The Official 2013 - 2014 College Football Thread

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Okay, so the Stupor Bowl is over and who won? The Peacocks? The Raccoons? The Hedgehogs?

Who cares? These guys couldn't even keep the lights on for the whole game!

So let's get back to what's really important -- college football! And what better time to have our annal kick off (get it?) than on National Signing Day?

For this Nebraska fan, only one guy matters: Johnny Stanton. To see the long version of why, check out this article. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...or-cornhuskers

The short story is we've only got one more year of Taylor Martinez and depening on one's point of view that's either a good thing or a badthing. One thing there's no argument about is that getting a 6'2", 225 lbs. quarterback with HS stats that'll wow just about anyone and who's ready to step into Martinez' shoes is a pretty good thing.

Another thing that's for sure is that this is going to be one heckuva interesting season. Can Notre Dame put together another seson like they had last year...especially when so many of their wins could have gone either way? Is Penn State going to fight their way back? And just who is this Urban Meyer guy and why am I supposed to be worried about him?

Seriously, I think it's going to be a great season, filled with drama, intrigue and hopefully no more players having texting hook-ups with girlfriends who turn out to be guy-fans : http://www.eurweb.com/2013/02/mantis...love-with-him/

Let the madness begin!!!

[Zodach]

OSU is bringing in another elite class thanks to Urban Meyer and co. The future looks bright for the Buckeyes if most of these guys meet expectations on the field. I think they will dominate the Big Ten again just like when Tressel was here.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Obviously I was joking.

"Dominate the Big 10"? These guys are going to dominate all of college football! Imo, Urban Meyer is arguably -- and for my money we can lose the word "arguably" -- the greatest coach and recruiter (look what happened today) in the history of college football. That's coming, by the way, from a guy who thinks Tom Osborne walked on water.

[Zodach]

Meyer still needs one more championship to catch up to Saban and Osborne and Saban probably isn't done yet. That being said, I'm glad there will be a 4 team playoff in the future because it makes it more likely that an OSU-Alabama matchup could happen in that format. It would be great to see.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Well now that you mentioned the 'P' word, I'll officially go on record with my opinion that while a four-team playoff is a start, it's a long way from the true playoff season that I believe college football fans want and deserve.

I know I've put forth this opinion before but I am still emphatically in favor of the winnning teams in each conference all gaining admittance to the playoff season and I think tha would be a big part of the excitement. Yes, I understand there are some conferences that are weak compared to others, but you can never tell what will happen during a playoff season. As I've said in the past, I'm not a big college basketball fan, but I enjoy March Madness for that same reason -- there's always a chance a Cinderella team can go all the way and shock the nation. And if a team's won their conference then why shouldn't they have that shot?

I also understand the resistance because of the current bowl structure. But honestly, wouldn't we prefer there to be a complete shake-up in which we could see undefeated or one-loss teams playing against each other rather than some lame 7 and 6 teams squaring off in the Famous Idaho Potato Ho-hum Bowl? The lead-up would be so exciting with survivors playing against each other in the top bowls. Better for the teams, better for the fans and, ultimately, better for the bowls themselves because even low level bowls would have distinguished winning teams playing each other. In the end, imo, we've have a true national championship game...and, of course, it wouldn't hurt to extend our pathetically short college football season by a month.

Really, why is it that very other sport -- hockey, baseball (pro and college), basketball -- all have an entire exciting playoff season and we've got nothing except pitiful match-ups in moronically named so-called bowls and a long wait until the final one-day event?

Meyer still needs one more championship to catch up to Saban and Osborne and Saban probably isn't done yet. That being said, I'm glad there will be a 4 team playoff in the future because it makes it more likely that an OSU-Alabama matchup could happen in that format. It would be great to see.

[Wundar_Grayskull]

I really don't follow college football to much. I am more of a wreslting fan, so on that note, Steve Borden, Jr. The son of the wrestler Sting has signed on with the UK Wild Cats. All I got to say is "It's Show Time Folks!" Get ready for Sting Jr.

[ksensor]

It sounds like the people in charge of the Big Ten are sobering up and moving the conference to divisions based on geography (well, time zones at least). One of the schools in the EST will need to shift to the Central division for balance, but otherwise it works well. My money is on MSU joining the Central. Their state borders on the CST, they have a competitive football team, and they can still be Michigan's annual cross-division rivalry game (OSU won't need it, since they'll be in the same division).

Eastern
Maryland
Rutgers
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State*
Indiana*
Purdue*

Central
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois

*School in state bordering CST, in the running to join Central division

Thanks for starting the new college football thread, Olesker!

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

As long as Nebraska plays in states that have decent beef, corn and pretty Irish girls they'll be happy.

[QUOTE=ksensor;3209415]It sounds like the people in charge of the Big Ten are sobering up and moving the conference to divisions based on geography (well, time zones at least). One of the schools in the EST will need to shift to the Central division for balance, but otherwise it works well. My money is on MSU joining the Central. Their state borders on the CST, they have a competitive football team, and they can still be Michigan's annual cross-division rivalry game (OSU won't need it, since they'll be in the same division).

Eastern
Maryland
Rutgers
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State*
Indiana*
Purdue*

Central
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois

*School in state bordering CST, in the running to join Central division

Thanks for starting the new college football thread, Olesker![/QUOTE]

[ksensor]

As long as Nebraska plays in states that have decent beef, corn and pretty Irish girls they'll be happy.

Iowa is stuffed to the borders with beef, corn and farmers' daughters - some of whom are Irish. So you should be good there

"The Midwest farmers' daughters really make you feel alright..." - The Beach Boys

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Iowa is stuffed to the borders with beef, corn and farmers' daughters - some of whom are Irish. So you should be good there

"The Midwest farmers' daughters really make you feel alright..." - The Beach Boys

Sounds great, and being married to an Omaha gal, I definitely get your quote. But be advised that there's a large group of Nebraskans that question why other states even bother with raising cattle.

[midor]

Thanks for pointing my here Olesker.

is that the proposed line up? I don't like it. I knew of rumblings of realignment but I hadn't read anything.

I have sean that the league will go to either 9 or 10 games.

It sounds like the people in charge of the Big Ten are sobering up and moving the conference to divisions based on geography (well, time zones at least). One of the schools in the EST will need to shift to the Central division for balance, but otherwise it works well. My money is on MSU joining the Central. Their state borders on the CST, they have a competitive football team, and they can still be Michigan's annual cross-division rivalry game (OSU won't need it, since they'll be in the same division).

Eastern
Maryland
Rutgers
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State*
Indiana*
Purdue*

Central
Nebraska
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Illinois

*School in state bordering CST, in the running to join Central division

Thanks for starting the new college football thread, Olesker!

[ksensor]

is that the proposed line up? I don't like it. I knew of rumblings of realignment but I hadn't read anything.

I have sean that the league will go to either 9 or 10 games.

Yeah, that was the line-up that ESPN's Big Ten blogger said they were looking at. I think there are 3 things that are factoring into the new alignment.
1) Minimizing travel to save money - important since doormat FBS teams get paid more than FCS teams do to play BCS schools
2) Splitting divisions by geography makes it easier to keep track of teams - East/West is much better than the arbitrary Legends/Leaders
3) Getting Michigan and Ohio State in the same division, to avoid them possibly playing in the last week & then in the title game

[midor]

I've been following the big 10's rumors of expansion. Hey! I find it interesting.

The names have remained the same. Georgia Tech, Virgina & North Carolina. Now it appears that a leading canidate is now North Carolina with a Maryland site reporting that NC has an offer on their table.

But now Ohio St's AD is putting the ka-bosh on all that.


Oh and the Iowa Hawkeyes may have a spring practice at a Des Moines (capital city ya'll) area high school to drum up support and interest.

[ksensor]

According to an internal document, the former Big East will be re-named by the May 2nd NCAA board of directors meeting. There have been rumors that the new league may be called the "America 12" conference, but that hasn't been confirmed.

Interestingly, the new Big East is employing Dan Beebe as a consultant. Dan Beebe was the Big 12 commissioner from 2003-2011, when he was fired as part of the deal to keep Oklahoma from leaving the Big 12. Good times.



In related news, East Carolina will be joining the former Big East in all sports next season. Tulsa is also expected to join, starting in 2015.

2013 Football Conference
Louisville**
Rutgers**
Cincinnati
Connecticut
South Florida
Temple
SMU*
Houston*
Memphis*
Central Florida*

2014 Football Conference
Cincinnati
Connecticut
South Florida
Temple
SMU
Houston
Memphis
Central Florida
Tulane*
East Carolina*

2015 Football Conference
Cincinnati
Connecticut
South Florida
Temple
SMU
Houston
Memphis
Central Florida
Tulane
East Carolina
Navy*
Tulsa* - not formally announced yet

*New addition
**Final season

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Nebraska football at its finest. Not a dry eye in the house.

Go Big Red, indeed.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/0...res-touchdown/

And here's the video. I hope you've got Kleenex handy:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-...85--ncaaf.html

[Firefly]

Cool Nebraska story. I'm surprised the Catholic basketball schools were able to keep the Big East name.

[ksensor]

I'm surprised the Catholic basketball schools were able to keep the Big East name.

Yeah, they really wanted the brand equity and awareness of the name, but it didn't come without a price

A total of $110M was owed to the Big East from all of the schools that left the conference or that backed out of joining the conference. As part of the deal to get the Big East name, the basketball schools agreed to settle for just $10 million of the $110 million. The remaining $100M will go to the new American Athletic Conference, with the majority going to UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida since they have been in the conference the longest. The new AAC universities will get much smaller shares.

[midor]

Well my break from finding Big 10 news over.

I found this short article.(copy and pasted)


Jeremy Fowler of CBS Sports reports that the Big Ten and the ACC are in discussions to be new conference tie-ins for the Pinstripe Bowl after the 2013 season. The decision could be influenced by both Rutgers and Syracuse moving from the soon-to-be-renamed Big East to the Big Ten and ACC respectively. Both local schools have been featured in the three bowl games. The old Big East and the current Big 12 are the current Pinstripe Bowl representatives.

[ksensor]

Meanwhile, at Nebraska's spring practice...

[ksensor]

Here is the entirety of Ohio State President Gordon Gee's latest series of embarrassing comments. Gordon Gee, by the way, makes $1.9 million a year from the state of Ohio.

On the possibility of Ohio State allowing the University of Cincinnati to join the Big10...
"They’d have to take Gene (Gene Smith, the OSU athletic director) out and shoot him to let Cincinnati into the Big Ten. There are some things that we just would not to."

The Big10, of course, already has 3 pairs in-state rivals: Michigan/MSU, Illinois/Northwestern and Indiana/Purdue. I guess a 4th would break some imaginary threshold.


On how a Big10 fan should respond to an SEC fan who says the Big10 can't count because it has 14 members...
“Well you tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write then they can figure out what we’re doing. I’ve been down there. I was the chairman of the Southeastern Conference for two years. I’ll tell you something. It’s shameful. It really is.”

The SEC is home to 2 schools in the top 50 of the latest National University Rankings from US News & World Report. Ohio State is 56th.

You stay classy, Ohio State.

[midor]

Here is the entirety of Ohio State President Gordon Gee's latest series of embarrassing comments. Gordon Gee, by the way, makes $1.9 million a year from the state of Ohio.

On the possibility of Ohio State allowing the University of Cincinnati to join the Big10...
"They’d have to take Gene (Gene Smith, the OSU athletic director) out and shoot him to let Cincinnati into the Big Ten. There are some things that we just would not to."

The Big10, of course, already has 3 pairs in-state rivals: Michigan/MSU, Illinois/Northwestern and Indiana/Purdue. I guess a 4th would break some imaginary threshold.


On how a Big10 fan should respond to an SEC fan who says the Big10 can't count because it has 14 members...
“Well you tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write then they can figure out what we’re doing. I’ve been down there. I was the chairman of the Southeastern Conference for two years. I’ll tell you something. It’s shameful. It really is.”

The SEC is home to 2 schools in the top 50 of the latest National University Rankings from US News & World Report. Ohio State is 56th.

You stay classy, Ohio State.

I was reading about that, and other things he said, the other day.

And I guess is that he came from an SEC school and has a history of saying stuff like that.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Baby, all I know is it's less than a hundred days left until the start of Nebraska football and this Husker is in heaven!

[midor]

Well my break from finding Big 10 news over.

I found this short article.(copy and pasted)


Jeremy Fowler of CBS Sports reports that the Big Ten and the ACC are in discussions to be new conference tie-ins for the Pinstripe Bowl after the 2013 season. The decision could be influenced by both Rutgers and Syracuse moving from the soon-to-be-renamed Big East to the Big Ten and ACC respectively. Both local schools have been featured in the three bowl games. The old Big East and the current Big 12 are the current Pinstripe Bowl representatives.

It's now official:

http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footb...060313aac.html

[ksensor]

Gordon Gee is retiring (read as: step down or we fire you) in the wake of his comments.

The heat for calling Notre Dame "those damn Catholics", for saying they can't read or write in the SEC, and his long history of embarrassing the university (remember his "Little Sisters of the Poor" rant?) have FINALLY cost him his job.

The Commissioner of the Big10 met with the Presidents of the Big10 schools last Sunday. I would guess they expressed their extreme dissatisfaction with Gee making all of their internal expansion discussions public knowledge. That's a group of people who won't miss Gee for a second.


As a fun aside, Gordon Gee served as President of Brown University for two years. When he left (for a higher salary and a tenured position for his wife), he was so hated that the students named a pair of port-o-potties after him. Every year at their annual spring celebration, the students roll out the "E. Gordon Gee Lavatory Complex". Gee must be so proud.

- - - Updated - - -

On a more positive note, the Iowa football program is working with the Oklahoma football program to help victims of the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma.

The semi-trailers that regularly haul the Hawkeyes' equipment to road trips were filled with food and other items needed by the tornado victims. Former Iowa players helped round up donations, which were delivered to an Oklahoma food bank and unloaded by a busload of Oklahoma football

Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops, played football at the University of Iowa before working as an Iowa assistant coach for 5 years.

[ksensor]

The next time you read a post from an angry toy collector about how "unacceptable" Mattel's Quality Control is... remember this story.

Florida State Seminoles' 2012 ACC championship ring says "SEC Champs"



"It's 100-something rings. They don't go through and open every box and inspect them. They assume that if the ones they've given out are right, they're all going to be right."

Mattel makes thousands of copies of every direct-to-consumer toy and tens of thousands of every retail one, if not more, for multiple product lines at the same time. So I think it's fair to point out that here's a company that couldn't make 100 rings without making a mistake.