Biggest College Football Stories You Likely Missed During March Madness
The madness is over. Please resume your regular daily activities.
After several weeks of nonstop college basketball craziness, it's time to return to reality and go about our normal lives—which, if you're a college football fan, means keeping track of the comings and goings during the long offseason.
While you were busy having your brackets busted by buzzer-beaters, college football kept on trucking ever so slowly toward the 2015 season...which doesn't begin until Sept. 3 and can't come soon enough. It hasn't been the busiest of times over the past month, but there have still been some noteworthy developments worth catching up on in order to remain fully informed.
To help lift you from the fog of March Madness, we've put together a recap of the college football stories that you might have missed. Click through and get reacquainted.
Spring (Football) Has Sprung
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Spring football was going on before March Madness began—even though it wasn't actually spring yet—but the offseason practice sessions that every FBS team holds really got going in late March, and now we're into the final stretch of that time period.
That's when we get the spring games—the end-of-workout scrimmages that serve as a final evaluation period for coaches and a sneak peek of the upcoming season for fans.
The biggest weekends for these games are still ahead, as most of the teams projected to be in the Top 25 for next season will hold their scrimmages between April 10-25.
Of those that have happened already, though, the most watched one was likely at Michigan, where an estimated 60,000 people went to see the early workings of new head coach Jim Harbaugh's rebuilding project. It wasn't a particularly exciting game, with only one touchdown scored and plenty of offensive miscues, but as is usually the case with such scrimmages, there was plenty of hope for the future.
Shane Morris heads into the summer as Michigan's No. 1 quarterback, per Bleacher Report's Ben Axelrod, but Harbaugh said that "the competition will rage on" and likely won't be settled for months.
Playoff Poll Status Quo
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The College Football Playoff system that was unveiled last year was a rousing success, with record TV ratings and plenty of intrigue throughout the season as teams jockeyed for position in hopes of getting one of the four semifinal spots. There was some controversy toward the end, particularly with how the selection committee went about shifting teams around in its final poll, but that was to be expected.
While the complaints about the system itself were minimal, the weekly rankings and their seemingly inconsistent format didn't get as positive a review.
Committee chairman Jeff Long believes otherwise, telling Brian Bennett of ESPN that "we think last year went very well, and we were very pleased with the reaction from fans across the country" in announcing that the weekly rankings would continue.
The only tweak: There will be one less poll, as the 2015 season is a week shorter, but the initial rankings will still come out after the ninth week and be unveiled on Nov. 3.
From Black and Gold to Maize and Blue?
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Transfers are always big storylines of the offseason, as players looking for more playing time look to go elsewhere for better opportunities. Those who can play right away thanks to having graduated with remaining eligibility tend to draw the most attention.
The transfer wire had been more of a rumor mill than one with actual transactions, though, as speculation that Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson or Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller would switch schools has been just that.
But then Iowa's Jake Rudock threw his name into the mix last month, and after getting cleared by the Big Ten to be able to go anywhere once he graduates in May, we could be seeing a rare intraconference transfer.
Though it hasn't been made official, 247Sports and other media outlets have reported that Rudock will transfer to Michigan for the 2015 season.
Iowa and Michigan aren't scheduled to play this fall, unless they were to meet in the Big Ten title game.
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Ohio State's Quarterback Competition Gets an Early Start
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Considering the way that Ohio State's national-championship season ended, it was inevitable that coach Urban Meyer was going to have a major decision on his hands when it came to which of his three immensely talented quarterbacks he would go with to lead the Buckeyes' title defense in 2015. He just probably figured that he'd have more time before things got going.
Cardale Jones had a masterful three-game run as OSU's quarterback during the postseason, going from third-stringer to a player who briefly flirted with turning pro as a redshirt sophomore. Instead, he came back, and because of injuries to Braxton Miller (shoulder surgery) and J.T. Barrett (broken ankle), it seemed like spring ball was his time to shine.
Then Barrett went and made a speedy recovery from his injury, which came in late November, and has been participating in most of the drills this spring. This has jump-started the QB competition, leading Meyer first to admit his frustration with knowing that two standout passers will have to sit and then contemplating ways to use two of them on a regular basis, per Axelrod.
"For now, all we know is that Meyer has entertained the idea as the Buckeyes move closer to the end of spring practice with one of the biggest quarterback controversies in college football history looming," Axelrod wrote.
Bowls, Bowls, Bowls!
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People on both sides of the too many/not enough bowl games debate got some extra ammunition last week when ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported that as many as four new bowl games could be added to the slate for 2015.
Bowls in Austin, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Tucson, Arizona, would join one already approved to be played in Orlando, Florida—which would bring the total there to three, along with the Citrus Bowl and the Russell Athletic Bowl—upping the total tally to 43, including the College Football Playoff championship game. That would mean that 84 of the 128 teams in FBS—nearly 66 percent of the field—would be able to go bowling.
McMurphy also reported that the Pac-12 is exploring the possibility of a bowl game played in Melbourne, Australia, possibly in 2016.
While attendance continues to dip in bowl games, TV ratings are going up, so as long as there are enough eligible teams—last year, there were eight schools that had the requisite number of wins but didn't get an invite or weren't bowl-eligible as transitioning FBS members—the bowl count figures to keep rising.
Alabama's Spring to Forget
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The mounting number of problems that Alabama has faced this spring—none of which have to do with performance—would likely decimate a lesser program. It could still do long-term damage to the Crimson Tide, however, in terms of both its reputation and its depth.
Alabama has had three players arrested in the past two weeks, and it's also lost a projected key contributor on offense to a season-ending knee injury.
Defensive back Geno Smith was cited for DUI on March 28, but he returned to practice on Monday, per Charlie Potter of 247Sports. The other two players implicated in crimes, defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor (domestic violence) and running back Tyren Jones (marijuana possession), have been dismissed from the team.
Taylor, a transfer from Georgia who was dismissed from that program, still has a pending domestic-violence charge from his time with the Bulldogs.
On the injury front, redshirt freshman running back Bo Scarbrough tore his ACL in Friday's scrimmage, and on Monday, sophomore defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson was carted off the field, according to Aaron Suttles of TideSports.com.
LaQuan McGowan for Heisman?
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Has there ever been a player in college football history to gain as much fame and notoriety off one career reception as Baylor's LaQuan McGowan?
McGowan made major headlines on Jan. 1 when all 6'7" and 410 pounds of him hauled in an 18-yard touchdown catch from Bryce Petty late in the third quarter of the Cotton Bowl. The converted offensive lineman rumbled down the field with the agility of a player half his size, capping off a season filled with "big man" TDs that have become the college football equivalent of a half-court shot in basketball.
Since then, the senior has almost achieved rock-star status, getting numerous features written about him as he attempts to become more than just a sideshow and become an actual part of Baylor's uptempo offense. He had a strong performance in Baylor's spring game, then he showed off his skills even further in a video in which he nonchalantly made one-handed catches.
"McGowan entered the Cotton Bowl as a backup lineman and emerged as a superstar," Bleacher Report's Ben Kercheval wrote. "With [Baylor coach Art] Briles and Co. seemingly dead serious about giving their battleship of a tight end some playing time, you can bet there will be more moments like that next season."
To that end, on Baylor's post-spring-practice depth chart, McGowan is listed as the co-starting tight end along with junior Tre'Von Armstead.
Before you know it, the Bears are going to get a Heisman Trophy media campaign going for McGowan.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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