Major college football explodes as you watch (fixed)

That’s all she wrote, folks. Major college football, as you knew it from about 1996-2009, is over. The Big XII is done. All that’s left is the finalization of moves from outside the conference and what ends up as some truly bizarre scheduling in the 2012 season. Today, early movements in conference realignment went into overdrive.

Perhaps you heard that the Big Ten and Nebraska are now getting together. Conventional wisdom had previously held that Missouri would go, too, putting seven in the imagined Big Ten West and six in the Big Ten East. Add, say, Iowa State and Pitt and, oh, Rutgers, and you have a 16-team league. Word now is that Missouri and the Big Ten isn’t happening. Iowa State (and Kansas, too) are left in the cold. Any other expansion from the conference is also up in the air.

[Ed. note: Apparently we deleted a whole portion relating to the Pac-10 before publishing on the evening of June 11. Oops.]

Right now, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado are joining the Pac-10. That’s 15, brother. There’s got to be one more in the mix to balance the divisions.

Think it’s Texas A&M? Former Aggies player, coach and national championship-winning Alabama coach Gene Stallings, who is a regent, is reportedly pushing hard for A&M to be the seventh team in the SEC West. Stories coming out have it that A&M has been given a 72-hour deadline to decide if it’s going to make the Pac-10 move. If you can predict what will happen there, you’re a better person than we are.

More word out today is that Miami and Virginia Tech have not been in talks with the SEC, which means that if A&M joins, the best chances for an addition to the SEC East fall to Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and Louisville. If A&M does join, the SEC will likely end expansion at 14 teams. We really doubt there’s any desire to add Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, SMU or TCU to the West. Each of these teams haven’t been that good, consistently, for a while, or bring money to the conference. Except for TCU, which, while small, has the DFW market to bustle in.

Yet, there’s another problem with the Great Gallopin’ Horny Toads. They’re in the Mountain West, with Utah. And another major move happened, with Boise State leaving the WAC for the MWC. As it is, TCU can stick where it is and do well, especially if the MWC absorbs the Big XII leftovers.

All of the above isn’t even considering rumors that Conference USA will help finish off the Big East as a football conference. Or that if the SEC goes take a team or two from the ACC, that the ACC will go back and take a few more from the Big East.

Ain’t the off-season fun?

Posted by Wes Wolfe on Friday, June 11, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Filed under College football, College sports, Featured, Front Page · Tagged with Atlantic Coast Conference, Big XII, Boise State, Colorado, Conference realignment, Mountain West Conference, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, WAC

Ingram becomes Alabama’s first Heisman winner

Bart Starr. Joe Namath. Kenny Stabler. Lee Roy Jordan. Cornelius Bennett. Derrick Thomas. David Palmer. Shaun Alexander. None of these heroes of Alabama football won the Heisman Trophy. For a program that has 12 national championships and 22 Southeastern Conference titles, the other major accomplishment in college football was something that had been lacking from the Tide trophy case for years. No longer.

Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram added one of the more incredible accomplishments of the team this year, becoming Bama’s first-ever Heisman winner, and the third consecutive sophomore to take home the award. The win was the closest in the history of the award, 75-Heismans deep. For the first time in years, stiffarmtrophy.com got the final lineup wrong. It had Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in third, ahead of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, but in fact the two flipped positions in the final results.

1. MARK INGRAM, RUNNING BACK, ALABAMA
Votes: 1,304 (227)
2. TOBY GERHART, RUNNING BACK, STANFORD
Votes: 1,276 (222)
3. COLT MCCOY, QUARTERBACK, TEXAS
Votes: 1,145 (203)
4. NDAMUKONG SUH, DEFENSIVE TACKLE, NEBRASKA
Votes: 815 (161)
5. TIM TEBOW, QUARTERBACK, FLORIDA
Votes: 390 (43)

Perhaps the most memorable part of the ceremony was Ingram totally losing it when he went on the dais, having to take a few seconds to compose himself. It was only about a minute or two into the acceptance speech that the 2009 winner was able to get himself together enough to roll through the rest of his thank-yous.

“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” Ingram said at the podium. “I’m just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner.” Afterward, the super sophomore told the assembled media, “I was overwhelmed, really excited, just the fact that I’m the first Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Alabama and doing this for my family. It hasn’t been easy for us.”

Alabama football is an emotional endeavor, so most of us who slagged on Tebow for crying during the SEC Championship Game gave Ingram a pass. Double standards are the spice of life in sports.

This season, Ingram put up 1,542 rushing yards on 249 attempts for 6.2 yards-per-carry and 15 touchdowns, despite being extremely limited in action against the patsies of the Tide schedule. He also has 30 receptions for 322 yards, for 10.7 yards-per-catch and three touchdowns.

Ingram wins

Ingram’s interview with ESPN’s Chris Fowler

There’s only one step left: beating Texas in Pasadena in the BCS National Championship Game. If Alabama can do that, and there is significant thought to believe that it’s possible, 2009 could go down as one of the greatest years in the 117-year history of Crimson Tide football.

Posted by Wes Wolfe on Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 2:50 am
Filed under College football, College sports, Featured, Front Page · Tagged with Alabama, BCS National Championship Game, Big XII, Bowl Championship Series, Colt McCoy, Florida, Heisman Trophy, Mark Ingram, Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference, Stanford, Texas, Tim Tebow, Toby Gerhart

Alabama beginning to rack up awards

Monday, Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody missed out on winning the national award for the best lineman in college football. Instead, that trophy went to Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. He won the award despite being a part of a middling Big XII team that surprised Texas in the conference championship game.

“There have been greats that won this. They have all their posters around the hotel,” Suh said to the Associated Press. “It’s a very well-known trophy and it’s really the Heisman of the defensive players.”

Less than a week from the chance that Alabama running back Mark Ingram could take home the Crimson Tide’s first Heisman Trophy, two other people in crimson claimed high-level awards. One was defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who snagged the national assistant coach of the year award, named after Frank Broyles.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart won the Frank Broyles Award today at a banquet in Arkansas.

The Broyles Award goes to the top assistant coach in college football.

Other finalists were: Defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas of TCU, offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin of Boise State, offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn of Cincinnati and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong of Florida.

The biggest trick now for Alabama could be finding enough cash to keep Smart in town for another season. The 33-year-old coach is being courted for positions on other coaching staffs, including his alma mater of Georgia.

As far as players go, linebacker Rolando McClain won the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker. In a surprising play, the award’s namesake Dick Butkus showed up to Tuscaloosa to give the award to McClain.

We started a campaign called “I play clean.” We’re trying to eradicate the use of steroid use at the high school level, and really the Butkus Award is a vehicle to get that message across.

To which McClain added:

When I first got here I was just an 18-year-old kid running around, trying to learn a system. But thanks to [Coach Saban] and a lot of hard work from other coaches, I guess I turned out to be a pretty good linebacker. It means a lot to me, but it’s bigger than me, it’s for my team. Without them, I don’t think I would even get this award.

That’s not all, when it it comes to Alabama. There’s yet another cover from Sports Illustrated.

Posted by Wes Wolfe on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Filed under College football, College sports, Featured, Front Page · Tagged with Alabama, Big XII, Butkus Award, Frank Broyles Award, Kirby Smart, Nagurski Award, Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, Rolando McClain, Southeastern Conference, Terrence Cody

WR bowl selections for 2009-2010

There are 34 bowl games this year, and we’re picking every damn one of them (probably with 60-70 percent success). You can follow the progress or join up and do battle with us through ESPN College Bowl Mania. We’re in “The League” and “The War Against Tebow.” TWAT (jokes!) is the brainchild of decamped S.C. blogger and good time Johnny, Micah Snead, so go there. But beware — Snead’s dad is a total ringer and will probably take the title by 20 points.