Bowl Week Rumors and Dead Week Things to Scratch Your Head About

With this, the "Dead Week" before the really good games, let's take some time to go over some rumors and some things that we've all been wondering about.

To begin, I've heard rumors out of Tuscaloosa that Bob Stoops and Nick Saban got together again this week. Was Stoops giving Saban information on Texas or was he there to learn more about the Pacific Institute that Saban has used to help his team stay focused this season.

Either way, my sources who usually are very good, are very tight-lipped and will neither say yes or no that Stoops and Saban met again.

What is known for sure is, that Stoops is no fool and he is smart enough to see what is working with the top teams and wants to give it a try himself. The Pacific Institute has helped Saban's team the last two years and was credited for helping turn around USC in the post as well.

According to an ESPN report, Stoops told Antowaine Richardson, a Pacific Institute instructor, that he had noticed what Saban's team has accomplished in the last two seasons.

"Bob Stoops' words to me were, 'I want exactly what Alabama got,'" Richardson told the Birmingham News.

I don't know if the Sooners need a head shrink or not, but they certainly need a healthy team, including a quarterback.

Was anyone else scratching their heads wondering why nobody was mentioning Tommy Tuberville and Phillip Fulmer for jobs this year? These men have winning records in the toughest conference in college football yet teams and athletic departments avoided them like a bad case of jock itch.

Are they going to have to wait like Dennis Franchione for a lousy team like Las Vegas to throw them a bone in another year or two? My, how the mighty fell so fast and so far apparently.

Both are still getting big, really big checks from their respective former employers. However, so it's not like they're on food stamps or anything, but still, you have to wonder why somebody didn't have them on a short list.

Did Miami's 9-3 season get Randy Shannon off the hot seat? A lot may be answered by their bowl game outcome.

Clearly, the Hurricanes wanted more than to finish third place in the Coastal division of an otherwise down ACC this year.

The good news is they got another 9-3 team from the always pansy Big Ten to play in a bowl game. The bad news is that a loss to a Big Ten also may heat the seat up once again.

Win or lose in the BCS National Championship Game, Alabama will still start the 2010 preseason poll as the No. 1 team and who can blame the pollsters? They will return most of the team intact and there were no wholesale coach nabbings that usually occur after a team gets this far.

With Tebow gone, it's time for Mark Richt and the Bulldogs to finally put up or part ways unless Georgia has simply given up on trying to be a contender in the SEC.

Urban Meyer was a 9-3 coach at Florida before Tebow. What will life after Tebow be for Meyer and Florida?

Don't let LSU's 9-3 season and potential 10-win season fool you. This was a down year for the Tigers and their third place SEC finish, was not what they were expecting or hoping for this year. 

With the rise of Alabama how much longer will LSU be content with playing third or fourth fiddle in the SEC?

Lisa Horne reported that Jeff Tedford is on a seat that may be getting hot. Cal's disappointing season, in a weak year for the Pac-10, and the horrific way they were manhandled in the bowl game by a supposedly inferior team, could indeed make that a reality.

Are the BCS busters here to stay? Something must be done about the fairness of the BCS when the Mountain West puts better teams in bowl games than the Pac-10 or Big Ten.

Utah is no flash in the pan and just posted their ninth straight bowl win. Something that any team from any conference would be envious of and it just doesn't stop with them.

Clearly the "Busters" are here to stay and something must be done and done soon to get a little fairness going.

Speaking of a possible solution, could Utah and BYU joining the Pac-10, setting up divisions and a playoff like the SEC be a solution?

And speaking of getting all conferences to such playoffs, could Notre Dame or someone else join the Big Ten to get that conference to at least 12 teams also?

They'll certainly be some spirited debates this offseason, but why wait? Jump in now with your thoughts, rumors, and ideas. After all, it is a slow week.