Texas defensive coordinator Manny Diaz talks with Keenan Robinson, Emmanuel Acho and Adrian Phillips. Diaz' defense will have to contain Griffin on Saturday.
Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III's 34 touchdown passes this season have averaged an incredible 35.9 yards.
Shoulda Ducked, Sooner The upset loss Oklahoma State suffered Friday night simultaneously knocked the Cowboys from the ranks of the unbeaten and pulled both Oregon and Oklahoma right back into the BcS title mix. So, what do both teams go and do less than 24 hours later? Slap the gift horse in the mouth. Hard. Instead of remaining one of the gaggle of one-loss teams hoping for additional carnage that could land them in New Orleans in January, the Ducks and Sooners now find themselves with two losses and zero chance of even being on the periphery of the title talk. Probably.
A handy recap of who really won and who really lost that you won't find in the box score.
NC State's head coach entered the rivalry weekend with plenty of buzz around his name. The Wolfpack needed a win to keep bowl eligibility hopes alive, and O'Brien's less-than-stellar record against competition was starting to come up in potential "hot seat" discussions. In addition to that pressure, North Carolina interim head coach Everett Withers and O'Brien made headlines with their verbal sparring on the topics of academics and who is the state's "flagship" school.
Approximately 102,000 fans are expected to pack into Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama on Saturday.
The game, which has received hype that rivals some Super Bowls, will have its share of celebrities on hand.
Miami Heat superstar LeBron James will be at the game, along with fellow NBA player Chris Paul. Shaquille O'Neal, a former LSU Tiger, was rumored to be looking for a ticket.
The vast majority of college football's current top 50 teams are going to play this bowl season.
But where?
This list runs down the top 50 teams at this juncture in the season, as well as their best and worst case scenario for bowl games.
Keep in mind, this is a realistic attempt at gauging a certain team's prospects.
The first edition of the 2011 BCS rankings were released Sunday night and the Nebraska Cornhuskers are No. 13 in the poll.
Nebraska should climb higher in these rankings with a win over Minnesota on Saturday. After the game against the Gophers, the Cornhuskers’ schedule becomes more difficult with games against Michigan and Michigan State.
We have a new front-runner in the Legends Division. Does that also mean we have a new favorite to claim the Big Ten's second BCS spot?
Michigan State asserted itself as the team to beat in the Legends with a 28-14 victory over previously unbeaten Michigan on Saturday. That win lifted the Spartans up in our latest Big Ten bowl projections, as we now have them ticketed for a Tostitos Fiesta Bowl appearance. However, Michigan State has to play Wisconsin this week, and if it were to lose to the Badgers now and in the Big Ten title game but win out, that would mean a 10-3 final record. That might not be good enough for a BCS at-large bid, and it might crack the door open for another team -- like Nebraska, Penn State or even Michigan -- to grab the bid. If there is a second bid. Remember, teams that lose league title games are often shut out of BCS at-large berths.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Occupy Starkville went well for the South Carolina fans gathered at Davis Wade Stadium, not as much as a protest movement but a statement: Yes, with enough breaks, the Gamecocks can participate again in the SEC Championship Game.
They proved it Saturday with a 14-12 win, though the cowbells and Bulldogs were almost too much.
Florida tight end Jordan Reed can't hold on to this pass in the end zone as Auburn defensive back Neiko Thorpe defends in the first half.
Florida tight end Jordan Reed can't hold on to this pass in the end zone as Auburn defensive back Neiko Thorpe defends in the first half. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leon Halip/Getty Images
It’s that time of the year again.
Are the Wolverines, Denard Robinson and (insert coach's name here) for real, or are they just another first-half flash in the pan for the third season in a row?
Back in 2009, Rich Rodriguez had Michigan off to a 4-0 start, and the Wolverines were ranked as high as No. 22 before finishing the year 1-7.
When Texas Tech running back Eric Stephens went down with a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game of the season, the implications were severe for the Tech offense.
The Red Raiders might still miss Stephens badly, but the running game showed up in Saturday’s loss to No. 17 Kansas State. Tech got career highs of 21 carries for 91 yards from fifth-year senior Aaron Crawford and a touchdown apiece from Crawford and true freshman DeAndre Washington.
For better or worse, and mostly worse recently, I've been a fan of UCLA football. It's not an easy thing to be. From the 2000 season on, the Bruins have had just five winning seasons. They have won just three bowl games, over noted powerhouses New Mexico, Northwestern, and Temple. UCLA has just one win over USC in that time.
In the first year under Jimbo Fisher, the Florida State Seminoles finished with an overall record of 10-4. It was the first time the Seminoles reached double-digit wins since they went 10-3 in 2003. Florida State won the ACC Atlantic with a 6-2 conference mark, but would go on to lose to Virginia Tech 33-44 in the ACC Championship Game. However, Fisher and the Seminoles would conclude the season with an impressive 26-17 win over South Carolina in the Chik-fil-A Bowl.
The Ohio State University football program is unquestionably one of the most distinguished programs in college football history. They own the highest win percentage in the sport since 1904. Some have come to associate the university with its Big Ten dominance followed by big game futility, but despite those recent setbacks, the university has had it’s share of memorable events. There are almost too many to name, but the most notable five are:
Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel has completed 67.3 percent of his career passes for 1,678 yards with six touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Manuel isn't the typical first-year starter
Most college programs would be in trouble on the offensive side of the football after losing a three-year starter at quarterback to graduation and the first round of the NFL Draft, but it's possible Florida State doesn't lose much with E.J. Manuel taking over under center. While 2011 will be his first season as the Seminoles' full-time starter, the 6-5, 234-pounder has started games in the past when Christian Ponder was banged up and had more successes than failures. As a matter of fact, Manuel has already led the 'Noles to a pair of wins in bowl games, defeating West Virginia in the Gator Bowl to send legendary coach Bobby Bowden into retirement a winner when Ponder was out with a shoulder injury, and then topping South Carolina a year later in the Chick-fil-A Bowl when Ponder was forced to the sideline after an ineffective first quarter.
The conference that has won the past five national championships in college football has quite a lot to live up to every season.
But this season, the SEC, like usual, does have a lot of intrigue as well as some dynamic new faces from Will Muschamp to Tyler Wilson, and LSU offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe to Jadeveon Clowney.
Dan Mullen has completely turned around the Mississippi State football program in just two seasons.
This team barely missed making a bowl game in his first year in 2009 at 5-7, but came back to post a 9-4 record in 2010.
After crushing Michigan 52-14 in the Gator Bowl, the Bulldogs have a lot of momentum heading into 2011.
The hustle and bustle of tending to the daily details of being a coach no longer clutter Rich Rodriguez's days.
Instead, he has moved his family from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Naples, Fla., and he's at peace following a tumultuous three-year run at Michigan.
"Life isn't bad," he says. "I'm going to spend time with my family and also use this time to learn and get better."
After years of threats, someone is finally going to take the BCS to court. Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff has pledged to file an antitrust suit against the BCS in federal court within the next two months. Naturally, the rhetoric coming out of the hollowed-out volcano that serves as BCS headquarters is that any negative legal consequences would send conferences rushing into the arms of the old bowl, pre-Alliance, pre-Coalition, pre-BCS bowl system.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A hot, up and coming assistant coach from a big-time program coming in to rejuvenate the Mountaineer football program. Sounds like Dana Holgorsen, right? Well, that was actually the impression people had of Don Nehlen when he took over West Virginia’s football program in 1980.
Nehlen was an assistant coach on Bo Schembechler’s staff at Michigan in 1979 when he was hired just before the Wolverines were to face North Carolina in the Gator Bowl.
