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Madison – Speaking on his monthly radio show Tuesday night, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez shared a nugget of information that should cheer football fans who long for better nonleague games. According to Alvarez, Big Ten officials recently agreed to stop scheduling nonconference games against FCS programs. “The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous,” Alvarez said on WIBA-AM. “It’s not very appealing… “So we’ve made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools.”

On Tuesday morning, commentary on the broadcast of the Bowl Championship Series national title game between Alabama and Notre Dame included words like “creepy,” “awkward,” “uncomfortable” and “heteronormative.” The subject was not Alabama’s 42-14 victory, but comments made during the game by the ESPN play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger regarding the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A J McCarron. In the first quarter, ESPN showed McCarron’s girlfriend, Katherine Webb, who was sitting near his parents. Musburger called the 23-year-old Webb, a former Miss Alabama, a “lovely lady” and “beautiful,” and said to his broadcast partner, Kirk Herbstreit, a former quarterback at Ohio...

As often happens during boring, blowout bowl games, the cameras and commentary shifted tonight from the action on the field to the stands and Alabama QB A.J. McCarron's girlfriend Katherine Webb. Okay, sure, mention she goes to Auburn and how scandalous that is—that's normal. ESPN announcer Brent Musberger, though, couldn't leave it at that.

Alabama Wins National Championship Cork GainesJanuary 7, 2013 In the end, it wasn't even close. Alabama blew out Notre Dame 42-14 and Nick Saban has now won three national titles in four years. Here are the final moments...(Click to the site to see the video)

BCS Championship Game thread - Alabama (2) at Notre Dame (1) (+9, O/U 40.5), ESPN 830pm EST. Miami Gardens, Fl. Weather, temperature around 73 degrees, chance of showers 10 percent.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The images will be vivid, history will be haunting, ghosts will be everywhere.This is Knute Rockne versus Bear Bryant, Touchdown Jesus versus Dreamland Bar-B-Que, Four Horsemen versus Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Montana versus Joe Namath, and, of course, in the battle of the little guys, Rudy versus Nick.It will be a football game bathed in a complicated mess of legend, religion and roughhousing, but most folks think Monday's BCS national championship heavyweight fight between Alabama and Notre Dame can be symbolized by a single disparity.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jeremy Pike is a 37-year-old native and resident of Tuscaloosa, Ala. Like all proper fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide, he maintains an abiding hatred of Southeastern Conference rivals Auburn and Tennessee. But there is a third member of his unholy fan trinity, and always has been. "Oh, I hate Notre Dame," Pike said. "I never pull for them." On Nov. 3, Pike and about 50 other Alabama fans were in Louisiana getting ready to watch the Tide play LSU – the most anticipated game of the year. But before the game, they were glued to...

Does it seem that almost every bowl game is on ESPN?  That’s because almost every bowl game *is* on ESPN. There are 35 bowl games.  32 will be on an ESPN network whereas CBS, FOX, and ABC will have one each.  Given that ABC and ESPN have the same parent company, Disney, Disney will have 33 of 35 games on one of its networks.  For industrial organization fans, that’s a Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index of  8384 if ABC and ESPN are considered separate firms and 8906 if they are considered the same firm.  An HHI of 10,000 is 100% monopolized.  Dang.HT Craig...

I searched and didn't find a thread already underway, so...the Heisman will be presented within the hour. FReepers' thoughts/reactions?

The 2012-13 bowl season starts in Albuquerque, N.M., and ends in Miami. Here's a look at the schedule from the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 15 to the Discover BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7 in Miami's Sun Life Stadium.

Just saw Johnny Football take down #1 Alabama. This little guy is another Doug Flutie. If he stays four years and he might because he'll too small to play in the NFL, he might win four Heisman Awards. He's that good. It's too bad Texas A&M lost two close games to LSU and Florida. For my money they are the best team in the country.

TIME (ET) MATCHUP TV 12:00 PM No. 11 Oklahoma at TCU 12:00 PM No. 23 Oklahoma State at Baylor FX 12:00 PM UCF at Tulsa 2:30 PM Nicholls State at No. 15 Oregon State Pac-12 Network 2:30 PM Kansas at West Virginia 3:00 PM Middle Tennessee at Arkansas State 3:00 PM Louisiana-Lafayette at Florida Atlantic 3:30 PM No. 20 Boise State at Nevada 3:30 PM Cincinnati at Connecticut 4:00 PM No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia* CBS 4:00 PM New Mexico State at Texas State 7:00 PM Pittsburgh at South Florida 8:00 PM No. 18 Texas at No. 6...

The College Football Czar Week 14 Week thirteen in review: Notre Dame did what it had to do, by defeating another diminished opponent to finish the regular season at 12-0. The Fighting Irish defense stuffed the USC ground game on a late goal-line stand, and harassed freshman QB Max Wittek into two interceptions in a 22-13 victory. That presumably advances them to the BCS championship game in Miami, where they will face the winner of the SEC title game. Alabama and Georgia both dominated their rivalry games, which eliminated all other contending teams from the chase. The college football czar...

At this point of the college football season, with some crucial games still on tap for this weekend, the frontrunners in the Heisman race are A&M's sensational freshman QB Johnny Manziel and game-changer Manti Te'o of Notre Dame. Still in the hunt was once heavily-favored Colin Klein of Kansas State. Vanishing completely after an impressive start is West Virginia's Geno Smith. I'd personally like to see Johnny Manziel win the trophy this year and the odds are evidently in his favor. But, to play the part of a contrarian, here's what could derail the hopes of those backing him for...

Each year, the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars get together to compete in the State Farm Bayou Classic. On Saturday, the 39th annual football game unfolded, with Southern winning 38-33. While the game likely exited a great many, it was the halftime show that distinguished itself as particularly memorable. The victorious school’s marching band coordinated themselves to spell out “Obama” on the field — an action that was noted by both supporters and critics of the president, alike.

To the Auburn Family: I am very grateful for the opportunity that I had during the last four seasons to serve as the head football coach at Auburn University. I’m extremely disappointed with the way this season turned out and I apologize to the Auburn family and our team for what they have had to endure. In my 27 years of coaching, I have gained an understanding of the high expectations in this profession. When expectations are not met, I understand changes must be made. While we experienced a tremendous low in 2012, I will always be proud of the...

The College Football Czar Week 13 Week twelve in review: The top two teams in the BCS ratings were upset, which, according to the media template, has thrown the championship picture into “chaos.” Top-ranked Kansas State should now be out of the running altogether, after getting the phlegm beaten out of them by ninth-place Baylor, 52-24. Oregon, having lost to Stanford 17-14 in overtime, still has a chance, although they need help from a couple conference rivals. Not only did Oregon lose a much better game to a much better opponent than K-State did, but the human polls are bound...

Baylor beating Kansas State 28-14; A&M beat Alabama last week when they were ranked #1. Go Bears, Gig'em Aggies.

The College Football Czar Week 12 Week eleven in review: Alabama was bounced from the #1 position in the BCS, though not out of the national championship picture, in a 29-24 loss to Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide spotted the Conjunction Boys a 20-0 lead, before pulling within a field goal in the third quarter. A&M, defying well-founded expectations, opted not to choke this time. Although the SEC now dominates the BCS ratings, that league would not currently have a representative in the national championship game. This week’s ratings place Kansas State #1, followed by the only other eligible unbeatens,...

The College Football Czar Week 11 Week ten in review: For the second time this season, the College Football Czar must issue a retraction. A few dozen more, and he may find himself writing for the New York Times. Last week, he wrote that Air Force was looking to clinch the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy against Army, when in fact, they were merely trying to stay in contention for it, having lost to Navy in overtime earlier this season. Army’s 41-21 shocker over the AFA means that possession of the trophy will be decided in the season-ending Army-Navy game. All the undefeated...

The College Football Czar Week 10 Week nine in review: As this issue goes to print, there remain massive power outages on the Eastern seaboard due to Hurricane Sandy. Naturally, this poses the potential for some of this weekend’s games to be postponed or canceled, although there is no known instance of such at this time. Honestly, the College Football Czar had fully intended to pick Oklahoma over Notre Dame, and he has no idea what possessed him to type in Notre Dame as the winner, but the published pick is the published pick, and the clairvoyant Broward County canvassing...

The College Football Czar Week 9 Week eight in review: It was another above-average week for the College Football Czar, who went 14-4, improving his overall record to 106-50 and his winning percentage to .679. Among his better picks were the demise of the then-undefeated but badly inflated Cincinnati Bearcats, and Louisiana-Monroe’s 43-42 overtime win over Western Kentucky (predicted score 33-32). Although week eight certainly had its share of excitement, it did very little to shake up the rankings. The highest-ranked team to lose to a lower-ranked or unranked opponent was the #21 Bearcats, whose defeat is referenced above. #24...

The president of Clemson University is chastising those who booed President Barack Obama during the college’s Military Appreciation Day at last weekend's game. During the university’s annual event that was held this year during the Clemson vs. Virginia Tech game on Saturday, a ceremony was held to induct ROTC cadets into the military. The ceremony was disrupted by booing from some fans in the stands. In an email with the subject line, “Dear Clemson Family: Focus on Positive Dialogue and a Civil Discourse,” Clemson University president James Barker addressed the behavior at the football game.

The College Football Czar Week 8 Week seven in review: The College Football Czar missed out on an opportunity to add to his win total by not reiterating his week one prediction of Texas A&M over Louisiana Tech. The Aggies held on to beat LTU 59-57 after bolting out to an early 27-0 lead, in a zany game whose margin of victory was provided by a defensive safety on a blocked extra point return. Because the variables change week to week, the Czar would have had to make his pick over again in week seven, but he neglected to do...

Friday Night LiesCapitalist PreservationForward– During a campaign stop in Athens, Ohio, on Saturday September 8, Vice President Joe Biden said the last time he was in the town, playing against the Ohio University football team on October 19, 1963, he almost got arrested for walking into a girls’ dormitory. It’s a good story. It’s just not true… at all. Shawn at Free Republic discovered that Joe Biden did not play football at the University of Delaware in 1961, 1962, 1963, or 1964, according to past yearbooks.The 1984 University of Delaware yearbook included an interview with Joe Biden. It’s Biden first...

Beano Cook, a longtime staple of the Pittsburgh sports scene and an ESPN college football studio commentator since 1986, has died. He was 81. Cook, a 1954 University of Pittsburgh grad, began his career as a sports publicist for the school from 1956-66. He later worked with a number of organizations, including the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. Beano Cook's breadth of knowledge of the history of the college game earned him the moniker, the "Cardinal of College Football." Cook was a studio commentator for ABC from 1982-85 before joining ESPN. He also worked as ABC's press director from 1966-74, and for...

The College Football Czar Week 6 Week five in review: The College Football Czar declined to pad his record by including any of last week’s mismatches involving highly-ranked teams, but still managed to compile his best record to this point in the season, at 15-4. For the season, he is now 70-32, for a .686 winning percentage. The Czar noticed several linemen around the country last week who were wearing very wide black belts that appeared to be some kind of protective device for their backs. The odd thing was that they were wearing them over their uniforms. If you...

Vanity: Baylor 63 West Virginia 7 (3:02 in 4Q) 1400 yards of offense combined.

The College Football Czar Week 5 Week four in review: It was another tough week for the Big Ten, which is starting to look like a second-echelon BCS-AQ conference, alongside the ACC and the Big East. Michigan proved the Alabama debacle was no fluke, while Iowa fell at home to Central Michigan. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State struggled mightily in games that looked like total mismatches on paper, while Illinois looked like a tune-up opponent for Louisiana Tech. Happily, the College Football Czar fared considerably better, following up his worst week to this point of the season with a...

As college football nears the midpoint of its 143rd season, Lou Holtz is among the many taking it in. The 75-year-old ESPN analyst has seen more than his share of games, mostly from the sidelines as a head coach. He has coached a total of 388 games at six Division I schools. Holtz is best known for his years at the University of Notre Dame, between 1986 and 1996, which include an undefeated national championship season in 1988. What is less known, but no less important to him, are the experiences that prepared him for the Notre Dame years. One...

Did Biden really play college football? I think Ohio would be mad if they found out Biden never played college football after bragging his team beat them in 1963. The year Biden said he was almost arrested in Ohio. Biden was never there in 1963. Truth is Biden never played for University of Deleware football. All them Biden college football stories were just Biden folklore made up by Biden. There is only one mention of Biden at the University web site and it's a quote by Biden coming in and playing for Scotty Duncan his freshman year in 1961. Link...

The College Football Czar Week 4 Week three in review: The College Football Czar barely averted a losing record last week, clawing out a dismal record of 9-8. For the season, his record stands at 41-24, for a .631 winning percentage. When the Czar has blown the big games, he’s been really thorough about it, as evidenced by his upset pick of Wake Forest against Florida State. It turned out that FSU had every bit as easy a time in its ACC opener as it had in its first two games against lower-division competition, as it walloped Wake 52-0. USC’s...

<p>It’s football time in Tennessee where longtime gridiron traditions are cherished – from Rocky Top to the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. At the start of every game inside the colossal Neyland Stadium, thousands of the football faithful rise to their feet, remove their hats and pause for the pre-game prayer.</p>

The College Football Czar Week 3 Week two in review: The College Football Czar stumbled to a 12-9 finish after dropping three one-point games on Saturday afternoon. For the season, his record stands at 32-16, for a .667 winning percentage. Four ranked teams were upset over the course of the day, most notably #8 Arkansas, which was toppled by the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks in overtime. Almost as shocking was #13 Wisconsin falling to Oregon State, 10-7, which resulted in the firing of Badgers’ offensive line coach Mike Markuson. That OSU-Wisconsin result was one of three home victories for Pac 12 teams...

ATLANTA -- Investigators say a 20-year-old Tennessee man had been drinking before he died in a fall at the Georgia Dome. Police Lt. Chad Hurston said Saturday that authorities need to review results from the medical examiner's office to determine how much of a role alcohol played in the accident. Isaac Grubb fell about 45 feet inside the Dome while celebrating a Tennessee touchdown against North Carolina State during a Friday night game. He struck and injured a 34-year-old man from Fort Mill, S.C., who suffered minor injuries. Hurston said that Grubb had started drinking around 5 p.m. before he...

Exhibit A that college football teams do need exhibition games? In Kent State’s season opener against Towson, both teams committed stupendously boneheaded acts on the same play. Late in the first half, the Golden Flashes were forced to punt. The ball became live after it grazed the Tigers return man, whereupon Kent State sophomore Andre Parker eagerly scooped up the pigskin inside the Towson 10-yard line … and proceeded to run toward his own end of the field.

Thursday, August 30 TIME (ET) MATCHUP 7:00 PM No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt 7:00 PM UCF at Akron 7:00 PM Eastern Michigan at Ball State 7:00 PM Southeast Missouri State at Central Michigan 7:00 PM Towson at Kent State 7:15 PM Northern Colorado at Utah 7:30 PM Massachusetts at Connecticut 7:30 PM UCLA at Rice Postponed Texas A&M at Louisiana Tech 7:30 PM McNeese State at Middle Tennessee 8:00 PM Sacramento State at New Mexico State 8:00 PM Southern Utah at Utah State 9:00 PM Eastern Washington at Idaho 10:15 PM Washington State at Brigham Young 10:30 PM Northern...

The College Football Czar: Week 1 If you're reading the week one picks by the College Football Czar, that must mean that yet another long summer of terrible TV is about to come to a merciful end. So -- if you’ve found yourself taking a knee, not to mimic Tim Tebow, but to psych yourself up for the countless thrilling touchbacks that are in store this season; if you’ve become so football-starved that you’ve recorded Jerry Maguire and edited out all the crappy non-footbally parts, so that only the crappy parts having to do with football remain; if you inflicted...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Backup Penn State safety Tim Buckley has become the first player to transfer from Penn State in the wake of NCAA sanctions, while the future of a more prominent player, star tailback Silas Redd, remains in question.

While Mark Richt has perhaps been the most up-front about his interest in picking up some of the Penn State players who are free to leave the NCAA-hammered program and play immediately elsewhere, Georgia certainly isn’t the only SEC school looking at that possibility. In terms of players currently on the Nittany Lions roster, this is likely to play out rather quickly, as most schools will be starting preseason camp soon — UGA on Aug. 2 — and in order to have a realistic shot at anything close to immediate playing time a transfer would need to be on campus...

The College Football Czar 2012 Season Preview a sports publication from The Shinbone by Daniel Clark Welcome to the 2012 season preview issue of The College Football Czar, a seasonal sports publication by the author and editor of The Shinbone. In the coming months, you will find weekly analyses of upcoming college football action posted at this site. To find out more, please see the Ground Rules. This issue contains the Czar's rankings for all 124 teams in Division I-A football, as well as conference preview capsules, potential upsets to watch for, and a guide to help you locate head...

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s 2013 recruiting class lost one of its commitments on Saturday. New Jersey defensive lineman Greg Webb withdrew his oral pledge to attend Penn State in favor of North Carolina. UNC recruiting sites reported Friday that Webb had reopened his recruiting and planned to visit the Tar Heels’ Chapel Hill campus on Saturday. Webb — a 6-foot-1, 295-pound defensive tackle at Timber Creek High School in Sicklerville, N.J. — indeed visited UNC and committed when his high school teammate Dajuan Drennon also committed to the Tar Heels. A four-star recruit by Rivals.com standards, Webb was one...

Banning college football is un-American. Being European, I can’t help but wonder over recent debates in the United States about the NFL and college football. Increasingly more analysts believe that these sports should be banned, or at least ‘reformed’. The latter of course meaning that they’ll lose what makes them unique and appealing to sports fans everywhere. Now, make no mistake about it: I’m just as convinced as the average Joe that football is a very dangerous sport indeed. But why did this fact take analysts by surprise? I still remember the first time I watched the NFL: I was...

Bobby Petrino will not return as head football coach at Arkansas, multiples sources have told ESPN.com's Chris Low. The university has called an 8:15 p.m. ET press conference at which time athletic director Jeff Long will announce Petrino will not be back. The 51-year-old Petrino was put on paid leave last week after he didn't tell his boss right away that a 25-year-old female football program employee was riding with him during an April 1 motorcycle crash. Petrino, who is married with four children, also admitted to an inappropriate relationship. Also on Monday, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed...

A Yale football player who said he withdrew from consideration for a Rhodes scholarship in order to prepare for his team's rivalry game against Harvard had in fact been informed his candidacy had been suspended, The New York Times reported. The Rhodes Trust had suspended quarterback Patrick Witt's candidacy when it learned, outside of official channels, that a female student had accused Witt of sexual assault in September, the newspaper reported. Witt had previously announced he had withdrawn his application because his interview for the prestigious scholarship was on the same day as Yale's game against Harvard, its ancient archrival....

Link only as per posting guidelines: USA Today Gist of article: Ratings for title game down 8 percent from last year; barely (by 0.3 percent) above all time low; all BCS games down 12 percent from last year

Alabama just intercepted a pass at the LSU 32 with 7:00 left in the third quarter.

Most of Southern Louisiana is currently covered by rain showers that are headed eastward to New Orleans. The concern should be that by the end of the game tonight severe weather may be over the Superdome. With all the probable drinking and celebrating, this may make for a bad combination. It will not be Chamber of Commerce weather for this event. This weather was on the Texas border this morning, and has been moving Eastward all day...

After rumbling 99 yards for a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the second quarter, West Virginia safety Darwin Cook banged into Obie, the Orange Bowl mascot, sending them both tumbling to the ground. That was more resistance than any Clemson tacklers offered Wednesday night. In a scintillating display of offense while at the same time humiliating showing on defense, the No. 23 Mountaineers crushed the No. 15 Tigers 70-33 in the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. There's not enough room here to list all the records West Virginia set. The most amazing was breaking the mark for most...

This and incredibly wild game. There is already an Alamo Bowl record for combined points in a half (59) and combined points in a game (102). There is likely to be a new record for combined yards in any bowl game and combined points in a game.