring ball is no more or less important than, say, the offseason conditioning routine, which doesn't get much media attention. Holly Anderson: To me, spring practice gets lumped in with that interminable recruiting period, which is to say, I'm not going to really get interested (or emotionally invested) until I see who's suiting up for fall ball. Especially after a year of unprecedented upheaval in my alma mater's program, to read too much into anything at this point would just be unhealthy. Chris Brown: But of course we do care about spring ball, because (a) we're insane (myself included) and (b) there are a few circumstances where you can learn a bit about your team in advance of the fall. Doug Gillett: My team's breaking in a brand-new defensive coordinator and a 3-4 front, so I'm paying a little more attention to it than I ordinarily would be. But like Holly said, there's only so much you can take from t Headlinin': Football coaches use salty language! Gasp! [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 9:00 am] Making the morning rounds. • Kick off your weekend with a little Vitamin Leach. Our bros at Rivals have two postgame videos of the erstwhile Texas Tech skipper exhorting his charges to a higher achievement plane. Which is to say, follow this link if you want to hear Mike Leach at his ramblingest, cussingest best. (Article is squeaky clean; videos not safe for work if your bosses care at all about your computer having a sailor mouth.) [Rivals] • Speaking of the Leach rigamarole, just in case you thought this was going to be another boring football-free spring, fear not. Texas Tech's lawyers are just warming up their righteous indignation glands for our particular entertainment: “We are extremely disappointed that Coach Leach and his attorneys have chosen to invade the privacy of Coach Tuberville and his family through the issuance of a needless subpoena to the Frenship ISD,” wrote Dicky Grigg, an Austin-based attorney for Tech. “The subpoena issued by Coach Leach’s attorneys is clearly so broad that it could encompass homework assignments, grades, and even medical information about Coach Tuberville’s children.” At issue here for the Leach legal team is whether Tuberville was planning to move his family to Lubbock before Leach was even fired, but sure, Mike Leach might just have a genuine interest in whether his replacement's moppets have had chicken pox. You never do know. [Lubbock Avalanche Journal] • Russell Shepard may like Tim Tebow just fine, but as he moves from quarterback to receiver, he also views him as a sort of cautionary tale: “Three or four months ago, Tebow was being labeled as arguably the best college football player ever, but the NFL doesn’t care at all. It truly doesn’t matter there,” Shepard said. “I’ve been playing this game for a long time and want to have a successful career at the next level, and the receiver position and special teams is the best route Alabama also national champion of interesting football crime [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 2:54 pm] Ask yourself what lengths you would go to to furnish your college football-lovin' lifestyle. Name your firstborn child Tim Tebow, regardless of gender? Paint your long-suffering pet to match your alma mater's beloved mascot? Whatever your boundaries, be assured that Kimberly Perrin's far outstrip them. She's the Alabama woman who embezzled more than a million dollars from her office and used her ill-gotten gains to cheer for the Crimson Tide: A federal judge today sentenced a Hoover woman to 30 months in prison for stealing more than $1 million from her employer, using the money to pay for season tickets to University of Alabama football, clothes, trips and pageant gowns. It gets better, somehow: she doesn't have to turn herself in until May 11, meaning she'll get to see the spring game on April 17th in style. Can we take up a collection to reward the first ESPN employee to find her in the stands and land an interview? An FBI agent testified Wednesday that Perrin went on shopping sprees for clothes. She used the money for jet skis, a BMW and trips to such places as Destin, New York and Las Vegas. ...wait a second. She gets thirty months in jail? That's two and a half years in prison for three and a half years of lifestyle, for those of you who took an early exit to the pros. This is sounding less and less like "object lesson," and more and more like "viable career plan." - - - HT: Friends of the Program. Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc. Congrats, Gamecocks! You now have two bad-boy QBs [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 12:26 pm] A South Carolina QB has been arrested on alcohol-related charges, and shockingly, it wasn't Stephen Garcia: Backup Aramis Hillary was tagged for "underage drinking and drunkenness" early Thursday morning while riding with brother CoCo, who was charged with drunk driving. (The young men's parents, Givenchy Hillary and Hugo Boss Hillary, were unavailable for comment.)This would be a mere frustration for Gamecock fans were it not for comments from Steve Spurrier last week indicating that he'd like to see a viable QB option emerge behind Garcia:"Stephen had a lousy bowl game, as we know, but he had a good game the month before against Clemson. But hopefully he can continue to prove it; there are some things he needs to work on. . . . Stephen should be able to hold his starting position, but I think last year was the only year I’ve ever coached where I had one quarterback and no matter what he did he stayed in the game. I still believe if a guy goes bad, you’d like to have someone else to put in."Should Hillary be removed from that mix for any length of time, the candidates for said option would be reduced to junior Zac Brindise, sophomores Andrew Clifford and Seth Strickland, and a pair of freshmen Spurrier was hoping to redshirt -- none of whom were rated higher than three stars as recruits, and none of whom have ever attempted a pass in a college game.Of course, if the Ol' Ballcoach's disciplinary history is any guide, the "indefinite" suspension that university policy mandates for arrested student-athletes may or may not end up costing Hillary any actual playing time, assuming he was poised to receive any in the first place. But it could make for unexpected depth-chart headaches for Spurrier as he puts his stable of QBs through their paces this spring.- - -Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Inform Doug Gillett what a poor substitute he is at dougie_doodle-at-yahoo. QB Focus: Garrett Gilbert, battle-tested? Yeah, you could say that [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 11:07 am] Assessing the fall's starting passers, in no particular order. Today: Texas sophomore Garrett Gilbert.• Typecasting. Texas wasn't about to let just anyone replace the winningest starting QB in college history; they wanted a precise, strong-armed field general in the Colt McCoy mold, and they found it in five-star prospect Gilbert, who led his high-school team to back-to-back state titles in 2007 and '08 and broke Graham Harrell's state record for career yardage by two yards. It looked like Gilbert was being set up for a near-perfect situation: Sign with Texas, learn from McCoy as a true freshman while getting some garbage-time reps toward the end of the Longhorns' blowout victories, then settle in for three years as the undisputed starter.But Gilbert's path to the limelight didn't quite follow that script. He only averaged two passing attempts per game in the regular season as the 'Horns let several opponents hang around much longer than expected -- and when he finally got to see meaningful action, it was on the season's biggest stage in the BCS National Championship Game after McCoy was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury on the Longhorns' fifth play from scrimmage. Gilbert took every snap from there on out, and his lackluster line (15-of-40 for 186 yards, two touchdowns, four picks) doesn't adequately portray the heroics he exhibited in bringing the 'Horns back within three points in the fourth quarter against the nation's #2 defense.With that grueling trial by fire behind him, the keys to the Texas offense are now Gilbert's alone. Sounds weird to say, but "It only gets easier from here, kid" might actually be a true statement in this case. Filling the shoes of one of the most accurate passers in recent memory, of course, will require Gilbert to improve that 45.5-percent completion rate, but that task will almost certainly be a lot easier without Nick Saban staring him down from the opposite sideline.• At his best ... Against Alabama Headlinin': Chip Kelly runs out the clock on troubled stars [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 9:04 am] Making the morning rounds. • Duck denouement, incoming. After being excoriated by more excitable members of the Oregon fourth estate for not banishing Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James immediately, Chip Kelly's decision on their future as Ducks will be announced tomorrow, presumably after both have made their scheduled court appearances. The Wiz has a roundup of local media reactions, including a look at Masoli's past criminal indiscretions and predictions on how this will shuffle the Ducks' conference-championship lineup for the 2010 season. [The Wiz] • Imagine what he could do healthy. No, don't. The country's best linebacker had a rough outing at Bama's pro day, but not the kind you'd expect: Linebacker Rolando McClain ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds, but when running an agility drill, he became ill. He later disclosed that he has battled Crohn's Disease since his freshman year in high school. It's an inflammatory disease of the intestines. McClain said he treats it with medication. ... McClain also disclosed that he has suffered from a hamstring injury since the Oct. 24 Tennessee game, an injury that his teammates did not know about. We're not medical professionals of any sort, so far be it from us to dictate how this should affect McClain's career, but ... look at what this guy accomplished, and think about the fact that he made All-American at less than full speed. [Al.com] • Hasn't he had enough practice running the score up? Wonderlic scores are leaking, if you care about that sort of thing, and Tim Tebow scored a 22, which is slightly below average for a quarterback and clearly indicative that Urban Meyer didn't properly prepare his trophy student to fill out those little bubbles with a #2 pencil. This year's smartypants is Sam Bradford, who notched 36 points out of a possible 50. [Shutdown Corner] • Although we're sure the other undrafted free agents appreciate his poise. I confess I saw this headline and thought it Oregon QB formally charged with burglary [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 8:27 pm] Don't look now, but stuff just got real in Eugene: Oregon's starting quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, and former wide receiver Garrett Embry were formally charged earlier today with a January burglary at UO's Sigma Epsilon house. Both players will appear before the Lane County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon.Interestingly enough, teammate LaMichael James will be in the same courtroom that morning to change his plea on domestic-violence charges from "not guilty" to "no contest," part of a deal that is said to include "a batterer's intervention program" but also a return to his regular responsibilities with the Oregon football team. At this point, though, it's anyone's guess whether Masoli will have a shot at the same opportunity. The charges against Masoli are just the latest in a hugely embarrassing string of offseason misdeeds attributed to OU players, ranging from disorderly conduct and DUI to robbery and assault; head coach Chip Kelly has already taken quite a bit of heat for LeGarrette Blount after the running back punched a Boise State player at the end of the Ducks' 2009 opener, then for not disciplining James in any notable way following his assault charges. Depending on how long Masoli's trial drags on, Kelly may or may not want endure the certain media furor over having an alleged felon on the field, even if he's only taking practice reps.Neither the district attorney's office nor the Oregon athletic department had any further comment on the charges; we'll follow the arraignment on Friday and see what happens.- - -Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Inform Doug Gillett what a poor substitute he is at dougie_doodle-at-yahoo. Whatever happened to baby Jags? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 2:39 pm] When last we saw college football's newest members, the South Alabama Jaguars, they were gearing up for their first season of football in school history. The Jags went 7-0 against a truncated schedule of junior colleges and prep schools. Nearly a year later, they're a few hours from kicking off the spring Red and White game, and this time they even have enough players to field it properly: Last season, the offense took on the defense in a format similar to a regular scrimmage. But since the Jaguars have achieved all of the goals set forth for spring drills according to Jones, the rising juniors in the program drafted Red and White teams that will compete as USA takes part in the last of 15 spring practices Wednesday. "Last year we really didn't have enough people to split into teams," Jones stated. The spring game isn't the only part of the program getting realer. For the Jags' second season, the schedule expands to ten games, including some teams you may have actually heard of (Nicholls State, Georgia State, and UC Davis). It's all part of the plan to ease South Alabama into the roiling boil of major college football before they become a full member of the Sun Belt in 2013, and we'll be watching them closely -- not just because we're always on the side of More Football In America, but because head coach (and Crimson Tide alum) Joey Jones gives great quotes: The captains also selected five assistant coaches on the USA staff to lead their side, and the program's support personnel were divided as well, leaving Jones as the only neutral observer of Wednesday's event. "I'll be on the winning side, I promise that," he joked. "Whichever team is ahead, I'll kind of ease to that sideline." - - - Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc. Tales from the Hot Seat: Can Illinois win one for the Zooker? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 12:45 pm] Profiles of the nation's most embattled coaches.Ron Zook, God bless him, will always be remembered for two things: one, being the unlucky duck tapped to immediately succeed Steve Spurrier at Florida, and two, being the coach that inspired the "Start a FireCoachX.com Web site the same day Coach X is hired" trend. After his brief and frequently embarrassing tenure at Gainesville -- remember his big confrontation at the Pike house? -- he was an odd choice indeed to take the reins of the long-suffering Illinois Fighting Illini, yet after a pair of frustrating two-win seasons, he managed to get the Illini into the Rose Bowl. Since that achievement, though, the team is just 8-16 and giving every indication that they're headed right back into the depths of the Bad Old Days. The Illinois program may not have Florida-level expectations, but they're not about to let that happen if they can help it.Why he was hired. The Zooker's record of 23-14 may not have cut the mustard at Florida, but after a 9-26 run over Ron Turner's last three years as coach, it probably looked a lot more enticing. And even while Zook's on-the-field results were causing acid reflux among the Gator faithful, he still managed to recruit at a breakneck pace -- though he wasn't the one responsible for landing Tim Tebow, he brought in most of the rest of the players who formed the core of Florida's 2006 title-winning team (not to mention a few from its 2008 championship squad).The "Uh-oh" Moment. The Illini followed up their improbable 2007 Rose Bowl campaign with a 5-4 start to '08 -- hardly stellar, but not bad, either, for a team returning only 12 starters. On November 8, they had what should've been a bowl-eligibility-clinching layup against Western Michigan on neutral ground at Detroit's Ford Field, but QB Juice Williams tossed INTs on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, helping WMU to a 20-7 halftime lead and, eventually, a 23-17 upset. The Illini got handled by Ohio Sta Some pre-emptive cold water for 2010's winter/spring darlings [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 11:01 am] The "pre-preseason" rankings that the pundits have been churning out earlier and earlier each year may have sod-all to do with how teams are ranked at the end of the season -- or even, for that matter, in the first "official" preseason polls in August -- but they do give some indication as to which teams will be the trendy picks through spring and summer. That goes for national-title favorites as well as the "sleeper" teams supposedly poised to present the big boys with their biggest challenges.Yesterday we sifted through some of 2010's earliest ranking attempts and noticed a handful of teams that seemed to be getting repeated mentions in strata somewhat more rarefied than where we've become accustomed to seeing them. This means that the hype machine already may be training its sights on them to varying degrees, and as a result, there's a high likelihood that you'll be sick of hearing about them at some point between now and August. Should you want to play the role of Debbie Downer when that happens -- and why wouldn't you? -- here's a handy buzz-killing cheat sheet:• ArkansasWhat you'll be hearing: "Bobby Petrino plus 10 returning starters on offense (including quarterback Ryan Mallett) equal plenty of points and double-digits wins. A real threat to be the SEC's second team in the BCS." (Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News)Curb your enthusiasm: The Razorbacks' bowl run despite a rugged season in 2009 has prompted more than a few people to crown them as the SEC's trendy upstart in 2010. Arkansas did boast the conference's third most productive offense, and as Wilner says, nearly all of the starters return from that unit. But Mallett, the linchpin of that offense, is spending his entire spring resting a broken foot, which it turns out had already had been injured twice last season. And Mallett will need to be at the top of his game to cover up for a defense that has finished dead last in the SEC in both of Petrino's sea Headlinin': Will no one curb the lawless infamy of ... Utah football? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 9:06 am] Making the morning rounds. • Let the hate flow through UU. A Utah recruit slugs his baseball coach after being cut from the team, is expelled from high school, and for the moment is still hanging on to his football scholarship offer from the Utes. This is irrefutable proof that Kyle Whittingham is ready to helm a Big Six program. [ESPN Rise] • Ryan Mallett, reluctant recipient of the 2010 Ben Olson Award for Perpetually Injured Quarterbacks. That broken foot Arkansas' lumbering giant of a quarterback sustained during offseason workouts? It's the third time he's had problems with it. Don't think Mallett's been hiding his injuries, however -- when you're nineteen feet tall it just takes that much longer for your pain receptors to get word to your brain. [CFT] • You don't have to pronounce it; just pay the man. Dabo Swinney gets money. A one-year contract extension doesn't speak to confidence in a coach? How about a $900K raise to go with it? That sweeten the deal at all? Also getting straight paid is DC Kevin Steele, albeit with a relatively paltry $200,000 salary bump. [SI] • This is the dead man's clipboard. Will Muschamp and James Franklin are grandfathered into that new and pesky coaches-in-waiting recruiting rule. The interesting part is the language: Phrasing like “publicly designated” just means all future assistants tapped for the captain's chair will go through the gruesome initiation rites without the additional scrutiny of local media outlets. Relax, Muschamp, they're just peeled grapes! [Rivals] • Guy Morriss is sorry. But not half as sorry as he's gonna be when his staff and players are redistributing copies of the newspapers they stole. Now that'll be team-building, right, Coach? [Rivals] Quickly: Speaking of sorry, LSU's Toliver is understandably regretful about that whole "unruliness to the point of being electrocuted by a police officer" thing ... A young man would rather play for Randy Shannon t AD: Expansion could stifle Notre Dame's independent streak [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 9, 2010, 3:51 pm] If it seems like Notre Dame has been involved in a game of will-they-join-a-conference-or-won't-they for eons now, it's because, well, they pretty much have. And the answer, in the end, has always been a pretty emphatic "won't." But athletic director Jack Swarbrick, surveying the increasing prospects for Pac-10 and/or Big Ten expansion, pulled a surprising 180 on that position today, indicating that his program's opposition to conference affiliation might not be rock-solid after all:"I believe we're at a point right now where the changes could be relatively small or they could be seismic," he said. "The landscape could look completely different. What I have to do along with Father Jenkins is try and figure out where those pieces are falling." . . ."You have two conferences [the Big Ten and SEC] that have separated themselves economically and you've got all the other conferences lined up for their [upcoming television] renegotiations," said Swarbrick. "The bar has been set so high, and the [current] media market is so tepid, that it creates a lot of tension."Swarbrick's explanations are cryptic enough that the precise "scenario[s] that would force our hand" are left to our imaginations, but whatever they are, they speak to some uncomfortable trends regarding Notre Dame's continued ability to command respect -- and dollars -- on a national level. Right now, ND's main reasons for eschewing any conference affiliation stem from two big perks of independence: First, the fact that they get to keep any and all bowl revenue to themselves, rather than split it among 10 or 11 conference rivals, and second, the exclusive TV contract they have with NBC, the proceeds from which they also get to keep. But recent developments (to which Swarbrick alludes) have made both of those perks look a lot less attractive than they once did. For one thing, taking home 100 percent of their bowl payout hasn't actually been that lucrativ Northwestern players and coaches going bald, for a cause [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 9, 2010, 2:08 pm] Here's a pick-me-up for your Tuesday afternoon post-lunch slump: A post that has nothing to do with conference expansion, Tim Tebow, or players in handcuffs. Every major college program has some sort of community outreach initiatives going, but a group of Northwestern's coaches and players will be upping the ante with a sweeping visual gesture for charity Wednesday, when they plan to shave their heads for a childhood cancer research benefit. Bruce Feldman talked with head coach Pat Fitzgerald about the event subscription req'd): "When you see little people inflicted with such a traumatic experience, it's hard not to really want to do something for them. It's really just a symbolic gesture to those little guys and little girls who are going through a really tough time." [...] "We tried to raise awareness to the team. We said 'Hey, as a coaching staff, we're going to be part of the St. Baldrick's Event. If any of you guys would like to be a part of it, please sign up.' And right away we had 13 players sign up. It's a pretty cool deal to see those guys jump on board." Fitzgerald goes on to talk about other service hours the team has put in this year as well as across-the-board improvements in player GPAs. All this, and they're turning in winning seasons? This is not your big brother's Northwestern anymore. For a fan base yearning for the days of the '96 Rose Bowl, the enthusiastic guidance of a guy like Fitzgerald has to bode beautifully for future Wildcats. Coach Fitz is also a prolific Twitterer, so look for the event to receive ample coverage on his feed. - - - Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc. 'Pinstripe Bowl' moves a step closer to reality [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 9, 2010, 12:13 pm] At least two of our burning (OK, lukewarm) questions regarding the proposed bowl game in the New York Yankees' new stadium have been resolved: First, and most importantly, what will it be called? Why, the "Pinstripe Bowl," of course, with a title sponsorship from New Era Cap Co. (for the first four years, at least).Not entirely sure how much this name is actually going to resonate; I've never known Big XII fans, as a group, to be particularly reverential toward Yankees lore, or anything related to baseball in the Northeast, for that matter. It may, however, offer an answer to the second important question, i.e. how they're going to fit a football field into Yankee Stadium to begin with. Vertical stripes are very slimming, you know.The questions that remain unanswered include "Will anyone in their right mind want to go to a football game in the south Bronx in late December" -- though marketers could always tie it in with the Big Apple's general New Year's celebration -- and "Will the NCAA even certify it next month." A "yes" to the latter question, though, seems a lot more likely now that the financial backing of a title sponsor has been added to the mix (as if George Steinbrenner's mountains of cash weren't enough already). Finally, there's the question of whether college football needs a 35th (or 36th, or 37th) bowl game, which might be the most controversial of all -- but as long as the Pinstripe Bowl promises to lock down Jay-Z for the halftime show, it gets this author's tentative stamp of approval.- - -Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Inform Doug Gillett what a poor substitute he is at dougie_doodle-at-yahoo. 'Pre-preseason' glazomanics off and running once again [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 9, 2010, 10:54 am] It's March, spring practice is just now grinding into gear for most teams, and there's barely any on-field action to write about at all. So it must be time for the nation's college football pundits, for the sake of showing the world they're still paying attention -- or just for the sake of having something to write about, perhaps -- to start putting together their "pre-preseason" top 25 lists.Actually, it's way past time, evidently: As you'll see from the brief rundown below, three people had taken their first cracks at a 2010 ranking before the newly minted national champions had even checked in for their flights home from Pasadena. Most of the usual suspects from last year's pre-preseason rundown return, and as with last year, there seems to be a general feeling that the previous year's champions are nicely set up for another run at the crown this season. But that feeling isn't unanimous, and there are plenty of other head-scratching picks to be found:• Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News had one of the more amusing pre-preseason lists last year, and this year's offering, evidently banged out immediately following Alabama's national-title victory, is a doozy as well. Wilner seems to imply that USC traded up in going from Pete Carroll to Lane Kiffin -- the Trojans finished 2009 ranked in the 20s in both polls, but Wilner has them at #10. He's also got Arkansas following close behind at #12 (the Razorbacks and Crimson Tide are the only SEC West teams able to crack his top 25) and Houston, which started strong in '09 but closed out the season on a 2-3 skid, at #16. Rounding out the weird picks are the Tennessee Vols, who endured the most tumultuous January in recent memory but still on his list at #18 with a bullet, and Rich Rodriguez's beleaguered Michigan squad, clinging to #24 despite not having beaten a single FBS team since September. After all that, the Miami Hurricanes seem like only a slightly optimistic pick at #5.• A little-known ups Headlinin': Bustin' the Buff bank [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 9, 2010, 8:39 am] Making the morning rounds. • But with high-altitude conversion rate's that's only ... wait, no, that's baking. It would cost the University of Colorado about $9 million to decamp to the Pac-10. And why is that a problem, again? The athletic department has an operating budget of about $45 million, which means a forfeiture of roughly 10%. That's a lot of money for a department that balked at firing Dan Hawkins because a $3 million separation package was viewed as too steep a price. • Jo-seee, Jose Jose Jose. One of 2010's most excellently-monikered recruits has a knack for following drama. (Jose Jose's first two intended destinations were Tennessee and South Florida.) Last week, however, drama found him in the form of assault and weapons charges, and now UCF has withdrawn Jose's scholarship. So much for our long-held dream of hearing less-literate fans call him "Josie" all year. • Broncos move in sinister ways. Boise State's defense is down one coordinator to the coaching carousel, and now finds itself short a safety as spring practice kicks off. Jason Robinson, key participant in the Broncos' Fiesta Bowl fake punt gambit, is serving an indefinite suspension for the ever-popular Undisclosed Violation Of Team Rules. The backup junior from L.A. saw playing time in eleven games last year, recording a high of five solo tackles against Hawaii. • Further blue-turf blues. In other BSU woes, we learn that their newly retooled offensive line contains only one player who hasn't been kept from playing due to injury or been shuffled to a new position. For an offense that relies so much on flinging the ball great distances at great speed, and a team that's a trendy pick to contend for next year's national title, solidification here is obviously crucial. Hope Kellen Moore's feet are as fleet as his throwing arm. • This is some new definition of "top" of which we were not previously aware. The top college sports towns: usual suspects At least for today, it's the Crimson and White House [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 8, 2010, 2:10 pm] As winners of the 2009 national title, the Alabama football team got to make the traditional visit to the White House today to be personally congratulated by the president. Depending on your leanings, you may be displeased to know that there was indoctrination going on from the minute the team walked through the door -- but perhaps not the kind you think:Not sure what the protocol is for paying the proper respects during visits like this, but whatever it is, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs -- who was born and raised in Auburn, Alabama, and whose parents both worked at the Auburn library -- wasn't having any of it:Oh, that's good, I was just thinking things weren't nearly divisive enough in Washington these days. Nevertheless, Alabama fans of all political persuasions will be pleased to know that President Obama recognized all 13 national titles claimed by the Tide, and was appropriately deferential to the head coach who may now be more popular than God in his home state. I imagine this will entertain Tide Nation for maybe three or four more hours, until they start the vigorous message-board speculation about what Obama will say to commemorate Bama's fourteenth national title one year hence. Just call it the Crimson and White House [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 8, 2010, 2:10 pm] As winners of the 2009 national title, the Alabama football team got to make the traditional visit to the White House Monday to be personally congratulated by the President. Depending on your team allegiance, you may be displeased to know that there was indoctrination going on from the minute the team walked through the door -- but perhaps not the kind you think: Not sure what the protocol is for paying the proper respects during visits like this, but whatever it is, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs -- who was born and raised in Auburn, Ala., and whose parents both worked at the Auburn library -- wasn't having any of it:Oh, that's good, I was just thinking things weren't nearly divisive enough in Washington these days. Nevertheless, Alabama fans of all political persuasions will be pleased to know that President Obama recognized all 13 national titles claimed by the Tide, and was appropriately deferential to the head coach who may now be more popular than God in his home state. I imagine this will entertain Tide Nation for maybe three or four more hours, until they start the vigorous message-board speculation about what Obama will say to commemorate Bama's 14th national title one year hence.- - -Matt Hinton is on vacation this week. Inform Doug Gillett what a poor substitute he is at dougie_doodle at yahoo. Georgia Bulldogs, the offseason scofflaws everyone at work can agree on [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 8, 2010, 1:07 pm] One item that we missed in this morning's police-blotter-esque Headlinin' post: Georgia QB Zach Mettenberger, one of two highly touted redshirt freshmen poised to compete for the starting job this season, was arrested early Sunday morning near Valdosta for, among other things, underage possession and false ID. If that doesn't win this year's Worst Way To End Spring Break Award, it's sure to be at least a finalist. (Actually, if Valdosta is Mettenberger's idea of a party, he may also be in the running for the Worst Way To Spend Spring Break Award, but that's a different post entirely.) Mettenberger is the first UGA player to get pinched this year, and if history is any guide, he won't be the last. Yet the Bulldogs' brand of off-season scofflawism has become famous for its relative lack of out-and-out thuggery. You won't see a Dawg make the police blotter for a rape or robbery; more than likely it'll be for something like, well, this: Call it mo-ped mania maybe, or a surge in scooter scofflaws - but two University of Georgia football players now have been busted in less than two weeks for committing traffic violations while operating the popular miniature motor vehicles. The latest player to run afoul of the law was NaDerris Rakeem Ward, who wound up handcuffed and jailed after being pulled over by a UGA officer about 2:30 p.m. Friday. Police called a tow truck to haul away the 180-pound Yamaha scooter. The 6-foot-5-inch, 255-pound Ward was riding a 49 cc Yamaha Zuma that weighs about 70 pounds less than the 19-year-old does. The football player was passing vehicles on the right side of the road - which is the wrong side of the road to pass anyone on two-lane streets - as Ward traveled along Carlton Street at East Campus Road, according to a UGA police incident report.As the story goes on to explain, Ward's arrest occurred less than two weeks after running back Caleb King was pulled over for piloting an even smaller scooter the wrong Suppose they gave a bowl and nobody came? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 8, 2010, 11:59 am] Just a couple of months removed from the most crowded postseason (34 bowl games) in college-football history, we're on the verge of packing in even more. Three new games are awaiting a certification decision from the NCAA next month:• The Cure Bowl, not a celebration of Robert Smith's trendsetting New Wave band but rather a benefit for the Susan G. Komen breast-cancer research foundation and the American Cancer Society, is tentatively scheduled for December 18 at Bright House Networks Stadium (home of the UCF Knights) in Orlando. It is slated to match up teams from the Sun Belt and Conference USA.• The Yankee Bowl, which aims to match up the #4 team from the Big East and the Big XII's #7 squad on December 29, is intended, as far as anyone can tell, mainly to show off the New York Yankees' shiny new baseball palace (a facility the game itself may or may not fit into).• The Dallas Football Classic would pit a Big Ten team against a Big XII or C-USA team in alternating years and would represent the return of postseason football to Dallas's Fair Park on New Year's Day after a one-season hiatus. (The Cotton Bowl game left the Cotton Bowl stadium for shinier, newer pastures at Jerry Jones's Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.)Sound like fun? There's just one problem: Thirty-seven bowls means we need 74 bowl-eligible teams -- and we only had 71 last season. (That number includes Notre Dame, who went 6-6 but removed themselves from bowl consideration by vote of the players.) Even if you made an exception for Kansas State, who only earned six wins thanks to a risible schedule that included two victories over D-IAA teams, we'd still be short.Particularly now that many bowl games are setting up complex tie-ins that may rotate among two or three conferences from year to year, it's tough to navigate the tangled web of conference tie-ins and selection orders that form the framework of each bowl season. But as near as I can figure, had the 2 |