Bleacher Report - Articles by Jeremy

It Has Been a Great Ride

Jeremy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:47:14 -0400

Just a small announcement to the great community of Bleacher Report, but I am moving on to write about the Mountain West for an opportunity I just received. The downfall is that I will unable to post in both places as I have in the past.

If anyone wishes to still read my work check out my new site. I thank everyone, from the people who sought me out to invite me to B/R over a year ago, and for the exposure the site has given my crazy obsession of the MWC.

All the people who agreed with me or mostly who disagreed, (especially with that BYU article about Riley Nelson) everyone has been awesome.

I will still hang around and comment and perhaps write some stuff not related to MWC but thanks to all and keep up the good work.

Listen to My Appearance On The In The Bleachers Podcast

Jeremy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:38:21 -0400

Yesterday I appeared on In the Bleachers Podcast to discuss all things MWC ranging from who will win the league, a big name opponent for Utah in 2010, BCS talk, and expansion. So, if you ever wanted to hear what I sound like go download the podcast.

While you are enjoying this great episode of In The Bleachers why not go ahead and subscribe to their weekly show and subscribe to their website for a great daily reading about college football.

Previewing 2009 New Mexico Opponents: Texas Tech Red Raiaders

Jeremy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:26:40 -0400

Texas Tech is going to take a step back from last year, because the lost all-everything wide out Michael Crabtree to the NFL and gun slinger Graham Harrell to the CFL.

The pirate Mike Leach historically has had little problem replacing the production at quarterback, but the only difference is that Graham Harrel is the only three year starter under Mike Leach’s offense.

New quarterback Taylor Potts is a former three star recruit and should produce at least 4,000 yards even though he has little game experience which is detailed in the chart.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Taylor Potts	63.9	260	2	1
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Baron Batch	113	758	6.7	7
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Detron Lewis	76	913	12.0	3
Lyle Leong	18	206	11.4	3
Edward Britton	35	577	16.5	6
Rashad Hawk	5	65	13.0	0

Rashad Hawk

Everyone knows what to expect from the Red Raiders offense, all passing all the time. The player most likely to try to replace Michael Crabtree will be Lyle Leong who as the secondary receiver still managed 76 catches and near 1,000 yards.

His yards may not be able to improve too much but Leong will be the primary target and increase his touchdown total to around ten. Not only do the Red Raiders have to replace their play makers they only return four starters on offense; which happens to include four offensive lineman.

Even though four lineman need to be replaced that area should not see a drop off and the only problem will be how long it takes for them to gel up front.

Even though the Tech offense is known as ‘Air Raid’ they did have two backs rush for over 750 yards and a 6.7 yard per carry, and the Raiders used much more two back sets then in recent years. They also return their leading rusher from 2008 in Baron Batch who will be accompanied by redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers who happens to be the fastest player on the team.

The offense will be fine, especially in the Big XII where there is little or no defense, and speaking of defense the Raiders must stop someone to try to break the choke-hold of Texas and Oklahoma at the top.

However this is not the year for the Red Raiders who will most likely finish fourth in the Big XII South and they should welcome the Alamo Bowl with open arms.

They do return six players on defense, but it was a mediocre defense and gave up 28 points per game which surprisingly was fourth in the Big XII. The defense main responsibility is to try to slow down which has been so-so over the years.

The star on defense Jamar Wall who plays cornerback and had seven picks and he has the ability to take away half of the field on pass defense. However the rest of the secondary is very questionable, and in a league with Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy at the quarterback the secondary will be in trouble.

The defensive line should be the strength of the defense which will be led by Colby Whitlock and Rajon Henley and are very good against the run. The rest of the line includes Brandon Sesay, Sandy Riley and then there is incoming freshman Pearlie Graves, who turned down Tennessee and Michigan to join Texas Tech so there is optimism at the end position.

The Red Raiders will definitely take a stop back but still has a solid chance at getting nine wins for the upcoming season.

The Revenue Disparity Is Bigger Then You Think

Jeremy — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:12:50 -0400

The Orlando Sentinel is running a series on the "Tough times: College sports and the economy." It is a very good read so far, and in their college football blog there is post today -- a must read for any college fan -- about the revenue each football school took in from 2008.

The total for the Mountain West Conference (MWC) was $276,800,202 a quarter of a billion dollars is not bad, but the top three schools alone are over $340 million. The MWC teams are listed in bold, and a few things surprised me.

First is that TCU was highest MWC and non-BCS school on the list and by a good margin. The biggest surprise was that Utah ranked seventh in revenue for the time frame.

There is no surprise that the BCS schools make more money but the amount is staggering, just look at the bottom of the list with Louisiana-Monroe who pulled in less then seven million!

This makes what any non-BCS school accomplishes seem to be even greater then we thought. Just look at Utah they defeated Alabama who took in $88 million which is more then three times what Utah brought in last year who was just under $27 million.

The list is after the jump.

Rank	School	Total Revenue	Conference
1st	Texas	$120,288,370	Big 12
2nd	Ohio State	$117,953,712	Big Ten
3rd	Florida	$106,030,895	Southeastern Conference
4th	Michigan	$99,027,105	Big Ten
5th	Wisconsin	$93,452,334	Big Ten
6th	Penn State	$91,570,233	Big Ten
7th	Auburn	$89,305,326	Southeastern Conference
8th	Alabama	$88,869,810	Southeastern Conference
9th	Tennessee	$88,719,798	Southeastern Conference
10th	Oklahoma State	$88,554,438	Big 12
11th	Kansas	$86,009,257	Big 12
12th	Louisiana State	$84,183,362	Southeastern Conference
13th	Georgia	$84,020,180	Southeastern Conference
14th	Notre Dame	$83,352,439	Independent
15th	Iowa	$81,148,310	Big Ten
16th	Michigan State	$77,738,746	Big Ten
17th	Oklahoma	$77,098,009	Big 12
18th	Stanford	$76,661,466	Pac-10
19th	University of Southern California	$76,409,919	Pac-10
20th	Nebraska	$75,492,884	Big 12
21st	Texas A&M	$74,781,640	Big 12
22nd	Kentucky	$71,186,184	Southeastern Conference
23rd	Duke	$67,820,335	ACC
24th	South Carolina	$66,545,953	Southeastern Conference
25th	UCLA	$66,088,264	Pac-10
26th	Virginia	$65,400,485	ACC
27th	Arkansas	$64,197,470	Southeastern Conference
28th	California	$63,884,710	Pac-10
29th	Minnesota	$63,782,454	Big Ten
30th	Purdue	$62,093,614	Big Ten
31st	North Carolina--Chapel Hill	$61,263,269	ACC
32nd	Boston College	$61,203,340	ACC
33rd	Washington	$60,729,016	Pac-10
34th	Clemson	$59,126,212	ACC
35th	Illinois	$57,167,843	Big Ten
36th	Oregon	$56,623,902	Pac-10
37th	Virginia Tech	$56,029,172	ACC
38th	Indiana	$54,839,398	Big Ten
39th	Connecticut	$54,721,742	Big East
40th	West Virginia	$54,262,716	Big East
41st	Maryland	$54,171,741	ACC
42nd	Arizona State	$53,479,441	Pac-10
43rd	Colorado	$52,631,896	Big 12
44th	Louisville	$52,203,604	Big East
45th	Rutgers	$50,181,300	Big East
46th	Missouri	$49,113,786	Big 12
47th	Kansas State	$48,160,113	Big 12
48th	Oregon State	$47,185,827	Pac-10
49th	Georgia Tech	$47,126,247	ACC
50th	Arizona	$46,988,400	Pac-10
51st	Miami (Fla.)	$46,849,990	ACC
52nd	Vanderbilt	$45,521,855	Southeastern Conference
53rd	Florida State	$45,414,953	ACC
54th	Syracuse	$44,702,831	Big East
55th	North Carolina State	$44,553,795	ACC
56th	Baylor	$44,151,763	Big 12
57th	Texas Christian University	$43,439,777	Mountain West
58th	Texas Tech	$42,844,855	Big 12
59th	Northwestern	$41,835,733	Big Ten
60th	Wake Forest	$39,961,624	ACC
61st	Pittsburgh	$39,741,621	Big East
62nd	Washington State	$39,621,059	Pac-10
63rd	Iowa State	$38,642,013	Big 12
64th	BYU	$36,695,623	Mountain West
65th	Mississippi	$34,769,709	Southeastern Conference
66th	USF	$34,727,263	Big East
67th	Cincinnati	$33,886,561	Big East
68th	Memphis	$33,393,717	Conference USA
69th	SMU	$33,031,503	Conference USA
70th	Hawaii	$33,012,865	Western Athletic Conference
71st	UNLV	$32,796,515	Mountain West
72nd	San Diego State	$31,697,560	Mountain West
73rd	Houston	$30,856,264	Conference USA
74th	Air Force Academy	$30,604,249	Mountain West
75th	Mississippi State	$30,440,090	Southeastern Conference
76th	East Carolina	$29,268,128	Conference USA
77th	New Mexico	$28,806,308	Mountain West
78th	UCF	$28,775,770	Conference USA
79th	Temple	$27,478,056	Mid-American Conference
80th	Utah	$26,949,005	Mountain West
81st	Rice	$26,767,228	Conference USA
82nd	Fresno State	$26,273,405	Western Athletic Conference
83rd	Tulsa	$25,797,664	Conference USA
84th	New Mexico State	$25,065,502	Western Athletic Conference
85th	Wyoming	$23,717,482	Mountain West
86th	Miami (Ohio)	$23,263,940	Mid-American Conference
87th	UTEP	$23,182,621	Conference USA
88th	Colorado State	$22,093,683	Mountain West
89th	Boise State	$21,777,002	Western Athletic Conference
90th	UAB	$21,566,166	Conference USA
91st	Central Michigan	$21,493,640	Mid-American Conference
92nd	Marshall	$21,340,076	Conference USA
93rd	Nevada	$21,057,972	Western Athletic Conference
94th	Ohio	$20,448,176	Mid-American Conference
95th	Florida International	$20,230,655	Sun Belt Conference
96th	Tulane	$20,029,935	Conference USA
97th	Western Kentucky	$19,957,909	Independent
98th	Eastern Michigan	$19,341,287	Mid-American Conference
99th	Northern Illinois	$19,199,427	Mid-American Conference
100th	Western Michigan	$19,190,254	Mid-American Conference
101st	Buffalo	$19,080,151	Mid-American Conference
102nd	Kent State	$18,891,133	Mid-American Conference
103rd	San Jose State	$18,318,325	Western Athletic Conference
104th	Toledo	$18,127,253	Mid-American Conference
105th	Bowling Green	$18,087,524	Mid-American Conference
106th	Akron	$17,942,424	Mid-American Conference
107th	Ball State	$17,427,728	Mid-American Conference
108th	Middle Tennessee State	$17,254,577	Sun Belt Conference
109th	North Texas	$15,762,952	Sun Belt Conference
110th	Florida Atlantic	$14,751,549	Sun Belt Conference
111th	Southern Miss	$14,472,618	Conference USA
112th	Utah State	$13,205,337	Western Athletic Conference
113th	Troy	$13,134,964	Sun Belt Conference
114th	Idaho	$12,896,488	Western Athletic Conference
115th	Louisiana Tech	$12,465,865	Western Athletic Conference
116th	Louisiana-Lafayette	$11,134,598	Sun Belt Conference
117th	Arkansas State	$10,456,754	Sun Belt Conference
118th	Louisiana-Monroe	$7,733,035	Sun Belt Conference

Time for the Annual Expansion Talk...This Time We Mean It

Jeremy — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:40:02 -0400

Each year around this time, expansion gets talked about by adding Boise State and others to form a stronger league for BCS consideration.

This topic goes back a few years and really became interesting last November when Paul J. Schneider reported on KTIK that says Boise State has received a letter indicating that the Mountain West will invite the school to the conference next spring.

We all know that did not happen, and in my opinion for very good reason, because the four year cycle for BCS evaluation began last year. By not inviting Boise this year to join next year possibly could hamper Boise’s record may not be as stellar if they stay in the WAC.

So, for example if Boise State were to move to the MWC next season in 2010 which would be year three of the cycle their firs to years in the WAC would count.

In 2008, Boise State finished the regular season in the top 10—we use the regular season because that is in the BCS rules—and this year they most likely they will be in the top 20 at worst. Those years would count toward the Mountain West conference evaluation even though they would still be in the WAC.

My opinion is that the call will come next June for at least Boise State to join the Mountain West and begin play in the 2011 season. There is no concrete evidence with the exception of that mystery letter last November.

My reasoning is that historically Boise State has been ranked in the top 20, and the most important factor is that during the first three years they would have done their typical WAC dominance and then have one year in the Mountain West. That first year in the MWC may not result in a 11 win season, but they would be on par with BYU, Utah, and TCU.

While in my opinion this would be a good news for the MWC to add Boise State and that would prop the conference to be included for the BCS and possibly even ahead of the Big East and ACC.

However, Dirk Harmon from the Deseret News disagrees that expansion will ever happen, and his reasoning is not because that Boise State is not a great program but it is money.

That reasoning is weak, because Harmon says that the school presidents have done in-depth research and feel that splitting the television contract another way is not worth it. Also, Harmon must not know his very recent history from last year and writes this in his column:

“No non-BCS conference champion has ever gone to a BCS bowl with a loss. And probably never will.”

What he does not realize that TCU was ranked high enough to qualify with one less, it just happened that Utah and Boise State were ranked higher.

The money situation may be valid in the short term, however when a new deal is reached there will be more money because there are better teams. Plus, with the extra team there would be more games to be broadcasts.

There is also an outside shot of CBS running noon eastern games for the MWC when their next deal comes up. The MWC is all ready partners with CBS College Sports, so that could help the league move a few games to CBS.

If the league gets included to the BCS the eventually money would be enough to supplement of adding a 10th team to the Mountain West, and it would there would be an additional bowl game.

The money argument is weak because each BCS bowl pays out approximately $18 millions and they do not have to share with the other leagues, as it is currently stated when a non-BCS school gets invited.

Over time that money would offset the extra split of the pie, plus that extra money could yeild UNLV, SDSU, and the others who have been at the bottom of the league could make a jump like Cincinnati.

The other factor is if the league wants to go to a nine game conference schedule –similar to the Pac-10– with three non-conference games. The league should not adopt that because that would guarantee more loses within the league and limit the bowl teams. That is something the Pac-10 is learning the hard way.

Also, Air Force would object because they all ready play Navy and Army each year and that would give them only one non-conference game. The other objection could be similar to the Big 10 where the league does not play each other and on a certain year a lesser team could be 8-0 league play without having to play top teams.

That is not too hard to fix, because if Boise State makes the move there would be four very good teams and it would be hard for a team to sneak by because on an off year they would face three of those teams. The Big 10 is different because they miss two teams instead of one.

Again, my prediction is bold but Boise State will be invited to the Mountain West next year, and start play in the 2011 season. That happens to be the last year of the four year BCS evaluation and Boise State’s previous three years will count and that could possibly move the MWC to an automatic qualifier in the BCS.

Making the Rounds: More Media Day Madness

Jeremy — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:45:34 -0400

Daily Herald, Darnell Dickenson: Last year BYU was predictable on offense and changes were not made to adjust. Now this year in an attempt to change that with Bronco Mendenhall passing along play calling to offensive coordinator Jaime Hill:

"I'll take more of a consultant role," Mendenhall said. "But I reserve the right to make a play call in a critical moment, a key third down. I'll work toward managing the entire game."

This might make the difference for BYU since last year they were very predictable, and maybe a new prospective will do BYU good. Bronco did pass it off as no big deal but it is because of how last year the team flamed out against good opponents.

Lya Wodraska Salt Lake Tribune: Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is now the top of the MWC and the non-BCS schools for his 2008 season. Coach Whittingham is taking it in stride by telling players that 2008 was great but it is behind us, and here is what he specifically said about moving forward:

"What we did last year was great, but it's time to move on," he said. "We had that meeting in January. It wasn't easy to put it into practice, when the town was having parades, there was no clean cut from last year. Hopefully everything is behind us and we can move forward."

Smart move for Whittingham to move forward and focus on 2009. He does have experience since he took over after the 2004 Utah team that went undefeated, so hopefully he picked up a few tricks to keep the team focused.

Stefan Stevenson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Jerry Hughes had two goals he wanted to accomplish from his playing career at TCU, which is why he did not go to the pros last year, which was to get his degree and get a ring:

"I felt like the season we had last year we left a lot of things incomplete," Hughes said. "TCU is a great academic school and I always knew if [a degree] was something I had an opportunity to get I was going to go through with it."

Very smart for Hughes to want to get a degree to help himself once he is done after his NFL career, and hopefully if TCU is as good as they should be his draft stock will only increase.

Ken Ritter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson who has been lobbying for change feels that it will take five years before any change, if any, will occur with the BCS.

"If you perform and you win games and you're playing quality opponents and you're beating the Oklahomas, the Alabamas, the UCLAs, the Michigans, and all the people we've beaten," he said, "that should be our statement."

I typically do not always agree with the Commish, but this is the only way to get inclusion. In my opinion the MWC is very close to earning an auto-bid for the BCS, and if they have another year of multiple teams in the top 16 then the MWC deserves an auto bid to the BCS.

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: With all of the hissy fits that were thrown in an effort to find out who did not vote for Tim Tebow brought out another major flaw in the voting process that everyone knows: coaches do not fill out their own ballot. BYU head man Bronco Mendenhall believes that voting should not start until week six:

"I don't think it is possible to pick, nor do I think, philosophically, that there ought to be any preseason polls, period," he said. "I don't think there ought to be a preseason conference poll, nor do I think there should be a preseason national poll."

Six might be a bit much but after week four should be the date when polls are released. We all know that will never happen, because television wants to promote we have such and such ranked here so come watch out game. Plus, even with the Harris Poll starting their voting in October it essentially mirrors the AP and coaches poll when it is released.

Lya Wodraska, Salt Lake Tribune: This article is something I have been harping on with the unfairness of money distribution of BCS money. Finally MWC Commissioner, Craig Thompson, is bringing this to the for front. Currently the non-BCS teams share nine percent of the revenue each year, but in a year when a non-BCS gets in the money is an additional nine percent, but that is shared with all five non-BCS schools.

That money should be awarded to the conference for sending a team to the big money games, but since everyone is greedy the other four leagues cry foul with that statement since that is a way they improve their football program. Here is what Thompson said on the issue:

"I can see those other four leagues getting some for participation, but the best for us would be when a conference gets a team in the BCS, the other nine percent goes totally to that conference,"

Common sense is a dangerous word in college football, because not many have it and it is needed in this situation to realize the league deserves the money for qualifying. As a side note MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson was renewed through 2012.

The Mountain West Conference Still Has a Lot to Learn

Jeremy — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:33:18 -0400

Media days wrapped up for the Mountain West which by all accounts was a success, however something was missing. With media days around the country going on the past week there are some things that the MWC could do better in their coverage.

While The Big 10 Network brought out the fireworks with live coverage on their network as well as high quality streaming and other interaction on their website, as did the SEC with their online coverage; The Mountain West had zero live coverage and eventually posted videos on the league's site.

One would think that with their three television partners—Versus, CBS College, and The Mtn.—that there would be live coverage somewhere. The past two years the league has had live coverage of medias on either CBS College or The Mtn.

Then the quality of video and audio currently on the leagues site is similar to someone who takes a low quality video camera to record something on their television and then post it to Youtube.

Just a joke, well sort of.

Now to defend the league, they first they are one of two leagues to have their own network—The Mountain West Sports Network—and the league is planning on prepackaged interviews from media days to run Monday at 8 and 9pm MST.

Why not do both? It would make sense to have a high quality stream and a live show during media day and then get other interviews to have another show.

This is not the only complaint about the television deal, besides not being on Dish Network the league unlike the Big 10 does not stream games for free on-line for The Mtn.

The games on CBS College are streamed but they are at a few to access their very extensive online sports vault. If The Mtn. had at least that it would be an improvement, because if you do not have access to DirecTv or you are in an area that the cable company does not have The Mtn you are screwed.

Also, a good idea for more fresh content would be to broadcast the nine teams spring game. What a novel idea, know I know broadcasting a spring game like a regular season game can be expensive, however it can be done with out a sideline reporter because those are not needed plus all of the camera angles are not necessary.

So, if you have the traditional view with a few others and the on-air talent would be enough, plus that will fill out 18 hours of live content—something the league desperately needs in the summer—which can be rerun all summer up until the regular season. That would bring viewers to a college channel that has very little of new content.

The league still has much to learn.

Previewing 2009 New Mexico's Opponents: New Mexico State Aggies

Jeremy — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:06:47 -0400

New Mexico State had been known for the high power offense, but it was all for naught for them since their defense has been terrible. Last year, their offense even fell off and only averaged 22 points per game, which had them near the bottom of the NCAA, declining from their peak in 2006.

That is the reason they brought in former UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker. He will have his hands full on defense since the Aggies have been terrible the past few years. Not to say he did a great job at UCLA, but he will be a definite upgrade for the defense.

The offense will struggle as well since the Aggies lost Chase Holbrook, who was a pretty good quarterback who put up some nice numbers. However, look for a more traditional offense instead of the pass-happy scheme that was used in the previous regime.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Jeff Fleming	0	0	0	0
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Marquell Colston	82	384	4.7	4
Tonny Glynn	66	214	3.2	0
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Marcus Anderson	50	617	12.3	9
Julius Fleming	13	166	12.8	0
Marquell Colston	14	76	5.4	1

The new projected quarterback will be JC transfer Jeff Fleming, who had other offers from fellow WAC league mates Utah State and Idaho. Toss in the fact that the offensive line will be learning a new scheme, and the Aggies will hope that they do not get even worse this year.

Marquell Colston has potential at running back, but if the offensive line is adjusting to a new scheme, not to mention that the Aggies will most likely be playing from behind, this could make Colston a non-factor, no matter how good he might be.

The wideouts have the best potential to succeed with Marcus Anderson leading the way. The Aggies have talent here and should use this to their advantage.

If, and this is a big if, the quarterback play and the line can be stable, then the Aggies passing attack could cause trouble for some teams.

The defensive line is in terrible shape as well, giving up over 220 yards per game on the ground. Also, the defensive line was unable to run the ball or slow anyone down last season. There should be some improvement with returning talent, but that might not amount to too much improvement.

The main goal for the Aggies to try not be in the cellar of the WAC and stay ahead of Utah State and Idaho. Any improvement beyond that will be impressive.

Stat Work: Very Early Lines

Jeremy — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:59:58 -0400

Football czar Phil Steele has posted the very early lines for big games in college football. There is one discrepancy from the Golden Nugget, which is where Phil Steele got the info, and it is that they list the Colorado versus Colorado State game to be played in Denver. However, that game is being played in Boulder, the home of Colorado.

Bold teams are the home teams

Colorado minus 13 - Colorado State.

Have to take Colorado State. This game has been close the past three years and this one is in Boulder, so that could make a difference.

Oklahoma minus 21 BYU @ Arlington

This is tough but have to go with Oklahoma since last year they were able to score 35 against TCU last year. I would go with Oklahoma to cover.

Oregon State minus 14 UNLV

This interesting because UNLV should be better from last year's team, and while the Rebels are at home, they still may not win. Oregon State plays poorly in the early part of the season, so in this early pick take UNLV.

Utah – Oregon minus 7.5

Even though this is in Eugune, 7.5 points seems like a lot, especially for a team that has a new head coach in Chip Kelly taking over. Also, Oregon had numerous transfers, but the Ute QB should be settled and go with Utah.

Florida State- BYU minus 3

BYU rarely loses at home and FSU is pretty good, but not like they were in the mid 90's, so go with BYU.

Hawai’i- UNLV minus 7

Interesting matchup and this is a high scoring game, but I would take Hawai’i to cover because UNLV has a need for defense and Islanders can really put up points.

UNLV-Nevada minus 7

Interesting for Nevada to be favored, but in the Wolfpack's defense they return nearly everyone on offense. Take UNLV because both teams can score and it will back and forth.

UNLV-BYU minus 13

Last year this game came down to the wire, and UNLV should be better, so the early pick is UNLV.

San Diego State-BYU minus 17

Easy, take the Cougars.

UNLV-Utah minus 10

Now this game is interesting because UNLV should be better, and the Utes have a new quarterback. The revenge factor will be in since the Utes last visit to Vegas was an embarassing 27-0 loss, so take the Utes to cover.

Utah-BYU minus 6

This one may seem easy to pick Utah because, if you do not include last year's route, the three previous came down to a final play, so the early pick is Utah.

Previewing 2009 New Mexico Opponents: Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Jeremy — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:15:55 -0400

Tulsa will have to replace 4,059 yard passer David Johnson with junior Jacob Bower. Also, the Golden Hurricane will need to replace their top rusher Tarrion Adams who had 1,523 yards, and also their top receiver Brennan Marion who had over 1,100 yards.

All of these loses will make it very hard for Tulsa to repeat their 2008 offensive output that was second in the nation. All is not lost for Tulsa, because when David Johnson took over for Paul Johnson for the 2008 season he did a good job taking over and keeping the offense in the top 10 nationally.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Jacob Bower	73.3	138	1	1
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Jamad Williams	86	523	6.1	3
Charles Opeseyitan	45	355	7.9	2
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Slick Shelley	39	627	16.1	8
Damaris Johnson	47	608	12.9	9
Trae Johnson	20	475	23.8	3

Jacob Bower is the front runner but he needs to watch out for former three star sophomore G.J. Kinne, who began his career at Texas, and true freshman Shavodrick Beaver, who enrolled early and went through spring practice.

Most likely playing time will win out, but Kinne sat out last year to learn the system and Beaver learned in the Spring, so this is a race to watch out for. So, who ever gets the started job should put up monster numbers and compete for a C-USA title.

In contrary to popular belief Tulsa does run the ball, because last year they were fifth in the nation in running the ball. Now all Tulsa has to do is replace Tarrion Adams who had over 1,500 yards and 14 scores.

That responsibility goes to Jamad Williams and Charles Opeseyitan both combined for just under 900 yards. The reason Tulsa is able to run the ball is because their passing game is so prolifent with the deep ball, and that leaves running room for the backs. The Golden Hurricane actually run about sixty percent of the time.

In the receiver department they do lose big play wide out Brennan Marion who averaged 25.9 per catch. What does this mean, well nothing really as the next player will step up and become the depth threat.

This is the position with the least worries with their next five wide outs back from 2008. The way coach Todd Graham runs his pass attack everyone gets the ball; that is the way Tulsa has been so successful since they can manipulate matchups to their advantage. One last note on the offense is that Herb Hand was promoted from line coach to offensive coordinator to replace Gus Malzahn, who went to Auburn to for the same position.

Now on to defense, umm yes defense is something Tulsa needs to improve on. They gave up 27 points per game and ranked 78th in the nation in that category, but more importantly were middle of the pack in C-USA. The difference was only six points from 2008 champ East Carolina.

They are a more experienced team with returning players, but the defense has taken the bend and not break policy and let the offense win games.

Preview 2009 New Mexico Opponents: Texas A&M Aggies

Jeremy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:11:50 -0400

Texas A&M used to be a power, but they have steadily declined ever since the firing of R.C. Slocum and their latest conference title in the Big XII in 1998.

The Aggies are in year two of the Mike Sherman era and it begins with no quarterback controversy with the reigns given to Jerrod Johnson. He replaces Stephen McGee as the sole starter for 2009, and did show flashes of goodness with seven games passing for over 200 yards.

Out of that seven they include a 381 yard performance against Iowa State and then a 419 yards against Kansas, so he has skills. Johnson also is a solid runner, but the offensive line struggled last year to protect any of the quarterbacks.

One odd stat from Rivals mentions that Jerrod Johnson's—who did not play the full season— 21 touchdown passes was a school record. Somewhat surprised by that and that record should be broken again.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Jerrod Johnson	59.5	2,435	21	10
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Cyrus Gray	75	363	4.3	5
Jerrod Johnson	94	114	1.2	3
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Jeff Fuller	50	630	12.6	9
Terrence McCoy	24	237	9.9	1
Ryan Tannehill	55	844	15.3	5

Recruiting was a boom last year as the Ags scooped up running back Christine Michael who was a five star recruit and third rated back in the nation. Michael will compete immediately for time, because the lack of returning rushing prowess falls into Cyrus Gray who had only 363 yards last year.

The offensive line should be better from last year's performance where the Aggies ranked 114th in the nation in rushing offense and 115th in sacks allowed. So, why should they be better? Well the Aggies return four starters from last year's awesomely bad offensive line.

The bright spot? The receiving unit has talent starting with wide receiver Jeff Fuller who corralled 50 catches and nine scores. Then there is Ryan Tannehill who caught 55 passes, but he still has aspirations to be quarterback. For the Ags to try to get out of the Big XII South basement they need Tannehill to stick at wide out.

In Texas A&M’s defense the Big XII is full of offensive fire power, but when you are 115th in the nation in scoring defense at 37.4 and when comparing that within the Big XII the Aggies were last.

The defense does bring back experience, but the defense is still young with seven underclassmen as projected starters. They should improve, because it is hard to repeat their 2008 crash and burn defense. In the pass happy Big XII the Aggies better be ready because they only return one starter in the secondary in Jordan Pugh.

The Aggies will be struggling to not repeat last year with losses to Arkansas State at home, and a 20 point loss to Baylor. Their hope is to try to win five games which is one more then last year, and that might be asking too much.

2009 Mountain West Conference Media Days

Jeremy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:21:23 -0400

We're only one week away from 2009 media days! That means football is inching ever so closer to the September 3 kickoff.

The Mountain West Conference is one of the few leagues to keep media days alive, and besides, who doesn't love the cattle call of players and coaches being interviewed by the local media.

This is when the big awards and preseason media poll is put out, and with that happening July 21 and 22, I will make my predictions for offensive and defensive player of the year and the preseason predictions.

With the team predictions, readers will have to wait for another month for in-depth previews, and it is possible the order will change if there are any injuries in camp. As with the players of the year, a top three list will be there and in order.

Offensive Player of the Year

1. Max Hall, QB, BYU

Pretty obvious choice to put Hall in the top three, but the winner most likely will come down to the quarterback of the champ; well unless someone like Air Force’s Chad Hall from 2007 who put up monster numbers and won the award.

2. Andy Dalton, QB, TCU

Ditto for Dalton here, he may not put up huge numbers like Max Hall but he may put up numbers more along the lines of 2008 MWC offensive POY in Utah’s Brian Johnson just as long as TCU wins the league.

Dalton is athletic enough to get some rushing yards, but he needs to stay healthy to lead the team to a league title.

3. Omar Clayton, QB, UNLV

People may call me crazy but Clayton may be the dark-horse here. Last year, in nine games, he did quite well and did a great job in almost leading his team past BYU. He did have three games over 250 yards passing, a 9/2 touchdown to interception ratio.

Clayton was not asked to run a lot last year, but with running back Frank Summers gone to the NFL Clayton may need to run more.

Defensive Player of the Year:

1. Jerry Hughes, DE TCU

Last year he had 15 sacks, 19.5 tackles for loss, and two picks. It might be hard to reproduce, but he is the best defensive player in the league is the favorite.

2. Robert Johnson, DB Utah

Johnson has a knack for fighting the ball and making defensive plays. Last year he had four interceptions, three passes broken up, and then had 41 tackles with eight for a loss

3.Stevenson Sylvester, LB Utah

The last image of of Sylvester is his three sacks in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama. Even beyond that Sylvester was making plays all year. He had 73 tackles, eight for a loss, and 3.5 sacks; he will be a player that opposing coaches game plan for in 2009.

Order of Finish

Again, not too much detail will be given on each team until late August, where I may or may not change this order.

1. TCU: Their offense finally has moved closer to the defense, and that is what puts them over the edge.

2. Utah: Defense is the reason Utah is here, and if they get a stable quarterback play they should finish right here.

3. BYU: Defense is why BYU is here, mainly their secondary that was exposed last year. The offense should be fine, and possible could be even great if the coaches are not predictable like last year.

4. UNLV: The Rebels are my extreme dark horse to win the title. They have the quarterback play with Omar Clayton and the receiver in Ryan Wolfe, but a running back and a better defense needs to step up.

5. Air Force: If the Falcons can find a quarterback they should be OK. Currently Tim Jefferson is working on academic issues, and Asher Clark is recovering from an injury and is switching to quarterback from running back.

6. Colorado State: The Rams are replacing a quarterback, top two running backs, tight end, plus their top two linebackers are not playing in 2009. The good news is that their offensive line returns and they will be the strength of the team.

7. San Diego State: They have the quarterback in Ryan Lindley, but they need to avoid the injury bug and show up on defense to improve.

8. New Mexico: This could be low because Rocky Long did not leave the cupboard bare, but it always seems that the Lobos never meet their potential.

9. Wyoming: The spread offense that Dave Christenson is bring over from Missouri will take time to gel in Laramie. The defense should help them keep games close, but unless the offense learns the system it will be a long year.

Making The Rounds: Super League Forming?

Jeremy — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:26:40 -0400

The Daily Camera: This is the off season so news is slow, and wacky at times. Wacky is where this article that The Daily Camera wrote recently. Basically, it says that certain schools should break away from the NCAA and make a super league that would be outside of NCAA affiliation for football:

“The new league would consist of eight conferences of eight teams each for a total of 64 teams. There are currently 65 schools in BCS conferences plus Notre Dame. We’d keep the majority of those, but toss out a few and add some from the other leagues.

Schools we’d toss: Duke, Iowa State, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Connecticut and Washington State. Schools we’d add: Utah, TCU, BYU, Boise State, East Carolina and Tulsa, giving us 64.

Eight conference champs and eight runners-up advance to a 16-team playoff. Four weeks—and more hype than you can imagine—later you have a national champion.”

This would be quite interesting, but is just a pipe dream and good for some offseason banter.

Dick Harmon, Desert News: Apparently everyone, including myself, is tired of this BCS talk and Congressional hearings. Dick Harmon makes a good point in the Desert News about how the leagues need to prove it on the field:

“If the MWC could post a 6-4 or 7-3 mark against the BCS, it would scream a lot louder than hearings and debates between closed minds and articulate outsiders.”

Must agree with Harmon that the MWC and others outside of the BCS must keep winning games against BCS opponents and BCS games.

Pikes Picks: If it's a playoff you want then check out Pikes Picks, who is doing the ultimate college football tournament that consists of 2,048 teams over the past 32 years. This site will drown you with info and hours of time will be wasted. The site owner will email the entire bracket as well. If you are a college football junkie this is a must read and can hold you over until opening day September 3.

Matt Hinton, Dr. Saturday: The Doc rolls out mid major week over at Yahoo!, and where else to start then the ultimate mid-major team with the 1984 BYU Cougars, who were the national champions?

“Maybe the ‘84 champs’ enduring influence is far-fetched, but today, it’s inconceivable that a team from an historically second-tier conference could finish No. 1 without beating a single team that finished in the final polls, on the heels of a two-week-old victory in the Holiday Bowl; in fact, Utah’s 13-0 run last year, which featured four wins over ranked teams, completely dwarfs the Cougars’ championship resumé, and the Utes didn’t get a sniff at a title in the polls or otherwise, despite a much better position re: one-loss teams from bigger conferences and a more impressive win in a marquee bowl—and Utah came closer to the top than any other upstart since the Cougars’ triumph.”

The latter half of the statement is true that BYU’s schedule that year is more comparable to Hawaii’s 2007 schedule than the 2008 Utes. In my opinion, the only way a non-BCS team will get to the title game is if they start the season ranked in the top 15, play a super tough schedule, and have a little luck.

Jeff Call, Deseret News: The Desert News is running an eight part series highlighting the 25th anniversary of the BYU national title team. So far, only two parts have been published, and the series runs daily through the end of the week. Each article is long, but it is a good read if want to remember those memories.

“BYU still stands as the last team to enter a season unranked and win a national championship. The Cougars are also the last team from a non-BCS conference to win a national title in football.”

Desert News: BYU is up to 20 recruits for the 2010 class, and this could be their last recruit for the class. Before we dive into the math, the recruit is a biggie with Hawai’i recruit Kona Schwenke, who is a four star Rivals recruit and who, by some accounts, is the top rated Hawai’i prospect this year:

“Coaches are starting to whisper 4-star defensive end Kona Schwenke … might be the best (2010 football recruit in Hawaii) of all.”

Twenty could be the max because of the missionary factor for BYU, so they need to keep track of who will be on scholarship once they come back, and conversely some of the 2010 recruits may choose not to take on a scholarship if they go on a mission before enrolling.

Preview 2009 Colorado State Opponents: Idaho Vandals

Jeremy — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:27:38 -0400

Idaho is well to be nice not any good last year they were 2-10 and one of those was against FCS in-state opponent Idaho State. A few good things, and I reiterated few, is the starting quarterback is Nathan Enderle who is returning for his third year under center.

Hope is for Idaho is that Enderle can improve off of his 54 completion percentage which jumped 10 percent from 2007-2008. This could be reached because the Vandals only lose their top receiver who was their tight end, but the do return Max Komar, Preston Davis, Maurice Shaw, and Eric Greenwood.

The running game does have hope with Deonte' Jackson returning his 696 yards, and if Idaho can stay in games Jackson has the chance to breakout and get to 1,000 yards. That said Idaho needs to replace three starters from the offensive line, so space may be limited for any back trying to gain yards.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Nathan Enderle	54.3	2,007	20	17
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Deonte' Jackson	161	696	4.3	3
Princeton McCarty	77	480	6.2	3
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Max Komar	26	298	11.5	0
Preston Davis	27	296	11.0	3
Deonte' Jackson	16	111	6.9	0

The defensive bright spots are few and far between, but their best unit is the secondary lead by strong safety Shiloh Keo. This unit better be improved because Idaho gave up 262 yards per game in the air. That porous pass defense directly translated to a scoring defense that was last in the WAC, and 118th nationally while giving up 42.8 points per game.

Turnover margin is a key factor to how good, or in this case bad, a team is and Idaho was—to no surprise—near the bottom of the NCAA's with a minus 13. That margin is hard to repeat and Phil Steele is a staunch believer that teams with a bad turnover margin have the best chance to improve in their following season.

In theory the Vandals should be improved, but there is no escaping the bottom of the WAC in 2009.

Brett Ratliff, Cameron Jensen: Pixelation at Its Finest

Jeremy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:28:04 -0400

Now this is a cool picture and was done by Jeff Holt who was wondering how to fill his 17-by-8.5 blank wall in his basement. The picture was made by using golf tees and then painting them the color to match.

The picture is of former Utah QB Brett Ratliff diving for a loose ball against BYU's Cameron Jensen in the 2006 Holy War which BYU won 33-31. Again, this is just plain awesome!

Preview 2009 Colorado State Opponents: Nevada Wolfpack

Jeremy — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:32:45 -0400

Nevada is a team that might challenge Boise State because of running back Vai Taua who stepped in for the injured Luke Lippincott to lead the WAC with 1,521 rushing yards in 2008.

Lippincott, led the WAC in rushing in 2007 with 1,420 yards. Lippincott then received a sixth season of eligibility after missing all but two games with a knee injury last season.

Another reason why Nevada has a shot at rising to the top of the WAC is that they are the only team to return two players on defense with double digit sacks with Dontay Moch and Kevin Basped.

Also, do not forget that the Wolfpack return quarterback Colin Kaepernick who was the 2008 WAC first team all-conference quarterback, and just check below the returning offensive stats.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Colin Kaepernick	54.3	2,849	22	7
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Vai Taua	236	1,521	6.4	15
Colin Kaepernick	161	1,130	7	17
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Chris Wellington	42	632	15.0	6
Vai Taua	30	243	8.1	3
Tray Session	1	6	6	0

It is hard to take digs at this team, because the numbers do not lie and offensively they return eight players. The only missing are their top wide out and two lineman. If a dig is to be taken is it on the line because redshirt frosh Chris Barker is projected as one of the starting guards.

That is just knitpicking, because the Wolfpack’s Pistol offense is a little different, but very effective in the running game.

The biggest improvement to be made offensively isColin Kaepernick if he can improve off of his 54 percent completion percentage then the Wolfpack will be very dangerous.

One fact about Kaepernick is that he is only the fifth player in NCAA history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Look for him to do it again.

Defensive is the problem, even with Dontay Moch and Kevin Basped returning to attack the quarterback, but the Wolfpack need someone in the secondary to step it up.

In the WAC Nevada was sixth in total defense by giving up 32 points per game, ninth in passing defense giving up 311 yards per game which also was 119th nationally.

There are eight starters back on defense which should help the secondary is a real mess with no clear cut players emerging, but rather six potential players who should see time.

Nevada does have a chance to be special and are an extreme darkhorse to dethrone Boise State for the WAC title, but the Wolfpack should make it to their fifth consecutive bowl game.

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Preview 2009 Colorado State Opponents: Weber State Wildcats

Jeremy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:59:38 -0400

Weber State is a team from the FCS division but they are one of the better teams. Last year, the Wildcats went 10-4 and made the playoffs last year.

Even though Weber is a FCS school, the Rams should not take them lightly, because the Wildcats return every stat leader from last year's team from the skill positions.

The 2008 Wildcats put up 35 points per game last year, and their defense which did not have do all that well, gave up a below-average 22 per game.

Expect the same on offense for Weber, because when they return a 4,000-plus starting passer in 2008 with Cameron Higgins, plus toss in more experience with the top targets back they will be tough.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Cameron Higgins	65.5	4,460	36	13
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Trevyn Smith	295	1,585	5.4	21
Justin White	30	209	7.0	2
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Tim Toone	84	1,525	18.2	7
Trevyn Smith	62	778	12.5	7
Cody Nakamura	48	729	15.2	10

Football mastermind Phil Steele rates Weber as his 21st-rated FCS school, now that is down from their regular season finale ranking of ninth, but the offensive fire power they will be dangerous.

Even though Weber is playing Colorado State and Wyoming, do not be surprised if they put up a good fight, because last year, Weber put up 21 points on Utah and gave Hawai’i a scare.

The depth is where Weber is not comparable to either of their FBS opponents this year, and if Weber loses their starting quarterback or any other starter, their season is in trouble.

Back to the threats on Weber: their top three wideouts average of 12 yards per catch; that is so amazing. The way Weber spreads the ball, any defense will need top-notch cornerbacks to control the Weber wideouts.

Then the running game, with 1,500 yard rusher Trevyn Smith is another way for Weber to pound a team out, and he has a nose for the touchdown as he had an amazing 21 touchdowns from last year. Oh yeah, he also had a 5.4-yard per carry average.

As for the defense, Weber just needs to try to stop or slow down their opponents who have bigger and faster athletes, and if they are able to keep these teams under 20, there is a good shot of upsetting one of their two FBS opponents.

A return trip to the FCS playoffs is possible for Weber State they just need to get through the Montana schools in the Big Sky conference to make it.

Colorado State and Wyoming better watch out, because with the amount of offense returning, do not be shocked.

Evolution of Bowl Money Distrubution

Jeremy — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:12:16 -0400

Richard W. Evans a person much smarter then me happens to be a professor at BYU in economics and has four degrees—including a PhD in economics—put together a very good article. The article is titled NCAA Bowl Finance: Something Changed in 1995 is a must read. As I attempt to stumble through his work, hopefully I am able to add onto his article.

The pay difference has been closely the same, but in 1992 the Bowl Coalition was formed in order to have a national title game, but their agreement kept out the current non-BCS schools.

The Coalition included the SEC, Big 8, SWC, ACC, and Big East and Notre Dame to play in six bowl games Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, Gator, and John Hancock/Sun Bowl.

The Pac-10 and Big 10 were not involved because of their long ties with the Rose Bowl, because of tradition with the Tournament of Roses and cranky old men who do not like change. During the three years of the Bowl Coalition the revenue distribution actually dipped in 1994.

So, in 1995 the Bowl Alliancewas formed and the only difference was that the Big 8 and SWC merged to form the Big XII and then the bowl games were trimmed to the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta.

The Big 10 and Pac-1o kept their agreement to be stubborn and play each leagues champion in the Rose Bowl.

The 1995 season was the first year that the revenue disparity made a huge jump and feeding into the all ready gold-lined pockets with more gold and the teams not within the Alliance their revenue did not increase since they were not allowed into the party.

1998 was a huge deal because that is the year the BCS was formed. It actually, reluctantly, joined the party and that is when the bowl season income jumped exponentially each year for the BCS leagues.

As for the non-BCS leagues they get $9.5 million each year and then an additional $9.5 million once a non-BCS team makes it into a big money game.

However, when you look at the chart when the BCS money increased during the current BCS model the non-BCS stays the relatively stagnant except when a non-BCS team gets into a BCS bowl game.

With the recent Congress hearings with the BCS the "defense" was that since the inception of the BCS it has given more access and money to the non-BCS, however when you take the bowl revenue where the majority is from the five BCS games that pay out is $17-$20 million.

Even with the money that is handed down to the non-BCS the disparity is growing everywhere, and the only years when the revenue moves in opposite directions is in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. To no surprise that is the years when teams outside the BCS leagues qualified for a BCS game.

The argument that the BCS has given more money to the non-BCS is accurate that they would not have been able to get, but the flip side is that the BCS schools get astronomically more money then the non-BCS.

I agree that the BCS leagues deserve more money then the non-BCS leagues because Florida, USC, Texas, and others in that caliber are the one's that bring the ad dollars and eyeballs to the game.

One last note is that out of all of the bowl games that have one non-BCS schools participating only four have payouts of one million dollars or more. Again, this goes back to my earlier statement that the big leagues bring the money, but that number is putrid when one compares that the BCS leagues have twenty-two where the payout is over a million dollars.

The disparity is just going to keep growing unless there is another to distribute more revenue to the non-BCS schools, my only suggestion would be when a non-BCS schools gets into a BCS game that school and league get the entire pay out; instead of going by the current model that requires these qualifiers to share the bowl payout with all of the non-BCS leagues.

That is just a thought and in my opinion a logical choice to reward a school and league for having a great season.

San Diego State Still on the Hook for Chuck Long

Jeremy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:27:47 -0400

The Doc makes a great analogy in comparing former San Diego State coach Chuck Long to the employee challenged George Costanza—from Seinfeld as if you did not all ready know that. The gist is that Costanza was fired for faking an injury and using an electronic cart, but since he had a contract with Play-Now he was offered six months pay to quit.

However the sneaky Costanza opted against that since he would be paid the entirety if he showed up everyday, so the company made it miserable for him as he did show up everyday.

On to the Chuck Long story. He was canned last year and received a buyout since he still had a few years left on his deal, but that is not the story here.

The difference here is that Long still has an office on campus, which is real odd, and doing who knows what. His contract states that he will be paid as long as he has works at the University:

"SDSU hired Kelley to mediate a way out of Long's contract, which ensures him $715,900 per year through Dec. 31, 2010. Long was fired as football coach in November, but his contract guarantees him his full salary while continuing work at the university. Since he was fired, Long has kept office hours on campus doing “projects and analysis.”

His contract is unusual in that it contains a clause saying he is entitled to no further compensation once he lands a new job. In effect, this creates an incentive for Long to stay at SDSU because no other likely job would pay him nearly as much.

That outside consultant is being paid $125 per hour to work out a settlement, but the real question is who made this deal. Somehow this clause that would only pay Long as long as he was not employed elsewhere was designed to save the school money.

Huh?!? The reason that Long is reporting each day is that their is no assistant coaching job—unless you are at Tennessee—that would pay him more then his $715,900.

Plus, there is no one going to hire Chuck Long as a head coach any time soon, so who can blame him to report each day and this is the reason San Diego has not been relevant since Marshall Faulk.

The BCS: Breaking Down the Facts

Jeremy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:00:48 -0400

This is similar to the write up with Harve Perlman, but this time it is with Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Tony Barnhart. Now before we get into Barnhart's credentials—which will be exposed—let's get into my credentials and show where I am coming from.

First off, this is a blog about the Mountain West, so the articles are biased toward the league. But I try to be balanced. I did graduate from the University of Utah; plus, I am a member of the Mormon Church, so I grew up following BYU.

However, I grew up in Houston, and up until high school, I followed the Texas Longhorns. In addition, I spent two-plus years in college just outside of New York.

So, while I am pro-MWC, I have been around the country, and I did follow one of the biggest football programs for about 10 years.

Now on to Barnhart's roots. He has lived in the Atlanta area his whole life with the exception of being in Greensboro, North Carolina, for seven years. He also went to school at the University of Georgia. So, for his whole journalistic career, he has been in the South, and he has been around BCS leagues.

Now on to the fun part where we rip into his facts about the BCS, and here is his article in full.

Barnhart's First Fact

"Utah was not denied a chance to play for the BCS National Championship. Utah had as much a chance to play for the BCS title as any other school.

But 175 people voted in the Harris Interactive and coaches polls, two of the three components in the BCS formula. The 114 people in the Harris poll voted Utah seventh. The 61 coaches in the USA Today poll also voted Utah seventh and no coach—none—voted Utah higher than No. 5. Of the 114 people who voted in the Harris Poll, only five voted Utah No. 5 or better."

My Response

In my opinion, Utah did not deserve to be in the BCS Championship Game, but after their BCS game, there is an argument that Utah could have beaten any team.

Barnhart's fact is half-true, but the part that is completely false is that he says, "Utah had as much a chance to play for the BCS title as any other school."

What he forgot to mention is the rest of the sentence, which should read "any other school that is in a BCS league." The fact is that Utah and every other school not part of the six BCS leagues does not have an equal chance to make it to the BCS title.

Due to conference perception, many non-BCS Conference teams do not get a fair shake in the polls.

More specifically, the preseason polls carry so much weight, and if a team is not perceived to be good in the preseason, they will not be ranked, which hurts their ability to climb to No. 1.

Just look at the Big East when, in 2007, West Virgina was one game away from the title game before they lost to a bad Pitt team.

Or, look at South Florida, who was ranked No. 2 in the nation in 2007 because they were in the Big East despite having victories over Florida Atlantic, Elon, and Central Florida.

So, if Utah were in the lowly Big East in 2008, they would have been in the title game.

The voting part is mostly fact; Harris voters have admitted to not watching any of Utah games or having their secretary or SID vote for who should play in the BCS Championship Game.

Barnhart's Second Fact

"Even the coaches in Utah’s league, the Mountain West, did not step up for the Utes when it counted. Joe Glenn of Wyoming had Utah at No. 5. Rocky Long of New Mexico and Gary Patterson of TCU had them at No. 7. Kyle Whittingham, Utah’s own coach, had his team at No. 5.

So, where was all the love for Utah before they played Alabama in the Sugar Bowl? The fact is that while Utah deserved to win because the Utes outplayed the Crimson Tide (who didn’t want to be there), it wasn’t until after the Sugar Bowl that Utah became this incredible juggernaut, which should have been given the chance to play for it all."

My Response

This I reluctantly agree with because even I admit that Utah was not one of the top two teams in college football when the regular season ended.

However, there is the tossed-around disclaimer that Alabama did not want to be there, even though they have not been to a major bowl since their 2000 Orange Bowl appearance. I'm not going to dwell on it but that excuse is lame. Once they strap it up, players are ready. Plus, go back to the coin toss when Alabama captains said something along the lines of "I'm gonna kill ya."

Barnhart's Third Fact

"For all of the BCS' flaws, the fact is that it has provided bowl opportunities to a new array of schools, who had, supposedly, been aggrieved in the past.

How many times had Utah played in the Sugar Bowl before the BCS? How many times had Hawaii played in the Sugar Bowl before the BCS? How many times had Boise State played in a New Year’s Day bowl before the BCS?

If you answered zero to all three questions, you’d be right. 'The fact of the matter is that the BCS has given access to those conferences that they never had before,' said former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer, considered to be the godfather of the BCS. 'Look at the history of the major bowls. They had almost never invited one of those teams before the BCS.'"

My Response

Yes, the BCS has given more opportunities but that still does not mean the system is the best. This past year, Boise State, who was undefeated, and a one-loss TCU was bypassed for a lower-ranked Ohio State because they will put more eyeballs on the screen.

That is what makes the anti-trust violations of the BCS plausible, with better teams being passed over due to a business decision. Also, money distribution within the BCS is not fair because if a team from a non-BCS league gets in, they must share with the other five non-BCS leagues making their share much, much smaller.

Just look at 0-12 Washington, who made more money than almost every non-BCS team this year—Utah being the exception.

Barnhart's Fourth Fact

"The original BCS agreement that was put together back in 1998 never would have happened unless the champions of those six “equity” conferences (ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10) had been promised automatic slots.

'Those conferences already had automatic bowl bids. We (in the SEC) had a long-standing agreement with the Sugar Bowl,' said Kramer. 'There is no way that those conferences were going to give that up without a guaranteed slot. And remember that we were working with four bowls, and those were the conferences they were used to dealing with.'

The fact is that the free marketplace determined that those six conferences would get automatic bids, and there were at-large spots made available to qualified teams. Maybe you believe that market forces have no place in college athletics, but that is how it happened. It wasn’t a conspiracy to keep the other teams out. It was the only way to get the deal done."

My Response

Ha, saying that free marketplace determined who would be in what bowls completely contradicts the earlier part of the statement that said,

"There is no way those conferences were going to give that up without a guaranteed slot."

That sounds nothing like a free enterprise system to me. The only quasi-free market portion of the BCS is the four at-large sports because these spots go to deserving teams unless your non-BCS team gets bypassed for a school with a larger fan base in order to get a larger television audience.

Barnhart's Fifth Fact

"While the six equity conferences do get an automatic bid and the $18 million payday that comes with it, the five Coalition conferences (Conference USA, MAC, WAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt) have placed a team in the BCS in four of the past five seasons. Those five conferences get an automatic $9.5 million for participating and another $9.5 million when they place a team in a BCS game. So, over the past five seasons, the BCS has pumped about $80 million into those five Coalition conferences.

That’s a lot of money that did not even exist before the advent of the BCS. Should the Coalition conferences get more? Yes, and I believe they will. I also believe that in the future the conferences will be able to get more than one team in the BCS if they have two teams in the Top 10."

My Reponse

Again, it is true that the non-BCS teams are getting access to more money, but when a non-BCS team makes it to a lucrative bowl game, the money is not shared just within their own league.

The money is spread to all five of the non-BCS leagues, making their cut very small in comparison to any BCS conference. Now, if the money was given to just the conference that make a BCS game, that would be more fair.

While the putrid amount of money that is being handed out to non-BCS conferences is larger than before, the difference in money is a lot more then it used to be before the BCS was formed. The BCS leagues keep increasing revenue while the non-BCS get a spike only when they get a team in the big-money bowls.

My rebuttals do make sense, and they are not just stuff flung against the wall in hopes that they stick. The MWC had no choice but to sign Goliath's contract because, in the end, money is what talks, and if the MWC and the WAC bailed, they would be left to dry.

Making the Rounds: All This BCS is Making My Head Hurt

Jeremy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:37:30 -0400

No more promise are to be made of this being the "last" or "next to last" article on the BCS. There is just too much content to ignore the issue. Now I could just write a huge piece filled with thousands of words about the hearings.

This BCS talk has some legs still and hopefully this will, maybe, probably not be the last article on the BCS this off season.

The first news, which really was no surprise is that the Mountain West finally signed the new BCS deal. This was going to happen, because the league was no way to lose the BCS money or exposure if one of the MWC schools make it to the BCS.

Berry Tremmel, The Oklahoman: Being from Oklahoma Berry is quite objective, which is fresh when reading others work from people who write about BCS leagues or in that region.

This article makes good points with how the BCS has given more access to big money games, but is still unfair:

"This was a Utah pity party, nothing more. I'm a longtime supporter of the Mountain West Conference. I advocate an automatic BCS berth for the Mountain West, and I annually rip the NCAA basketball committee for short-changing the mid-majors.

"I'm not even anti-playoff, so long as it's an 11-team playoff that includes all the conference champions. But Congress can't fix anything, and the Mountain West has limited credibility in this case."

Credibility is what the MWC needs, which is why they need to try to continue on their progress from last year

Insider Higher Ed: To some extent the BCS hearings were a big show for Orrin Hatch to try to prove that Utah and the non-BCS do not have the same access:

"In front of a standing-room-only audience - which clearly owed much of its size to the presence of more than a few sports-crazed Congressional interns - a pair of university presidents and antitrust lawyers debated the merits and legality of the Bowl Championship Series."

This hearing was a lot about anti-trust and ethics, as well as people saying "not to offend anyone." This hearing accomplished nothing and was a big gran stand.

Dana Milbank The Washington Post: Milbank dives into the BCS hearings and goes in the angle of antitrust:

"In theory, an antitrust case could be made that the six athletic conferences that dominate the BCS have an unfair advantage over the five other conferences, which are not traditional football powerhouses.

But the argument has been largely confined to bars and sports pages, because nobody seems terribly eager to fight it out in court."

This is the best way to bust up the BCS because the money distribution is not fair when a non-BCS team makes it to a BCS game. However Hatch did not go in that direction, and instead said that because of the league Utah is in they never had a chance at a title.

Matt Hinton, Dr. Saturday: The big point in the hearings was when Harvey Perlman said that if Utah played Nebraska's schedule. Perlman made it seemed like it was oh so simple.

Not really since Utah has only four games to beef up their schedule, and getting teams four teams in the top 25 is impossible.

Here is what The Doc had to say on this:

Replace "the schedule Nebraska played" with "the schedule Florida played" or "the schedule Oklahoma played" or "the schedule [insert powerhouse] played"; Nebraska, specifically, is not important here. (A good thing for Perlman, because the Huskers haven't beaten a ranked team since 2001.)

What is important is that of course Utah could not have played the schedule Nebraska (or Florida or Oklahoma) played. It's literally not possible on multiple levels under the current system, which is precisely the issue Hatch and his BCS-hating colleagues are attacking here.

Even though if Harvey Perlman did his homework, the Utah schedule was rated as the 56th and only 18 spots behind Nebraska. So the difference is not there.

Overall there is not much difference in was written about, and the media outside of Utah have been all over these BCS hearings.

Making the Rounds: Yes More BCS

Jeremy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:41:32 -0400

The Mtn: The Mountain West Sports Network and CBS College Sports has finally expanded their footprint and are expanding with Cox Cable for all of Arizona and Orange County, California.

Pretty big deal to get all of Arizona and even more to be in all of Orange County. It is all baby steps for The Mtn, and CBS College Sports to keep expanding where people can see the Mountain West.

The Mtn is the key to this addition, because prior to this it is only available within the teams' market on cable, and then on DirecTv within the schools area with no charge, but it is also available nation wide on the sports package.

Fans can get The Mtn. it is a little tough, but when the channel gets added to lower cable tiers is a victory; now all the league needs to do is get Dish Network on board, and then we can start talking.

Orson Swindle, EDSBS: My arch-nemesis Nick Saban is at it again when he was at a camp with former Utah OC Andy Ludwig and saying how they should have beaten Utah by two scores:

“Former Utah OC Andy Ludwig was in attendance for Saban’s lecture. Ludwig, who is now the OC at Cal, presented Thursday morning and took a little offense to Saban’s remarks. Ludwig opened the lecture by saying “I try to keep everything simple.

You know, I sat here last night and listened to a man say how he had 30 different ways to run cover 2, and I’m just sitting there thinking to myself, ‘geez, I only have one way to run a dig route’. But you know what? That one way was more than enough to beat him.” (he was talking about Saban)

Later, towards the end of his speech he said, “You know, I’m sitting in the audience and I hear ‘We should have beat Utah by two TDs’ and I almost stood up and said, ‘yeah, but you didn’t.’ It’s kind of hard to win by two tds when you’re down 21 points in the first half.”

WOW!! How arrogant is Nick Saban, there is no need to rehash the beat down Utah gave to ‘Bama, but come on! Saying your team should have won by two touchdowns. No more on this all there is to say is scoreboard.

BCS Hearings: Here is audio from Tuesday’s BCS hearings.

Matt Hayes, The Sporting News: A very good Q&A with TCU coach Gary Patterson, and shocker, the topic was the BCS. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Q: So how can the process be fairer to non-BCS teams?

A: We need to have an automatic berth. I don’t think that’s asking too much, to be honest. Or even if we have a playoff between the two highest-ranked teams to see who will earn a spot (in a BCS bowl). Of the teams that played in BCS bowls last year, Utah was as good or better than any of those teams. And we came within 55 seconds of beating Utah at their place.

Greg Archuleta, Albuquerque Journal: New Mexico is starting to make their mark by starting to recruit in Florida. Two key players were in town to visit the campus they are Calvin Smith and Corey Lemonier who are both top 100 recruits according to Rivals. Coach Locksley is looking to change the way recruiting is done at the University of New Mexico:

“UNM is chasing the proverbial “blue-chip” athlete is a departure from the regime of former coach Rocky Long.”

These two players are rated at four and five stars, and are considered to be in the top of their class for defensive line prospects. So, even getting a visit by the two is a great feat.

Also, Smith and Lemonier plan on playing together no matter what, before Lobo fans get excited the pair have all ready visited Florida, Central Florida, and South Florida.

SB Nation: Block U and Team Speed Kills brings a great view from the BCS hearings today. Block U writes in regards to the hypocrisy of scheduling when comparing the non-BCS to the BCS.

Team Speed Kills talks about the economics of the BCS and recaps the BCS hearings. All three of these articles are a must read, and far more then I could write up today in recapping the BCS hearings.

Sean Duff, The Coloradoan: The ticket allotment for the Colorado versus Colorado State game in Boulder have sold most of their ticket allotment. That is not saying much, because the total allotment is 1,200 tickets. If the game were at Denver the Rams would have thousands of more tickets to offer to the students.

Colorado moved the game because they wanted six home games, so they decided to move even though they make more money if the game were in Denver.

Preview of 2009 Colorado State Opponents: Colorado Buffaloes

Jeremy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:24:03 -0400

This rivalry game has been played in Denver since 1998 with the exception of 2004 and 2005.

This year Colorado played a card from the contract that allows the game to be moved to its home stadium, so the Buffs did that for this year's game; soon after Colorado State did the same.

Even though both schools make more money in Denver, the Buffs want six home games each year and keeping the game in Denver would not allow that. This team should be good enough to rebound to a bowl game, but Coach Hawkins has some holes to fill to make that a reality.

The biggest news this offseason for Colorado is the transfer of playmaker wide receiver Josh Smith who is transferring to either USC or UCLA. The only experienced receiver back is Scotty McKnight, while the rest are either redshirt freshmen, (Markques Simas), or JUCO transfers, (Andre Simmons). These players are considered good talent, but experience and playing in the Big 12 will hurt them at some point on the year.

Colorado Buffaloes' 2008 Offensive Statistics

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Cody Hawkins	57.2	1,892	17	10
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Rodney Stewart	132	622	4.7	2
Darrell Scott	87	343	3.9	1
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Scotty McKnight	46	519	11.3	5
Riar Geer	13	183	8.7	2
Ryan Deehan	4	61	12.2	1

There are still some questions if Andre Simmons will be eligible to suit up in the fall, if he is able to play, he should be in the starting lineup very soon, if not the first weekend.

The tight end position is interesting because Riar Greer, who started at wide receiver, is moving to tight end this year. He has the size at 6'4" and 250 pounds.

Greer will do minimal blocking, but instead will use his pass-catching ability at tight end. Greer will be similar to the rest of the Big 12 tight ends that are receivers first and blockers second.

Where the wide receiver position is iffy, the running back position is the strength of the Colorado offense.

It will be a strength if the Buffs are able to stay competitive in games, especially in the big games like Nebraska, Kansas, at Texas, and at Oklahoma State.

There are three backs in consideration for Colorado and they are Darrell Scott—five star recruit,—Rodney Stewart was only a two star high schooler, and then the third is Brian Lockridge, who could be used to catch the ball.

The talent at tailback is huge with former high school stars, but experience is in question. Even though Stewart is the returning rusher, he is still being challenged by players with very little playing time, or backs who have not seen the field at the division one level.

The running game will most likely come down to putting players in the game where they specialize; whether it be short yardage, catching ability, or the speed back. The quarterback position remains stable as the team returns its two-year starter, and coach's son Cody Hawkins, who was terrible last year in comparison to his sophomore campaign.

His first year as a starter was much better with over 3,000 yards, but last year Hawkins was ineffective at times and was benched for a few games. The overall offense has the chance to be pretty good with all the talent on the offensive line and the potential at the running back position. Odds are it will be an average offense.

Defensively, the linebackers are the strength of what is a below-average defense in the Big 12, but they are the key to help the Buffs try to slow down the scoring machines of the Big 12 offenses.

With the strength at linebacker, Colorado is moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4, which will help improve its lackluster defense. The Buffs were eighth in the Big XII in defensive scoring, but somehow were fourth in total defense.

That is not really too hard to explain because the Buffs were minus-seven in turnover margin and gave teams too many chances with a short field.

Even though the defense only returns three starters, they look to be improved.

Shaun Mohler who started at linebacker last year might possibly be regulated to backup duty, which is not all that bad for this team. The only problem with their linebackers is that none can do it all, but they have enough individual skill sets within the depth chart to be good enough.

The front line is in the worst shape with all three starters from last year gone; that is a reason why the depth of linebacker is a good thing, because they will be called upon in slowing down the running attack.

Secondary is also a concern—specifically in the Big 12—with Cha'pelle Brown coming back from an injury and Jimmy Smith who is fast (4.5 in the 40-yard dash) and big (6'2"), but he has had problems listening to the staff; that is until this spring where something clicked and he just got it.

In the Colorado State game, the secondary will not really be an issue because the Rams' quarterback situation is unsettled, but they need to be ready when Big 12 play begins.

Overall, the Buffaloes most likely will have a record just above .500 and attend a mid-tier bowl. They won't be as bad as last year, but they will not be anything special.

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BCS Hearings Are Upon Us

Jeremy — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:58:59 -0400

So, it looks like there will be at least one more post, besides this, regarding the BCS and congress getting involved with allegations that BCS is violating antitrust laws.

The congressional hearings are where we stand as this six month parade has been marching from Utah all the way to capitol hill, and today is the day to try to knock the BCS off their pedestal.

This ordeal has gone all the way back to the day after Utah smoked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, with Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson proposing a playoff, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch threatening anti-trust.

Then there is Air Force's Troy Calhoun calling the BCS the old Soviet Union, Utah Attorney Genral Mark Shurtleff pretending to care about the BCS, and then most recently an interview with Harvey Perlman, who threatens to turn around this car.

The hearings begin tomorrow at 2:30 PM EDT, and currently the only place to watch a webcast of the hearings is at the Senate Judiciary website—no word if one of the C-Span channels will carry it.

Now to who will be appearing in this three ring circus.

First up will be Utah President Michael Young then Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and leader of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.

Following him will be antitrust lawyer William Monts III, who has said the BCS does not violate antitrust laws, and antitrust lawyer Barry Brett.

Then there is John Swofford, who is the current BCS Commissioner and the Commissioner of the ACC. Swfford is a piece of work, and this quote from an interview with Real Clear Sports is priceless:

"Financial reasons are a factor to a degree—probably more of a factor to some than to others.

In and of itself, a playoff of some type would generate more money than the current BCS. But what would be the effect on the regular season? What about the effect on the other bowls? But the BCS is certainly healthy financially and has been from the beginning."

So, the BCS is really only about money, WOW!

That is a shocker to just about no one.

Integrity of the regular season, HA!

It is already a mess with teams scheduling two FCS teams and who are in the hunt for the BCS title.

"The BCS is voluntary. If a conference decided it did not want to be a part of the BCS there is certainly no requirement that it do so. Obviously if certain conferences said they were not going to be a part of it, that could be a factor in its continuation—depending on which conferences, that is."

Voluntary?

If you want to get technical, then yes, but not really. It is obvious he is referring to the Mountain West not signing the deal.

The real tragedy is if, for some reason, a BCS league does not sign a future agreement, then good money is being placed within the traditionalist league with the Pac-10 and Big 10.

Those two wish to preserve their sacred Rose Bowl game, and if they really wanted would rather not be in the BCS.

Most will say these hearings are a waste of time, but there are many other issues that affect far less people. Or, if one is an optimist, this could be a chance for Orrin Hatch and company to peel away the onion layers of what the BCS really is all about.

Think about it, the BCS is always on the defensive and goes back to their great escape clause, "Well it is better than before" unless you are Harvey Perlman.

I would expect, or at worst hope, that the questions are not soft toss, and the committee can make this BCS gang look as silly as they did during the steroid hearings.

If I had the option of asking the first question, it would be: "How come your system is so much better in determining a national champion than every other sport in the NCAA which has a playoff."

See that question is hard to answer without going back to the ''well at least it is not the old system, and puts No. 1 against No. 2.'' That No. 1 vs. No. 2 is subjective and often up for debate.

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BYU 2009 Opponent Preview: Utah State Aggies

Jeremy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:25:09 -0400

Utah State has a new coach in former Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen, and already the program is looking in the right direction. Utah State was actually able to score some points, but their defense was still lacking.

That should change under coach Andersen, as he was the man behind the Utah defenses for the last few seasons, plus Andersen is a great local recruiter and will bring in some talent.

The north endzone project that was started under former coach Brent Guy helped the program with better facilities for the athletes, and even increased the stadium size.

The 2009 Aggies most likely will not beat BYU, but they will be improved overall and their offense should be pretty solid. The offense returns nine starters from last year, which should help the team try to improve off of their three win season from 2008.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Diondre Borel	56.2	1,705	11	10
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Diondre Borel	179	632	3.5	5
Robert Turbin	106	485	4.6	8
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Stanley Morrison	26	291	11.2	1
Omar Sawyer	19	246	12.9	0
Xavier Bowman	9	101	11.2	2

They return four starters along the offensive line, and their top player is dual threat quarterback Diondre Borel who lead the team in rushing last year. He will be able to create plays and make the defense more honest with his rushing ability.

The running back is Robert Turbin who was alright last year as a freshman, but should be improved with the four returning lineman. Also, Turbin is a dual threat and in 2008 had twenty catches and two scores.

A big concern is at wide receiver because the Aggies do not have a go-to guy. All of the receivers have experience, but none stood out last year. While there is no go to wide out the top four were consistent.

The defense only returns six starters, but new coach Gary Andersen has a few playmakers; starting with linebacker Paul Igboeli who had 78 tackles, four pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, an interception and a blocked field goal.

The defense will be faster then last year which will definitely help, plus the recruiting that Coach Andersen did in his short opportunity did a good job in gathering talent.

Even with the defense that should be improved they were 108th in scoring defense which was 34.7 per game, so they have a ways to go.

Nothing should be expected over four wins for the Aggies, but that would be moving in the right direction, and be their best season in nearly a decade.

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Recruitin': BYU and Utah

Jeremy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:44:14 -0400

BYU has been the top of the 2010 recruiting class in the Mountain West and ranked thirteenth the NCAA according to Scout, for the 2010 class. In the past week in a half BYU has verbal commits from four new players; which brings their total to nineteen.

Manu Mulitalo is a local recruit from West Valley, UT and is a three star offensive lineman. One interesting story about Mulitalo is that he still doesn't know all the schools that offered, but does know of at least three: Navy, Washington State and, of course, BYU. Apparently his Dad was keeping that info from him. However if you check Rivals, his list included USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State, UNLV, and Utah. Here is what ESPN Recruiting has to say about Mulitalo:

"Mulitalo presently plays offensive tackle but lacks the height for the position that we like to see at the major level of competition. A move to guard better suits his physical and athletic abilities.

Flashes good explosion and playing strength but must become a more consistent every down player. His lower body flexibility, foot quickness and balance look good; displays explosion and initial quickness coming out of his stance."

Bryan Sampson, tight end from Pleasant Grove high school and is looking to follow in the great line of BYU tight ends. Sampson is a three star from Rivals. Sampson is more of a pass catching, tight end:

"He will need to get into a college weight program and add serious bulk to his frame. He presents a solid receiving target.

He can catch the ball into his frame at times, but displays the ability to extend his arms and catch the ball with his hands. He displays adequate speed and runs solid routes."

His 2008 numbers were not great with 14 receptions for 186 yards and two touchdown. Sampson who is 6'5" and 210 pounds, which is not quite big enough to play tight end at the division one level. Expect Sampson to redshirt a year to bulk up his weight.

There is not much on Hau'oli Jamora who is a defensive end committed to BYU. He is from Hawai'i and his measurements come in at 6-2 and 230 pounds. More info will come out once he is evaluated by Rivals, Scout, ESPN Recruiting, and others, and the only over school to be on his radar is the University of Hawai'i.

The newest verbal commit is Jordan Johnson who is listed as an athlete, but will most likely play defensive back. Johnson has yet to be fully evaluated, but has speed with a reported 40 time of 4.5. If that is accurate he will bring much needed speed to the BYU defense, and especially the secondary which has been suspect the past few years. Their is an odd twist to how Johnson came to verbally commit to BYU. Johnson is from Massachusetts and was first introduced to BYU from current Boston Celtic general manager Danny Ainge who also was a former hoops standout at BYU.

Johnson made his decision after attending BYU's camp last week, and verbally committed shortly after. A side note that may or may not mean anything is that Johnson is nor a member of the LDS church. Now of to the Utah 2010 verbal class who have two commits over the past week and a half. The first is dual threat quarterback, Brian Blechen.

Blechen seems to be a good fit to eventually run the Utah spread offense. He all ready has good size at 6'3" and 205 pounds, and a quite speedy 4.6 forty time. Again he has yet to be fully evaluated by Rivals, but ESPN Recruiting has a nice review of him:

"Blechen has great size, plenty or frame development left and he is a really good athlete. Good enough to be a factor with his legs even though we would not term him a dual-threat--more of a passer that possesses another dimension.

He reminds us of former Utah QB Alex Smith with the same type of late-bloomer upside. He has a tough, gritty, gun-slinging demeanor in his style of play."

Not bad being compared to Alex Smith, but here is some more evaluation:

"As a thrower, Blechen can be a bit green, but he has a smooth delivery and more than sufficient arm strength. Has shown flashes of being able to make any throw on the field with zip and power when he is consistent with his footwork and not throwing off balance."

The current thing against Blechen is that last year he missed six games with a hand injury, and has flown under the radar because of that.

The last recruit to be featured is Joseph Smith who has verbally committed to Utah. Smith is a three star athlete from Rivals. Smith is listed as athlete, but will be playing corner back in Salt Lake. He keeps the tradition of Utah having tall corners and Smith is 5-11 but slightly small at 185 pounds.

At the recent Los Angeles Nike combine Smith ran an electronically time 4.47 forty time, so Smith does have legitimate speed.

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BCS Threatens To Go Back To The Old System

Jeremy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:01:11 -0400

Found an interview with Harvey Perlman who is the new chairman in the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This interview is chalk full of amazing answers, so I will interject my own commentary within Perlman’s answers and you have been warned this is lengthy. Questions are in bold with Perlman answers not in bold.

The best line threat of the interview is at the end, “The alternative is not a playoff. The alternative is to go back to the system we had. That’s fine. Many of us would think that’s not a bad outcome.”

The one’s who would like that system would be the same leagues that are part of the BCS, because they would still get their money.

And now onto the circus that this interview was:

Q: The BCS has its share of critics. I know you recently considered and rejected the Mountain West’s proposal for an eight-team playoff, and I wanted to read you the statement from Air Force Coach Troy Calhoun.

I’m sure you’re aware of it, but I’ll read it anyway: “We basically have a system for college football that too closely resembles the old Soviet Presidium. You have a seven-member politburo that’s decided if you aren’t one of those party members, then you’re unable to participate.”

Why is that statement inaccurate?

HP: It’s unfortunate that we have to have this kind of dialogue. There’s a reason why the oversight committee consists of who it consists of.

There are six automatic qualifying conferences and Notre Dame that currently comprise that body. The six automatic qualifying conferences are conferences that had contractual relationships with bowls prior to the BCS.

First off that is not true because the Big East was not partnered in any of the currently BCS bowl games. They were affiliated with the Gator Bowl as their top bowl prior to the BCS or the Bowl Collation. The only reason they are in is because Miami, FL joined the Big East in 1991, which also was the first year the league started playing football.

HP: The Big 12 had a contract with the Fiesta Bowl, the Pac 10 and Big Ten had the Rose Bowl and the SEC had the Sugar Bowl and The ACC had the Orange Bowl.

What we agreed to do was modify those agreements to allow a No. 1 and No. 2 team to play each other for the national championship. But we weren’t going to give up those contractual rights without having control over what the system was. That’s why it’s that way.

I understand about keeping the conference ties together because that is how all the bowls are set up. Having ‘control’ over the system is the same thing Coach Troy Calhoun of Air Force mentioned how the BCS is like the former Soviet Union.

Also, ‘contractual rights‘ equals the bling which is something the BCS does not want to share. Oh, and good job in not answering the question, because the opposite of the former USSR is a democratic system which allows everyone to have a voice which is not the case.

Q: Do you think that, somewhere along the way, the BCS failed to make this argument to coaches? You’re right, the dialogue tends to be pretty negative. Has the BCS failed to get down to the coaching ranks and explain this in terms they can appreciate? Is there a communication that needs to improve?

HP: Obviously we haven’t convinced everybody that what we’re doing is the right thing, so maybe more communication is in order. But there are a lot of reasons people want to attack the Bowl Championship Series, and I recognize that.

It pretty tracks to be the third team instead of the first two, or which conferences think they should have had a better chance of playing in the national championship game. That’s all part of the environment that we’re in.

So he agrees there is a problem! Being the third place team is out of luck. In 2008 Texas, Utah, Florida, Oklahoma, USC, Alabama, and a few others were all had legit chances to be considered for the national title.

All — except for Florida and Oklahoma — were penalized for either playing in a perceived lower league or for a single loss, but if you are Texas that Big XII tie-breaker rule left you out and that rule still has not been changed.

Q: You talked about Dave Frohmayer. He released a statement turning down the eight-team playoff because “disrespects our academic calendars and it utterly lacks a business plan.” While the business plan may be one issue…if at least some coaches – and possibly a majority – are in favor of a playoff, don’t you think they’ve at least considered the academic impact on their athletes, and don’t you think they know better than, say, administrators how much or how little their athletes can handle in the classroom?

HP: Everybody has said they’d be willing to consider the Mountain West proposals at the time they could be implemented. President Frohmayer was reflecting the view of most of the presidents I talked to, that, when you think about a playoff, that we have not seen a proposal that doesn’t implicate the academic success of student athletes. Now, coaches and players will always want to play as many games as possible.

And I respect them for that, but I don’t think any of us are prepared to adopt a playoff system that interferes with exams in the fall semester, that extends into the spring semester any more than we have to. What I think most people don’t understand is that the alternative to the current system is not a playoff. The alternative to the BCS is going back to our traditional relationship with our bowl partners.

Since when did the business known as NCAA football care about the academic success of their student-athletes. The NCAA pretends to care by having the APR that has the possibility to dock scholarships and post season play.

The exam issue is easily solved and not extending the season too far into the spring is an easy fix as well. Make the season end the first Saturday in December, which most teams are done anyways, and then start the playoffs the following weekend.

If the playoff is 16 teams the opening round could be on the next Saturday and Sunday and then take a week off for finals, and then start back up for the fourth week in December, New Years week, and then the week after New Years.

That is when the season ends as of now, and since the players play games on the weekend professors would help accommodate the finals schedule. That would not be hard to adjust a students finals schedule, because unless the final is on a Thursday or Friday that is when they need to re-schedule.

Baseball players, and basketball players miss a ton of time traveling mid week for games, so adjusting a test by one day is not that hard.

Q: Why is a playoff not a viable alternative? Is it because it would cut too many teams out of postseason play?

HP: It would diminish the bowl structure and it would reduce the number of opportunities for student-athletes to play in the postseason and that’s not a good thing. If you look at college football now, it’s the greatest sporting event spread over September, October, November, December and a little bit of January that the country has.

I do agree that college football has the best regular season, but they have the worst post-season with any sport, and why would this reduce the number of teams to play in the post season.

Again, the lower-tier bowls that are all ready poorly attended can still be around. Currently in the NCAA hoops there are four post season tournaments, and while the NCAA tourney gets the most pub that would still be the same in football with the playoff games.

HP: A playoff would seriously diminish the regular season, as it has in college basketball. I don’t think it’s good for college football, I don’t think it’s good for student-athletes and I don’t think it’s good for fans. I don’t see fans traveling around the country three weeks in succession between December and January following their team.

Hmm… the NCAA basketball tournament seems to not have a problem selling out arenas with the different fan base. Also, having a playoff would not ruin the regular season anymore then the current practice of teams playing FCS cupcakes in the preseason. That has ruined the non-conference season which is why ESPN tried to get Texas and Wisconsin to play each other this season.

The regular season would be even better by making the playoff exclusive to conference champs and only five at large to make a 16 team field. Currently ten teams get in the BCS so there would only be six more spots, and if it goes by my plan with conference champs; every conference race would be important and teams who do not win their league would still need to be near perfect to get in.

If they are worried about not filling out stadiums, there could be games played on artificial turf and have double headers to help ensure the stadium is full and not what the ACC title game looks like.

HP: So you’re either going to have to play at home sites – which I’m sure everybody will want to play in Nebraska in December and January – or you’re gonna have to travel, which means that bowls will cease being intercollegiate events, but will become corporate events, where everybody in, you name the city, will be there except the fans of the teams.

This isn’t basketball. This isn’t March Madness. Football’s a different game, different environment. We have different traditions. It’s hard to see why a playoff is a good idea.

Corporate events the bowl system is made off of the corporate system, and why does he think Nebraska will be in the playoffs, they have not been at that type of level since the early nineties.

Also, the weather does not seem to keep people away in the NFL when games are at New England, Buffalo, Chicago, Green Bay, and every other cold weather city.

ESPN owns six bowls, FedEx, Citi, Chic-Fi-La, and others plaster their name on the bowl. The World Wide Leader now owns the rights to the BCS games, so the corporate.

Could Mr.Perlman define how tradition effects a potential playoff. The reason it is hard to see a playoff is because we have yet to find out a way to give us more money, or actually they do not want to spread the wealth even if the BCS leagues get more money.

Q: One sore point with fans is that Notre Dame has an automatic bid if it meets certain qualifying standards, while non-automatic league essentially get cut off if more than one team qualifies. Notre Dame can get an automatic bid, whereas Boise State can’t, even if it’s ranked in the same place, if Utah already had one. Why does Notre Dame still have a chance at an automatic bid?

HP: You have to go back and remember the tradition here. The agreements with the bowls were by conference. Now, Notre Dame is not in a conference, but they had significant relationship and they had their own television contract. At one point in time, Notre Dame was pretty much in a bowl every year.

Ah tradition, why should that have an impact on how a team qualifies for the big money game, if that is the case then Navy, Army, SMU, TCU, and the Ivy League would have the same treatment as Notre Dame, because way back in the day they were the national powers.

Wow! money comes into play since Notre Dame has their own TV deal, and I like this quote “Notre Dame was pretty much in a bowl every year” not in this decade, and it can be easily argued that they did not deserve the two BCS bids were they were smoked by Oregon State and Ohio State.

Q: Long-term, do you think it’s a good idea to put the entirety of the BCS in the hands of ESPN, which already wields a great deal of power in college football to begin with? I go back to 2001, when ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit was announcing on the air that he would call coaches and ask them not to vote for Nebraska over Colorado Given the bully pulpit the network already has, do you think the BCS poll gets bent in a direction that favors ESPN’s preferred schools, like USC, the SEC, and the Big Ten, or are there safeguards to prevent against ESPN using its on-air talent to lobby for certain programs?

HP: The ranking system that we have has a diversity of ways to rank teams. I suspect you can’t influence the computers, for one thing. And I’d be very surprised – notwithstanding some efforts – that voters in polls are influenced by what ESPN wants. We were with FOX, we took bids, ESPN made us a very attractive offer, they are good football partners, and we’ll see where it goes.

What! voters not influenced by ESPN that is the biggest lie every. ESPN shows top teams in their highlights and teams from smaller leagues are not always on their highlight shows.

Look at the Mountain West who is no longer on ESPN and now on Versus, CBS College, and The Mtn; they hardly get any looks on the network. ESPN would love to have USC in the title game every year, and while the talking heads may not say ESPN wants USC they will do their analysis and say they are ‘my’ best team.

In a time when coaches do not have time to watch other teams film to accurately rank the teams; they look at the highlight shows to see what they are saying and vote directly.

How often does a MAC team get mentioned on the air, and when they do it is probably once they are 8-0 and that could be too late for them to make a run at the BCS.

Q: The state of Utah intends to pursue this antitrust lawsuit against the BCS. Do you think that this is just a process the BCS is going to have to withstand before emerging the winner? Is there a way to resolve this without years of litigation? Is there a chance the BCS will lose?

HP: I’m not an antitrust lawyer, but I do find the general claim that this is an anti-competitive market difficult to understand. If you go back before the BCS and look at how many times schools in the group of five played in any of the major bowls.

I think you’re gonna find that the BCS has broadened their access to national markets rather than narrowed it, and I think if you look at how much income they got from postseason intercollegiate football before the BCS and look at how much income they’re now getting out of the BCS, I think you have to conclude that the BCS has given them more access and given them more income.

And it’s hard to see what the endgame is for this attack on the BCS on antitrust grounds. As I said: The alternative is not a playoff. The alternative is to go back to the system we had. That’s fine. Many of us would think that’s not a bad outcome.

The reason no non-BCS schools were invited to the big money games we have today is because of bowl tie-ins with conferences; also do not forget those backroom deals that had games set up in mid October.

Plus, look back at the old Bowl Coalition back in 1996 where BYU was ranked fifth in the final week of the poll and was passed over the current BCS bowls and were sent to the Cotton Bowl. By current standards today BYU would have been in one of the BCS bowl games.

The income thing is tricky, because one can just go by dollar amount which increases because of inflation each year. The only way money is more is when a non-BCS gets into a game, and even then that money spread among all of the non-BCS leagues and not just to the league that made it to the BCS.

This interview was a joke where Perlman was taking the BCS stance strictly and giving bogus half answers, and the best was using tradition to explain why Notre Dame gets its own rules within the BCS.

Orrin Hatch Makes Last Stand Against the BCS

Jeremy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:59:42 -0400

This topic does not seem to go away. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Republican, is taking one last crack at the BCS with his claims that they are violating anti-trust laws. The new BCS television contract goes into effect July 7, so Hatch and his boys will have this week to meet with Congress again. Not sure what will be different than last month's meeting, besides hopefully having more people in attendance.

Another question is, who will show up from the BCS and who will show up for Hatch? Since the BCS players are not taking these attacks too seriously, who knows who will show up?

Hatch really seems to be the only politician to be really passionate about this topic, because Utah Attorney General Mark Shirtleff is no where to be found on this issue, ever since he spearheaded against the BCS, right after the Utah Sugar Bowl win over Alabama. Instead, he held questionable fundraising luncheons where he said it was to help raise money to fight the BCS, but in reality it will be money used for his future run at the Utah Senate in 2010.

Hatch had the same passion against the BCS in 2003, but this fight for change will accomplish nothing with the new contract with ESPN, that is set to be finalized on July 7 and go into effect for the 2011 BCS bowl games. This fight will rage on when another non-BCS team goes undefeated and wants at legitimate chance to play for the title.

All the honks from the ''Big Six" leagues can say all the excuses of "play our schedule week in and week out." They are right. The teams outside the six BCS leagues do not play the same schedule and the same can be said for the the auto leagues.

That is the reason for equal access to the title game, though. Now, I am not suggesting to let any undefeated team from a non-BCS league in the title game, but make a system **cough** playoff **cough** that allows teams outside of the six BCS leagues and those ranked outside of the top two a chance to get to the title game.

George Mason had a chance to make it to the Final Four and they were a bubble team that made it to the NCAA hoops tournament. What about Davidson with Steph Curry that made the Elite Eight in 2007? Or, to bring it back to Utah, the Utes made it to the national title game in 1998.

Currently in college football, there is no story like these that were truly Cinderella stories, but perhaps if Hatch and others of his kind bring enough pressure change may happen. For now the system is status quo and all the non-BCS schools can do is to keep making BCS bowl games and winning.

Making the Rounds: Busy in Colorado

Jeremy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:43:55 -0400

Justin Williams Longmont Times-Call—Now boys calm down! Colorado and Colorado State have been playing the game in Denver since 1998, sans 2004 and 2005 in Boulder.

However, Colorado has a guideline to play six home games every year, and when looking at their 2009 schedule The Buffs took advantage of a clause to move the game to Boulder.

Soon after that announcement, Colorado State countered by moving the 2010 game to Fort Collins. The Rams did this out of principle, and to note both schools make more money when the game is played in Denver.

Rams head coach Steve Fairchild very much believes the game should be played in Denver and is quite strong in his remarks about the move:

“I think it should be played in Denver every year. I’ve said that since Day One it is silly to move this game back to Boulder. It makes no sense. Then we’ve got the contract to move it up to Fort Collins, and I don’t think that makes any sense."

David Ramsey The Gazette—Air Force wants to renew their rivalry with Colorado, and the last time the two met was in 1974. This would be a good matchup because of location and both schools historically have been in the upper half of college football.

However, the big naysayer is Colorado coach Dan Hawkins who seemingly does not want to face the triple option once a year and wants more room to schedule:

"Are we obligated to play the two in-state teams and not have flexibility in our non-conference schedule?"

Colorado already plays Colorado State each year and if the Academy is added then that leaves only two chances to play a patsy opponent for the Buffs.

Jake Schaller The Gazette—Quarterback has been an issue for Air Force, during the Spring Tim Jefferson was having academic issues, and is working on regaining his eligibility this summer.

This is the current analysis of Jefferson's situation:

"Jefferson, who started the final eight games last year as a freshman, missed most of spring practice to concentrate on academics. But he is confident he will be on track come fall."

Jefferson is taking three summer courses to get back on track, and in other quarterback news Asher Clark looks to be progressing quite nice on his injured foot.

Clark who played quarterback in high school and running back last year for the Academy is making the move again back to quarterback.

Previewing 2009 BYU Opponents: Florida State Seminoles

Jeremy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:27:30 -0400

Florida State might finally be turning the edge and putting itself in position to finally make an ACC title game appearance. However there are bigger issues that will affect the Seminoles on and off the field. The biggest story is the 14 vacated wins from using ineligible players, which is currently being appealed by FSU.

The reason this is bigger then Alabama's recent vacated wins from textbook fraud is because now Bobby Bowden is currently one game behind Penn State's Joe Paterno. If the wins are vacated, then Bowden will see his chance to end his career as the all-time wins leader fall short.

Currently Florida State has a buyout that Florida State would have to pay current offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher $5 million if he is not head coach in January of 2011.

Now to the actual players fielding the team in 2009, well sort of. Wide receiver Corey Surrency was denied an extra year of eligibility because of an obscure rule where he lost a year of eligibility. This is all because Surrency played in a semi-pro football team—Florida Kings—after he turned 21 and before heading to a junior college.

Now, the top returning receivers have nearly as many yards and catches, but Surrency had the potential to be a breakout star for the 'Noles. The quarterback play needs to better then last year, and lucky for FSU is that they return Christian Ponder, who was decent last year. Ponder never had a breakout game and his best was against North Carolina State with 257 yards and one score.

Another problem was the pass protection because they gave up 19 sacks. Now, that is not terrible but the 2009 depth chart is filled with youngsters, but all five starters are back. This unit has a very good chance to be the best in the ACC, and that will help against the rush and improve off an all ready stellar running attack.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Christian Ponder	55.7	2006	14	13
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Jermaine Thomas	69	482	7.0	3
Christian Ponder	119	423	3.6	3
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Taiwan Easterling	30	322	10.7	1
Bert Reed	23	295	12.8	3
Corey Surrency	12	237	19.8	4

The strength of offensive line is what can make or break a team, and with FSU bringing back experience on the line that usually translates into more wins and overall better team.

Experience is also within the quarterback position which is the other key spot to determine how good teams will be. Now for the newbies—or non-starters from 2009—come from the wide receivers and running back spots. Running back Jermanie Thomas had an impressive 7.0 yards per carry last year, and will now be the feature back in the offense.

Odds are he will not keep up that average, but if Thomas is patient with his reads in rushing lanes, he has potential to be All-ACC. The big guys up front will help Thomas do well, oh and that great talent he is and only a sophomore. A cool stat from ESPN is that he averaged of 9.1 yards in the second and third quarters which ranked second in the nation among backs with at least 20 combined carries.

This especially helps because Ponder is a so-so passer, so the running back strength should help the overall pass attack. The receiving corp lost all their starters last year and the leading receiver is Taiwan Easterling, also a sophomore, who caught 30 catches, but the thing going for the Seminoles had depth at that position.

The offense and defense were above-average and in the top third in the nation, and only was blown out in one game which was the Florida game, but as it is with most close losses, it is the turnover margin that hurts them. On the year Florida State was even, but in their four loses they were minus nine in the turnover margin and had three in each loss; the Wake Forest game was the worst with seven turnovers.

The defense last year gave up 20 points per game, but they return only five players in total. It is Florida State and their last two recruiting classes were in the top 10, so the talent should be there. Also, the losses on defense are spread around so no single position will be marching out all new players.

Overall, this Florida State team should be a top-25 team and has the potential to win the ACC which they have not done since realignment happened in 2005.