Football
Pat Sullivan took the time during his busy schedule to give a few lucky members of the ASF staff a tour of the new state of the art Cooney Family Field House on the campus of Samford University.
Remember, the 2011 Summer Olympic Games will be back in Birmingham June 24-26. We hope everyone can join us again for our Opening Ceremonies Celebration!
Please be sure to check back closer to registration for all sport specific information regarding registration procedures, rules and format, eligibility and hotel information. If you have any specific questions you would like answered or just want to leave any comments or suggestions regarding past or future Summer Olympic Games, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-467-0422 or email us at sports@alagames.com.
Thank you again for all involved and we look forward to seeing you again next summer!
Sunday Quick Hits: Escape and Advance Edition 5 Sep 2010, 7:06 am
A few thoughts and observations from this weekend's first few days. What are yours?
Is LSU a serious contender in the SEC this year? Based on last night's performance alone, I say no. LSU rolled in the 1st Quarter, but that was against a UNC defense that sat almost their entire starting lineup due to NCAA investigations. And -- once again -- LSU showed their paper tiger hallmarks by allowing the Tarheels to storm back at the end, despite missing their top two WRs and top RB. UNC's TJ Yates is a serviceable college QB, but it's hard to forget that he led the 108th rated offense last year. If this depleted UNC squad can rack up 400+ yards against LSU's best defense, then I shudder to think what Alabama is going to do to the Tigers. My early prediction? LSU has a new head coach in 2011.
Michigan has served notice to the Big 10 Conference - they have a new QB and the boy can play! Oh, wait... that was last year, before 4-0 UM crashed back to reality. I don't know what to make of QB Denard Robinson's game yesterday other than to the kid can definitely ball. Season openers in The Big House have been a little dicey lately for Big Blue, but the Wolverines looked salty much of the day against a well-regarded UConn squad. I'm not on the Michigan bandwagon (yet), but RichRod's triple-threat offense looks to be well on its way in Ann Arbor.
For much of the off-season, the Gator Haters have been pounding new Florida QB John Brantley with the nickname "Cantley", as in "can't measure up to Tebow". Brantley's first start as the UF quarterback was... well... memorable. Brantley single-handily made Miami (OH), who won just one game last year, look like Miami (The U). The QB led Urban Meyer's team to just 25 yards of offense through the first three quarters. The final scoreboard would show an unexpectedly close win, but the box score would include eight UF fumbles (almost all of which were snaps or QB exchanges with Brantley) and just 212 yards of total offense. Game balls have to go to the Florida defense and Redhawks mistakes. The Redhawks committed four turnovers of their own or may have knocked off the Gators. I don't know what Meyer is taking for his heart problems, but he better double up on it for what is bound to be a very intese week of practice before South Florida rolls into Gainesville next week.
TCU may not be the #6 team in the country, but I wouldn't want to have to play them. The Frogs played fast in their 30-24 win over #24 Oregon State. Despite losing their #1 rusher last season, TCU rolled up 278 rushing yards against the Beavers, showcasing surprising depth in the backfield. The Frogs ran from nearly every set and doubled up OSU's time-of-possession. QB Andy Dalton had two ridiculous throws that were picked by the Beavers on strong TCU drives, otherwise this game might have been a blowout. The Frogs ran the option with precision and threw the ball deep with effectiveness. Dalton isn't Terrell Pryor, but he is the leader in wins among active college QBs. With their toughest test now behind them, perhaps the biggest challenge for Gary Patterson is keeping the Frogs focused on their second straight BCS appearance.
Note to Oklahoma: Perhaps this trend of playing Utah teams in the season opener is a bad idea. The Utah State Aggies nearly BYU'd the Sooners. But for some gutsy calls by Bob Stoops and some Sooner Magic, this one would have been another opening-day loss. Stoops promised that QB Landry Jones was "night and day" better than last year. I guess I didn't realize how bad Jones was *last year* because the improved Jones still keyed in on his primary receiver every play and went to him - whether he was open, covered, or headed to the mens' room. The defense gave up over 341 yards passing (421 total yards) to Utah State and surrendered eight plays of 20+ yards. OU faces a bigger challenge next week with Heisman-hopeful Christian Ponder and Florida State on the docket. This just in: FSU's offense is better than Utah's State's. Ponder played just two quarters in FSU's win, but had 4 touchdown passes and missed only two completions. FSU must be licking their tomahawk chops, right OU-Ron?
Show of hands: Who thought the days of Ole Miss losing to a FCS opponent were over when Houston Nutt rolled into town? Yeah? Me neither. J-State played with guts and deserved that OT thriller.
I know it was a win over Western Kentucky, but I think Nebraska might have a little something going with new freshman QB Taylor Martinez, a.k.a "T-Magic". T-Magic went 9-of-15 passing for 136 yards and no INTS and showed big speed on seven carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns, including a 46-yard run on the opening drive. It's early in the season, but watch out for the Huskers in the Big 12. If Texas and OU aren't going to play big this year, Nebraska is going to leave the league as defending champs.
Finally, what's going on at Notre Dame? I know it's the first game of the Brian Kelly experience, but the team seemed to be playing all-out for one another. Given Kelly's track record, it shouldn't be surprising, but if BK can harness the talent at UND, watch out. This team won't make the BCS in 2010, but look for the Irish to make a return in 2011 under Kelly.
That's it for me, boys. Whatchya got?
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You ask, college football coaches answer! 29 Aug 2010, 10:15 am
In what may be the last absolute fluff piece of the off-season (hey... I said of the OFF-season!), the Seattle Times completed a survey of 29 FBS coaches to find out what they *really* think.
A few highlights:
Most Admired Coach:
Mack Brown of Texas, followed by Ohio State's Jim Tressel, and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Penn State's Joe Paterno. (What?! No Urban Meyer!)
Least Admired Coach:
Although most politely deferred on this question, USC's Lane Kiffin got the most mentions, followed by Brian Kelly of Notre Dame, Nick Saban of Alabama and Mike Locksley of New Mexico. (What?! No Urban Meyer!)
What does the NCAA need to change?
Playoffs got a few mentions, but I was more than a little surprised to see some others, like adding a fifth year of eligibility, adding more spring practice times, allowing early signing day, and permitting pre-season games.
And finally, the most important question: Where's a good place to eat?
Metropolitan Grill, Seattle
City Hall Steakhouse, Scottsdale, Ariz. (two votes)
Del Frisco's in Dallas (two votes)
Dreamland Barbecue in Tuscaloosa, Ala
The Crab Trap in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami
Handsome Harry's in Naples, Fla.
Chicken and More in Spokane
The Precinct in Cincinnati
Pascal's Manale in New Orleans.
Wow. Two of my favorites and even a hometown spot make the list!
OK... now it's your turn... most admired coach, least admired coach, NCAA change, and out-of-town restaurant. GO!
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2010-2011 College Football Bowl Game Television Schedule 28 Aug 2010, 8:15 pm
Despite what you may hear from skeptics, there's no better season in all of sports than college football bowl season and the complete television schedule for the bowl games is right here on Fanblogs, brought to you by BangTheBook.com.
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The 2010 college football season will be capped by exciting college football bowl games, including the 2010 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the 2010 Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, the 2010 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, the 2010 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, AZ.
The best college football teams from the major conferences, including the Big10 conference, Big 12 conference, Pac 10 conference, ACC conference, Big East conference, SEC conference, and Mountain West conference will face off in college football bowl games throughout December and into January. If you're looking for updated matchups, odds, insights, betting lines and online wagering for the college football bowl games, please be sure to try BangTheBook.com.
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A Prelude to the National Championship Game? 28 Aug 2010, 4:16 pm
The boys from Bristol have given us another great ESPN College Football Gameday commercial. The latest video features Texas Longhorns coach Mack Brown squaring off against Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban... in Jenga.
Good stuff.
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Michigan to Play Alabama at JerryWorld in 2012? 8 Aug 2010, 3:41 pm
Brian at MGoBlog is claiming that a neutral-site game contract between Michigan and Alabama to be played at Jerry Jones' new Cowboy Stadium will be signed tomorrow, according to an undisclosed source. Some of the stipulations leaked thus far say that Michigan will be the home team, which counts for a little more money, and that this will likely be a one-and-done, with no home and home series forthcoming. Oh, and it also helps that Jerry Jones has allegedly "overpaid" to make all this happen.
With Notre Dame inked to play Arizona State in Cowboys Stadium in mid-season the following year, there is little doubt that Jones is going after a chunk of the lucrative CFB market. Although the Cotton Bowl Classic moves it's game to Cowboys Stadium starting this season (2011), the Red River Shoot-Out between Oklahoma and Texas will continue to be played at Fair Park in Dallas at least through 2015. Jones had originally wanted that game to be played at his house, but had to settle for the Cotton Bowl in the interim. With the move, the Cotton Bowl has applied to be part of the BCS series of bowl games. Hey, you can't blame Jones for trying. You gotta amortize that $1.15B behemoth somehow.
I have little doubt that Nick Saban and company would jump at the chance, as Alabama has recently become the stereotypical 'play em anytime, anywhere' team in many of these neutral-site contests, playing in the first two Chick Fil A Kickoff games in 2008 and 2009. I also have little doubt that neither fanbase would have any qualms about traveling hundreds of miles for a non-bowl game. The only thing in doubt is whether Rich Rodriguez will still be around to make the trip.
I've said many times that these neutral-site games are the future of high quality out-of-conference (OCC) scheduling in a non-bowl setting. With schedules made out years in advance, sometimes the flexibility of a one-and-done game is perfect to take advantage of an opening to schedule high profile teams at a moment's notice. The escalation of guaranteed payouts especially helps to make the pain of eschewing an early home game (almost always against a cupcake) a lot less painful.
With JerryWorld now clearly a player in the Kickoff Game market, they can challenge The Georgia Dome and the Chick Fil A Kickoff Game as a location more centrally suited to draw teams from the west coast and midwest. While some schools might not cherish an early September game in the deep south, both stadiums are domed, (or a convertible, in the case of Cowboys Stadium) which makes the hot weather a non-factor. Here's to looking to more of these match-ups!
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2010 USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll 8 Aug 2010, 3:30 pm
2010 2010 USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll
Rank Team (first-place votes) 2009 record Points Final 2009 rank
1. Alabama (55) 14-0 1,469 1
2. Ohio State (4) 11-2 1,392 5
3. Florida 13-1 1,245 3
4. Texas 13-1 1,240 2
5. Boise State 14-0 1,215 4
6. Virginia Tech 10-3 1,052 10
7. TCU 12-1 1,051 6
8. Oklahoma 8-5 1,035 NR
9. Nebraska 10-4 1,001 14
10. Iowa 11-2 952 7
11. Oregon 10-3 940 11
12. Wisconsin 10-3 778 16
13. Miami (Fla.) 9-4 728 19
14. Penn State 11-2 508 8
15. Pittsburgh 10-3 492 15
16. LSU 9-4 476 17
17. Georgia Tech 11-3 455 13
18. North Carolina 8-5 445 NR
19. Arkansas 8-5 438 NR
20. Florida State 7-6 374 NR
21. Georgia 8-5 312 NR
22. Oregon State 8-5 263 NR
23. Auburn 8-5 260 NR
24t. Utah 10-3 169 18
24t. West Virginia 9-4 169 22
Others receiving votes
Cincinnati (12-1) 135; Houston (10-4) 76; Brigham Young (11-2) 66; Arizona (8-5) 65; Mississippi (9-4) 48; Clemson (9-5) 44; Stanford (8-5) 41; Connecticut (8-5) 40; Notre Dame (6-6) 38; South Carolina (7-6) 38; Washington (5-7) 26; Missouri (8-5) 23; Navy (10-4) 12; Oklahoma State (9-4) 11; Boston College (8-5) 10; Michigan State (6-7) 10; Arizona State (4-8) 6; California (8-5) 6; Texas Tech (9-4) 5; South Florida (8-5) 4; Texas A&M (6-7) 3; Northwestern (8-5) 2; Temple (9-4) 2; Central Michigan (12-2) 1; Mississippi State (5-7) 1; Nevada (8-5) 1; Northern Illinois (7-6) 1; Southern Methodist (8-5) 1.
Alabama defends their national championship from last year by starting #1 this year, exactly like Florida did last year. The SEC has six teams in the preseason poll, the ACC has five, the Big 10 has four (not counting Nebraska yet) , the Big 12 has three, the Pac 10 two, and the Big East two.
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Has Big Time College Football Outgrown the NCAA? 27 Jul 2010, 12:32 am
An interesting column by David Moulton last week in the wake of the latest player-agent investigation that openly poses a very provocative question: is it time for FBS college football to leave the NCAA behind? As shocking as that statement is, it's actually possible. Affiliation with the NCAA is voluntary, and teams or conferences or even whole sports can decide to leave at any time. Naturally, for the first two, serious consequences may result, but Moulton suggests that the heavy hitters in CFB seriously consider it for one prime reason: reevaluating the rules for a sport in which the stakes have risen so high that they even rival those of fortune 500 companies. And protecting those stakes!
We probably wouldn't be quite having this conversation except for that breaking agent scandal that wouldn't stop last week, but now it's issue #1, right at the forefront. Or is it merely a symptom to the larger problem at hand? How do you govern and police this money-making mess we call FBS? SEC commissioner Mike Slive didn't have word one about the agent issue in the draft of his Media Days speech last Monday, but he quite thoroughly addressed the issue in his opening remarks by Wednesday. I think that Alabama coach Nick Saban had something to say about it, too.
This is latest scandal proof positive that big-time college football has simply outgrown the Byzantine rules and constraints of the NCAA and is virtually ungovernable without a major, more liberal overhaul? While no one openly advocates a wild, wild west-type scenario, the idea has been presented that FBS should branch out with it's own form of governance, with rules more applicable to it specifically, and perhaps it's time that we did look at it in a new light. With many of the penalties for both serious and minor infractions considered sometimes Draconian in effect, perhaps a more Libertarian approach would be worth noting. Said Moulton:
"In its zealous attempt to clean up college football, (the NCAA) is beginning to kill mosquitoes with sledgehammers. And over time the NCAA is more likely to kill mosquitoes with bombs than revert back to using spray."
The top programs in the country are valued at tens of millions of dollars, some exceeding $100M. Additionally, tens of millions in annual revenue are at stake. Do you really want teenage kids utilizing bad judgment to jeopardize any of that? Talk about throwing a cog into the wheel. In some cases, such behavior is virtually institutionalized, or at least condoned, but many more are isolated, which still can lead to some serious penalties. Should CFB takes the reigns now before the whole team is driven over a cliff? Maybe Slive has the right idea about bringing some of the shadier aspects of the whole business out into the light:
"If we had a student who was a great violinist and wanted to join a symphony and become a professional musician, there are all kinds of things the school could do to help make that happen", said Slive. "I think the NCAA rules on this issue are as much as part of the problem as they are the solution. Instead of shutting things down for these student-athletes, we need to open up the system and give them greater access to it. We need to take the mystery out of it."
Mr. College Football, Tony Barnhart, goes Slive one step further, with a full comparison to the shenanigans today with the prohibition era of yesteryear. The fact that agent contact is so verbotten is analogous to the black market for booze in the 1930s. Players are attracted to the danger of it. But there is an even deeper divide. Says Barnhart:
"There is another facet to this issue that people don’t like to talk about. At the end of the day, the athletes really don’t trust the adults who are running the system. The adults say they working with the best interests of the athletes involved. I think most athletes believe that the adults are looking out for their employer first. So when somebody comes along and points out that you, young football star, are putting money in all of these people’s pockets and you aren’t getting squat, it becomes a pretty compelling argument. I’m not sure I could resist it at the age of 19 or 20."
I believe that the time when major college football calls buzz-kill on the NCAA and seeks a new organizing body is drawing near. The stakes are too high and the chances for EPIC FAIL from just one little player so great that the meltdown-risks must be remade to be in line with the-- admittingly high--rewards. If so, a major overhaul in the many areas will certainly happen. If I were anointed king of CFB, here's how my list might shake out:
1) Recruiting: Probably the most likely candidate for a wild west scenario. Virtually unlimited contact after a point certain, say starting in the junior season of high school. But with unlimited contact comes higher potential for abuse. Players could still only commit after their senior season, but I'd say allow them to commit early and often--national signing day becomes a deadline, not a starting gun. Contracts are contracts, though. Once you commit, you're in. Some recruits might want to change their telephone numbers. Nick Saban real happy.
2) Transfer, Redshirt, Medical: Here's the deal. You get four seasons of eligibility to be completed in five years. They don't have to be in a row, and they don't even have to be with the same team. For transfers, if you don't transfer to the next level down (FCS), you lose a year out of that five. Yea, we'll consider hardship medical cases still, but we'll open up the redshirt season to be used at anytime. Why not? They're your unused minutes. Call who you want.
3) Image Rights, Passive Endorsements, Medical or Educational Pension: This is probably where most fans think players get the shaft--as their images are used to advertise and promote the schools and make millions of dollars. As amateurs, receiving outright endorsement commissions could not be considered. Pro players have that right, but they don't have the right to represent their respective team without authorization and just compensation for the organization. I don't think I would disallow any non-commercial endorsements from players, but that's a mighty slippery slope. Regardless of that debate, I would think that a pension be funded to help players who are medically stricken during their playing careers or to help with vocational retraining or educational benefits for players who don't go on to the NFL.
4) Exposure to agents for career advice: As addressed significantly above. Certainly not all players will have a serious chance to play in the NFL, but perhaps this option could be exercised on a volunteer basis; i.e. for all players requesting it. Team members go in groups, not as individuals, and meet with as large a panel of representatives as possible, starting perhaps as early as after their freshman season. For players wanting to openly declare an end to their eligibility, perhaps an 'Agent Days' event at the school or for the conference where potential draftees can go and start to narrow such decisions down. It is time to bring this sometimes sleazy underworld of the game into the light.
5) Stipends for players: Oh, the big one. You gotta pay them, but you can't call it that. A stipend will do. Yea, they already get a free ride worth tens of thousands of dollars a year, but basically they are de facto apprentice-like employees. Will paying them something remove the spectre of improper benefits still being doled out? Of course not, but having something coming in could go a long way to minimize hard-pressed athletes from considering such a temptation. What's the number? Twenty five years ago, my play cash while I was in school was $100-200 a month. Some of you younger folks tell me what an appropriate number these days might be.
So is that the complete list? No way. There would still be thousands of tiny details to work out, and then a few seasons under the belt to adjust and refine and see where the loop holes are. What are your ideas? Are we ready for such wholesale change in this sport, or is the staus quo okay for the time being? With such a secession, would the gap between the haves and have-nots in CFB become even larger? There are always unintended consequences for everything--especially inaction. But then, there's always been a lot of that in our sport.
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SEC Revenue Disbursement: Status Quo or a Texas-Sized Hold-Up? 22 Jun 2010, 1:32 am
Those in the SEC are in the football beniss, and cousin, beniss is booming! With the recently concluded SEC spring meetings, it looks like the total take of the conference in revenue was $209 million last year and pay czar Mike Slive got to dole out $17.42M per school. As you may know, the SEC distributes it's revenue equally per school, which has served it well over the years. The status quo is good, but the recent shakeup in the Big 12 may have repercussions even in stable conferences like the SEC. In FBS, where the move is to close the gap between the haves (BCS teams) and the have nots (mid-majors), a new brand of social injustice for CFB has apparently reared it's head across the land--in the concept of the heavy-hitters of a conference now taking more of the lion's share of the TV money. Oh, if we only had some form of ACORN for college football to right these wrongs.
We all know now that some think Austin seemingly analgous to the Chicken Ranch in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and used fully it's weight to secure an unprecedented share of the upcoming new Big 12 agreement. Although details have yet to be given, many think that the Longhorns pulled out their Peacemakers and held up and robbed the rest of the existing members. But maybe that's what you get when a conference is too top heavy with too few stars. Under the old revenue -sharing agreement, half the money was split equally among the member schools, but the other half was given out based on TV appearances. Seems pretty fair on the surface. There has to be some incentive for the higher-achievers to earn more while protecting the rest of the conference herd. Kind of like college football capitalism--with some social security, disability and a good dental plan thrown in.
So is it pure socialism if the SEC splits their pie in twelve equal shares regardless of merit or achievement? Relax, it's not an apt comparison. Schools join conferences because they have common interests. They're neighbors, and they look out for each other even while they compete. Or at least that's how they used to do it when conferences were still regional entities. But now that the stakes are getting higher, could a change be in the foreseeable future? Well, maybe, but probably not in the next 14 years, which will be when the SEC's $2.25B TV contract with ESPN and the almost $1B contract with CBS run out. But in an age where a contract means little, don't think that the SEC might not have attempted to renegotiate if the conference expanded or contracted. Yes, I said contracted.
If the SEC would have added a couple of teams, especially one from Texas, it's natural to think that TV contracts would suddenly be worth a whole lot more, and any mega contract like those signed by the conference will have provisions for dealing with such contingencies. But what if the conference actually shrunk, and not only that, but shrunk the deadwood from it's roster? Not only would the resulting product be more valuable to the networks--without the affirmative action scheduling of the light-weights, but there would be far fewer mouths to feed. Imagine the $209 earned split among 10 teams, just like the Big 12 just experienced. You'd be looking at a 20% increase for the remaining SEC teams. Cousin, that's BOOM'in!
But who's going to start cutting teams from the SEC? Mike Bianchi over at the Orlando Sentinel recently proposed that, saying that the conference would be better off dropping both Mississippi teams from the conference (but leaving Vanderbilt for GPA-boosting purposes). He argues that no one out side of the Magnolia state would care and it sure wouldn't diminish any TV revenues. Silly Yankees. They move down and live here for years but they'll never understand the culture of the south. We just don't treat our kin that way. And besides, he's obviously never heard the phrase thank God for Mississippi. They may red-shirt Miss Americas, but someone has to be 50th place in just about everything else.
But he does make a good underlying point--that the conference has it's top crust and it's lower half, and save for the occasional superlative season, little changes for the lower tier teams. The top six--Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, LSU and Auburn--get most of the exposure and glamor, especially in the BCS era. So what good are the lower half, except for ballast? More over, is there a better disbursement system than the current one to reward the higher achieving teams? Certainly a pay plan like the old Big 12 agreement sounds plausible, where half the money gets split evenly among the members and the other half by merit. Could the top half force the bottom half into such a scenario when TV contracts are renegotiated? Would resentment be rampant from just such a forced agreement? What could the bottom six do in protest, secede to form another conference? Certainly wouldn't be unheard of from SEC types. That's kind of been our thing, historically.
Or what about a future farther-fetched scenario: one of two top teams, say Alabama and Florida, enjoy so much success that they become the two-horse team that drive the rest of the league stagecoach. Sounds improbable, given the parity in the conference, but hear me out. Could they one day threaten defection much in the way Texas seemingly did to hold hostage the rest of the conference, to everyone's eventual detriment? I certainly hope not. I don't think that's ingrained in our SEC culture, but after seeing how Texas A&M acted in defiance to Texas's price shopping, even the oldest of rivals may decide to go their separate ways one day, and I don't think that the game could sustain such a blow if many others followed suit.
The money has gotten so large and the power bases have gotten so concentrated that revenue sharing might be the biggest threat to our beloved sport in the next decade or so. Not a playoff. Not conference expansions or defections. Not the Golden-Domed stepchild Notre Dame. But pure old-fashioned greed--of money and power. The last two decades have seen college football transition from past time to being a major industry unto itself. I hope that somehow as our sport continues to grow that we don't forget the simple love of the game that got us this far in the first place.
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Gators commission Tebow statue to be displayed at Swamp 18 Jun 2010, 7:49 am
Just six months after he last donned the cape, the Florida Gators are set to cast Heisman winner Tim Tebow in bronze.
The statue, which will be placed in a new statue garden on the western side of The Swamp, will be a 120% scale of Tebow running the ball. As best we know, there won't be a bible verse on his eye black, although that detail seems subject to some discussion.
Tebow will be joined by two other Gator legends: Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel, who will be cast dropping back to pass.
"It's a chance to honor and celebrate our tradition,'' Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said. "Anytime you have that type of tradition, we want to make sure to honor it. It's something people are aware of them, obviously, but they can come and take pictures of them. And that's how you build tradition. You go to a lot of schools that have several Heisman Trophy winners and they have displays, they have statutes what have you. It's just building tradition and honoring three very special people.''
The project, funded by private booster donations, will cost $550,000.
I don't deny that Tebow is and will be a legend at UF, but is it too soon to hoist a statue in his honor? I mean, the guy's 22 years old. As Dave George of the Palm Beach Post points out, poor Red Grange had to wait 85 years for a statue at Illinois.
What do ya think? Too soon?
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Texas staying in Big 12, conference to survive as 10-team league 14 Jun 2010, 7:33 pm
It's been a whirlwind day for Texas fans. This morning the Horns were headed to the Pac10, but by late this afternoon, UT declined an offer to join the Pac10 and will instead stay in the Big12.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott confirmed that the University of Texas has declined an invitation to join the conference.
In a brief phone conversation, Scott said: "We've been informed by University of Texas president Bill Powers that Texas will stay with the Big 12. We have not received definitive details about this decision."
While a few details still need to be worked out, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has a deal in place to keep the 10 remaining teams in the conference.
Under the new structure, the ten teams will play in a round-robin format, ensuring that each team plays one another in the regular season. The annual championship game that was a hallmark of the founding of the Big 12 will not be played under the new structure.
To boost revenues, the Big 12 will sign a new television agreement (rumored to be with Fox Sports) in 2011 estimated to be worth $14-$17 million per year to most conference teams; however, the conference will continue to split revenues based on appearances, making the deal worth as much as $20 million per year for teams like Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M who's games are broadcast more often.
Schools will also have the discretion to launch their own television networks, an arrangement which could be worth an addition $3-$5 million per year to Texas.
The new league agreement will also include a very, very substantial penalty for any school that splits from the conference.
UPDATE
Texas A&M and Oklahoma have confirmed that they will stay in the Big 12.
The Pac10 has also released an official statement:
“University of Texas President Bill Powers has informed us that the 10 remaining schools in the Big 12 Conference intend to stay together. We are excited about the future of the Pac-10 Conference and we will continue to evaluate future expansion opportunities under the guidelines previously set forth by our Presidents and Chancellors.”
Details on this breaking story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Deal in works to save Big 12 14 Jun 2010, 1:28 pm
If you've been following the Fanblogs Twitter Account (@fanblogs) this morning, you already be aware that negotiations are ongoing at this moment to salvage the Big 12 Conference.
According to multiple sources, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe has been working behind the scenes to line prospective television deals, if the remaining Big 12 schools (sans Colorado and Nebraska) would remain in the conference.
As first reported on Rivals sister-site Orangebloods.com, Beebe has proposed the following for the ten remaining Big 12 teams:
- A new television contract in 2011 comparable to the SEC's deal, bumping revenues from the $7-$10 million per year to $14-$17 million per year. The numbers would be higher - perhaps as much as $20 million per year - for teams that appear on television more frequently, such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M.
- Each of the ten remaining schools would receive $2 million from the buyout fees being paid to the Big12 by Colorado and Nebraska, with the conference keeping nothing
- The Big 12 would allow individual schools to launch their own television networks, such as the Longhorn Network that Texas has been considering, without sharing revenues with the member schools or the conference
- The Big 12 would introduce a round-robin format, with each school playing one another every year.
- The remaining schools could elect to petition the NCAA to permit a conference championship game with only 10 teams; however, it's widely speculated that - since the Big 12 coaches have never been in favor of a championship game - the conference may forgo the game.
And it appears that "The Beebe Plan" is gaining momentum. While Texas A&M was said to be looking to secure a spot in the SEC, all ten of the remaining Big 12 schools sat down for a conference call this afternoon to review the arrangement. According to Orangebloods, the Texas Longhorns are leading the charge to keep the conference intact.
As they say... stay tuned!
UPDATE
IT'S OFFICIAL: Texas staying in Big12. Press conference @ 11a tomorrow. Pac10 reports UT has declined invite. Longhorns reps have confirmed that Big12 will stay together as 10 teams. © www.fanblogs.com
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Fanblogs Open Thread: Realignment-ageddon Edition 10 Jun 2010, 12:23 pm
With today's official announcement of Colorado to the Pac10 conference and the expected announcement of Nebraska to the Big10 conference (which officially makes it a Big12, don't you think?)... it would seem that the summer realignment-ageddon has officially begun.
- Colorado is officially joining the Pac10. It's unclear as to whether the Pac10 intends to hold at 11 teams, but we should expect the Pac10 to seek to add at least one additional member. For years the argument against expansion centered around the round-robin schedule format and - with 11 schools - that format is officially out the window for college football. Adding one more school would give the conference the option to conduct a CFB championship game in some of the largest television markets in the country. Does the Pac10 stop at 12 (Texas??) or expand further with Big12/MWC/WAC teams???
- The Big10 will have 12 teams with the addition of Nebraska. Will they stand pat at 12 teams or expand to 16 as had been rumored?
- The SEC has said that they will not sit idly by if the Big10 expands. Sports Illustrated has confirmed that the SEC has held discussions with Texas A&M. Is that prelude to further SEC expansion? Who, in addition to the Aggies, are on the SEC radar?
- The ACC & Big East seem to be awfully quiet. Are they targets or could a merger be on the table for the two conferences?
- The MWC will not offer membership to Boise State at this time, setting themselves up to be the home of any Big12 refugees. Is the MWC destined to become a BCS conference by default?
DISCUSS!!!
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SEC expansion list has six teams on it 22 May 2010, 6:48 am
As has been mentioned on several occassions by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, the SEC will not stand pat if the Big 10 Conference elects to expand beyond twelve member schools.
"I'm aware of all the interest and all that's being written, but given the success that we have experienced over the past decade, we're comfortable with the position in which we find ourselves," Slive told FLORIDA TODAY on Wednesday. "Now having said that, if there's going to be a significant shift in the conference paradigm, the SEC will be strategic and thoughtful in order to maintain its position as one of the nation's premier conferences. We are watching carefully what's going on and keeping our antenna up and our eyes open as to what's going on around us."
The Wiz, who's antenna is always up, caught this piece that says Slive is doing more than just watching. It's reported that the SEC has held talks with executives from CBS Sports and outlined the conferences plan to target six teams for conference expansion.
According to Hyams, Slive told CBS executives in a recent meeting that the league’s goal would be to keep pace with a 16-team Big Ten by pursuing Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State and Clemson.If Texas and Texas A&M cannot be lured in, then Miami and Georgia Tech will join Florida State and Clemson on the SEC’s wish list.
The post is based upon the reporting of Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM 990 in Knoxville. Hyams, who's covered SEC sports for more than 30 years, cites anonymous sources close to CBS. Given Hyams's stature in the broadcast community, I would tend to agree that this story has some legs to it.
In looking at the "plan", the discussion around Texas and Texas A&M wouldn't be shocking to anyone. Texas represents the premiere "get" in the country and the 'Horns won't be permitted to go anywhere by the Texas Legislature unless their take perennial rival with them. The Aggies may be the little brother in the mix, but they're the lynchpin to the entire deal.
The move to bring in Texas would cement the SEC's footprint into two of the country's top ten television markets: Dallas (#5) and Houston (#10). It's unclear to me if the conference would be able to go back to ESPN and ask for more television money right away, but the long-term benefit of adding the two schools would be substantial.
As far as adding Florida State and Clemson, I get the sense that the SEC is merely the SEC keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak. The Noles and Tigers add a little more color to the conference, but don't necessarily represent a blockbuster addition in terms of potential revenue. If anything, it would be a move against the ACC to limit the conferences marketability and - in turn - keep more money on the table for the SEC. Ditto for what appears to be the backup plan of pursuing Georgia Tech and Miami.
On the flip side of the equation, I'm not convinced that the SEC would be able to land all four ACC teams, especially given the extra $7.5 million per year that the teams will now be earning from the new ACC television agreement. The ACC teams still earn less than the SEC teams, but it's no longer such a wide margin.
For it's part, the SEC is denying that any meeting has taken place; however, Hyams is standing by his reporting.
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NCAA to release findings in USC case this week? 10 May 2010, 7:15 pm
Yahoo Sports reporter Dan Wetzel tweeted that the NCAA is expected to release its findings this week on a four-year investigation of improper benefits to USC players.
For those of you who may have forgotten, the allegations center largely on payouts given to the family of Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. According to Yahoo Sports investigations in 2006 and 2007, the Bush family received more than $280,000 in cash, gifts, and free rent while Bush was a student at USC from agents hoping to represent Bush. Bush himself is also alleged to have received cash during his playing days with the Trojans.
For more background on the investigations, click here to search the Fanblogs archives.
While the NCAA has full discretion in any penalties, speculation has already begun on potential sanctions.
Hometown reporter Chis Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times predicts USC will receive a five-year bowl probation, a bowl ban, and loss of 21 scholarships, a penalty reminiscent of those levied on Alabama resulting from the Albert Means investigation.
Of course, there real question may be in how the investigation impacts Bush's eligibility at USC. If Bush is ruled to have been ineligible under NCAA by-law 12.3.1.2, USC could be required to forfiet games in which Bush played, including the Trojans 2004 National Championship season.
Whatever the outcome, we should hear the initial findings by Friday.
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NCAA kills the "Tiger Prowl", but recruiting arms-race not over 2 May 2010, 8:34 am
In yet another offseason move to control the recruiting arms-race, the NCAA has banned the "Tiger Prowl", as utilized very effectively by Auburn.
Under the new rules, teams are only allowed to have two coaches visit a prospect's school on a recruiting day.
Auburn gained national recruiting buzz when the "Tiger Prowl" first rolled onto the scene. Instead of sending just a couple of coaches to schools, seven members of the Tigers coaching staff all jumped into a stretch limo and made the rounds from school-to-school.
The high-roller approach didn't go over with other coaches or the NCAA, who specifically mentioned the visits in the statement accompanying the rule.
Although during an evaluation period no in-person, off-campus recruiting contact may occur with a prospective student-athlete, it has become commonplace for institutions to send numerous coaches to a prospective student-athlete’s educational institution. Oftentimes arriving in limousines and extravagant buses, these multiple coaches are appearing at the high schools of the prospective student-athletes just as much to be seen as to actually conduct an evaluation. Many institutions are unnecessarily expending resources in order to have multiple assistant coaches attend these evaluations as a result of the perceived recruiting benefit. By permitting only two football coaches per institution to visit a prospective student-athlete’s school on any given evaluation day, it would preclude institutions from sending a large number of assistant coaches to a school just for perception purposes.
(emphasis added)
Knowing the rule has been coming, at least two schools - Auburn and Georgia - have been using the Prowl in the last few weeks to maximize attention before the NCAA could put a stop to it.
I think this should be taking as a compliment to the Auburn Tigers. They did it and it worked. Auburn finished with the Rivals #4 recruiting class, besting SEC rivals Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia and 10 other conference foes.
And since no good deed goes unpunished, the Tiger Prowl concept is banned, just as Urban Meyer's texting thumbs were summarily silenced by the NCAA.
It's hard to predict what the next big thing will be in the recruiting arms race, but you can pretty much count on the SEC to dream it up. Les Miles in a jetpack? The Kentucky coaches in a YouTube lipdub? The Vandy "V" being shown like Batman's bat-signal high over Atlanta?
Don't laugh - it could happen.
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