12 Conference Champs, 4 At-Large Bids
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 27, 2012
Twelve conferences. Two major conferences, 12 smaller leagues. Seven super conferences. Not just 124 F.B.S. teams, but a whopping 128. An eight-team playoff. A 16-team playoff. No playoff. No New Mexico State or Western Kentucky, among others. We’ve seen it all over the last week, with several readers submitting well-researched and interesting plans for realignment — some tip-toeing the line outside the box, others leaping outside the box altogether. The next plan comes from Josh Hines, and like Matt’s proposal from yesterday, it takes into account the four programs due to join the F.B.S. over the next two seasons. Here come the stipulations:
Tags: Conference Expansion
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The Year in Review: Florida St. (9-4, 5-3)
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 27, 2012
Imagine we live in an alternate universe, one where the University of Alabama system Board of Trustees can’t unilaterally dictate the ebb and flow of its athletic programs located outside of Tuscaloosa. It’s a difficult situation to consider, I know, but suspend your disbelief for the interest of this scenario. So it’s the winter of 2006, and U.A.B. reaches out to — nay, actually agrees to a contract with — L.S.U. offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, who had just completed his seventh season as an assistant in Baton Rouge. The contract, which hovered around $600,000 annually, was very much in line with what Fisher demanded as a national title-winning assistant coach; in addition, two members of the U.A.B. community offered to pay half of his annual contract.
Tags: Alabama Board of Trustees, Bjoern Werner, E.J. Manuel, Florida State, Jimbo Fisher, Lamarcus Joyner, Nigel Bradham, Rashad Greene, U.A.B.
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The Official End of an Era in the Big East
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 26, 2012
Miami (Fla.) and Virginia Tech left for the A.C.C. in 2004, followed a year later by Boston College. Rutgers broke through in 2006, bolting out of the gate with nine straight wins and rising as high as No. 7 in The Associated Press poll before splitting its last four games to finish 11-2. Coincidence? Not quite. Perhaps no program – and no coach, Greg Schiano – benefitted more from that trio’s bolt to greener pastures, one that created a power vacuum atop the Big East. Rutgers, along with West Virginia and Cincinnati, helped fill that gap. But the Scarlet Knights never got over the hump, instead making brief bursts towards B.C.S. play before ceding Big East supremacy to other more solidly-built conference rivals.
Tags: Big East, Greg Schiano, Mario Cristobal, Rutgers
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The Aztecs Get Help From the Pac-12
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 26, 2012
Consider the losses that San Diego State has experienced on the offensive side of the ball over the six months. Push it back to the last 12 months, in fact, and take into account the loss of all-Mountain West wide receivers Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, each of whom exhausted their eligibility following the 2010 season. Late in July, the Aztecs’ receiver corps lost would-be lead target Dominique Sandifer to a knee injury, robbing the group of its most experienced and game-tested option. Who stepped up? Sophomores: Colin Lockett and Dylan Denso helped fill the void, along with underrated tight end Gavin Escobar, allowing the San Diego State passing game to keep humming along as one of the Mountain West’s best.
Tags: Adam Muema, Brice Butler, Colin Lockett, Dillon Baxter, Dylan Denso, Gavin Escobar, Pac-12, Rocky Long, Ryan Katz, San Diego State, Walter Kazee
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The Year in Review: California (7-6, 4-5)
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 26, 2012
While college coaches have struggled transitioning to the N.F.L. — take note, Chip Kelly — former N.F.L. defensive assistants, promoted to defensive coordinator on the F.B.S. level, have largely experienced a smooth transition to the college game. Take Todd Grantham, for instance, who has helped lead the Georgia defense back into the upper echelon of the SEC over two seasons with the Bulldogs. Consider the case of Brian Stewart, now of Maryland, who provided the sort of defense that Houston coveted to go along with its high-powered offense. There’s Greg Mattison, who worked miracles with Michigan last fall, his first season in Ann Arbor. And after an up-and-down debut, Monte Kiffin has U.S.C. playing the sort of defense that wins championships.
Tags: California, Clancy Pendergast, Isi Sofele, Jeff Tedford, Keenan Allen, Mychal Kendricks, Zach Maynard
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Round-Robin, Geographic Symmetry, Playoff
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 25, 2012
So, once again, a recap. Anu’s realignment plan plugged the F.B.S. into 15 eight-team leagues. A day later, Andrew created seven super conferences but knocked seven teams out of the F.B.S and into irrelevance — or further irrelevance, for some of those unlucky few. Bob’s plan for 12 conferences was stellar, but lacked a definite playoff plan. Yesterday, Burnt Orange did the impossible: he created an eight-conference F.B.S. that not only included the four soon-to-be F.B.S. additions but also added another quartet of current F.C.S. programs. Today, Matt Roberson kicks things up a notch by, in a way, keeping it simple. But not that simple.
Tags: Conference Expansion
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As Maynard Goes, So Goes Cal (And Tedford)
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 25, 2012
We’ve found the nation’s best brother-to-brother passing combination in college football, even if California’s Zach Maynard and Keenan Allen win by default, and even if they’re half-brothers, not brothers of the more traditional variety. How the pair came to be on the passing and receiving end of Jeff Tedford’s offense is one of those only-in-college-football recruiting stories: Allen was one of the nation’s best prospects, only he wanted to play alongside Maynard, his older brother and then the quarterback at Buffalo. So Tedford rolled the dice, accepting Maynard as a transfer as the price for landing Allen’s signed letter of intent.
Tags: Allan Bridgford, California, Jeff Tedford, Keenan Allen, Pac-12, Zach Maynard
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The Year in Review: Texas (8-5, 4-5)
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 25, 2012
Bill Powers, DeLoss Dodds joint statement: “We want Mack Brown to be The University of Texas football coach for as long as he wants.”
Chuck Carlton
ChuckCarltonDMN
DeLoss Dodds and Texas are going all-in with Mack Brown and company, putting to rest any idea that, say, a certain report from a certain radio station in Topeka held any validity when it came to Brown’s future with the program. In a conversation with The Dallas Morning News’ Chuck Carlton, Dodds said of Brown, “he’ll be here as long as he wants to be.” This after the university decided to add another four years to Brown’s current contract, which now runs through the 2020 season. The contract, Dodds told Carlton, is a “thank you to Mack,” and if anyone deserves thanks for all that Texas football has become it’s Brown — yes, even after winning only eight games in 2011, one year after winning only five games and failing to reach bowl eligibility.
Tags: Big 12, Bryan Harsin, David Ash, DeLoss Dodds, Emmanuel Acho, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jaxon Shipley, Joe Bergeron, Keenan Robinson, Mack Brown, Malcolm Brown, Manny Diaz, Quandre Diggs, Texas
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