It’s understandable why no one would want to live in the capital of meth and moonshine that is East Tennessee, and the recent troubles with the Tennessee football program scared off any big-name hire that the Volunteers could bring in. So, the UT administration went to option No. 5 (or six, or seven), Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley. Several times today, it went back-and-forth as to whether this was true, but late Friday, ESPN’s Joe Schad and Chris Low reported that it was all but a done deal.

Louisiana Tech spokesman Malcolm Butler says Dooley has resigned from his positions as coach and athletic director to join the Volunteers. A statement by the university was expected later Friday.

The son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, Derek Dooley went 17-20 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech.

The Volunteers hired him after a quick search to fill the vacancy created when Lane Kiffin abruptly resigned Tuesday night, bolting to Southern California after 14 months.

Huzzah! An almost Chizik-ian hire. Like Alabama after the Mike Price “It’s rolling, baby!” saga, Tennessee was in a pickle ahead of the beginning of the recruiting season and needed a coach, immediately. According to information passed on by Rivals/Yahoo! writer Tom Dienhart, a press conference is expected from Knoxville around 9 p.m. tonight.

What is there to say about Dooley? He’s a man, he’s 40! He’s also the son of legendary Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, and was an assistant under Nick Saban at LSU. But here’s some things you may not know. He earned a law degree from Georgia (after playing football and getting his undergrad at Virginia) and practiced with Nelson Mullins in Atlanta. The record with Tech, a middling WAC team, is anything but solid. In his three years there, he didn’t win a conference championship.

2007: 5-7 (4-4 WAC)
Key wins
None.

2008: 8-5 (5-3 WAC)
Key wins
Mississippi State, Fresno State, Northern Illinois (Independence Bowl)

2009: 4-8 (3-5 WAC)
Key wins
Hawai’i

The commentariat seems to believe that Dooley is a stand-up guy and will be able to do some things with the talent that is traditionally drawn to Tennessee. However, people said the same thing about Mike Shula, and he only had one winning season in four years at the Capstone.

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.

Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Fresno State v. Wyoming

Dec. 19, 8 p.m., ESPN
Central Florida v. Rutgers

Dec. 20, 8:30 a.m., ESPN
Southern Miss v. Middle Tennessee State

Dec. 22, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Oregon State v. No. 14 BYU

Dec. 23, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 23 Utah v. California

Dec. 24, 8 p.m., ESPN
Nevada v. Southern Methodist

Dec. 26, 1 p.m., ESPN
Marshall v. Ohio

Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 17 Pitt v. North Carolina

Dec. 26, 8 p.m., ESPN
Boston College v. No. 24 Southern Cal

Dec. 27, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Kentucky v. Clemson

Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Texas A&M v. Georgia

Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
UCLA v. Temple

Dec. 29, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 Miami v. No. 25 Wisconsin

Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bowling Green v. Idaho

Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Arizona v. No. 22 Nebraska

Dec. 31, Noon, ESPN
Houston v. Air Force

Dec. 31, 2 p.m., CBS
Oklahoma v. No. 21 Stanford

Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Navy v. Missouri

Dec. 31, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Minnesota v. Iowa State

Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 11 Virginia Tech v. Tennessee

Jan. 1, 11 a.m., ESPN
Northwestern v. Auburn

Jan. 1, 1 p.m., CBS
No. 16 West Virginia v. Florida State

Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Penn State v. No. 12 LSU

Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m., ABC
No. 8 Ohio State v. No. 7 Oregon

Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m., Fox
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati

Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2
South Florida v. Northern Illinois

Jan. 2, 2 p.m., ESPN
South Carolina v. Connecticut

Jan. 2, 2 p.m., Fox
No. 19 Oklahoma State v. Ole Miss

Jan. 2, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Arkansas v. East Carolina

Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN
Michigan State v. Texas Tech

Jan. 4, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU

Jan. 5, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 10 Iowa v. No. 9 Georgia Tech

Jan. 6, 7 p.m., Fox
No. 25 Central Michigan v. Troy

Jan. 7, 8 p.m., ABC
No. 2 Texas v. No. 1 Alabama

With two weeks left, and Alabama staring at a trip to Auburn and the SEC Championship Game, Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram still isn’t letting go of first place in the Heisman Trophy race. Against UT-Chattanooga, he was pulled with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, but still put up 102 yards rushing on 11 carries with two touchdowns.

The other major contenders, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, can’t seem to make the jump to force Ingram out of the top spot. Considering the next two games for Ingram are big ones, and Ingram tends to perform on an exceptional level in big games, could spell the end of the race. However, the Tide need to keep winning. A big showing against Auburn on Friday and besting Florida’s tough run defense would sew it up.

HeismanPundit.com
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 58 (10)
2. Colt McCoy, Texas, 40 (1)
3. Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 33 (1)
4. Tim Tebow, Florida, 20
5. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 13

ESPN.com Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 73 (13)
2. Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 47 (1)
3. Colt McCoy, Texas, 32
4. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 24
5. Kellen Moore, Boise State, 20 (1)

CBS Sports Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 44 (3)
2. Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 34 (1)
3. Colt McCoy, Texas, 28 (1)
4. Kellen Moore, Boise State, 10
5. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 6

Of course, Sports Illustrated isn’t doing anything to help the matter, laying the dreaded SI jinx by putting Ingram on the cover and giving him a five-page feature in the magazine.

Alabama running back Mark Ingram is moving even closer to becoming the Crimson Tide’s first Heisman Trophy winner, after his performance against Mississippi State during the past weekend. He had 19 rushes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Without a doubt, the totals won’t look as good this Saturday versus UT-Chattanooga. In the other patsy games, Ingram put up 56 and 91 yards, respectively. Also, head coach Nick Saban will want to save his starters for the Auburn game the day after Thanksgiving.

Season totals, through 10 games
Rushing: 194 attempts, 1,297 yards, 10 touchdowns
Receiving: 25 receptions, 225 yards, 3 touchdowns

Both HesimanPundit.com and the ESPN Heisman Watch are giving Ingram more points, but what was a one running back, two quarterback race is more of a mixed affair.

HeismanPundit.com
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 59 (10)
2. Colt McCoy, Texas, 35 (1)
3. Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 33 (1)
4. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 23
5. Tim Tebow, Florida, 16

ESPN.com Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 72 (12)
2. Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 42 (1)
3. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 37
4. Tim Tebow, Florida, 24
5. Colt McCoy, Texas, 23

CBS Sports Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 47 (4)
2. Toby Gerhart, Stanford, 34 (1)
3. Kellen Moore, Boise State, 21
4. Dion Lewis, Pitt, 12
5. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, 9

Nike’s bizarre, “tradition ain’t shit” uniform policy will befoul a number of teams for the rest of the month. Alabama, thank God, has been limited to the swoosh, the NCAA-mandated conference pennant and the script A, through there was that houndstooth collar mess for the 2006 Ole Miss game.

It appears the garish ensemble will come out for the Florida State game (but there hasn’t been a definitive statement). The Seminoles will also be wearing the misfit creation, with a black helmet. Don’t drink too much, as you might not recognize who’s on the field. We haven’t found a picture of the side of the Florida helmet, but unless it’s got the old-school F on that white melon case, it’s going to be even more strange. Throw a blue helmet on there, and you’d swear it’s Kentucky.

The other ones are even weirder. LSU’s look like a direct rip from Washington. The helmets are gold. TCU’s entry has pants that look like scales and red stripes on the helmet. Horned frogs, you see, shoot blood out of their eyes. Miami has two-tone numbers, but the only tradition there is thuggery and fairweather fans, so that’s no big deal.

Alabama running back Mark Ingram is still on pace to win the Crimson Tide’s first Heisman Trophy as the team prepares to claim its 10th win of the season, a 7 p.m. ESPN tilt against Mississippi State. In his game versus LSU, Ingram ran for 144 yards on 22 carries for 6.5 yards-per-carry. It was his third-best YPC game of the year, behind North Texas (11.4) and Carolina (10.3). Ingram also caught five passes for 30 yards. He would be the second sophomore to win the award, following Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in 2007.

HeismanPundit.com
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama — 55 (9)
2. Case Keenum, Houston — 29 (1)
3. Colt McCoy, Texas — 28 (2)
4. Tim Tebow, Florida — 24
5. C.J. Spiller, Clemson — 16

ESPN Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama — 65 (10)
2. Case Keenum, Houston — 40 (1)
3. Tim Tebow, Florida — 31 (1)
4. Colt McCoy, Texas — 28 (1)
5. C.J. Spiller, Clemson — 26

CBS Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama — 54 (4)
2. Case Keenum, Houston — 46 (2)
3. Colt McCoy, Texas — 22
4. Toby Gerhart, Stanford — 9
5. Ryan Matthews, Fresno State — 7

It’s been a long-standing defense among Southeastern Conference teams that scheduling “cupcake” non-conference opponents is OK because the conference schedule is so absolutely brutal. Alabama managed to get through last regular season undefeated, but conference champ and national title winner Florida got beat by Ole Miss. It happens.

Today, it was announced by the Mercury News that San Jose State of the WAC has been added to Alabama’s 2010 schedule. The Tide will shell out a cool $1 million to the Spartans to make the trip from the Bay Area to Tuscaloosa. But, before you start complaining about Bama, it was SJSU that went looking for a suitor.

The problem was massive cutbacks in the California State University system, and San Jose State, by backing out of its game against Stanford, will pick up about $750,000 more by playing Alabama.

ALABAMA
2008 wins
Clemson, Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Arkansas State, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn
2008 losses
Florida (SEC Championship Game), Utah (Sugar Bowl)

SAN JOSE STATE
2008 wins
Cal-Davis, San Diego State, Hawaii, Utah State, New Mexico State, Idaho
2008 losses
Nebraska, Stanford, Boise State, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, Fresno State