AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December
December 2008
Will Tech beat LSU with the pass?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s the last day of 2008 and nobody asked me but….
1. Can John Chavis parachute in to coach the LSU defense tonight? If not, it’s going to be a long evening for the Tigers against Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Going into this season LSU knew its defense would be going through a transition with the loss of some great talent in the secondary (CB Chevis Jackson, S Craig Steltz) and linebacker Ali Highsmith. Head coach Les Miles took a gamble and lost that he could replace defensive coordinator Bo Pelini (Nebraska) by appointing co-coordinators in Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory. It looks like Chavis, the veteran DC from Tennessee, will be named to the post when the team gets back to Baton Rouge. Don’t be surprised if these LSU players come up with a pretty good effort tonight after hearing for weeks how they are going to be shredded by Paul Johnson’s option. But also don’t be surprised if Johnson pulls out a couple of passing plays that nobody has seen this year just at a couple of key moments in the game.
2. Yet another Big 12 defense got ripped last night: Oklahoma State couldn’t seem to tackle anybody in its 42-31 loss to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. Oregon, using its third different quarterback of the season, rolled for 565 total yards (308 rushing, 258 passing). I’ll get more in detail on this as we get closer to the BCS championship game, but it’s hard to imagine that a BCS conference has ever had a tougher year on defense than the Big 12 in 2008. But here is a nugget to think about: As good as Oklahoma was on offense this season, the average rank of the last six defenses the Sooners faced in 2008 was 92.1 out of 119 Division I-A teams. Just remember that detail.
3. Repeat after me: There are NOT too many bowl games: Here is why there are so many bowl games. They may not matter to the guys watching in the sports bars, but they matter to the players and coaches who participate in them and to the communities that host them. When Louisiana Tech beat Northern Illinois 17-10 in the Independence Bowl, it was really a big deal. Head coach Derek Dooley, son of Vince and Barbara, was carried off the field by his players after winning the first bowl game in school history against a Division I-A team. It was the first time the Bulldogs had won eight games since 1999. Dooley, who is also the school’s athletics director, enjoyed the biggest moment of his young coaching career with his parents in attendance. That is why these bowl games are important.
4. Vanderbilt has a shot today against Boston College: But it is a slim shot. The Commodores are only playing a few minutes from their campus in the Music City Bowl so there should be a comfort level for Bobby Johnson’s team. But the only way Vanderbilt wins today is if the defense forces turnovers and the offense gives up none. Vanderbilt has to confuse Boston College quarterback Dominique Davis, a freshman, and make him give up the ball. Virginia Tech was able to do it in the ACC championship game. Vanderbilt also has to hope that QB Chris Nickson, who has had a bad shoulder, can catch lightning in a bottle if he gets back on the field. Vanderbilt will only get a handful of opportunities to make big plays against a very good Boston College defense. The Commodores have to make those plays or they can’t win. All I know is that Boston College has won eight straight bowl games and is second in the nation with turnovers gained with 36 (26 interceptions, 10 fumbles). Its 26 interceptions lead the nation.
5. Pittsburgh’s LeSean McCoy is your dark horse Heisman candidate for 2009: If Tim Tebow (Florida) and Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) both come back to college, the Heisman discussion for next season will begin with them and Colt McCoy of Texas, who we know is coming back. But check out Pittsburgh RB LeSean McCoy in today’s Sun Bowl game against Oregon State. The Beavers are going to be without their great running back. Jacquizz Rodgers, who suffered a shoulder injury before the last game with Oregon. That should open the door for McCoy, the nation’s No. 10 rusher at 116.92 yards per game. In his last two games in the regular season McCoy had 183 yards against West Virginia and 99 against Connecticut. Both defenses were set up to stop him. He is just a sophomore.
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Smith’s suspension will be good for Alabama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It is always sad when a college football player or his family uses bad judgment and, as a result, that athlete has an embarrassing end to an otherwise brilliant career.
That appears to be the case with Andre Smith, the Alabama offensive tackle and the Outland Trophy winner. Smith, a junior, was expected to declare early for the NFL Draft. And he probably should. He’s that good and is certainly ready to play at the next level. But according to many published reports Smith, or a family member representing Smith, decided not to wait until after Friday night’s Sugar Bowl to start the contacts with agents.
Alabama got wind of it, did enough investigating to confirm that some contact had taken place and then suspended Smith for the Sugar Bowl. You have to assume that Smith’s college career is over.
I’m sure it doesn’t feel that way today for Crimson Tide fans but trust me when I tell you that, in the long run, this decision will be good for Alabama.
Now Andre Smith is going to be fine. He will get enough guaranteed money in his first contract to take care of himself and his family for life. He won’t think about this now because he’s young. But there will come a day when he’ll remember the faces of his teammates when they heard the news. Smith, or somebody representing Smith, let them down. He’ll have to live with that.
Smith is one of the better offensive linemen who ever played for Alabama, where great players become immortals. But he won’t be remembered for that. He’ll be remembered as the guy who got suspended before the Sugar Bowl. He will be respected for his talent but he will probably never be embraced. He’ll have to live with that.
When all of the great Alabama players come back to campus and get standing ovations when introduced to the crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Smith’s applause will be a bit muted. Or he may not get invited back at all. If you leave early after a 13-1 season everyone understands and wishes you well. This, no one understands. He’ll have to live with that.
So why is this good for Alabama? It’s good because when the school was faced with an issue it took quick and decisive action. Coach Nick Saban suspended his best player and in the process sent out the word: No one player is bigger than the team and what we are trying to build here.
The NCAA comes knocking on your door when they believe you don’t have control of your program and turn a blind eye when problems are right in your face. Remember that Alabama’s first-ever NCAA probation was a result of Antonio Langham signing with an agent and, in the opinion of the investigators, failing to report that and act upon it. Alabama had to forfeit most of the 1993 season because of it.
The point is that after two sets of major NCAA sanctions, Alabama has no margin for error in these kinds of issues. Nobody in Alabama’s position gets the benefit of the doubt. Is that fair? It doesn’t matter. Only actions matter and Alabama, to its credit, took action.
This is a free country. As a college athlete you have every right to talk to an agent and attempt to do what is best for your future. But you don’t have a right to keep playing college football. Choices have consequences. Bad choices have very bad consequences. That is the message that Saban sent.
And here’s another thing that helps Alabama. If fans were concerned about their team being focused for undefeated Utah on Friday, that concern can be put to rest. Saban will use this as a rallying point. Alabama will beat Utah and become only second team in school history to win 13 games.
Alabama’s players will celebrate on the floor of the Superdome and hold up the Sugar Bowl trophy. They will complete an incredible season where the only loss was to Florida, a team that I believe will win the national championship. People will look back on this season as the time when Alabama took a major step towards being a national power again.
Andre Smith will not be a part of that celebration. And he will have to live with that.
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Auburn made a good hire in Malzahn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hope everybody had a great Christmas! It’s good to be back because we have a lot to discuss between now and the BCS championship game on Jan. 8.
Let’s start with this. We are through the first week of the bowl season. What have we learned?
1. Gene Chizik made a good hire in Gus Malzahn: The Auburn family is clearly divided over the hiring of Chizik as the Tigers’ new head coach. So how do you bring the family back together? You hire assistants to get the family excited again. Chizik made a run at Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels, an Auburn grad and one of the best in the business. Searels decided to stay put. But Chizik scored with the hiring of Gus Malzahn as Auburn’s new offensive coordinator. Malzahn comes from Tulsa where his offense this season was second only to Oklahoma in scoring, averaging over 47 points per game. Malzahn was a very successful high school coach in Arkansas who had a cup of coffee with the Razorbacks before getting sideways with head coach Houston Nutt. Now Malzahn comes back to the SEC with a chance to coach against Arkansas AND Nutt, who is now at Ole Miss.
How is this different from the hire of spread guru Tony Franklin, you ask? Simple. Malzahn will start with an offensive staff that has already bought into his system. That was not the case with Franklin at Auburn.
FYI. Malzahn will coach the Tulsa offense in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6.
2. Florida State is ready to win an ACC championship in 2009: When I visited with the Florida State coaches this summer, I came away thinking that 2008 was the setup year to make a serious run at the ACC championship in 2009. After watching Florida State dominate Wisconsin 42-13 in the Champs Sports Bowl, it looks like the Seminoles are right on schedule. Now Wisconsin was certainly overrated in the preseason but they do have some big time running backs, including P.J. Hill, who had 140 yards against that Seminole defense. Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who turned 79 on Nov. 8, will return next season with 382 career victories. Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who just turned 82, has 383 wins but is not expected to beat Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Paterno also has a new hip and a three-year commitment from Penn State to keep coaching. It will be interesting watching those two in 2009.
3. I will never bet against Pat White again: I thought North Carolina would beat West Virginia in the Meinke Car Care Bowl because the Tar Heels were playing in Charlotte, which is only a couple of hours from their campus in Chapel Hill, and would have the home crowd advantage. But I forgot that in Pat White, North Carolina was facing one of the truly extraordinary athletes in the history of college football. Except for a big turnover at the end, North Carolina played very well. White, however, was magnificent, completing 26 of 32 passes for 332 yards including a 20-yard touchdown pass which won the game. He finishes his career 4-0 in bowl games and was the MVP in three of them. Don’t tell me this guy can’t play in the NFL. Somebody in the league needs to be creative enough to find a place for White. He’s just too good to quit playing.
4. Steve Addazio will be a head coach in four years or less: Florida coach Urban Meyer has promoted offensive line coach Steve Addazio as the Gators’ new offensive coordinator, replacing Dan Mullen. Mullen, 36, has been named head coach at Mississippi State but will stay on to work the BCS national championship game against No. 1 Oklahoma. Being Meyer’s offensive coordinator is like being Mack Brown’s defensive coordinator. It leads to a head coaching job. Meyer’s three previous offensive coordinators—Mullen (Mississippi State), Mike Sanford (UNLV), and Gregg Brandon (Bowling Green)—have all become head coaches.
But I do have one question. This will be one of the few times when the old offensive coordinator and the new offensive coordinator will both work the same game. Wonder how that is going to work out?
5. Jacory Harris MUST be the Miami quarterback in 2009: I know Miami lost the Emerald Bowl to California, but it wasn’t Jacory Harris’s fault. The freshman from Miami’s Northwestern High School made plays all season when he got in the game but Hurricane OC Patrick Nix stuck with Robert Marve. Well, Marve didn’t play in the Emerald Bowl because he was suspended. He has been inconsistent on and off the field since he got to Miami. Harris came to Miami with a bunch of his high school teammates and if the Hurricanes are going to become relevant again, it’s time to let those guys grow up together. Miami was on the cusp of a very good season after the Hurricanes beat Virginia Tech 16-14 on Nov. 13. But in the final three games against Georgia Tech, N.C. State and California the Hurricanes got outcoached, period. The 2009 season will be the third under head coach Randy Shannon. Everybody in that program needs to take it up a notch next fall.
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Merry Christmas! Let’s go bowling!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re going to take next week off in order to get ready for Christmas. Hope you and yours have a wonderful Holiday Season! Thanks for your support this season. It has been a lot of fun.
But before we go, let’s preview the bowl season, which starts on Saturday. The first part of the preview will be the 10 best bowl story lines. In other words, they are the games that I would pay to see if I didn’t do this for a living. Then, as an added bonus, we are going to pick all 34 bowl games. I had a pretty decent bowl season in 2008 when it came to picking games. I sense this season will be tougher.
In any event, have fun with this and if you disagree let me know about it. See you after Christmas.
TB’s 10 BEST BOWL STORY LINES
1. BCS National Championship: No. 1 Oklahoma (12-1) vs. No. 2 Florida (12-1), Jan. 8: For the second time in five years, both teams in the national championship game have Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback. Florida’s Tim Tebow and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford have led offenses that have been unstoppable this season. Oklahoma leads the nation in scoring (54.0 ppg) and Florida is third (45.15 ppg). Both coaches, Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer, are going for their second national championship. This one has the look of the USC-Texas Rose Bowl for the 2005 championship. Last team with the ball wins. TB’s Pick: Florida 35, Oklahoma 31.
2. Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Texas (11-1) vs. No. 10 Ohio State (10-2), Jan. 5: After getting taken to the woodshed in past two BCS title game, you would think that Ohio State is ready to man up and play well. But Texas is the aggrieved party in this bowl season. The Longhorns beat Oklahoma 45-35 on Oct. 11 and believe they, not the Sooners, should be playing Florida for the BCS title. Texas wants to lay a big number on Ohio State. Then, if Oklahoma beats Florida, Texas might get a share of the national title from the Associated Press. TB’s Pick: Texas 31, Ohio State 21.
3. Rose Bowl: No. 5 Southern Cal (11-1) vs. No. 8 Penn State (11-1), Jan. 1: With one different bounce of the ball for each team, this game could have been for the national championship. Southern Cal lost to Oregon State 27-21 back on Sept. 25 and Penn State lost to Iowa 24-23 on a field goal at the buzzer on Nov. 8. Southern Cal, which leads the nation in scoring defense (7.8 ppg), probably wins this one easily, but I’ll watch because, despite the fact that he just got a three-year extension to his contract, it just might be the last game for Penn State coach Joe Paterno (43 years, 383 wins). Don’t be surprised if Penn State makes this closer than the experts think. TB’s Pick: Southern Cal 28, Penn State 21.
4. Cotton Bowl: No. 25 Ole Miss (8-4) vs. No. 7 Texas Tech (11-1), Jan. 2: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is mad because his quarterback, Graham Harrell, was not invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremonies. He’ll try to take out his frustrations on the Rebels of Houston Nutt, the only team to beat Florida this season. It is the classic power vs. finesse game. It will also be the last Cotton Bowl in the old stadium by the Texas State Fairgrounds. Next season the Cotton Bowl moves to Jerry Jones’ new $1 billion playpen in Arlington, Tex. TB’s Pick: Ole Miss 34, Texas Tech 31.
5. Poinsettia Bowl: No. 9 Boise State (12-0) vs. No. 11 TCU (10-2), Dec. 23: TCU’s only losses were to No. 1 Oklahoma (35-10) and No. 6 Utah (13-10) in a game the Horned Frogs should have won. TCU has the nation’s No. 2 defense (215.08 ypg). In any other year Boise State would be in a BCS game but No. 6 Utah got the slot reserved for the non-BCS conferences. Can Boise hang with the Horned Frogs? Nope. TB’s Pick: TCU 31, Boise State 21.
6. Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Utah (12-0) vs. No. 4 Alabama (12-1), Jan. 2: Utah is a battle-tested team that is carrying the banner for the non-BCS conferences. Last year Georgia took Hawaii to the woodshed in this game. So there is some pressure on Utah, which has the nation’s No. 18 defense and a very good quarterback on Brian Johnson. I’m watching to see if Alabama will get over its disappointment from the SEC championship game loss and become only the second team in school history to win 13 games. (Alabama’s 1992 national championship team finished 13-0). TB’s Pick: Alabama 24, Utah 14.
7. Chick-fil-A Bowl: LSU (7-5) vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech (9-3), Dec. 31: To say that the Georgia Tech fans are excited would be an understatement. They have bought up every ticket in sight and are ready to take on the defending national champions. I want to see if LSU, whose defense has had problems all season, is going to step up and take this game seriously. If they aren’t ready to play, Georgia Tech will (literally) run them out of the Dome. Ten wins in Paul Johnson’s first season at Tech would be pretty remarkable. Georgia Tech could also finish in the final Top 10. TB’s Pick: Georgia Tech 35, LSU 28.
8. Capital One Bowl: No. 15 Georgia (9-3) vs. No. 18 Michigan State (9-3), Jan. 1: I’m watching to see a duel of two great running backs. Michigan State’s Javon Ringer is the nation’s No. 3 rusher (132.5 ypg) while Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno is No. 16 at 111.5 ypg. I’m also watching because there is a pretty good chance that it will be the last game at Georgia for both Moreno and QB Matt Stafford. A win would give Georgia 10 or more victories for the sixth time in the last seven seasons under Mark Richt. His eight-year record would be 82-22. TB’s Pick: Georgia 31, Michigan State 24.
9. Holiday Bowl: No. 13 Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. No. 17 Oregon (9-3), Dec. 30: This one should light up the scoreboard as Oregon is No. 7 in scoring offense (41.92 ppg) while Oklahoma State is No. 8 (41.58). Oklahoma State has one of the best offensive trios in the country in quarterback Zac Robinson (2,735 passing), RB Kendall Hunter (126.5 ypg) and WR Dez Bryant (109.42 ypg). Oregon’s offense, led by coordinator Chip Kelly, exploded in the final two games with Arizona and Oregon State, scoring 120 points. TB’s Pick: Oklahoma State 35, Oregon 33.
10. GMAC Bowl: Tulsa (10-3) vs. No. 22 Ball State (12-1), Jan. 6: This one kicks at 8 p.m. and might go to midnight. Tulsa is second only to Oklahoma in scoring at 47.38 points per game. In Donald Johnson the Golden Hurricane has a quarterback who averages 8.79 yards per play. Only Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford is better at 9.4 ypg. Ball State was 12-0 before losing to Buffalo in the MAC Championship game. Junior quarterback Nate Davis (3,446 yards passing, 26 TD) is the real deal. TB’s Pick: Tulsa 35, Ball State 30.
FIVE OTHER STORY LINES WORTH WATCHING
11. Orange Bowl, Jan. 1: The ACC has lost eight straight BCS games. Virginia Tech (9-4) will try to end that streak against No. 12 Cincinnati (11-2), the Big East champ. Virginia Tech 24, Cincinnati 21.
12. Music City Bowl, Dec. 31: Vanderbilt’s appearance against Boston College (9-4) will be the Commodores’ first bowl since 1982 and only the third in school history. Vanderbilt’s bowl record is 1-1-1. The only win came in the 1955 Gator Bowl. The Commodores tied Texas Tech 6-6 in the 1974 Peach Bowl and lost to Air Force 36-28 in the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl. Boston College 28, Vanderbilt 20.
13. Liberty Bowl, Jan. 2: Kentucky has been playing football since 1881. The Wildcats have never won three straight bowl games in their history. Rich Brooks can win his third straight bowl game at Kentucky by beating East Carolina (9-4), the Conference USA champ. Kentucky 17, East Carolina 14.
14. International Bowl, Jan. 3: The nation’s leading rusher is Connecticut’s Donald Brown (151.83 ypg), who squares off against Buffalo (8-5), the MAC champ. Buffalo coach Turner Gill has had a tough offseason and may have something to prove. Buffalo 24, Connecticut 17.
15. Papajohns.com Bowl, Dec. 29: At midseason neither N.C. State (6-6) nor Rutgers (7-5) thought they would be in a bowl game. N.C. State closed with four straight wins, including dominating performances over North Carolina (41-10) and Miami (38-28). Rutgers started 1-5 and finished the season with a six-game winning streak, scoring 231 points (46.2 avg.) in their last five games. N.C. State 27, Rutgers 20.
THE REST
In chronological order:
16. EagleBank, Dec. 20: Wake Forest 28, Navy 24.
17. New Mexico, Dec. 20: Fresno State 31, Colorado State 23.
18. St. Petersburg, Dec. 20: South Florida 28, Memphis 20.
19. Las Vegas: Dec. 20: BYU 34, Arizona 20.
20. New Orleans, Dec. 21: Troy 21, Southern Miss 20.
21. Hawaii , Dec. 24: Notre Dame 24, Hawaii 20.
22. Motor City, Dec. 26: Central Michigan 28, Florida Atlantic 20.
23. Meinke Car Care, Dec. 27: North Carolina 31, West Virginia 28.
24. Champs Sports, Dec. 27: Florida State 27, Wisconsin 17.
25. Emerald, Dec. 27: California 31, Miami 24.
26. Independence, Dec. 28: Louisiana Tech 21, Northern Illinois 17.
27. Alamo, Dec. 29: Missouri 31, Northwestern 21.
28. Humanitarian, Dec. 30: Maryland 24, Nevada 22.
29. Texas, Dec. 30: Rice 35, Western Michigan 24.
30. Armed Forces, Dec. 31: Air Force 28, Houston 27.
31. Sun, Dec. 31: Oregon State 27, Pittsburgh 21.
32. Insight, Dec. 31: Kansas 35, Minnesota 24.
33. Outback, Jan. 1: South Carolina 21, Iowa 20.
34. Gator, Jan. 1: Clemson 31, Nebraska 24.
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Let’s take time out for our annual ACC, SEC Awards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the hubbub going on with the coaching carousel, we haven’t had a chance to hand out our post-season awards in the SEC and ACC. So let’s take a break and honor the folks who made this a season we will always remember. We’ll finish the week with our Bowl Preview on Friday and then take a break for Christmas.
If you disagree with any of these ACC or SEC awards, then give me yours.
ACC AWARDS
Offensive Player of the Year: Could it be anyone other than Georgia Tech’s Jonathan Dwyer? Dwyer was concerned that he would not be playing a conventional tailback position in Paul Johnson’s new offense. He’s not concerned any more. Dwyer became a big-time player with 1,328 yards rushing, which led the ACC. Dwyer was the only player who was a unanimous selection on the All-ACC offense. Honorable mention: Russell Wilson, QB, N.C. State; Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina; C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson.
Defensive Player of the Year: DE Everette Brown, Florida State. Brown, a junior, was virtually unblockable in the second half of the season. He finished third in the nation with 12.5 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss. A redshirt junior, Brown is projected to be a first-round draft choice if he comes out so Seminole fans had better enjoy him while you can in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 27. Honorable Mention: Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College; Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest; Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech.
Rookie of the Year: Russell Wilson, QB, N.C. State. Wilson, a redshirt freshman from Richmond, Va., became the first freshman ever to be named first-team All-ACC quarterback. He was brilliant in the second half of the season and enters the Papajohns.com Bowl with a string of 226 passes without an interception. Honorable Mention: Darren Evans, RB, Virginia Tech; Jacory Harris, QB, Miami.
Coach of the Year: This one’s easy. Paul Johnson brought an entire new offensive system to Georgia Tech from Navy and many wondered if he could implement it in just one season. The Yellow Jackets went 9-3 and beat Georgia and finished ahead of Georgia in the final BCS standings. Johnson will get a lot of votes for national coach of the year. Honorable Mention: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Jeff Jagodzinski, Boston College. Beamer caught a lot of heat after Virginia Tech’s 27-22 loss to East Carolina in the opener. He did one of his better coaching jobs to lead the Hokies to another ACC championship. Boston College was picked to finish fourth in its division without Matt Ryan. Coach Jags won the division despite inconsistent play at quarterback.
Game of the Year: Georgia Tech 45, Georgia 42. Nobody gave Georgia Tech a chance when the Yellow Jackets trailed 28-12 at halftime in Athens. But Tech came back to win and snap the Bulldogs’ seven-game winning streak. It also put a big shot of life back into what had become a stale rivalry. Honorable mention: North Carolina 28, Miami 24. What looked like a winning touchdown pass for Miami bounced off of Kayne Farquharson into the arms of UNC’s Tremaine Goddard on the last play of the game.
SEC AWARDS
Offensive Player of the Year: Tim Tebow, QB, Florida. Tebow didn’t win this second straight Heisman but nobody did more for his team than Tebow did for Florida this season. After Florida’s 31-30 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27 Tebow vowed that no one would play harder than he would for the rest of the season. From then on Tebow was a force of nature. With Florida down 20-17 in the SEC championship game against No. 1 Alabama, Tebow led his team to a 31-20 win with the sheer force of his will. Now Florida is playing for its second national championship in three seasons. Honorable mention: Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno led the SEC in rushing (1,338 yards) behind an offensive line that had to be patched together all season because of injuries. When Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin was healthy, he was always the best player on the field.
Defensive Player of the Year: Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee. Berry wasn’t just the best defensive player in the SEC, he was the best defender in the nation this season. Even with Tennessee in the throes of a losing season, Berry was a warrior each and every week. He should have won the Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation’s best defensive back (It went to Malcolm Jenkins of Ohio State). He had seven interceptions for an SEC-record 265 return yards this season. After only two seasons Berry owns the SEC career record with 487 interception return yards. Honorable mention: Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes was not only the best player on Florida’s defense, he was the Gators’ inspirational leader as well; Alabama NT Terrence Cody had an incredible impact on the Crimson Tide defense this season.
Rookie of the Year: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia. This was a tough call but Green, a true freshman from Summerville, S.C., just had a magnificent rookie season. Green caught 55 passes for 951 yards and led the SEC in receiving yardage per game (79.2). For a freshman the guy runs great routes and simply catches everything. If he stays healthy, he could be the best receiver in Georgia history by the time he is through. Honorable mention: Wide receiver Julio Jones was one of the most hyped players in the country when he arrived at Alabama. Jones more than lived up to the hype with 46 catches for 723 yards on a team that didn’t throw the ball that much.
Coach of the Year: Nick Saban, Alabama. Truth be told, Alabama is at least one year ahead of schedule in terms of being an SEC power again. But after a tough first season in 2007, everybody at Alabama bought into what Saban was selling in 2008. Alabama was a tough, resourceful team that got better in the areas where they had to get better in order to compete for the championship. There were still some gaps in talent but Saban and his staff maximized every ounce of ability they had on this team. Honorable mention: Houston Nutt, Ole Miss. We said before the season started that because of Nutt Ole Miss would be the most improved team in the SEC. The Rebels went 3-9 last season and were 8-4 with a win over Florida in 2008. Ole Miss is headed to the Cotton Bowl to play Texas Tech.
Game of the Year: Florida 31, Alabama 20 (SEC championship game, Dec. 6): Both teams clinched their divisions early and so there was a lot of hype of this first-ever SEC championship game pitting 1 vs. 2. The game more than lived up to the hype as Florida rallied from a 20-17 deficit in the fourth quarter to win. Honorable Mention: Ole Miss 31, Florida 30 (Sept. 27 in Gainesville). Tim Tebow was stopped short of a first down to stop Florida’s final drive and the Gators suffered their only loss of the season. Arkansas 31, LSU 30 (Nov. 28 in Little) Rock. Casey Dick threw the winning touchdown pass with only 22 seconds left.
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More bad timing at Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nobody asked me but:
1. There is more tough timing at Auburn: I’m sure the timing could have been worse, but I’m not sure how. Gene Chizik is named Auburn’s new head football coach amid a fractured fan base, many of whom didn’t understand how a 5-19 coach from Iowa State, who had a cup of coffee as Auburn’s defensive coordinator, was an upgrade over Tommy Tuberville. Then came charges from Sir Charles Barkley that race was “the No. 1 factor” in the decision to hire Chizik, who is white, and not Buffalo’s Turner Gill, who is black
And while all of this is going on and Auburn is getting beat up, in some cases unfairly, in the national media, the renewal form for 2009 season tickets went out. So it can’t be a coincidence that former coach Pat Dye recently sent out a letter asking for the Auburn family to rally behind Chizik. The unstated message: “Please renew your season tickets.”
I had several Auburn fans contact me and say they weren’t sure they would renew their season tickets. I’ll bet that they do. Emotions are running a little raw right now on the Loveliest Village. Those fans will realize that they HAVE to rally around Chizik and the new staff.
2. I’m surprised Dan Mullen will call the plays in the BCS championship game: There are a million things to do when a new head coach takes over at a school. If that man has never been a head coach before, there are two million things to do and there is a very steep and time-consuming learning curve. Best wishes for Dan Mullen, the new head coach at Mississippi State, as he tries to keep his old hat as the offensive coordinator at Florida through the BCS championship game with Oklahoma. It has a chance to work because Mullen and Tim Tebow basically share the same mind when it comes to offense. But you can bet that the head coach, Urban Meyer, will be watching closely. Meyer is one of the better detail coaches I’ve met. If he sees any slippage in preparation for Oklahoma, he will step in.
3. Joe Pa continues to fool us all: Here is why I like Joe Paterno. Yeah, he’s cranky and he makes it tough on the media. He has an ego like all talented people do. But the guy simply will not follow the script that other people have been trying to write for him. Several years ago when he had several tough seasons in a row, the script writers in the media said it was time for him to go. The game, they said, had passed him by. Paterno said no, there were some things that needed fixing in the Penn State program and he knew how to do that. This season the Nittany Lions went 11-1 and if not for a last-second loss at Iowa, Paterno would be playing for the national championship. Then the script writers said that after such a great season it was again time to go. Paterno ain’t buying it. He has gotten a commitment from Penn State for three more seasons just as he turns 82 years old. He’s got a new hip and he’s ready to go to the Rose Bowl and take on USC. How could you not pull for this guy?
4. Turner Gill was never going to Iowa State: When Chizik got the Auburn job over Buffalo’s Turner Gill, many assumed that Gill, a former Nebraska quarterback and assistant coach, would take over at Iowa State. That was not going to happen. Gill is a proud man and felt he had already proven he could build one downtrodden program by taking Buffalo to a MAC championship in only three seasons. So he decided to take a contract extension at Buffalo that goes through 2013 with rollover options. It was disappointing to see Gill passed over by Syracuse and Auburn but he will ultimately he will benefit from this experience. At least I think he will.
5. Notre Dame will ALWAYS be Urban Meyer’s dream job and that’s okay for the Gators: It’s always been humorous to me how some stories are bigger nationally than they are locally. Take the innocent comment recently from Urban Meyer that Notre Dame, a job that he turned down to come to Florida in 2005, was his dream job. The local media guys didn’t go nuts because they understood the context. It was always a dream of Meyer’s mother that he be the head coach at Notre Dame. Meyer was named after a Pope, for crying out loud. For that reason Meyer will always be complimentary when the subject is Notre Dame. But as often the case, Meyer’s desire to be respectful of Notre Dame was cast as uncertainty about his current situation with Florida. Silly. For Meyer, Notre Dame is a dream job. Florida, on the other hand, is a REAL job where it is possible to compete for the national championship every season. He understands the difference.
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Did race play a factor in the Auburn decision?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few final thoughts/questions about Auburn’s hiring of Gene Chizik as its head football coach:
1. Did race play a factor in the decision? Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs talked about Chizik being the best “fit” for the program. Jacobs was clearly talking about the fact that Chizik had worked at Auburn before and understood the expectations and the unique culture of the place. But you can’t ignore the fact that to others the word “fit” has an entirely different meaning. It is code for doing the thing that is comfortable instead of doing the thing that is right.
Turner Gill of Buffalo, an African-American, had a great interview with Auburn officials. It is my understanding that President Jay Gouge really liked Gill and understood that it would be a significant hire in Auburn’s history. Gill’s wife is white.
There is no way to know what factor race played, if any, in this decision. You can’t look inside people’s hearts. I hope that it didn’t because Gill, aside from being a good coach, is a fine man.
But it can’t help Auburn when Charles Barkley, one of the most famous athletes in school history, trashes his alma mater on national television and claims that race was THE factor in the decision. Charles has been known to go over the top from time to time but if you’re an Auburn fan it would not be wise to simply dismiss what he said. Barkley’s words did some damage yesterday. And understand that in this part of the world recruiting is a contact sport. Fair or not, Barkley’s words will be used Auburn on the recruiting trail.
And also understand this. You can’t just dismiss the race issue out of hand and pretend it’s not there. Not when there are only four African-American head coaches out of 119 schools. Not when a man like Gill, who is infinitely qualified, gets passed over at Syracuse and Auburn because other coaches were a better “fit.” Not when a man like Charlie Strong, the Florida defensive coordinator, is still waiting for his opportunity with one of the most impressive resumes in the sport.
This is a serious issue for college football and those who don’t think it is a serious issue are simply putting their heads in the sand. It is not going away.
2. Members of the Auburn family have a big decision to make: There is no question that a lot of Auburn fans are not happy with the hire. Some wanted Gill. Others wanted a big name coach (which Auburn was not going to get). Still others wanted somebody with a proven track record on offense. But Chizik is now Auburn’s head coach. One of the constant threads than ran through Alabama’s struggles was that the fan base was divided and never could get on the same page behind any coach. Auburn fans can get on board and back this guy or they can sit on the sidelines and complain. The longer the fan base is fractured the longer it will take for Auburn to be relevant again in the SEC. Divide and conquer. It works in war and it works in the world of college football. Just remember how Auburn fans reveled in the misery that was going on in Tuscaloosa before Nick Saban came.
3. What if Chizik was still at Texas? Chizik was the defensive coordinator on a 13-0 team at Auburn and a year later was DC on a national championship team at Texas. Chizik went to Texas because he thought it would be a better springboard to a head coaching job. He was right. After the 2006 season he became head coach at Iowa State. Much is being made of the fact that Chizik was 5-19 in two seasons in Ames. But what if Chizik were still the defensive coordinator at Texas, the No. 3 team in the nation? Would this hire be viewed differently by the critics? Iowa State was prepared to give Chizik a two-year extension so he must have been doing something right.
4. Georgia had better keep an eye on Garner, Searels: One of the ways that Chizik could heal his fractured fan base, I’m told, is to get some big-time assistant coaches to come home to Auburn. Two of the very best Auburn grads working today are Rodney Garner and Stacy Searels at Georgia. Auburn needs somebody to ratchet up the recruiting operation and convince the school’s verbal commitments not to jump ship. What better way to take on Nick Saban’s recruiting machine in the state than to bring Garner back to Auburn? What better way to solidify the offensive line than to bring back Searels, who is one of the best in the country? And if Chizik makes that move it serves two purposes: It helps Auburn and it hurts Georgia. Hey, it’s a tough game.
5. Where is Auburn President Jay Gouge? Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs is getting beat up pretty good in this process. He was heckled the other day at the airport. That’s kind of silly but, as Jacobs said, that’s the passion of the fans. At least the guy didn’t throw a shoe at him.
This process, as difficult as it has been for Auburn, would have been helped yesterday if the president of the university had stepped to the podium before Jacobs and said: “This hire was the recommendation of my athletics director and I signed off on it. I support it 100 percent. The buck stops with me. I’m Jay Jacobs’ boss. I am the CEO at Auburn University. If you want to complain to somebody, complain to me.” Jacobs sent a letter to Auburn fans yesterday asking that they rally behind the coach. It would have been helpful if the president had weighed in on this one as well.
Timing not good for Chizik at Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m sure Gene Chizik is a fine fellow and there is no question that he did a good job as defensive coordinator at Auburn (2002-04) and at Texas (2005-06). I wish him the best as the new head coach at Auburn.
Having said all that, I have a bad, bad feeling about the future of the football program at Auburn University.
Understand that success for the head coach at Auburn has always been a function of timing.
Ralph “Shug” Jordan came in 1951 when Alabama was in an up-and-down phase under Harold “Red” Drew. In 1957 he led the Tigers to their first and only national championship. Good timing.
Alabama reacted to Auburn’s national title by bringing Paul “Bear” Bryant home from Texas A&M. Jordan stayed at Auburn until 1975 but the Tigers never won another SEC championship. Bryant won 13 SEC championships and six national championships in 25 years as Alabama’s coach.
Pat Dye came to Auburn in 1981 when Bryant was nearing the end of his legendary career. Dye beat Bryant 23-22 on Nov. 27, 1982. Shortly after that Bryant retired and Dye went on to win four SEC championships in the next seven years. Good timing.
Tommy Tuberville came to Auburn in 1999 in a year that Alabama won the SEC championship. But Mike DuBose self destructed in 2000 and so did the program, going through four coaches (DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula) in the next seven years. Tuberville won 85 games in 10 years and beat Alabama seven out of 10 times. Good timing.
During Auburn’s recent coaching search the powers that be discovered that today the timing is not good to be the head coach of the Tigers. In just two years Nick Saban has built Alabama into a national championship contender. The Crimson Tide is at least two years ahead of schedule and for the first time since Gene Stallings left after the 1996 season, Alabama football speaks with one clear and authoritative voice.
Many fans were convinced the program had grown stale under Tuberville and that the school needed a rock star coach like Saban in order to inject new life into Auburn football. But no proven head coach of substance was going to touch the Auburn job in its current condition.
And what is that condition, you ask? If the presence of Saban and his powerhouse weren’t enough to shoo top-flight coaches away, it is a fact that Auburn is perceived in the college football community, rightly or wrongly, as a place where boosters, particularly one booster, has way too much power. Make one guy mad and nobody—not the athletics director, not the president, not the governor—can save you.
So Auburn was never going to get Steve Spurrier. It was never going to get Butch Davis. It was never going to get Will Muschamp. As of Friday night it had Turner Gill, who worked miracles at Buffalo, waiting for an offer. It never came. Jim Grobe of Wake Forest, who for my money is one of the top five coaches in the country, is very comfortable where he is. But I’ll bet he was willing to listen if somebody from Auburn wanted to have a serious conversation. That conversation never took place because Auburn had already settled on Chizik.
Chizik parlayed his good work at Auburn (the Tigers were 13-0 in 2004) and Texas (the Longhorns won the national championship in 2005) into the head coaching job at Iowa State. It’s a tough job but Dan McCarney showed you can win there. Chizik was 5-19 in two seasons.
Again, I hope it works out well for Auburn. But Tommy Tuberville was a proven coach who had a lousy year in 2008. It was his fault and he admitted that. He offered to fix it. His track record said he probably could have done it. And I’m sorry. You can show me all the documents you want. I ain’t buying the explanation that Tuberville suddenly resigned and Auburn, out of the goodness of its institutional heart, decided to pay him $5 million as a going away present.
You change coaches because you are certain that you can hire a pretty good upgrade. Gene Chizik may prove to be a significant upgrade before he is through at Auburn.
But on Dec. 15, 2008, as I look at the program at Alabama and the program at Auburn, the timing doesn’t seem very good right now to be the head coach of the Tigers. In fact, it looks pretty bad.
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Will Muschamp will not be the next coach at Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We are about to face one of the darkest Saturdays of the fall. Except for the playoffs, there is no college football. The beginning of the bowl season is still a week away. Ugh.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t make predictions. I went 3-2 last week because I picked Boston College to beat Virginia Tech in the ACC championship (I should never doubt Frank Beamer) and I picked Tulsa’s high-flying offense to beat East Carolina in the Conference USA championship. My pick of Florida over Alabama in the SEC championship was looking pretty bleak when the fourth quarter started. But the Gators had No. 15 (Tim Tebow). So we end the season with a record of 95-50.
I made a lot of wrong picks this season, but looking back I only made one REALLY dumb pick and that was Georgia over Florida. Georgia was coming off a road game at LSU, who we now know was not very good, and Florida was coming off a serious beat-down over Kentucky and was playing lights out.
So here are a few predictions that should get you through the weekend:
1. Will Muschamp will not the be the next coach at Auburn: I just got off the phone with Will Muschamp, the defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting at Texas. He emphatically shot down television reports in Mobile that he would be the named the next coach at Auburn today.
“I have not talked to Auburn about this job and I have no interest in the job,” said Muschamp. “I really don’t know what else to say. I’m going to stay at Texas until they fire me.”
My sources tell me that some Board of Trustee members did pick up the phone and call Muschamp to find out if he was interested. But those sources also tell me that when Muschamp was at Auburn as DC, he and athletics director Jay Jacobs did not part on the best of terms.
2.It’s pay day for Tech’s Paul Johnson: The fact of the matter is that Johnson left significantly more money on the table at Duke and SMU in order to take the job at Georgia Tech. Why? Johnson knew that he could win an ACC championship at Georgia Tech and get to a BCS bowl. He took less money on the front end because he knew that if he won, the money would come on the back end of the deal. Well guess what? It’s pay day for Paul Johnson.
Georgia Tech went 9-3 and beat Georgia. The Yellow Jackets fans have bought every ticket they can get their hands on for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Some bowl people are telling me that Georgia Tech is considered to be one of the hottest teams in the country. And that is only after one season under Johnson. I know Johnson well enough to know that he’s not hung up on money. But professional pride says he should be paid in in the top half of ACC coaches. Tech is not rolling in money but the Institute needs to step up. Now.
3. Heisman vote will be one of closest ever: I think Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell should have been invited to join Florida’s Tim Tebow, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas’s Colt McCoy at the Heisman Trophy presentation tomorrow night. Harrell was mentioned in the same breath with the other three all season. The reason Harrell wasn’t invited, I believe, is that there is a significant gap in the votes between those three guys and him. That tells me that this vote is going to be close.
Understand that the Heisman voting is very much like a political election in that you have to carry regions of the country in order to win. There are six voting regions: South, Southwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Far West.
It’s a pretty good bet that Tebow is going to carry the South but it is also a pretty good bet that and Bradford, McCoy and Harrell will divide the vote in the Southwest. The Heisman voting is different than an election in that you get points for second and third place votes. Last season Tebow carried five of the six voting regions and so the odds are good that this time he will be on just about everybody’s ballot somewhere.
4. Investigation will clear UCF, O’Leary: Central Florida is doing the right thing in calling for an independent investigation into the collapse of player Brandon Davis during a recent morning workout. Davis got woozy and so the decision was made to take him to a local hospital. The reason this was news was that back in March another UCF Player, Eric Plancher, died during a workout. The school did not handle that tragedy well in terms of being quick to investigate and putting all of the information about Plancher’s death on the table.
That episode caused a cloud of suspicion to rise over this incident. The parents of the player have charged in media reports that Davis had kidney failure and was not given water during the work out. Both of those things are going to turn out not to be true. But those charges began a feeding frenzy and speculation that George O’Leary was on his way out as head coach. UCF has hired an attorney with NCAA experience to conduct a thorough investigation into the training practices in O’Leary’s program. It will show that UCF’s workouts are no different than any other program in Division I-A football. Are those programs too strenuous? That’s another argument.
Some are calling for O’Leary’s resignation because of all the negativity surrounding the program this season. They feel it is the only way to lift the cloud of suspicion over the program. Unless this investigation turns up a smoking gun, that is not going to happen.
5. The politicians will lose to the BCS again: Yet another member of Congress with too much free time on his hands is introducing legislation in an effort to compel Division I-A football to adopt a playoff. His point is that the BCS “consistently misfires” and since there is controversy around the national championship, a system like the BCS should not be able to market itself as a game FOR the national championship.
The fact that there is controversy surrounding the national championship of college football certainly comes as a shock to all of us who follow the sport.
This is so silly. We will eventually get a four-team playoff in college football. But it will be because it makes sense to the institutions that make up Division I-A and not because members of Congress want to score cheap political points.
Chick-fil-A Luncheon: If you’re free for lunch on Monday, come by the Marriott Marquis as The Atlanta Sports Council will host a luncheon featuring the two coaches who will square off in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31. Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson and LSU’s Les Miles will break down the game and answer questions from fans. Tickets are $35 and can be reserved by calling (404) 586-8537.
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Spurrier to Auburn? Don’t laugh. We’re trying to be serious here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The coaching carousel is spinning fast and furiously and inquiring minds want to know:
1. Is Steve Spurrier a serious candidate at Auburn?: It’s only been a week since Tommy Tuberville’s “surprise” resignation at Auburn but apparently some of the Tiger faithful are starting to get a little nervous. Tennessee has filled its spot with Lane Kiffin. Mississippi State hired a coach yesterday when it tapped Dan Mullen, the offensive coordinator from Florida. And by the way, if I’m an Auburn fan I have to be wondering why Mississippi State got one of the hottest offensive coordinators in the country and we apparently didn’t interview him. But I digress.
Auburn is still looking and the interviews thus far have included former players Patrick Nix and Rodney Garner, Tulsa’s Todd Graham, Buffalo’s Turner Gill, and Ball State’s Brady Hoke. Now comes the most delicious rumor of the silly season: that Steve Spurrier could be in the mix. I started getting calls on this a couple of days ago and it is all over the various chat rooms. And these people are SERIOUS!
Yes, I know. It’s hard not to laugh. But out of compassion let’s resist the urge and provide three logical reasons why that won’t happen:
No. 1: The Head Ball Coach is not going to move any further away from Crescent Beach, Fla., than he is right now. He and wife Jerri are building a beautiful retirement home on the ocean. They have a bunch of grandchildren around them. They ain’t moving again until it is time to go to the beach.
No. 2: Why would anybody want to spend the final years of a Hall of Fame career butting heads with Nick Saban? In coaching and in life, timing is everything. And for a lot of reasons, the timing is not right for a veteran coach to go to Auburn.
No. 3: He’s 63. He’s the youngest 63 I know and the most competitive man I know. But he doesn’t need, nor would he tolerate, the aggravation that comes with the Auburn job. And right now there is a lot of aggravation at Auburn.
2. Why not Rodney Garner at Auburn? If an established, successful head coach is not coming to Auburn then I ask: Why not Rodney Garner? The man is a great recruiter and doesn’t get enough credit for his ability as a defensive line coach. Hire Garner, give him a blank check to go out and hire the best offensive and defensive coordinators in the country. If Auburn is going to challenge Nick Saban at Alabama it is going to have to think outside the box. If not, Saban and his staff are going to have a stranglehold in recruiting in that state for a long time to come. Some say that Alabama already controls the state in recruiting. This won’t make my Georgia friends happy but by hiring Garner, Auburn accomplishes two things: It improves Auburn and it hurts Georgia. Such is the nature of the business.
3. Why hasn’t anybody called Charlie Strong? Florida became a great team this season because of Tim Tebow and because the Gator defense got better and better every week. Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong has to get a lot of credit for that. It could not have been easy for Strong when Mullen, 36, got the opportunity at Mississippi State and he’s still waiting with one of the more impressive resumes around. He was one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant coach in college football. What more does this man have to do to get an opportunity?
4. Will Mullen coach for Florida in the BCS championship game? I doubt it. Coaches in this position, like Mark Richt in 2000, have tried to stay with their old team when a national championship was on the line. But Richt has said many times that it really didn’t work in 2000 (Florida State lost to Oklahoma 13-2). There is simply no way that the coach, no matter how well he is organized, can give his undivided attention to his old new when there is so much to do as a first-year head coach. It could be that it’s tougher on offense. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini did it at LSU last season after he was named head coach at Nebraska. That one turned out okay. If Mullen goes, does Meyer call the plays in the BCS championship? And what if Strong does get an offer? Has any team played in the BCS championship without their offensive and defensive coordinators? FYI. Mullen is going to soon find out how hard the Mississippi State job is. By hiring Houston Nutt and pouring millions into facilities, Ole Miss has a decided leg up on Mississippi State for in-state recruits.
5. Is Syracuse is getting close: Syracuse has apparently offered the job to East Carolina coach Skip Holtz but reports late last night in Greenville, N.C., had Holtz turning down the job. Holtz is scheduled to be in Memphis today for a Liberty Bowl press conference. The Pirates play Kentucky on Jan. 2. If Holtz turns it down the attention goes to Buffalo’s Turner Gill, who has interviewed twice for the job. Gill, who has also interviewed at Auburn, won the MAC championship in 2008 in only his second season at the school. I talked to Gill late last night and he told me he had not heard from either Auburn or Syracuse since the interviews. Doug Marrone, a former Syracuse player now with the New Orleans Saints, is also in the mix for this job. According to media reports, Syracuse players have been told to stick close to campus this week. This one could pop today.
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Some fun nuggets from the final coaches’ poll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I now understand why the coaches who vote in the USA Today poll don’t want their ballots released on a weekly basis. There is just too much entertainment value in them.
By rule, the final ballots in the coaches’ poll must be made public. That’s the one that helps to determine the final BCS Standings and sets the national championship game. Thus the public has a right to know if some hanky-panky is going on. After going through the ballots on the USA Today website, here are some nuggets that I found particularly entertaining:
**—In the print edition of this morning’s AJC there was a report that Georgia coach Mark Richt had Florida and Alabama, two teams that beat the Bulldogs by a combined score of 90-40, 1-2 on his ballot.
There is nothing wrong with Richt sticking up for the SEC because the Big 12 coaches certainly took care of their teams. Four of six Big 12 coaches in the poll (Dan Hawkins, Colorado; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Gene Chizik, Iowa State) had Oklahoma and Texas in the top two spots in their ballots. Chizik, who was Brown’s defensive coordinator at Texas, had the Longhorns No. 1 and Oklahoma No. 2. Two Big Ten coaches (Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Joe Tiller, Purdue) had Oklahoma-Texas at 1-2 and Florida, the SEC champion, at No. 3.
**—Four coaches (Chizik, Todd Dodge, North Texas; Rick Neuheisel, UCLA; Mike Price, UTEP) had Texas No. 1 on their ballots. Neuheisel had Texas No. 1 and Oklahoma No. 4 behind Florida and USC. Oklahoma got 31 first-place votes while Florida got 26.
**—A total of 20 coaches had Texas No. 1 or No. 2 on their ballots.
**—Two Big 12 coaches did not have Oklahoma and Texas 1-2. Brown of Texas voted Florida No. 1 and his Longhorns No. 2. Mike Leach of Texas Tech had Oklahoma, the only team that beat his Red Raiders this season, at No. 1 and Texas Tech No. 2. He had Texas, whose only loss was to Texas Tech, at No. 5.
**—Of the six SEC coaches who vote in the poll, five had Florida No. 1 on their ballots. The only holdout was Steve Spurrier of South Carolina, a Florida graduate who had Oklahoma No. 1 and the Gators No. 2. Understand that Spurrier and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops are close friends.
**—Former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden had Florida No. 1 but his dad, Bobby Bowden of Florida State, did not. Daddy Bowden voted Oklahoma No. 1 and Florida No.2.
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Five burning questions about the BCS and the “Bowl Bidness”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Based on the responses on yesterday’s blog, you obviously have a lot of questions/criticisms about the BCS and its selection process. You’re not going to like all of the information and answers I’m about to share with you but here, as a public service, are five burning questions and some (hopefully) candid answers about what I affectionately call “The Bowl Bidness.”
1. Why can’t the BCS give us better matchups? It’s not their job. Seriously, it’s not. The BCS was created to do one thing and one thing only and that was to match No. 1 versus No. 2. The people who created the BCS never promised that we would agree on who No. 1 and No. 2 were. They never even promised that they would actually be the best two teams in the country. They never promised that we would never again have a split national championship, which we may have this season.
They only promised that when No. 1 and No. 2 were decided by whatever yardstick that was in place at the time, those teams would actually meet on the field.
After the national championship game is set, the rest of the bowls are pretty much on their own to use the selection framework to create the best matchups for the host cities and the conferences which have contracts with them. Never forget that his is a business, folks. The cities that host these games are going to make the best business decision for them in terms of ticket sales and television ratings, which are their two main revenue streams. A BCS bowl has to make at least a $30 million in profit just to make its payout to the two conferences involved.
Some folks wonder why the Big Six conferences (ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10) all continue to get automatic bids. In other words, why does a 9-4 ACC champion ranked No. 19 get a bid over a 12-0 WAC champion ranked No. 9? The only way to get the original deal done back in 1998 was to guarantee the champions of each of those conferences a spot in a BCS game. Next spring there will be discussions about coming up with minimum standards for automatic qualification to a BCS bowl. That will be an interesting discussion.
2. Why couldn’t No. 3 Texas play No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl? That’s like asking why can’t the team that picks first in the NFL Draft get to make three or four selections before any other team gets a pick. It would be good for that team and would make their fans happy but it’s not fair to the other teams. There is a selection process in place to make the system fair to all the bowls. Here is a short version of how the selection process worked on Sunday.
No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida were placed in the BCS championship game.
Because neither the Pac-10 champ (Southern Cal) nor the Big Ten champ (Penn State) was in the BCS title game, by contract they automatically advanced to the Rose Bowl.
The ACC champion, Virginia Tech, was by contract placed in the Orange Bowl.
The Big 12 champ is contracted to play in the Fiesta Bowl. Because the Fiesta lost No. 1 Oklahoma, it got to pick first to replace its host team. The Fiesta picked Texas.
The SEC champ is contracted to play in the Sugar Bowl. Because the Sugar lost No. 2 Florida, it got to pick second to replace its host team. The Sugar picked No. 4 Alabama.
Once those moves were made, there was a pre-determined order of selection to fill the remaining bowl slots: Fiesta, Sugar, Orange.
The remaining pool of eligible teams included: No. 6 Utah (Mountain West champ), No. 9 Boise State, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 11 TCU, and No. 12 Cincinnati (Big East champ). As the highest ranked non-BCS team, Utah was guaranteed a spot.
The Fiesta took Ohio State. The Sugar took Utah and that left Cincinnati, an automatic qualifier as the Big East champion, for the Orange Bowl.
3. Why did No. 10 Ohio State (10-2) get in and No. 9 Boise State (12-0) get left out? The Fiesta could have taken undefeated Boise State to play Texas but it wouldn’t have made much business sense. Ohio State has been to Arizona a bunch since winning the national championship there in 2002 and their fans travel well. That game will also do a big television number because the Big Ten TV markets are huge and the game will stand alone on the night of Saturday, Jan. 5 . The Fiesta hosted Boise State two years ago and had a classic game when the Broncos upset Oklahoma. Chances are the folks in Tempe would not catch lightning in a bottle again.
4. Why did No. 7 Texas Tech (11-1), whose only loss was to No. 1 Oklahoma, get left out? The BCS rules say that no more than two teams from one conference may play in one of the five BCS games. The issue comes up from time to time, especially in a season like this. A possible change to the rule was briefly discussed at the BCS meetings last April in South Florida but there was virtually no support for the idea. Having three teams in BCS bowls would be a significant financial and competitive advantage for that conference.
5. Wouldn’t a four-team playoff solve a lot of these problems? Some, but not all. Consider this. If we had a four-team playoff using the final BCS standings then the teams would have been Oklahoma (12-1), Florida (12-1), Texas (11-1), and Alabama (12-1). No. 5 Southern Cal (11-1), who has been playing lights out lately and could be the best team in the country, would have been left out. I believe, however, that if there were four teams in the championship instead of just two, then the voting would have been different in the final polls. The Alabama fans won’t like this, but if we had a four-team playoff I think the voters would have put Southern Cal, the Pac-10 champion, into the No. 4 spot. The voters would have rationalized that Alabama had their shot in the SEC championship game and rewarded USC. Now how big of an argument would that have created?
With all due respect to the President Elect, we will not go straight from this system to an eight-team playoff. But I still believe we will have a four-team playoff in my lifetime. The current BCS contract with Fox ends after the 2009 regular season. ESPN will pick it up for the next four years. At the end of that contract, I believe ESPN will use its financial muscle to compel the Big Six conferences to make a format change to a four-team playoff. I think the number that ESPN will put on the table will be so staggering that the commissioners and presidents won’t be able to say no.
After all, it’s a business.
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Defense gives Florida the early edge on OU
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ll break down the BCS national championship and the other important bowls as we get closer to the dates, but here are some quick impressions on the final weekend of the regular season:
1. Florida gets the early edge because of defense: You will hear over and over in the coming weeks that Oklahoma was the first team to ever score more than 60 points in five straight games. But who were they scoring those 60 points against? Here are the national defensive rankings for those five Oklahoma opponents: Nebraska (66), Texas Tech (72), Oklahoma State (86), Missouri (99), Texas A&M (113). The best defense in the Big 12 this season was Texas at No. 50. The best defense Oklahoma faced all season was No. 2 TCU, which held Oklahoma to its lowest point total of the season (35, which was matched by Texas). You can counter this argument by saying the offenses were just THAT GOOD in the Big 12. My point is that Oklahoma just hasn’t seen a defense like Florida’s, which is ranked No. 9 (279.31 ypg).
2. Tim Tebow should win the Heisman Trophy again: I don’t think he will because too many people sent their ballots in early and too many of the 900-plus voters just look at the big numbers. But I’m telling you that what Tebow did this season surpasses all of the great numbers he put up winning the Heisman a year ago. After the loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27 Tebow put himself on the line by promising that no one would play harder the rest of the season. And with Florida trailing 20-17 to Alabama in the fourth quarter last Saturday, Tebow would not let his team lose. When it comes to the whole package-talent, heart, competitiveness—this kid is one of the top 2-3 I have ever seen.
And here is the kicker: Here are the final national rankings of the defenses that Tebow faced this season: Alabama (3); Tennessee (4); South Carolina (11); Florida State (13); Ole Miss (15); Miami (25); Georgia (28); Vanderbilt (29): LSU (36); Kentucky (37); Hawaii (59); Arkansas (73). Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford faced one defense this season (TCU) ranked in the top 49. Tebow faced 10 of them.
3. If Oklahoma wins the BCS national championship, a 12-1 Texas should get a share: The BCS Standings were never designed to do what the Big 12 did last week. They were used to break a three-way tie for the Big 12 South and, because Northern Division winner Missouri was so bad, Oklahoma was virtually given an express ticket to the national championship game. I’m not saying that Oklahoma doesn’t belong there. But Texas beat Oklahoma on a neutral field and that should stand for something. So here is the answer. The Associated Press media poll finished 1) Florida, 2) Oklahoma, 3) Texas. The 65 voters in the AP poll are not bound by the BCS championship results. If Oklahoma beats Florida for the BCS title, the AP championship should go to Texas. There is nothing wrong with a split national championship. Southern Cal was No. 1 in both human polls in 2003 and did not get into the big game. The AP poll gave the Trojans their championship. That would be the right thing to do here.
4. The ACC championship should move to Atlanta: The ACC announced that over 50,000 tickets had been distributed to Saturday’s conference championship game in Tampa between Virginia Tech and Boston College. But in a television shot the league just had to love, the upper deck of Raymond James Stadium was very empty. There is an offer on the table from the Atlanta Sports Council to play the ACC championship game in the Georgia Dome the week before the SEC championship game. Yes, there would be all kind of logistical problems because of the three big rivalry games (Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson) that are played with the SEC at the end of the season. But the ACC has to get that game out of Florida because it just isn’t working. After one more game in Tampa (2009) it will move to Charlotte in 2010. It should do better there because of the central location but weather is a concern.
5. Auburn needs to hire Turner Gill, but it won’t happen: When Turner Gill got to Buffalo that football program was, by every measure, the worst in Division I-A football. Friday night Buffalo did the unthinkable and beat undefeated Ball State to win the MAC championship. Gill played for Tom Osborne and learned his football in the Nebraska system. He has already interviewed with Syracuse and will interview with Auburn this week in New York. I spoke to him Saturday and while he said all the right things about Buffalo, it was clear to me that he is looking for a new challenge. If Auburn is going to compete with Nick Saban, it’s time for the school to think outside the box. I just don’t see that happening at Auburn.
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Florida edges Alabama in an instant classic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, here at the end we finally managed to pick a few games right. Georgia Tech did upset Georgia and Clemson did upset South Carolina so we were able to finish 9-1 which gives us an overall record of 92-48. Not great, but it has been that kind of season.
It’s hard to believe that December is here and we’re getting ready to watch one of the biggest games in SEC history. For all of my friends who want a playoff, No. 1 Alabama against No. 4 Florida is about as close to a national semifinal as you can get.
It should be fun, so let’s get right to the final edition of the Fearless Friday Forecast for 2008.
1. SEC championship: Alabama (12-0) vs. Florida (11-1): It is really tempting to pick Alabama because the Crimson Tide is an underdog as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Alabama players have been hearing all week about all of that great Florida speed and Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer, etc., etc. If I’m an Alabama player I want to shout: “Hey, we’re giving out scholarships, too!” Alabama is a very good football team and Nick Saban should be the national coach of the year for what he has done with this team. He and his staff have gotten every ounce of production out of Alabama’s talent.
But folks, Florida is really, really good. They woke up after the Ole Miss loss and started playing better than anybody in the country. I think they win not because of all that speed, but because of their defense and special teams. They lead the nation in turnover margin (plus-21). They have blocked eight kicks this season. I love the way Alabama has been able to impose their will on other teams because they are so strong up front on both sides of the ball. In the Dome, however, speed has the slight edge on power. This will come down to a big turnover or a big play on the special teams. Florida 21, Alabama 17.
2. ACC championship: Virginia Tech (8-4) vs. Boston College (9-3): For the second straight year these teams will meet for the conference title. Virginia Tech won a year ago but this year I think Boston College has the edge. Both teams will be very conservative because they have young quarterbacks and Top 10 defenses. Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor is pretty special when he doesn’t turn the ball over. Ditto for Dominique Davis, who will be filling in for the injured Chris Crane at Boston College. Check the turnovers by the quarterbacks at the end of this game. That will be the difference. Boston College 14, Virginia Tech 10.
3. Big 12 Championship: Oklahoma (11-1) vs. Missouri (9-3): Missouri is in the Big 12 championship game with Oklahoma for the second straight year. And the Tigers are going to get beat again because QB Chase Daniel (3,880 yards, 34 TD), as good as he is, can’t keep up with Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford (4,080 yards, 46 TD), who will probably lock down the Heisman Trophy in this game tonight. Oklahoma is also playing for a spot in the BCS championship game. Both teams are awful against the pass. Oklahoma’s pass defense is ranked No. 98 while Missouri is 116. Both teams will score a lot of points. But nobody can keep up with the Sooners, who lead the nation in scoring (53.3 ppg). Oklahoma 52, Missouri 31.
4.Conference USA championship: East Carolina (8-4) at Tulsa (10-2): It’s been over 30 years since East Carolina has won any kind of conference championship but the Pirates of Skip Holtz really have their hands full today. Only Oklahoma has averaged more points per game this season than Tulsa (49.33 ppg). The Golden Hurricane offense is simply impossible to get off the field as they have converted 59 percent of third downs. Quarterback David Johnson has six games where he has thrown for four touchdowns or more. East Carolina QB Patrick Pinkney is good, having completed 70 percent of this passes in three of his last four games. But the Pirates just won’t be able to keep pace. Tulsa 45, East Carolina 31.
5. Southern Cal (10-1) at UCLA (4-7): Two years ago UCLA upset Southern Cal to knock the Trojans out of the BCS championship game. Today the Bruins can knock Southern Cal out of Rose Bowl date with Penn State. It’s not going to happen. In fact, look for Pete Carroll’s team to put a pretty significant number on UCLA because they believe (incorrectly) that they still have an outside shot at the BCS championship game. Southern Cal may have the best defense in the country but a bad schedule and a loss to Oregon State way back on Sept. 25 will keep them out of the big game. Southern Cal 52, UCLA 14.
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Letting Tuberville go a risky move for Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In 1999 Tommy Tuberville was given the same mandate as every other new Auburn head coach: Make Auburn consistently competitive for the SEC championship and keep the Tigers even—if not ahead—in the rivalry with Alabama.
In the nine years before the 2008 season, it’s fair to say that Tuberville had successfully carried out his marching orders. He averaged nine wins a year, was 49-23 in the toughest league in college football, won or shared four SEC West titles, won the 2004 SEC championship with a 13-0 team, and was the consensus national coach of the year in 2004.
Going into this season Tuberville had not only stayed even with Alabama, he had dominated winning seven of nine including an unprecedented six straight. Auburn has three head coaches in the college football Hall of Fame: Mike Donahue, “Shug” Jordan, and Pat Dye. None ever beat Alabama six straight times.
But the lessons we learned from the recent dismissals of Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) and Sylvester Croom (Mississippi State) were reaffirmed on Wednesday when Tuberville was forced to resign after 10 seasons. In college football, like any other business, you have to react to what the competition is doing or risk falling further behind.
And let’s be clear. This is not an action by Auburn. It is a reaction. The powers that be at Auburn can rationalize all they want, but if Alabama was not 12-0 and ranked No. 1 in the land, Tommy Tuberville would still be the head coach of the Tigers this morning. He would have been given a chance to fix the problems that caused a 5-7 season. Those problems were almost entirely of Tuberville’s making. He screwed up with the entire Tony Franklin/spread offense episode. He knew that.
Last Saturday I spoke to Tuberville on the field less than an hour before the kickoff against Alabama. He thought he was in pretty good shape in terms of keeping his job. His plan was to hire a new offensive coordinator who would re-establish Auburn as a power football team and let that guy bring in some assistants to help implement the offense. Some people in power had obviously let him know that he would probably survive.
But from his body language I could tell that he needed to keep the game close and be competitive against the Crimson Tide.
Auburn did neither losing 36-0, the Tigers’ worst defeat to Alabama since 1962. And when Tuberville’s post-season evaluation by the president and the athletics director stretched from Monday to Wednesday, there were obviously some problems. By early afternoon on Wednesday it became clear that a move had been made.
Tuberville will be fine. He’ll get half of his $5.1 million settlement in 30 days and the rest within 365 days. He can sit out a year and become a free agent at the end of next season. He’s one of the best I’ve seen at handling the media and would be snapped up by the TV boys immediately.
Auburn? That’s another story. History tells us that timing is the most important thing when it comes to taking that job. Pat Dye came in 1981, the year before Bear Bryant retired. Tuberville came in 1999, when Gene Stallings was gone and Alabama had begun its self-destructive run of four coaches (DuBose, Franchione, Price, Shula) in 10 years.
The timing is not right for the next coach at Auburn. Alabama will play for the 22nd SEC championship in its history Saturday afternoon. Win that one and the Crimson Tide will play for its 13th national championship. And by any objective measure, Nick Saban’s program is at least one year ahead of schedule. He and his staff are going to dominate recruiting in that state.
Get his hire wrong and Auburn could, like Alabama, go off on a string of new faces desperately trying to catch up with a Crimson Tide program that is clearly getting ready to go on a big roll.
Based on the comments I’ve seen, there were a lot of fans who were tired of Tuberville and just wanted something new. They want to get excited again with a fresh face who will give them hope. Auburn will hire a good coach and he’ll have a great press conference and those fans will be wringing their hands in anticipation of what is to come.
That was the way Nebraska fans felt in 2004 when Bill Callahan was hired as head coach. Frank Solich had averaged over nine wins in six seasons and had played for the national championship in 2001. But he just wasn’t sexy enough when compared to Mack Brown (Texas) and Bob Stoops (Oklahoma). Callahan, an NFL guy, was a fish out of water and went 27-22 and put the program into a severe hole.
Most fans are rational but a lot fans are like teenaged boys. They are always convinced that there is a prettier girl in the next room and that if they could take her to the prom instead of their old date, life would be perfect.
But here is the other part of that equation that fans don’t like talk about or ponder: If you move out a proven, if flawed, head coach in the desire to take your program to another level, you sometimes get that wish. But that next level is down, not up.
That is where Auburn is right now. This is a hire the school must get right or the Tigers could be in the football wilderness, relative to Alabama, for a long, long time.
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Five things you need to know about the SEC championship game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five things you need to know about Saturday’s SEC championship game:
1. If Tim Tebow has a big game against Alabama he should win the Heisman Trophy: I know everyone is impressed with the numbers that Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford (4,080 yards, 46 TD), Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell (4,747 yards, 41 TD), and Texas’s Colt McCoy (3,445 yards, 32 touchdowns) are putting up. Those numbers are staggering. But trust me when I tell you that nobody in America is playing as well as Tim Tebow is right now. Since the 31-30 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27, Tebow has been a force of nature. In the eight games coming into Saturday’s showdown with Alabama Tebow has completed 90 of 144 passes (68 percent) for 17 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He has rushed for another 408 yards and 10 touchdowns. In those eight games Florida has outscored its opponents 414-97, an average margin of victory of 39.6 points per game. Florida put up 56 on South Carolina, which had the nation’s No. 3 defense, and 45 on Florida State, whose defense was ranked seventh at the time. This week Tebow faces the nation’s No. 3 defense in Alabama.
2. Alabama has speed, too: There is no question that one team (Florida) wants to turn this game into a track meet and the other team (Alabama) wants to it to be a street fight. But it would be a mistake to think Florida is the only team with speed. Yes, Florida will be very quick on the turf in the Georgia Dome. But so will the Alabama defense, that didn’t get to be No. 3 in the nation by being slow. Florida has an edge in speed but it the speed gap between the two teams is not as wide as some people think. I was on a conference call with some Alabama players earlier this week and it was clear they are getting tired of hearing that they are slow in comparison to the Gators. It’s not true. Speaking of speed, there is no doubt in my mind that Florida’s Percy Harvin is going to answer the bell at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
3.These teams don’t know what it is like to be behind: Florida has played 720 minutes of football this season. The Gators have trailed for only 15:38 through 12 games. Alabama trailed for 16:34 against LSU before winning the game 27-21. In the other 11 games this season Alabama trailed for 6:47. The Crimson Tide trailed for 5:32 against Mississippi State and for 1:15 against Ole Miss. In the other nine games this season Alabama never trailed. The reason Alabama and Florida don’t have experience in trailing is because both teams like to put their opponents into a hole early and watch them make mistakes while trying to climb out. In 12 games this season Florida has outscored its opponents 160-10. Alabama has outscored its opponents 123-20 in the first quarter through 12 games.
4. It will not be a high scoring game because both defenses are good: Everybody knows that Alabama has a great defense. But Florida’s defense, which was a weakness last season, has become a strength for the Gators. Here are the NCAA rankings in four major defensive categories.
Category—————————-Alabama———————-Florida
Total defense—————3 (248.5 ypg)—————7 (275.67 ypg)
Scoring defense———3 (11.5 ppg)——————4 (12.3 ppg)
Rushing defense———2 (73.6 ypg)—————-12 (102.8 ypg)
Pass defense————-20 (174.92 ypg)———— 7 (172.92 ypg)
5. The game will come down to turnovers: I have long believed that turnover margin—the number of turnovers your defenses creates minus the number of turnovers your offenses commits—is the most important stat in football. Alabama, for example, has created 24 turnovers (9 fumbles, 15 interceptions) while committing 15 (9 fumbles, 6 interceptions). That plus-9 margin ranks No. 21 in the country.
Florida, however, is ranked No. 1 with a turnover margin of plus 21. The Gators have forced 32 turnovers (9 fumbles, 23 interceptions) while committing only 11 (8 fumbles, 3 interceptions). Florida was the last team in the country to have a turnover this season. The three interceptions (2 by Tebow) for Florida this season is the lowest total for any team in Division I-A.
The X-Factors:
Everybody knows that two of the best punt returners in college football will be in this game. Florida’s Brandon James averages 14.67 and is one of six players in the country to return two punts for touchdowns. Another of the six with two punt returns for touchdowns is Javier Arenas, who averages 14.66 per return. How many touches will each get during the course of the game?
Here are two final stats that intrigue me: Florida has blocked eight kicks (5 punts, 2 field goals, 1 extra point) this season. Head coach Urban Meyer coaches the special teams and he is fanatical about it. Since Meyer got to Florida in 2005 his teams have blocked 45 kicks.
Alabama leads the nation in non-offensive touchdowns with eight. The Crimson Tide has returned four interceptions for touchdowns. Arenas has returned punts of 87 and 80 yards for touchdowns. Alabama has returned a block punt and a fumble for touchdown. Florida is second in the nation in this category with seven non-offensive touchdowns (5 interceptions, 2 punt returns).
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Bowl buzz: Tech to Chick-fil-A; Georgia to Capital One
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The pairings won’t be official until Sunday, but based on a bunch of phone calls here is the latest Bowl Buzz for the BCS, ACC, and SEC:
BCS PROJECTIONS
Championship, Jan. 8: Oklahoma vs. Alabama-Florida winner: This assumes, of course, that Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 championship game. If Florida beats Alabama, it will jump over No. 3 Texas, which is idle, into the No. 2 or No. 1 spot.
Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Southern Cal vs. Penn State: Penn State (11-1) is in and Southern Cal (11-1) can punch its ticket to Pasadena if the Trojans beat UCLA (4-7) on Saturday. Could No. 5 Southern Cal jump over Texas if Missouri beats Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game? Nope. The Trojans are ranked No. 8 in the computers and that ranking will only go down after playing UCLA.
Orange Bowl, Jan. 1: Boston College or Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati (10-2): The Bearcats of the Big East still have a game at Hawaii on Saturday. It will be the biggest bowl game in school history. Boston College has not been to a major bowl since Doug Flutie took the Eagles to the Cotton after the 1984 season.
Sugar Bowl, Jan. 2: Alabama-Florida loser vs. Utah (12-0): The Utes are done and finished No. 6 in the BCS standings. It will certainly be interesting if Florida is there with Utah’s old coach, Urban Meyer.
Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 5: Texas (11-1) vs. Ohio State (10-2): The Fiesta Bowl was toying with the idea of matching up undefeated Utah (12-0) against undefeated Boise State (12-0), which it could do if Oklahoma finished No. 1. But to do that the Fiesta would have to shut out No. 10 Ohio State and limit the Big Ten to just one BCS slot. That would not b a wise business move.
ACC PROJECTIONS
Orange: Boston College-Virginia Tech winner vs. Cincinnati
Chick-fil-A: Georgia Tech (9-3) vs. LSU (7-5). The hometown bowl takes the hometown team which will take on the defending national champions. LSU has had a tough time stopping conventional offenses. How excited will LSU be?
Gator: Florida State (8-4) or Clemson (7-5) vs. Nebraska (8-4): The Gator is having an internal debate on the ACC side. Clemson will bring a ton of folks with a new coach and a strong finish. But it’s hard to pass up Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles in the state of Florida.
Champs Sports: Florida State or Clemson vs. Wisconsin (7-5). If the Gator takes Clemson, the Orlando Bowl will take Florida State. Wisconsin has had a very disappointing season.
Music City: Boston College-Virginia Tech loser vs. Kentucky (6-6) or Vanderbilt (6-6). By rule, the ACC championship game loser cannot fall below the Music City. If Virginia Tech is the loser, the Champs could take the Hokies ahead of Clemson.
Meinke: North Carolina (8-4) vs. West Virginia (7-4): North Carolina was a hot team three weeks ago but the Tar Heels stumbled down the stretch and will go to Charlotte.
Emerald: Miami (7-5) vs. Arizona (6-5): The Emerald has expressed some interest in the Hurricanes. Arizona still has a game with Arizona State.
Humanitarian: Wake Forest (7-5) vs. Nevada (7-5): The Deacons will be going to their third straight bowl for the first time in school history.
Eagle Bank: N.C. State (6-6) vs. Navy (7-4): N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien, whose team finished with four straight wins, goes against his alma mater. Navy still has a game with Army on Saturday.
Motor City: Maryland vs. Ball State (12-0). Maryland can’t go to the Eagle Bank on Dec. 20 in Washington, D.C. because it conflicts with exams. Wake Forest can’t go because it played Navy this season. The Big Ten won’t fill its slot in the Motor City so the ACC cuts a deal for the Terps to play a 13-0 Ball State, which faces Buffalo for the MAC championship.
SEC PROJECTIONS
BCS championship: Alabama-Florida winner vs. Oklahoma
Sugar: Alabama-Florida loser vs. Utah
Capital One: Georgia (9-3) vs. Michigan State (9-3): If Georgia had a tough time stopping Jonathan Dwyer, wait until they see Michigan State’s Javon Ringer, the nation’s No. 3 rusher (132.50 ypg).
Outback: South Carolina (7-5) vs. Iowa (8-4): The Outback could take Ole Miss (8-4) but lean towards the Gamecocks and Steve Spurrier, despite two bad losses to Florida and Clemson to end the season.
Cotton: Ole Miss (8-4) vs. Texas Tech (11-1): Could be a wild one with a lot of points.
Chick-fil-A: LSU (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (9-3): Now that LSU has committed to freshman quarterback Jordan Jefferson, this one could be very entertaining.
Music City: Kentucky or Vanderbilt vs. Boston College-Virginia Tech loser: Kentucky has been to the Music City the past two seasons, but the bowl doesn’t want to take home town Vanderbilt unless the Commodores are going to bring a ton of people.
Liberty: Kentucky or Vanderbilt vs. Tulsa-East Carolina winner: After 25 years without a bowl game, Vanderbilt deserves a chance to get on the bus and go somewhere instead of playing at home. The Commodores get their shot against the Conference USA champs.
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Big 12, not BCS, to blame for Texas-Oklahoma mess
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five things we learned over the weekend:
1.Big 12, not BCS, to blame for Texas-OU mess: Oklahoma finished No. 2 ahead of No. 3 Texas in Sunday’s BCS Standings which means the Sooners will play in the Big 12 championship game against Missouri. The BCS will get blamed for this because the BCS gets blamed for just about everything that goes wrong in college football. In fact, this is the Big 12’s fault. Their fifth tiebreaker in the case of a three-way tie in the division is that the team with the highest BCS ranking wins the spot in the championship game. The SEC has an additional tiebreaker for this situation that simply says that if there is a three-way tie and the top two teams are within FIVE spots of one another in the BCS Standings, then the head-to-head game between those two teams will be the tiebreaker. Under that rule Texas would have gone to the Big 12 championship game because it beat Oklahoma 45-35 on a neutral field back on Oct. 11. Remember how all of us screamed when Florida State went to the BCS championship game over Miami in 2000 after the Hurricanes had won the game on the field? Head-to-head competition matters. Look for the Big 12 to change its rule and adopt the SEC model in the future.
2. Something is wrong at Georgia: Give Georgia Tech all the credit in the world. They beat Georgia, dominated the Bulldogs in fact, to win that game on Saturday. I picked Georgia Tech to win the game because what happened is exactly what I thought would happen. The Bulldogs’ defense was not mentally tough enough nor was it disciplined enough to slow down Paul Johnson’s offense. The issue is not that Georgia failed to meet expectations. Expectations are established by people and people can be wrong. Georgia was a preseason No. 1 but probably shouldn’t have been after the injuries of OT Trinton Sturdivant and DT Jeff Owens. Still, there is something missing in the Georgia program. This team made too many mistakes and penalties and never got better in that phase of the game. Willie Martinez is a good football coach but a team at this level should never get beat after scoring 42 points at home. Head coach Mark Richt says that he is not planning any staff changes. But it is the job of the head coach to identify the problem and fix it. Richt needs to examine every phase of his program because there is something wrong.
3. Lane Kiffin is a big risk at Tennessee: Every time Lane Kiffin’s name came up with the Tennessee job I only had one question: Why? I wish him well and there is no doubt that the 33-year-old Kiffin will have all the resources he needs to be successful in Knoxville. But the resume looks a little thin to be taking over one of the great franchises of college football in a league that has four coaches who have won national championships. Tennessee’s press release says that he was an assistant coach at Southern Cal (2001-2006) and spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator. Technically he shared that position and the play calling duties with Steve Sarkisian. Kiffin got the job with the Oakland Raiders only after Sarkisian turned Al Davis down. Kiffin gets credit for the recruiting structure at USC but the fact is the Pete Carroll has always been the Pied Piper who lured talent to that program. This may turn out to be a very good hire, especially if Kiffin’s dad, Monte, signs on as defensive coordinator. But it feels a little like Mike Shula to Alabama.
4. Mississippi State made a mistake: Sylvester Croom is an honorable man and so he is telling everybody that it was his decision to resign at Mississippi State. The fact is that the powers that be wanted him to make more staff changes than he thought appropriate so that he had no choice but to resign. Mississippi State had a bad season. No getting around that. But how can a man be the SEC Coach of the Year in 2007, leading the Bulldogs to an eight-win season, and then be shoved out the door just one year later? Croom took over a terrible situation at Mississippi State and got the program on a respectable footing in just four seasons. And as soon as there is another bump in the road, the new athletics director hands him a pink slip? Mississippi State is getting national criticism for this decision and it should.
5. Dabo Swinney is the right choice at Clemson: When Dabo Swinney, a former walk-on at Alabama, was named interim coach at Clemson I didn’t think he had a shot at getting the job full time. But he won over the Clemson players and he convinced me as well. Clemson was a different football team down the stretch. Swinney unleashed all that talent that we knew was there and at the end of the year Clemson was a happy, confident football team that is now going to a bowl game. In short, Swinney EARNED the job with his performance.
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