AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December
December 2007
Sights and sounds from the French Quarter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Orleans-After a couple of days hunkering down behind this computer, I finally got out last night and had a nice dinner in the French Quarter with a couple of AJC colleagues. I attended a function at Pat O’Brien’s, stood on the balcony and took a couple of sips off a Hurricane (not for the faint of heart), and did my obligatory walk down Bourbon Street on the way back to the hotel.
It’s really interesting what you see and hear when you get out amongst the folks. For example:
1. Hawaii’s here and their fans are great, but Georgia OWNS this town for the next two days: It was a Sunday night and a couple of our favorite places, like the Napoleon House, were closed. But that did not slow down the Bulldog Nation, who are already out in full force and barking their way through town. These guys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, already have their game face on. They want a win over Hawaii and a preseason Top Five for 2008. They will be ready tomorrow night.
2. Tenuta is going to be a hot coach: As soon as Georgia Tech’s Humanitarian Bowl is over today, look for Jon Tenuta to get pretty busy. SMU, which threw a ton of money at Paul Johnson trying to get him to come to Dallas instead of Georgia Tech, may want to talk to him about being their head coach. I predict he’ll land at LSU or Michigan as a DC.
3. Keep your eye on Auburn: Like the consummate poker player he is, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville is always thinking several moves ahead. I’ve got the feeling that we’re going to see more of the new spread option attack, recently installed by new OC Tony Franklin, than most people think in tonight’s Chick-fil-A Bowl against Clemson. Now this is just me guessing out loud. But could it be that Tuberville wants recruits to see the new offense and get excited? It’s just something to think about tonight as you watch the game.
4. The national media loves Mark Richt: In an age where guys like Bobby Petrino get the headlines and embarrass the coaching profession, we here in Georgia, especially those of us in the media, are lucky to have a guy like Mark Richt as the head coach of the state university. That’s the message I get from my national media friends. You don’t have to worry about Coach Richt ever lying or deceiving or pitting one school against another to get a raise. Here’s the other thing my friends say: Take care of this guy and his family. Word here is that AD Damon Evans and President Michael Adams are going to do just that in the near future.
5. Old news department: There was a report out of Kansas City that with the brand new stadium being built by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the Cotton Bowl wants to become a BCS venue.
Well, duh. Atlanta, Orlando, Houston, and Tampa also want to be in the BCS. The question is, will the BCS get away from this “double-hosting” model (two BCS games in one city) in the next contract? The sponsors, like Allstate here in New Orleans and Tostitos at the Fiesta, don’t want that. The discussions on the future of the BCS, which will really crank up at a meeting of the commissioners in Miami next April, are going to be very interesting.
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McFadden report was unfair
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Orleans-Just one man’s opinion on a Sunday morning:
1. The McFadden report was unfair: It is my profession and I love it, but sometimes I wonder if some of the media that covers college football has lost its mind. The latest example is a report from an Arkansas television station that Darren McFadden had received a car from an agent, Mike Conley, Sr., and that his eligibility might be in question for Tuesday’s Cotton Bowl.
The report was out there for an entire news cycle before the TV station finally backed off the story and apologized when some facts came to light. One of those facts is that Mike Conley, Sr., is not a registered NFL agent. He does represent NBA players, including his son, Mike Conley, Jr.
Here’s the problem. In the 24 hours that story was out there and continuously scrolled across the bottom of the screen at ESPN, a lot of people changed their minds about Darren McFadden, who is a good kid. Now they think he’s just another greedy athlete who couldn’t wait for 30 days to cash in and didn’t care how it would hurt his teammates. And many of those people won’t even read the retraction or the apology.
This is not like reporting that Coach A and going to School B and getting it wrong. It’s bad and it shouldn’t happen, but the damage is minimal.
This is a kid’s life and reputation. Unless you’ve got the paperwork in your hand that ties the agent and the athlete together, or an eyewitness to the transaction who is willing to go on the record, you just don’t go with that story.
2. It’s been quite a year for Sly: When Mississippi State was dominated 45-0 in its first game with LSU, it was hard for Bulldog fans to be optimistic about the future. But not long after that I talked to coach Sylvester Croom and he said: “Believe it or not, Tony, I saw some things in that game that encouraged me.” After beating Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl, Mississippi State finished 8-5 with wins over Auburn, Kentucky, Alabama and Ole Miss. No coach in the country did a better job than Sly Croom this season.
3. Let’s hear it for the Zooker: In October of 2004, Ron Zook hit rock bottom in his coaching career when he was dismissed as the head coach at Florida. Zook took a lot of shots from a lot of people who said that he wasn’t cut out to be a head coach. On Saturday Ron Zook, who is taking Illinois to the Rose Bowl , was named the Liberty Mutual National coach of the year. Not bad, Zooker. Not bad at all.
4. I want what Joe Pa is having: First of all, I just want to get to 81. And if I get there, I want to have just half the energy of Penn State’s Joe Paterno. Yeah, he’s cranky and he gives us guys in the media a hard time. But Paterno is still a heckuva a football coach. After beating Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl he has climbed to within one win of Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (373), who will face Kentucky on Monday without 36 of his players. Paterno’s program suddenly looks to be in pretty good shape while Bowden’s is struggling. Because of it, this will be one of the most interesting story lines of 2008.
5. Let’s wait and see on Neuheisel: UCLA is taking something of a risk in hiring Rick Neuheisel, the former Bruin quarterback. Rather than go into the old news blow by blow, let’s just say that as a young coach Rick had a reputation for being very aggressive and stretching the binders on the rule book as far as they would go. But I also hear some humility and maturity has set in. UCLA needs some energy to compete in that town with Pete Carroll and Southern Cal. But Neuheisel and his bosses have to know that a lot of people, including the NCAA enforcement staff, are watching him. When it comes to following the rules, he has no margin for error. And at the first sign of trouble, he will not get the benefit of the doubt.
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The Bowls are big for these teams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Orleans—I hear it all the time during bowl season.
Only one game (the BCS championship) has any meaning. The rest of the bowls, goes the argument, really don’t need to be played.
And if you’re a college football fan, you can make that argument. But for some players and coaches, there is a lot riding on the outcome of the bowl game. Here are just a few schools that will really benefit with a win in the post-season:
1. LSU, Ohio State: This one’s obvious. LSU would win its second national championship since 2003 and give the SEC its fifth title since expansion in 1992. Les Miles would get a huge raise to over $3 million per season. Ohio State is in the NC game for the second straight year and would win its first bowl game ever against an SEC team (0-8).
2. Florida: The Gators are already talking about next year when QB Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, and WR Percy Harvin will be juniors. A young defense will be a year older and better and Urban Meyer’s recruiting classes will really start to kick in. Florida wants an impressive win over Michigan in the Capital One Bowl to launch its bid for the 2008 national championship.
3. Georgia: Ditto for the Bulldogs, who are very up front about why they really want to beat Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. A victory gives Georgia a top five finish and likely puts the Bulldogs in the preseason top five for 2008. Georgia knows it will be on a collision course with Florida for the SEC and the national championship next season. The road to the BCS championship is a little easier if you don’t have to slug your way up the rankings (ask Auburn).
4. Tennessee: The Volunteers put together a nail-biting finish to get to the SEC championship game. But the entire tone of the off-season will be different if Tennessee loses to Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl. Coach Phillip Fulmer knows that he’s losing just about all of his offensive staff. He knows that last year’s loss to Penn State in this game created a lot of questions going into 2007. If nothing else, this is a quality of life game for Fulmer. His quality of life between now and the 2008 season will be a lot better if he wins.
5. Alabama: There really is no difference between 7-6 and 6-7, right? Actually, there is when you’re in the process of building a program, which Nick Saban is trying to do at Alabama. Yes, the Crimson Tide had a total collapse after losing to LSU on Nov. 3. The lack of talent in Tuscaloosa finally kicked in and something was ripped out of that team after the gut-wrenching loss to the Tigers at Bryant-Denny. In short, Alabama has now seen rock bottom and now comes the process of building the program from the ground up. It helps if the first building block is a win going into the off-season conditioning program.
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It’s good—and sad—to be back in New Orleans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New Orleans-Every time I come here, the memories return and embrace me like a dear old friend. But this time was different. This time I wondered how many of my memories of New Orleans would still be here.
Like anyone who writes about college sports for a living, New Orleans has been a pretty regular stop on the trail. I first came here as a college student some 30 years ago to experience Mardi Gras. Those memories, as you might imagine, are a bit fuzzy.
But since I came here for my first Final Four in 1982, and watched freshman Michael Jordan knock down the winning shot for North Carolina, not many years have gone by without at least one trip to the Crescent City.
But when I flew here Thursday late afternoon, it marked my first visit since Katrina devastated this grand old lady and created image after image that would break your heart and make you seethe with anger all in the same moment.
On the drive in from the airport, I looked for the remnants of the carnage that happened over two years ago. The Superdome has been repaired and looks no different from the outside. The inside had to get an entire makeover and I’m anxious to see that.
The Hyatt Hotel adjacent to the Dome, which was always the center of activity for the big events in this town, is still not open and it may never open again. Hundreds of glass windows that were shattered by the storm have been repaired but the damage to the overall structure was so severe it might not make financial sense to restore the Hyatt to its original condition. That would be a shame.
In the coming days I look forward to getting out and seeing exactly how my old friend is doing. My sense is that I will see little change downtown and in the French Quarter. The story will be different in the outlying areas, including the Lower Ninth Ward. I want to see that as well.
In the meantime, we have a couple of good football games coming up. I spoke to some Hawaii people when I got in last night and I can tell you that these folks ain’t the least intimidated by a team from the SEC. They spent a bunch of money to get here and see this as a once in a lifetime experience. They are going to party hard and fully expect their team to win.
Six days after the Sugar Bowl we’ll get a BCS championship game that is still hard to figure out. But I will say this. If you think this game will be just like Florida’s win over Ohio State in last January’s BCS championship game, you are in for a surprise. The whole mindset of this game is different. I expect it to be close.
So it’s good to be back in New Orleans, my grand old friend. Hopefully the next 10 days will play a big role of getting her completely back on her feet.
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Merry Christmas! See you in New Orleans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the spirit of Christmas and, after a very busy regular season, we’re going to shut down the blog for a few days to celebrate the Holidays. We’ll meet again next week when I get to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and the BCS championship.
Until then, here are my Christmas wishes for some very special people.
1. The City of New Orleans: A prosperous, but safe, bowl season. The city has been rebuilding towards this moment since Katrina hit. Hundreds of thousands will come to New Orleans to celebrate the Sugar Bowl and the BCS championship game, which will be held just six days apart. The hospitality industry will do their part. They always do. The folks in charge of security also have to do their part. It won’t be enough for New Orleans to be safe. It must also be PERCEIVED as safe.
2. Bobby Petrino: A sense of humor or something, anything, that makes this man seem like a human being. He has gotten beaten up in the press worse than any coach I can remember and a lot of it is well deserved. But some of it, as is the case in today’s media culture, was over the top. Here is the reality Petrino must face. At some point every coach, no matter how good he is, has to engage the public and rehabilitate his image. That’s because every coach, no matter how good he is, will someday need the benefit of the doubt. Because of Petrino’s personality (or lack thereof) and because of his flirtation with Auburn in 2003, nobody was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he left the Falcons. Some of the complaints about the Falcons coming from his camp might have had some merit. But nobody was listening because Petrino has made no deposits in the bank of personal credibility.
3. Paul Johnson: For Josh Nesbitt to be a quick study. Taylor Bennett may be the Georgia Tech quarterback in 2008 as Johnson installs his offense in bits and pieces. Urban Meyer did this at Florida with Chris Leak in 2006 but gave Tim Tebow enough snaps for him to get comfortable with the offense. I guess you could say that it paid off in 2007. Nesbitt, who played at my old high school (Greene County), is a very gifted athlete who must now learn to make split-second decisions. That is what makes Johnson’s offense so effective. You need to watch a lot of film, lad.
4. Phillip Fulmer: The right offensive coordinator. Fulmer, as you might imagine, has received a lot of interest in the opportunity to replace David Cutcliffe. The word I get is that Fulmer will take his time and won’t make a decision until after January’s coaches convention, where he will have an opportunity to interview a lot of people in a very short time. Still, the decision comes down to this: Does Fulmer stick with the comfortable or does he do something a little bold and outside the box-at least for him? Part of Fulmer’s problem with portions of the Tennessee fan base is that they are, for lack of a better term, simply BORED. That happens when coaches have been in one place for so long. Staff changes provide the opportunity to get the fans juiced up again.
5. Bobby Bowden: Some good news and some equally good vision about the future. The cheating scandal at Florida State is bad. I won’t try to sugarcoat it. But this kind of stuff is so far removed from the head coach that you can’t lay it all at Bowden’s feet. Still, he is in charge of the football program so, like it or not, he has to take responsibility. It sure would help Bowden to win the bowl game over Kentucky.
Here is the greater concern. The suspensions of 20-plus players will carry over into the first three games of next season. If Florida State comes out of the gate slowly and the season goes South, it will be time for Bowden to take a hard look in the mirror. After watching Bowden’s magnificent career, it would break my heart to see it end badly for him.
Merry Christmas, folks. Thanks for your support this year.
Tony B.
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NCAA can’t stop coaching carousel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several folks have written and asked: Why can’t the NCAA step in and just stop the movement of coaches between the end of the regular season and bowls?
It is so disruptive and so unfair to the kids, you argue. And you’re right about that.
If the NCAA can dictate a dead period in recruiting in December, why can’t they dictate a dead period in coaches leaving to take other jobs? That’s a fair question.
For those of you who have asked such questions I have three words: Sherman Antitrust Act.
You may recall that back in the 1990s the NCAA, in a effort to rein in costs, mandated that the third basketball assistant be designated as a “restricted earnings coach” and be paid no more than $16,000 per season. The NCAA, a voluntary organization, was trying to limit the amount that its members could pay its employees. I’m not a lawyer but even I know that’s a no-no.
When the lawyers and the courts got through with the NCAA, the organizing body of college athletics was hit with a $67 million judgment.
You can believe that the NCAA will not dip its toe in those waters again.
Yes, it’s tough on the schools and on the players when a coach suddenly leaves in December. A quick count reveals that seven teams in the bowl season will be playing with interim head coaches and two more have coaches who will be gone after the game.
But right now it is a seller’s market when it comes to established head coaches. The proven coaches have the negotiating leverage because getting a good head coach and keeping him is so important when the financial stakes are this high. You can’t blame the coaches and their representatives for using that leverage now that the market has changed. Coaches are well paid, but they also know that in today’s climate they are one 6-6 season from being shown the door.
Some coaches handle their departure better than others. Some disrupt their old employer and their former players more than others. Given the nature of college football, there is never a good way or a good time to leave. It will always be messy. Some coaches will flat out lie about their intentions. They deserve the criticism they get and will have to live with the consequences.
But the NCAA cannot, and should not, make a rule to stop it.
Bring on the Poinsettia Bowl!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The bowl season starts Thursday and, except for LSU and Ohio State in the BCS championship game, these match-ups are about setting the table for next season. Coaches want to win their bowl games in order to send their players into the off-season workouts with a positive memory and their coaches on the recruiting trail with something good to sell.
With that in mind, here are my top five story lines among the non-BCS, non-New Years Day games. I’ll come back with the best BCS and NYD story lines after Christmas.
1. Bring on the Poinsettia Bowl!: Thursday’s Poinsettia Bowl between Navy and Utah just picked up a lot of new viewers: Georgia Tech fans who want to get a glimpse of what life will be like under Paul Johnson, the Yellow Jackets’ new coach. Now Georgia Tech’s offense won’t be exactly like the triple option you’ll see in the Thursday’s bowl game, but some of the principles will be the same. This team has led the nation in rushing four of the last five seasons. You’ll also see that Navy is a well-coached team from top to bottom. Then you’ll imagine what Johnson could do with ACC caliber athletes.
2. Auburn and the spread offense: You have to give Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville credit for this: He is not afraid to think outside the box. Offensive coordinator Al Borges is nudged out the door and he hires Tony Franklin, a spread offense guru from Troy. And Tuberville’s not waiting until spring practice to begin installing the new offense. He’s doing it while getting ready for the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Clemson on Dec. 31. Franklin won’t be the OC for the bowl game, but knowing Tuberville he’ll want to try some things out against Clemson in order to be able to hit the ground running next spring.
3. Kevin Smith versus an SEC defense: Kevin Smith of UCF, the nation’s leading rusher, has announced that he’ll return for his senior season. He should have gotten more support for the Heisman Trophy in 2007 but by the time he reached everybody’s radar this season it was too late. He’ll get a chance to start next season in the Heisman discussion if he puts up some good numbers against Mississippi State in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29. The Bulldogs were No. 8 in the SEC in stopping the run (159.0 ypg) but it is an SEC defense and that is what potential voters will remember.
4. Will Florida State get embarrassed? Reports out of Tallahassee reveal that as many as 25 Florida State players could miss the Music City Bowl against Kentucky because of an academic cheating scandal. The last thing Bobby Bowden’s program needed was a week of bad PR leading up to the bowl game. If this team is uninspired and gets blown out by Kentucky, it will be a very unpleasant off-season for Bowden and the calls for him to retire will increase.
5. How interested is Georgia Tech in Boise? When an interim coach is running the show for the bowl game, a team usually goes one of two ways. Either it plays with reckless abandon and has a lot of fun or the guys just pack it in due to a lack of interest. My sense is that this Georgia Tech team will do the former under Jon Tenuta in the Humanitarian Bowl against Fresno State. You might as well play hard because there is nothing to lose and for some of the seniors on this team, this will be the last football game they will ever play. But this has been a hard team to read.
Bowden to West Virginia makes sense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the latest from the coaching grapevine:
1. Terry Bowden to West Virginia? Since he got out of the business in 1998, the former Auburn coach has been keeping very busy with radio work and writing for Yahoo.com. But in the past two years he’s also been preparing to get back into coaching. Like a lot of guys, a few years away from the game makes the heart grow fonder and restores the fire in the belly. Bowden would be a very good fit at West Virginia. He’s a graduate. He knows and appreciates the culture. Would it be a little risky? Probably. But it is something the school should consider.
2. Jimbo Fisher to West Virginia? Nope. Fisher and his agent had to work too hard to get the deal in place with Florida State that will pay him $2.5 million if he’s not the head coach by 2011. West Virginia would also have to buy out Florida State if it wanted him. Timing is everything and that’s why Florida State president T.K. Wetherell was willing to put this deal together for Fisher.
3. Kippy Brown to Tennessee? Tennessee will certainly miss OC David Cutcliffe but, as you might imagine, there is a line around the block of guys who want the job. An old coach told me a long time ago that schools should never worry when they lose a talented assistant because there are so many good coaches out there who are just waiting for the right opportunity. Based on everything I’ve heard, Kippy Brown, who was Phillip Fulmer’s assistant head coach for two seasons (1993-94) would be a very good fit. Brown has been in the NFL since 1995.
4. Duke will get a good quarterback: I don’t even know who it will be. But I do know that Cutcliffe felt really good about the way recruiting was going when the Duke opportunity came along. He had made strong inroads with several top-flight quarterbacks who wanted to come to Tennessee and run his system. One of them will come to Duke because they want to play for him. And no, Volunteer fans. This is not going to hurt your recruiting class. Cutcliffe will take a player who would have been down the depth chart at Tennessee and coach him up to play in the ACC.
5. Kudos to Chris Hatcher: Coach David Dean and his players deserve all the accolades for last Saturday’s win in the Division II national championship game. But don’t forget to give some credit to Hatcher, who left that program in pretty good shape when he decided to move on to Georgia Southern this season.
Les Miles will have a Merry Christmas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Things we learned, and things we still don’t know after the weekend:
1. Les Miles is going to have a Merry Christmas: Nobody wanted Michigan to hire a new coach more than the current coach at LSU. Because if the Wolverines, who wanted Miles, had not gotten a coach in place by Christmas, the Michigan rumors would have dogged Miles throughout the preparations for the national championship game. THAT would have been the story in New Orleans, not the fact that LSU was playing for the national title.
2. What if West Virginia had beaten Pittsburgh? One of the reasons West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez turned down Alabama last year, I strongly believe, was that he knew his 2007 Mountaineer team was good enough to play for the national championship. If West Virginia beats Pittsburgh on Dec. 1, the Mountaineers would be in the big game right now. Would Coach Rod have been willing to turn down Michigan if that had happened? Michigan fans should be thrilled. Rodriguez will recruit speed and force the rest of the Big Ten to do so as well. This is a great hire for Michigan.
3. Can Cutcliffe be successful at Duke? David Cutcliffe, the offensive coordinator at Tennessee really wanted the job at Georgia Tech but could not get an interview. He is convinced that he has learned a lot since his tenure at Ole Miss ended and will be able to apply those lessons at Duke. The Duke administration has promised to give him some help in terms of facilities and with the admissions process. If Duke wants to be competitive in football, they need to help this guy more than they helped Ted Roof. Speaking of Roof, if somebody needs a good defensive coordinator then call this guy. He wants to coach next season.
4. Phillip Fulmer is in a tough spot: Trooper Taylor has been a loyal soldier and has done incredible work for Fulmer coaching the wide receivers and helping with player development. Taylor is one of those guys that every staff needs to be successful. But what if Fulmer determines that Taylor is simply not ready to become offensive coordinator after the departure of Cutcliffe? Taylor will have opportunities to leave and, after getting passed over twice, probably will in order to become a coordinator. That is the next stepping stone to being a head coach. That’s just part of the business.
5. I’ve got two words for Phillip Fulmer: Like most college head coaches, Fulmer likes the familiar. He likes the comfortable. That’s why he brought back Cutcliffe, a known commodity, to run his offense and that turned out well. But if Fulmer wants to really shake things up and get the Volunteer Nation excited about the future of the program, I have two words for him:
Norm Chow.
He’s the best quarterback coach this side of Cutcliffe and Steve Spurrier and he’s just down the interstate in Nashville. Maybe you can’t lure him from the comfort zone of the NFL. But it’s worth a call.
SEC fans should mark their calendars
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hey, SEC fans, it’s never to early to start marking these dates on you 2008 football calendar:
May 27: That’s when the SEC football coaches will hold their annual meetings in Destin. I’d love to be a fly on the wall. I’m getting word that new Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino might get a pretty chily reception from his fellow coaches. Petrino didn’t endear himself to other coaches in 2003 when he sat on an airport runway near Louisville and talked with Auburn about replacing Tommy Tuberville.
Oct. 11: Petrino takes his Arkansas team to Auburn where Tuberville will be waiting. If Auburn has gotten its new offense figured out by then, this game could get ugly. The pre-game and the post-game handshakes by Petrino and Tuberville will be measured in nano-seconds.
Oct. 25: New Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt makes this first trip back to Arkansas. He turned down a raise and the opportunity to stay as the head hog in order to become an Ole Miss Rebel. A sizable part of the Razorbacks fan base was glad to see him go but Nutt also had his supporters. It should be an interesting reception at Donald W. Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium.
Nov. 1: Georgia and Florida meet in Jacksonville. What will happen if Georgia scores first? What will happen if Florida scores first? Georgia’s decision to rush the field last season put some real spice back into the rivalry. This game has the potential to get a little chippy. Georgia and Florida will probably be the best two teams in the SEC next season. The winner could still be in the race for the national championship.
Nov. 8: Over 30,000 LSU fans made the trek to Tuscaloosa last season just to see their former coach, Nick Saban, and his Alabama team lose to their Tigers. Now Saban must make his first trip back to Baton Rouge since leaving after the 2004 season. It will not be a warm reception.
SEC West is best—in story lines
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some updated thoughts on the coaching carousel:
1. SEC West now best—at least when it comes to story lines: Since the SEC split into divisions in 1992 the Eastern Division with Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee has always been the glamour division. Now the SEC West, with Bobby Petrino going to Arkansas and Houston Nutt going to Ole Miss, has a wonderful new set of rivalries. You already know about LSU-Alabama and next season Nick Saban has to go to Baton Rouge. Now we have Nutt against Arkansas and Petrino against the guy (Tommy Tuberville of Auburn) whose job he tried to take four years ago. This is assuming, of course, that Les Miles remains at LSU which brings us to…..
2. Will Les Miles have a Merry Christmas? I think we’ll know about Dec. 21. That’s a week from Friday and the day that everybody is basically going to start shutting down to celebrate Christmas. If Michigan does not have a new coach in place by then, Miles may to have to live with the rumors of his departure until January and preparations for the BCS championship game. It won’t matter how many times he says “I’m not going to be the head coach at Michigan.” Nick Saban rendered that statement meaningless. Until Michigan hires a coach, this story will not go away and nobody is going to buy Miles’ protests.
3. Good move at Auburn: Tommy Tuberville is an old defensive coordinator. He knows what drives defensive coaches crazy. And today, it is some form of the spread offense with a mobile quarterback. He saw that his current offense just wasn’t getting it done with a drop back quarterback. He saw that Troy had rolled up yards on Georgia and Florida State, just to name a few. So he hired Tony Franklin, the OC at Troy, who knows this offense as well as any one. Now Kodi Burns has to learn the offense. Coaches tell me that you don’t have to commit completely to this offense but that in the future they’ll have to have some of it in their package.
4. Timing is everything: In today’s coaching search, which has to take place in a hyper-active media environment, it is not enough to have a good job and a good financial package if you want to land a sitting head coach. The timing must be absolutely perfect so that the sitting coach does not spend a lot of time twisting in the 24-hour news cycle. Arkansas found that out in its discussions with Tommy Bowden and Jim Grobe. When the school found out that Bobby Petrino was going to resign on Tuesday, AD Jeff Long did not wait for the official announcement. He flew to Atlanta immediately with a university attorney and a deal. As soon as Petrino resigned, he was on a plane headed back to Arkansas for the press conference.
5. Glad Bobby Johnson didn’t go to Duke: Vanderbilt’s Johnson is a very good football coach who has the Commodores competing at a very high level. I know he’s frustrated because his teams still lose too many close games in the fourth quarter. That is usually a function of depth, which will always be a problem at Vanderbilt. But he would have been equally frustrated at Duke, where they are talking a good game about being competitive in football, but really haven’t stepped up to plate to really give somebody a chance to win.
On a plane to Arkansas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Getting ready to get on a plane to Fayetteville, Ark. I don’t know how many answers I’m going to get when I land in Wal-Mart Country, but I sure have a lot of questions for the folks at the University of Arkansas. Such as:
1. Do you people have any idea what you’ve done? Bobby Petrino is one of those guys who looks good on paper, but as a human being he has absolutely no communication or people skills. Other than his wins at Louisville, what about this man appealed to you to hire him as a representative of your university?
2. Have you forgotten November, 2003? That is when Petrino sat in a plane in an airport near Louisville and basically tried to put himself in position to take Tommy Tuberville’s job. Petrino had worked for the guy at Auburn just the year before. Why would you hire someone who would stab somebody in the back like that?
3. He lied to Arthur Blank. Don’t you think he’ll lie to you? On Monday, Petrino assured the Falcons owner that he had worked through his problems and would be back next season. On Tuesday he phoned Blank to let him know that he was quitting. If Petrino will lie to a man like Blank, he’ll certainly lie to the athletics director and chancellor of the University of Arkansas.
4. Are you THAT desperate to win? I know that you wanted to hire a sitting head coach and that Tommy Tuberville, Tommy Bowden, Jim Grobe, and Butch Davis all decided to stay put. I know that you had told some coordinators that if this deal didn’t get done, you were ready to go the route of hiring a top assistant. But there are a lot of good coaches out there with a lot less baggage than this guy.
5. Do you realize what a PR hit this university is going to take? Arkansas will survive, of course. But for the next few weeks this school is going to be the poster-child of what’s wrong with college athletics because of this hire. After all of the controversy surrounding Houston Nutt, which led to his bolting to Ole Miss, are you sure THIS is the direction you want to go? Do you think for a minute that Darren McFadden or Felix Jones will want to play for this guy? They already had one foot out the door. Now they will go running to the NFL.
My friend, George Morris
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I beg your indulgence this morning.
I don’t want to talk about the BCS and whether or not there should be a playoff in college football.
I don’t want to talk about the coaching carousel, the agents, and the millions of dollars these people are chasing.
I don’t want to talk about any of the things that fans think are wrong with college football. We can do that another time.
Today I want to talk about my friend, George Morris.
It is a sign of our times, and a sad one I might add, that the first six pages of this morning’s sports section were consumed with news about a man whose selfishness and arrogance embarrassed and humiliated his family and university. That same man has all but destroyed the professional organization that once laid the entire world before his feet.
Our culture, and the media that feeds it, is consumed with the wealthy and the famous, especially when their shortcomings can be put on full public display. We just love it when the rich and talented crash and burn. They get the ink in the obsessive culture that all of us have played a role in creating.
That’s why you should know about George Morris, a man who spent his life giving back to the game and the people that he loved.
A man who was one of the greatest ambassadors in the history of Georgia Tech and who did everything in his power to further the legacy of its great coach, Bobby Dodd.
A member of the College Football Hall of Fame who never thought that football was supposed to make him rich. It just made him happy.
A man with an infinite ability to collect friends and admirers.
George Morris was a football official for 30 years, a pretty impressive run. His last game as an official was a famous one, the Alabama-Auburn game of Dec, 2, 1989, the first time Alabama had ever played at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Not a bad way to go out.
Every year George would return to the College Football Hall of Fame dinner in New York, where he was inducted in 1981. He loved being around his fellow Hall of Famers. Every year in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, the spotlight would hit Morris, he would stand in his tuxedo, wave to the crowd and smile the largest of smiles. The emcee of the banquet would say “a 1981 inductee from Georgia Tech, the great George Morris.” It never got old.
And well after the banquet George could be found in one of the lounges of the Waldorf-Astoria, holding court with people of all ages. I have been in the audience. It was great stuff.
Here is the point. George Morris was a man who spent his life after his football playing days trying to give something back. He loved Georgia Tech and wanted to do whatever he could to help the Institute. He loved Bobby Dodd, which is why he devoted so much of his time as president of the Bobby Dodd Foundation. He loved his family, his community, and his friends.
The game of football in general, and Georgia Tech in particular, had given George Morris a better life. Because of that, he felt an obligation to give something back and spent his life doing it.
George had a heart as big as a Mack truck. But on Monday the call came that his big old heart had stop beating. He was so much larger than life that it just never occurred to some of us that he was mortal like the rest of us.
George Morris was a man. He was a man’s man.
And there are too damned few of them left.
Tebow won Heisman on Nov. 10 at South Carolina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three things we learned over the weekend:
1. Tebow won the Heisman with his performance at South Carolina: On Nov. 10 Florida went to South Carolina for a game most thought would be competitive because Steve Spurrier was at home and coaching against his alma mater. With Florida WR Percy Harvin out, everybody in the ballpark knew that Florida would ride Tim Tebow all night long. South Carolina had a beaten up, weak defense. But it was still an SEC defense and the Gamecocks still couldn’t stop him. Tebow ran for five touchdowns and threw for two more.
That night even Florida coach Urban Meyer, who had laughed at the notion of a Tebow Heisman in May, admitted that his quarterback was doing something none of us had ever seen. Tebow’s numbers are unprecedented in SEC history. Darren McFadden is a magnificent football player but Tim Tebow had a Heisman Trophy season.
2. Michigan is like a little old lady: You remember the one down the street who had a good, reliable Chevy in the garage for all those years? It wasn’t fancy but it got her to the grocery store and to church and back. But finally the old Chevy gave out she had to go buy a new car and got a huge case of sticker shock. That’s Michigan as it tries to hire a new football coach.
The market has changed dramatically since Lloyd Carr took over in 1995. On principle, Michigan feels it shouldn’t have to pay north of $2 million for a football coach. That’s admirable and a little arrogant. But that attitude ain’t going to beat Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes who are now 6-1 against the Maize and Blue.
You didn’t ask but I’ll share this. The best fit for Michigan, and the guy who could out-Tressel Jim Tressel, is coaching at Wake Forest. Jim Grobe, who has told friends that he probably has one more move left him, would be perfect for Michigan.
3. Arkansas looks to NFL: Media reports out of Little Rock have Arkansas perhaps looking to the NFL to find a head coach to replace Houston Nutt. We’ll see how many of those guys Arkansas can help get raises. They’ve already helped four households named Tuberville, Bowden, Davis and Grobe have a very Merry Christmas.
Here’s a hint to my Arkansas friends: If you want a good coach who knows offense better than anybody, hire Norm Chow of the Tennessee Titans. He should have been a head coach long ago. If you want an energetic guy to compete with the big boys of the SEC in recruiting and reunite the fan base, hire Will Muschamp from Auburn or Charlie Strong from Florida.
Johnson will get it done at Georgia Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Johnson is a low-key country boy from Western North Carolina who tells you exactly what he thinks—even if it stings a little bit. As a result, people have underestimated Johnson for most of his adult life.
If you play Georgia Tech in football, to underestimate Johnson would be a mistake. A big mistake.
Johnson took over as Georgia Tech’s head football coach at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and this much I can promise you. There will be no doubt about who is in charge on The Flats. Johnson is a very good football coach who has simply won everywhere he has ever been and has been waiting a long time for this opportunity. And he is going to make the most of it.
Johnson will be well paid at Georgia Tech but it’s not about the money. If it was about the money, he could have gone to SMU and made more. The big money boys in Dallas made it clear they would give him basically whatever he wanted to come to Big D and take the SMU program back to prominence.
But Johnson took the Georgia Tech job because he knew this. If he goes 13-0 at SMU he MIGHT get into a BCS bowl. If he goes 13-0 at Georgia Tech there is a pretty good chance he’ll play for the national championship.
Johnson knows there are some issues to deal with at Georgia Tech. The academic folks on The Hill can be hard to deal with from time to time. The athletic association isn’t exactly swimming in money. There is always freshman calculus, which every player must take, and a limited curriculum.
And there is the big state university in Athens whose football program is clicking on all cylinders right now. Recruiting against them is never easy but here’s a hint: Move Heaven and Earth to keep Giff Smith on the staff. Smith has helped to build a recruiting apparatus that should be maintained.
But Paul Johnson, you should know, is a man who does not lack for confidence. We’re talking about a guy who has won 43 games in the last five years at NAVY! We’re talking about a guy who broke a 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame. He’s a good coach and he knows he’s a good coach.
He’ll assemble a strong staff. Will defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta stay? It’s hard to say. But if he does, the combination of Johnson’s offense and Tenuta’s defense will be very hard to beat.
Johnson will also start the process of installing an offense that will look more like West Virginia and Oregon that what you saw at Navy. He ran the triple option at Navy because, with the athletes he could get, it gave Johnson the best opportunity to win. With ACC-caliber athletes he can do more. Josh Nesbitt, start watching film of Pat White (West Virginia) and Dennis Dixon (Oregon). That is your future.
Is Georgia Tech going to beat Georgia right out of the gate under Johnson? Probably not. But this guy knows how to coach and he knows how to win. Paul Johnson will get it done at Georgia Tech. The only variable, as Howard Schnellenberger once said, is time.
These youngsters should have won the Heisman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Saturday in New York a sophomore may win the Heisman Trophy for the first time ever as Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is a co-favorite with Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, a junior. There has always been some hesitancy to give the Heisman to a freshman or sophomore, but there have been many over the years who were deserving of the award. Here are just five:
1. Herschel Walker, freshman, RB, Georgia, 1980: In his rookie year at Georgia, Herschel was the best football player I have ever seen. He ran for 1,616 yards (5.9 average) and 15 touchdowns. He was a human highlight film who led Georgia to the national championship. George Rogers of South Carolina led the nation in rushing with 1,781 yards on a pretty good team but lost the head to head match-up with Walker in Athens. Walker finished third as a freshman, second to Marcus Allen of Southern Cal as a sophomore, and won the Heisman as a junior in 1982.
2. Darren McFadden, sophomore, RB, Arkansas, 2006: He finished second last season as a sophomore and should have won it after rushing for 1,647 yards on a team that had ANOTHER 1,000-yard rusher in Felix Jones. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Ohio State QB Troy Smith won and had the edge because he played on the nation’s No. 1 team. The fact that McFadden was on so many of the 900-plus ballots last year may give him an edge over Tebow in this year’s voting.
3. Rex Grossman, sophomore, QB, Florida, 2001: Grossman had a monster year in what turned out to be Steve Spurrier’s last season as coach. He set a Florida single game record when he threw for 464 yards against LSU. Grossman finished second to Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch and was, at the time, only the fifth sophomore to finish in the top two for the award. Completed 259 of 395 passes (65.6 percent) for 3,896 yards and 34 touchdowns. Grossman was the Associated Press national player of the year.
4. Emmitt Smith, freshman, RB, Florida, 1987: In 1987 Smith led the SEC in rushing with 1,341 yards, which was also the Florida record for a freshman. Played sparingly in Florida’s first two games of the 1987 season and then, in his first college start, ran for 224 yards against Alabama. He went over 1,000 yards in only seven games, which was faster than Herschel Walker or Tony Dorsett. Tim Brown of Notre Dame won and Smith finished 9th. Smith went on to become the leading rusher in NFL history.
5. Marshall Faulk, sophomore, RB, San Diego State, 1992: Faulk led the nation in rushing as a freshman (1,429) and as a sophomore (1,630). He is one of only a handful of players to rush for over 3,000 yards in their first two seasons of college football. He finished second Miami quarterback Gino Torretta in the Heisman voting.
If Johnson says no to Tech, Strong should get another interview
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just one man’s opinion:
1. Charlie Strong deserves a shot: If Paul Johnson doesn’t take the Georgia Tech job and the school doesn’t elevate Jon Tenuta to head coach, then Charlie Strong deserves another interview. If I’m Strong, I’m wondering right now what I have to do to get an opportunity to be a head coach. I’ve been a top-flight defensive coordinator for 10 years under Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier, and Urban Meyer. I have proven I can walk into any living room in the country and recruit. I can relate to today’s athlete both personally and academically. I’m one of the top 2-3 African-American candidates out there in a sport that should be embarrassed by its lack of minority head coaches. I could give Georgia Tech the “juice” and excitement that its athletics director says he wants. So what is the problem? Tech AD Dan Radakovich says he wants to do something bold to take the school out of its comfort zone. Let’s see.
2. If I’m Les Miles, Bo Pelini does not coach in BCS championship: Once Pelini, LSU’s defensive coordinator, was introduced as Nebraska’s new head football coach, the head coach should have called a meeting. Here is what Miles should have said: “Bo, I love you like a brother. You have been a great coach for LSU. I appreciate everything you have done. But you’re the head coach at Nebraska now. You need to go coach your team.” It almost never works. The guy in that position coaches his old team during the day and stays on the phone all night putting his staff together and taking care of million details.
3. June Jones need to zip it: I have no idea what the Hawaii coach means when he calls Tim Tebow a “system quarterback” and his guy, Colt Brennan, an NFL quarterback. Every quarterback runs some kind of system. All Jones did was create two days of nonsensical stories in an effort to pump up his guy. Your guy is good, Coach Jones. And every time you’re asked, you should say your guy is good. But it does you no good to build your guy up by knocking a kid like Tebow.
4. Jimbo Fisher’s deal at Florida State is a brilliant move It’s pretty simple, really. President T.K. Wetherell is going to support coach Bobby Bowden but he also wanted some structure to the transition when it occurred. With all of these openings at head coach, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher was going finally get his shot. So in one move the president takes care of the transition and locks up the head coach that he wants. And as time goes on Bowden will begin delegating more and more of his duties to Fisher, who at some point in the next couple of years will become the de facto head coach. And if for some reason FSU backs out on the deal, Fisher will be a very rich man.
5. Arkansas is getting a reality check: A lot of people tried to warn Arkansas that if they ran Houston Nutt off, it would not be easy to hire another head coach. The count of proven head coaches to negotiate with Arkansas and then say no is now up to three. Tommy Tuberville and Tommy Bowden got nice contract improvements at their respective schools after flirting with Arkansas. Wednesday night the Arkansas papers were reporting that Jim Grobe would leave for Wake Forest and come to Fayetteville. Thursday morning Grobe decided to stay put. Arkansas is not an easy job and Nutt, who was chased into the arms of Ole Miss, did it pretty well. A portion of the school’s fan base is now getting that reality check.
Johnson or Tenuta for Tech?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If Navy’s Paul Johnson is offered the Georgia Tech head coaching job following his interview today, it’s not a slam dunk that he’ll take it.
This is just one man’s opinion but it’s an informed one. The next 48 hours will determine if the next head football coach at Georgia Tech will be Paul Johnson or Jon Tenuta, the Yellow Jackets’ defensive coordinator.
Johnson, who has had unprecedented success at Navy, interviewed at SMU yesterday and the school rolled out the red carpet. SMU has made it clear that after the death penalty of the 1980s sentenced the school to two decades in the college football wilderness, they are ready to get back in the football business. Some of the big money guys in Dallas have stepped up to the plate. The next coach at SMU will be very well paid and will have the money to hire the staff he wants.
So all this puts the ball squarely in the court of Dan Radakovich, the Georgia Tech athletics director. He made the business decision to pay Chan Gailey $4 million not to be his coach. He needs a coach, in his words, to excite the fan base and rally them and others to support the Tech program.
And based on my contacts around the coaching grapevine, Radakovich is down to Johnson and Tenuta.
— Charlie Strong, Florida’s co-defensive coordinator, interviewed for the job but was told Tuesday that Tech wanted to hire someone with head coaching experience. Give Georgia Tech credit for at least interviewing a minority candidate.
— Will Muschamp, the Auburn defensive coordinator, fit the bill of an energetic young coach. But Muschamp was told that the fact that he is a Georgia graduate was something that could not be overcome.
— Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher interviewed last week and has not heard a word from Georgia Tech since. Later today Hatcher may tell his athletics director, Sam Baker, that he is no longer a candidate.
— Rick Neuheisel, the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator, is probably not going to be an option because he has some baggage. He was fired at Washington for betting in a neighborhood pool for the NCAA basketball tournament. He later sued and won a $4.5 million judgment that essentially cleared him of wrongdoing. But the fact is that he initially lied about his involvement in the pool before admitting it to investigators. He is known for being “aggressive” and “creative” when dealing with NCAA rules on recruiting. If Tech hired Neuheisel, his first 48 hours as Georgia Tech’s coach would not have been pretty.
So Georgia Tech is down to Johnson and Tenuta, both good football coaches who would do a good job leading the program. Johnson has options and will enter today’s discussions with Georgia Tech knowing that.
Stay tuned.
Coaching Grapevine: Jimbo Fisher to succeed Bowden? Tommy Bowden staying at Clemson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The bowls are done and now it’s time to turn to the coaching grapevine, which is literally bursting with possibilities. Here are just a few juicy tidbits that are in the air:
1. Jimbo Fisher to succeed Bobby Bowden? Word on the street is that Florida State will announce a contract extension for coach Bobby Bowden some time this week. The contract will not set a date specific for Bowden’s retirement. But it will, I’m hearing through the coaching grapevine, stipulate that whenever Bowden retires, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will become the new head coach of the Seminoles. Fisher has been courted by a number of schools with openings and this was the only way that Florida State could get him to stay put.
2. Tommy Bowden staying After a serious flirtation with Arkansas, Clemson’s Tommy Bowden has decided to stay at Clemson and has accepted a contract extension. Now what does Arkansas do?
3. Paul Johnson is a hot property. The Navy coach is in play at Georgia Tech, SMU, and Duke. He would be a fit at all three places if one of them is smart enough to hire him. My money is on SMU, which is going to make a big financial commitment and get serious about football again.
4. David Cutcliffe to Duke? Cutcliffe is interested in the Georgia Tech job but that interest does not appear to be mutual. The Tennessee offensive coordinator could be in the mix at Duke, which apparently is ready to get back in the football business and make a real commitment to being competitive, something Ted Roof didn’t get.
5. Tuberville’s deal will soon be done: With the opening at Arkansas, but no opening at LSU, Tuberville has leveraged his situation as much as he can. He’ll get back from New York on Wednesday and the deal should be in place by the end of the week.
Juicy tidbits from the final coaches poll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some juicy tidbits in from the voting in the final USA Today coaches poll:
• A few coaches, seven to be exact, had Georgia No. 2 on their final ballots. They included Neil Callaway of UAB, the Bulldogs’ former offensive line coach. Connecticut coach Randy Edsall, Texas Tech’s Mike Leach, Georgia coach Mark Richt, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, Tulane coach Bob Toledo, and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weiss had the Bulldogs at No. 2. (See Richt’s ballot)
• The seven SEC coaches who vote in the poll all had Georgia in their top five. All but one, Georgia’s Richt, had LSU in their final top two: Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom (LSU 2, Georgia 3), Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer (LSU 2, Georgia 4), LSU’s Les Miles (LSU 1, Georgia 3), Ole Miss’s Houston Nutt (LSU 2, Georgia 3), Georgia’s Richt (Georgia 2, LSU 3), South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier (LSU 2, Georgia 4), Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville (LSU 1, Georgia 5).
• Coaches tend to follow the party line and 54 of the 60 had Ohio State No. 1 or No. 2 on their ballots. But there is some skepticism about the Buckeyes, (11-1) and their soft schedule. Six coaches had Ohio State No. 3 or lower. Mario Cristobal of Florida International had Ohio State No. 6 while Auburn’s Tuberville had the Buckeyes at No. 3.
• Eleven coaches, including Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, North Carolina’s Butch Davis, and Auburn’s Tuberville, had LSU No. 1.
• Not surprisingly, Frank Beamer, whose Virginia Tech team was drilled 48-7 in Baton Rouge on Sept. 8, had LSU No. 1 in his final ballot. He had his own team, the ACC champion, ranked No. 2, and Georgia sixth.
• LSU coach Les Miles had his team No. 1 and Ohio State No. 2 with Georgia No. 3.
• South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier voted his buddy, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, No. 1 in his final ballot. He had LSU No. 2, Virginia Tech No. 3 and Georgia No. 4.
• Stoops, understandably, had his team ranked No. 1 after beating Missouri twice this season. He had three Big 12 teams in his top four (Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas). He had LSU at No. 6.
• 40 of the 60 coaches who vote in the poll had LSU No. 1 or No. 2 on their ballots.
• Somebody at Georgia made Wyoming’s Joe Glenn mad at some point. He had Georgia No. 10 on his ballot.
• You got to give the Big Ten coaches credit for one thing. They all stick together. Seven of them vote in the poll and they all had Ohio State No. 1, even Michigan’s Lloyd Carr, who has announced his retirement.
• Hal Mumme of New Mexico State continues to be our resident contrarian in the coaching fraternity. He had undefeated Hawaii No. 1 on his ballot.
• See USA Today’s chart on how each coach voted
Early BCS projections: Dawgs headed to Sugar
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good morning Sunshine!
While you were sleeping, Hawaii came back from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Washington with only 44 seconds left, 35-28. That was the final piece of the BCS puzzle in what has to go down as the craziest college football year I can ever remember.
In case you were on a deserted island with no TV or internet, both No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia lost last night. West Virginia was a 28-point favorite at home and still fell to Pittsburgh, 13-9.
That has thrown the national championship race wide open as No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Georgia hope to move up.
The official BCS pairings won’t come out until 8 p.m. Sunday on Fox Sports. But your humble correspondent was on the phone until the wee hours of Sunday morning trying to figure out how the bowl picture will take shape.
So here is an early preview of what I think the BCS games will be:
BCS Championship: No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) vs. No. 2 LSU (11-2). Sorry, Georgia fans. But if you’ll recall we wrote about this possibility last week. Georgia is the hotter team and you can certainly make the case that the Dawgs are very deserving, given the way they have played down the stretch. But I believe that enough of the coaches will change their votes and reward LSU for winning the SEC championship.
Sugar Bowl: Georgia (10-2) vs. Hawaii (12-0): When LSU goes to the BCS championship game, the Sugar Bowl will get to pick a replacement. They will go with Georgia, which won its last six games in impressive fashion. Hawaii gets in as an at-large team with a great passing offense led by QB Colt Brennan. Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez will be watching a lot of film in December.
Rose Bowl: Southern Cal (10-2) vs. Illinois (9-3): The Rose Bowl could take Georgia as a replacement because it lost No. 1 Ohio State to the BCS championship. But early Sunday morning I got a couple of calls telling me that the old guard on the Rose Bowl selection committee, aided by some pressure from the Big Ten, was going to prevail in this argument. The Rose would have the best game on the board if it took Georgia. But tradition is a hard thing to overcome with those people.
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Kansas (11-1): After the Rose and the Sugar replace the teams they lost to the BCS championship, it will be the Orange Bowl’s turn to pick an opponent for Virginia Tech, the ACC champ. The choices will include West Virginia, coming off the worst loss in school history, Kansas, Missouri, and Hawaii. The Orange can’t take Florida (9-3) because there are already two SEC teams in the BCS bowls. Kansas, whose only loss is to Missouri, will be ranked no worse than No. 5 or No. 6. The Orange could fool me and take West Virginia.
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (11-2) vs. West Virginia (10-2): The Fiesta could be tempted to pick an undefeated WAC team (Hawaii at 12-0) for the second straight year. They took Boise State last January and the Broncos delivered the best game of the bowl season. But the Fiesta passes on Hawaii to take a more traditional match-up. West Virginia fans are certainly disappointed, but they will still travel. If the Orange takes West Virginia first, then Kansas will fill here to give the Fiesta and All-Big 12 match-up.
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Clemson (9-3) vs. Auburn (8-4): The Chick-fil-A selection will meet on Sunday and they will seriously consider Boston College (10-3), which lost to Virginia Tech (30-16) in the ACC championship game. But when it comes time to pull the trigger they will take Clemson to play Auburn in a battle of the Tigers.
OTHER SEC BOWL PAIRINGS (Projected)
Capital One: Florida vs. Michigan
Outback: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin
Cotton: Arkansas vs. Missouri
Music City: Kentucky vs. Florida State
Liberty: Mississippi State vs. Central Florida
Independence: Alabama vs. TBA
OTHER ACC BOWL PAIRINGS (Projected)
Chick-fil-A: Clemson (9-3) vs. Auburn (8-4)
Gator: Virginia (9-3) vs. Texas Tech (8-4)
Champs Sports: Boston College (10-3) vs. Purdue (7-5)
Music City: Florida State (7-5) vs. Miss. State (8-4)
Meineke: Wake Forest (8-4) vs. Connecticut (9-3)
Emerald: Maryland (6-6) vs. California (6-6)
Humanitarian: Georgia Tech (7-5) vs. Nevada (6-6)
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