Free Republic

Quick question to start things off this week: do you get irritated to the point where you start going off on people when they say things like “if Clemson (for example) gets beat like they did last week, then how bad is the ACC?” I have a friend who just goes into an absolutely funny state of apoplexy when he hears things like that. I mean, I understand where he’s coming from in a purely logical sense. But he’s also a very ardent liberal Democrat…one of those “I’m smarter than you are because I’m a liberal” types. We’ve all seen...

With 41 percent of Tech's traveling roster having never played a college football game, the Hokies' opener against East Carolina this Saturday could be a tough match-up. "We're dressing 10 true freshmen and 15 redshirt freshmen," Virginia Tech head football coach Frank Beamer said. "It's a little bit scary ... We lost a couple kids from last year, but we are very impressed with our freshman class." That is not to say Tech has no veterans on the team, but with only a few at each position, the freshmen will need to step up quickly in order to fend off...

Alright, that's it, I can't take it anymore. Maybe it's this whole election cycle or that I can't take any more of the Democrat convention, but it's time...you thought it would never come didn't you? Forgive me for interrupting the current Messiah revival going on at Incestco Field at Pile High, we have actual college football games going on. Yes, tonight. Right now, this very day... ...Well, don’t just stand there, go order some pizza or maybe find a box of Franzia or something the college football season is here!! You’re in preseason form here…shame, shame shame. Okay, let’s get...

With the kickoff to the college football season just days away, it's time to step back and celebrate the players, coaches, color and pageantry of the sport. And for the eighth straight year, the Herbie Awards will try to do just that. This list has everything to do with the playmakers, the difference-makers and, in short, all that's great about college football. Herbies are given to the best college football players, coaches, teams and fans from across the nation. Also, this is just my list. These are my choices and not everyone will agree. That's the beauty of it. Let...

With the kickoff to the college football season just days away, it's time to step back and celebrate the players, coaches, color and pageantry of the sport. And for the eighth straight year, the Herbie Awards will try to do just that. This list has everything to do with the playmakers, the difference-makers and, in short, all that's great about college football. Herbies are given to the best college football players, coaches, teams and fans from across the nation. Also, this is just my list. These are my choices and not everyone will agree. That's the beauty of it. Let...

Come join our College Football Pick Em League! I set up the game using the point spread and the confidence points. Its a lot more challenging this way. It makes the College games more fun to follow- it is not hard to pick the winners straight up, especially the powerhouse teams against the cupcake matchups that are nothing more than exhibition games, with the point spread it makes it a lot harder to pick-- The confidence points also add a degree of difficulty--you must choose wisely. Log on to yahoo.com- go to Fantasy Pick College Football Pick'em Click- Join a...

While it’s a reflex to automatically assume the SEC is the nation’s best conference year in and year out, there’s a contender to the throne this season. It took 12 years to get to this point, and now this should be the season when it all comes together for the Big 12. It’s one thing for the usual stars like Oklahoma and Texas to be good, which they will be, but a conference really blows up when the normal also-rans become contenders. After a fantastic bowl season (outside of OU’s gaffe to West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl), the league...

Put the shovel down. West Virginia is far from dead. Yeah, Rich Rodriguez is now coaching Michigan, and offensive sparkplugs Steve Slaton, Owen Schmitt, and Darius Reynaud are gone, but the Mountaineers are still the class of the Big East. The one constant amid all the change in Morgantown is QB Pat White, the dynamic dual-threat that’s capable of carrying the program to a third BCS bowl game in the last four years. That said, the ‘eers have too many question marks on defense and on the sidelines to be considered a legitimate threat to run the table and play...

25. Is Texas Tech poised to become more than just an aerial circus? It has taken time, but head coach Mike Leach has the Red Raiders in a position to vie for more than just the nation's passing title. Tech will again post gaudy numbers through the air, with Graham Harrell having all day to find receivers behind a gigantic offensive line. The difference this season is that the defense has the ingredients to be more than just the undercard, adding top JUCO recruits McKinner Dixon and Brandon SeSay to bolster the defensive line. Don't be floored if the Nov....

When practices started last week, St. John's University football coach John Gagliardi, 81, began his 56th year of coaching the Johnnies and 60th year of college coaching. On Monday, I talked with the four-time national champion and college coaching's all-time leader in wins (453) about his past, present and future. BS: Let's get it out of the way. Any thoughts of this being your last year of coaching? I think I've asked you that question for the past 20 years. JG: You might as well go for 30 in a row. No plans at the moment. BS: Does it ever...

ACC Championship: Clemson v UNC SEC Championship: Georgia v LSU Big X: Ohio State PAC 10: USC Big Twelve: Oklahoma v Kansas BCS Championship Game: Oklahoma v Georgia

#10 Tennessee (93-34; .732) The rivalry between the Vols and Gators continues, as the Vols knock the Gators from the top 10 by having an identical number of losses, but the Vols managing one more win. UT took home the national title in 1998 and has only had one losing season since. It's rare that I see the Vols projected near the top at the start of the season, but they have played in a January bowl eight of the past 10 years. Pretty impressive stuff #9 Michigan (93-32; .744) The Wolverines have been one of the steadiest teams making...

At his conference's preseason media event last month, SEC commissioner Mike Slive stood before a room full of reporters and rattled off his league's impressive list of recent accomplishments -- three BCS championships in six years, an NCAA-record seven bowl wins in 2007 and the first 1-2 finish in the polls by a single conference (No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Georgia) since 1971. "I think it's safe to say that the debate as to which is the best football conference in the country has been put to rest," proclaimed the commissioner. College football's Great Conference Debate has been a heated...

Opportunity is knocking, Clemson. You better capitalize now because the path to an ACC crown may never be this smooth again. The Tigers are the storyline of the 2008 season in the ACC. While they’ve got the league’s best quarterback, Cullen Harper, and as much talent as anyone in the conference, the rest of the ACC is down. Way down. Florida State and Miami remain weak facsimiles of the programs that used to collect crowns faster than anyone else in the country. Boston College was built for last year. Georgia Tech and Virginia are about to undergo some serious growing...

Oh sure, there have been some legendary SEC coaches from Shug Jordan to General Neyland to The Bear, but when the 2008 season kicks off it’ll be the start of a new era of SEC football. Call it the renaissance or call it everyone keeping up in the arms race, but make no mistake about it, this is the greatest collection of college coaches to ever occupy one league at the same time. Five of the coaches (Phil Fulmer, Steve Spurrier, Les Miles, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban) have won national titles, Tommy Tuberville did everything but win the national...

This is the year that someone breaks through and ends USC’s six-year choke hold on the Pac-10 title. Yeah, right. Sure, the Trojans have shown signs of vulnerability the past two seasons, losing head-scratchers to Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford, but when a November surge is needed, they always deliver. Plus, no one fills holes in a depth chart faster than the Men of Troy. So, as USC feeds the NFL with a new crop of talent, there are a bunch of young players, likeDE Everson Griffen, RB Joe McKnight and QB Mark Sanchez, who are poised for stardom …and...

The Big Ten isn’t as bad as you think. Because of the geographical location, media coverage, and history, the Big Ten is the most popular conference in college sports. Big schools, big fan bases, big rivalries, big stadiums, its own network … big, big, big. It’s such a big league that it has too many teams for its name. Since there’s so much attention and so much coverage, fans from other leagues love to pile on when things aren’t going so well. However, for all of the bad PR and all the shots the Big Ten has taken over the...

<p>ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - High expectations for Georgia were overshadowed by off-field troubles as the Bulldogs held their first practice Monday.</p> <p>Coach Mark Richt fielded questions from reporters for about 45 minutes, most of them about players being arrested, dismissed or suspended since Georgia finished last season with a dominant victory over Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.</p>

Maybe there’s another reason Barack Obama decided to deliver his convention acceptance speech in a football stadium. As Howard Mortman points out this morning, Obama’s August 28 address will coincide with the start of the college football season, with at least four nationally televised games on the docket. Sure, most of the games scheduled are of regional interest at best, involving middling Division I-A schools and even I-AA teams, and the kickoff times for most of the televised games are early enough to allow viewers to flip over to Obama’ speech (which will probably start around (10 p.m.) without missing...

Today's Morning Coffee comes from Army and sadly, isn't good news. ESPN.com ran a story Wednesday evening stating that former Army linebacker Caleb Campbell will not be allowed to play in the NFL. It was covered on the NFL side, but I wanted to make sure any Army fans, and fans of college football, saw the result of this ongoing story. Campbell was a seventh-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in April and was told that if he was drafted he could serve the Army as a recruiter. But Army policy has changed, and Campbell has been called to...

Thursday, August 28th Vanderbilt at Miami Ohio 6:30 p.m. ESPNU (HD) North Carolina State at South Carolina 7:00 p.m. ESPN (HD) Wake Forest at Baylor 7:00 p.m. FSN (HD) Oregon State at Stanford 8:00 p.m. ESPN2 (HD)

He knows you're coming, and at this point the inevitable has happened. He's stuck with you. For two days, flying thousands of miles in a small private plane with all the comfort of a four-door sedan. The sportswriter vs. Charlie Weis. He'd rather take a sledgehammer to the knees than endure this torture. "I know why you're here," he says. The natural response: Why? "To see if I'm human," he replies. Here he is, everyone. Charlie Weis: the most hated man in college sports. From his arrogance to his controversial hiring at Notre Dame, to a contract extension seven games...

This is where life imitates ... what exactly? What began two years ago with a quirky jump-pass in a college football game has evolved into this extraordinarily surreal life: communicating with heads of state, preaching to prisoners and, yes, circumcising children in a Third World country. All in one offseason. Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy in December, the first sophomore to do so. In the six months since, the Florida Gators' iconic 20-year-old quarterback has traveled more than 15,000 miles to be honored by 15 organizations in nine states. A devout Christian, he has spread the gospel all over...

CORAL GABLES - Even halfway around the world, people are wondering who the University of Miami will start at quarterback next season. That was one of the questions Shannon received during a week-long trek to the Middle East...The most frequent question Shannon said he received didn’t have anything to do with football. “Does everybody back home still respect us?” Shannon said he and the other coaches were asked. “Does everybody believe in what we’re doing, have confidence in us?” Shannon declined to express his thoughts regarding the situation in Iraq, but said, “I’ll put it this way: You are happy...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jack Mildren, a former lieutenant governor and the first quarterback in the University of Oklahoma's vaunted wishbone offense, died on Thursday, his brother said. He was 58. Mildren, who had been undergoing treatment for stomach cancer, died at Integris Baptist Medical Center, spokeswoman Brooke Cayot confirmed. Mildren was diagnosed two years ago with cancer but had continued to serve as a vice chairman for Arvest Bank and host a daily sports radio show on WKY 930-AM. Legislators at the state Capitol observed a moment of silence for the former lieutenant governor, who walked the halls there in...

Bowl Championship Series officials rejected a plan Wednesday to turn the controversial system for deciding a national champ into a four-team playoff, starting in the 2010 season. "After a very thorough very good discussion among the group, we have decided that because we feel at this time the BCS is in an unprecedented state of health, we feel it's never been healthier during its first decade," Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford said. "We have made a decision to move forward in the next cycle with the current format."

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - If only the Big Ten and Pac-10 weren't so stubbornly loyal to the Rose Bowl, the BCS would be on its way to a playoff. That's the perception - though not the reality - and it's allowed the other conferences like the SEC to be safely noncommittal about the possibility of turning the Bowl Championship Series into a four-team major college football playoff. "I think the characterization of the Big Ten and Pac-10 being at one place and everyone else being at the other place, I don't think it's accurate," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told reporters...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Forget government corruption or corporate fraud. Three members of Congress want the Justice Department to investigate whether college football's Bowl Championship Series is an illegal enterprise. Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, are introducing a resolution rejecting the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade because only the largest universities compete in most of the major bowl games. The resolution would require Justice's antitrust division to investigate whether the system violates federal law. The measure also would put Congress on record as supporting a college football playoff.

President Bush held a meeting this morning with his cabinet to discuss the economy and the Columbia Free Trade Agreement This afternoon, President Bush presented the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy to the United States Naval Academy Football Team in the Rose Garden Transcript First Lady Laura Bush and Jenna Bush visited first grade students at Martin Luther King Elementary School in Washington, Monday, April 14, 2008 To mark the tenth anniversary of 'Teach for America Week' Enoy your visit to Sanity Island

Did anyone else notice the lack of respect by the Stanford women who were playing for the Championship against Tennessee last night? Openly not holding hand over heart when the National Anthem was played. A bunch of losers. Reminds me of BHO.

The President and the First Lady returned to Washington on Sunday as did Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates from the NATO Sumit in Europe. Today the President spoke about the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and signed a letter to Congress on the matter.Click here for further details The President also hosted a ceremony honoring members of the NCAA football champion LSU Tigers at the White House. The President also met with small and medium business owners in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2762 Secretary of State...

Joe Paterno's storied coaching career could end on a sour note -- if he lets it. Two members of Penn State's Board of Trustees yesterday told the Post-Gazette that negotiations regarding a possible contract extension or succession plan for Paterno have not gone smoothly.

We asked NFL scout and draft partner Frank Coyle of draftinsiders.com to pick out some players who have helped - and hurt - themselves thus far at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Monday: Helping their causeDE Chris Long, Virginia This blue-chip defender ran excellent 4.71 and 4.77 times with a 34-inch vertical leap. His agility drill numbers were equal to any linebacker in an excellent showing. His overall effort was one of the best of the event. He did not lift, but will at the Virginia pro day. DE/LB Cliff Avril, Purdue Classic defensive "tweener" hopes to follow the...

The Tide came rolling in on National Signing Day. After an impressive flurry of commitments in the past 48 hours, and thanks to a solid recruiting foundation that was laid in the spring and summer, Alabama has been crowned by Rivals.com as the recruiting national champions for the class of 2008. The Crimson Tide finished with an amazing run in Nick Saban's second recruiting class in Tuscaloosa. Saban and his staff landed three five-star players and 18 four-star recruits, giving them enough of a push to edge Notre Dame and SEC rival Florida. As of 3 p.m. EST, the Tide...

BCS' snub of Dogs spurs House to call for playoffs Lawmakers take handoff from Adams ATLANTA - Georgia lawmakers briefly turned aside from issues like the drought, gun control and transportation Friday to voice their displeasure with college football's Bowl Championship Series system. The state House - a known hangout of some prominent football fans - voted 151-9 Friday to urge the NCAA to create a playoff system for college football, adopting a resolution that calls the current system "dysfunctional." There was no debate. "The only major sporting event without a playoff system to identify its true champion that I...

Just heard from a Michigan official that Rich Rodriguez' attorney will be issuing a statement later this afternoon responding to today's report out of West Virginia that former Mountaineers football coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff may have shred player personnel files and other documents prior to coming to the University of Michigan. The Charleston Gazette story cites unnamed sources claiming that: According to the source, the files in Rodriguez's office that are now missing included everything from records regarding summer camps -- financial and otherwise -- to data on boosters, recruiting and most everything related to activities within the...

Rich Rodriguez agreed to six-year deal worth $2.5 million annually when he left West Virginia last month for Michigan. The contract, which has not been finalized or signed, also includes a $4 million buyout. The terms of Rodriguez's deal were confirmed Sunday by school spokesman Bruce Madej. West Virginia has sued Rodriguez to collect on a $4 million buyout clause in his contract with the Mountaineers.

ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson made an absolute fool of herself, swilling vodka from a Belvedere bottle, mumbling along and cursing like a sailor as Mike & Mike rested their heads in their hands in embarrassment. [Comedian Eddie] Griffin came to the podium to defend her after she was booed by the crowd. [Host Jeffrey] Ross eventually had to pull her off stage, too. For those unfamiliar with Jacobson, she was a "SportsCenter" anchor for ESPN in 2005, and later made a co-host of that network's morning show "Cold Pizza" which is now "ESPN First Take." So, what did she actually...

AMHERST, N.Y. -- Buffalo coach Turner Gill received a contract extension on Tuesday that could keep the former Heisman Trophy finalist with the Bulls through 2012. Gill, who had been a candidate for the Nebraska head coaching position in December before the Cornhuskers chose Bo Pelini, was entering the third year of his original five-year deal that paid him about $190,000 per season, before bonuses. "I am extremely pleased to reward Turner's outstanding efforts in this way," Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement released by the university. "He has brought to our football program a winning mentality,...

A former business associate of the failed marketing agency that attempted to secure Reggie Bush as a client told Yahoo! Sports he spoke directly to Bush about the company's business plan before the running back completed his junior season at the University of Southern California. Such an action would have violated NCAA rules and is the latest in a series of facts uncovered in a Yahoo! Sports investigation that indicate Bush and his family had an improper relationship with New Era Sports & Entertainment. Ben Delanoy, now CEO of Next Level Sports Marketing, said Bush indicated he would be part...

Well, in a few hours, a few LSU folks will recall with dread the name Greg Frey. Yep, the Buckeye quarterback no one remembers but die-hard Buckeye and LSU fans. The quarterback who led the team to one of the most spectacular comebacks ever witnessed at Ohio Stadium. As Wikipedia puts it: On September 24, 1988, he rallied Ohio State from a 33-20 deficit in the final four minutes for a 36-33 victory over the ninth-ranked LSU Tigers. I was at that game in the shoe, urging all the fans who were leaving early to stay put. It was gratifying...

He's played all but 20 snaps for a team competing for a national championship, but on the night he proved how much he truly means to his school, LSU's 317-pound left tackle wasn't on the football field. --snip-- I am the left tackle for the LSU Tigers football team. I'm also number 70 and I saw you wearing that jersey number, that's a great number by the way :). You know some people see us as heroes because of how we play but the truth is people like yourself are the real heroes. I see all the small problems I...

After losing big in the Sugar Bowl, the University of Hawaii may be dealing with a much more important loss. June Jones, who has been the Warriors' coach since 1999, has resigned, according to a report by The Honolulu Advertiser. The report says that Jones told his close friend, Al Souza, of his decision Saturday morning. He cited lack of loyalty and commitment from the athletic department as reasons for his resignation, the report says. <----snip---->

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Rich who? The West Virginia Mountaineers didn't need coach Rich Rodriguez. They had Pat White, and their elusive quarterback led them to a surprising 48-28 romp over Oklahoma (No. 4 BCS, No. 3 AP) in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday night. White ran for 150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns for the Mountaineers (No. 9 BCS, No. 11 AP), who rushed for 349 yards, most allowed by Oklahoma in a bowl game. Since arriving in the desert last week, the Mountaineers (11-2) said they had bonded behind interim coach Bill Stewart, who took...

Texas junior running back Jamaal Charles has elected to leave school early and enter the 2008 NFL draft. Charles, who shared UT's team MVP honors with Colt McCoy in 2007, capped his junior season by running for 161 yards and two touchdowns in the Longhorns' 52-34 victory over No. 12 Arizona State in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.

All the upsets have you wondering how a playoff would have played out this year? Play ESPN.com's College Football Playoff to find out. ESPN College Football Playoff Simulation ESPN.com presents the AccuScore College Football Playoff Simulation Try different seeding scenarios and see how a playoff system might have played out this year.

I Thought That the Hawaii team was called the Rainbow Warriors?

America feels Bill Clinton's pain. On New Year's Day, when many sports fans plant themselves on the couch to watch a day of college football games, the former president was stumping through the snows of Iowa for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. As Bill Clinton put it, "This morning, as I was walking out to come here, Hillary looked at me and said, 'Finally, after all these years I know you do love me.' And I said, 'You do?' She said, "Absolutely, you're missing six football games today." Clinton laughed along with about 300 people at Ashford...

ESPN is reporting that Rick Neuheisel will be UCLA's new head football coach.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who turned 81 last week, jokingly dismissed the comments of a Texas A&M yell leader Thursday night that Paterno was “on his death bed” and “someone needs to find him a casket.” But it’s no joking matter to the Aggies, who sent the yell leader home and have issued numerous apologies to various Penn State officials. The remark came at an Alamo Bowl-sponsored pep rally for fans of both schools. Penn State fans booed loudly after the remark from the yell leader, one of five A&M upperclassmen who fill the high-profile spirit role at the...