Dear Larry: Your College Football Questions Answered, March 20 Edition

Thanks for the emails and questions. I do have to say this weeks batch was different than I expected with less questions about football than football associated questions.

Dear Larry,

Who has the biggest college marching band? I know best is very subjective.

Old Band Guy in Ohio

Dear Band Guy,

Going by sheer numbers, you have to give the nod to the James Madison Marching Royal Dukes. Never heard of James Madison? Sure you have. They upset Virginia Tech last year in the most monumental upset of the year.

But back to the band.

They have a whopping 475-member band and they have a better legacy than the football team.

They have played for the inaugurations of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as well as many appearances in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Once they even did the halftime show for an NFL title game.

They have a long and storied history, but they take the most pride in being the only D-IAA school to ever earn the "Sudler Trophy" which is the highest honor available for a collegiate marching band.

Dear Larry,

Can a team use their own footballs or do they have to use the ones provided by the home team?

The reason I ask is about rain and so forth.

Stevearino in Mississippi

Dear Stevearino,

Technically, the home team is to supply the game balls, but visitors may use balls of their own, provided the meet all regulations, when they're on offense.

In wet or muddy weather they may exchange balls as long as they do so without delaying the game as many times as they like.

In the past, some teams "experimented" with trying to gain advantages with balls with helium and other strange things.

Some quarterbacks have been known to favor balls with heavier laces to help with the grip.

Hope this helps and gives you the answer you were looking for.

Dear Larry,

Who has the skimpiest cheer leading outfits in college football and can you provide a picture?

Love the Cheerleaders

Dear Love the Cheerleaders,

Boy, who doesn't love those gals? Right now, to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure. Though the NCAA doesn't have a square inch requirement, they do ask teams to show "good taste" in the selection of uniforms for majorettes and cheerleaders.

I can tell you that the Idaho Vandals had some uniforms that WERE the skimpiest until complaints got them taken away.

Who would complain but fat girls with low self esteem?

That was in 2008 and now they're more covered, but I do happen to have some pictures, so I'll share one with you.

Larry

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