2013 College Football Thread

[HailtotheYo]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9191768/big-ten-conference-realign-teams-replace-division-names-east-west-sources-say

Big10 will realign in 2014 and use geography to split the divisions. East/West .... which means Mich/MichSt/OhioSt/PennSt will all be in the same division ... and the winner of Wisconsin/Nebraska will go to the title game every 9 out of 10 years. Smooth move guys ...

[DMN in the House]

College football is cyclical enough that it might not matter, and, honestly, it's better than the possibility of Ohio State/Michigan twice in two weeks. Not every conference is as easy to balance as the PAC12. It's not going to be as bad as the SEC has been recently, where the West had a clear superiority over the East, either.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm in agreement with DMN. With the exception of Northwestern the other teams in the West could all turn into annual contenders. It wasn't too long ago Wisconsin was regularly in the cellar of the Big 10 for example.

[HailtotheYo]

It's been 20yrs since Wisconsin was bad on a regular basis ... I dare you to look at the last 20yrs for the other schools in that division not named Nebraska.

[livid]

As someone who watches the Big Ten regularly (Wisconsin fan and all), it's not as cyclical as you would think. The West is going to be remarkably weak for the foreseeable future but until someone comes out of nowhere at one of the other schools (like damshow seems to be implying), parity isn't that realistic.

[gunnar hendershow]

Iowa has had real good periods, very recently too. When Brees and Orton were at Purdue they were a top 25 school. It won't be any different than the SEC East, which has recently been dominated by Florida and Georgia but has South Carolina and Tennessee in it and in the case of the first they are always close and in the latter they'll be back. There might not be parity like in the other division, but just a few years ago Nebraska was a fallen giant and just recently they seem to have managed to pick themselves up. There's definitely going to be ups and downs for programs, and we can look at the SEC East for what that probably looks like in the long term. Plus, not getting Ohio St. vs. Michigan in back-to-back weeks many years is something I prefer.

But pragmatically, it just doesn't work any other way though with them adding east coast schools you really need to do a proper geographic split now.

[HailtotheYo]

College Football Playoff

^ THAT is what the hired marketing firm came up with for the new ... 4 team college football playoff we get following 2014. Seriously, someone got paid for that.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9204021/football-playoff-name-site ... Jerry World to host the first ever final.

[gunnar hendershow]

I thought that was the placeholder name or something, and then I saw that it was actually the official name. Maybe someone will coin a clever term like Lamar Hunt did "Super Bowl" and after a few years it'll just be called that. "March Madness" and the "Final Four" were both coined by journalists if I recall. So it's certainly possible over time the playoff will come to be known as something else. If there's a positive it's that this isn't something like the Gorilla Ladders College Football Playoff.

Also, I really like the selection of Cowboys Stadium to host the first final. We'll see how much this becomes the deal, but opening it up to places beyond those that host bowls like the Final Four does gives a number of cities the opportunity to host the championship that otherwise would never get to hold a major college game.

[HailtotheYo]

ND mulling upgrades to stadium: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9235965/notre-dame-fighting-irish-looking-adding-football-stadium

[HailtotheYo]

aaaaaaaaaaaaand A&M regents approved the 450m$ redevelopment plan for Kyle Field ! Capacity will go to 102,500 (largest in SEC by 55 seats over Neyland)

http://blog.chron.com/aggies/2013/05/kyle-field-to-become-one-of-countrys-largest-college-football-stadiums/

So the leaks here: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/21743255 are a go .... holy shit yes. They'll play at the stadium while the project is being done during 8 month construction spurts. Should be a go for 2015.

[gunnar hendershow]

A&M ruling the state of Texas for a generation won't surprise me at all. Moving to the SEC was the best decision that program ever made. These renovations are in the top 5.

[Dan]

That Aggie stadium is lovely.

[HailtotheYo]

Yeah, A&M is fixing to explode all over the place.

Trying to get more info from my dad. He's living in Bryan now, an A&M alum, and knows some pretty significant people "in the know" .... if anything worth sharing comes of it, I'll post it.

[HailtotheYo]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9254376/mount-union-purple-raiders-coach-larry-kehres-retires-332-wins-11-titles

Mount Union (D3) head coach Larry Kehres is retiring. Say what you want about that level of ball, but what he did was phenomenal. I've met guys that played on those teams, played with guys from those teams, etc etc and have met the man several years back. True legend of the game and I hope he's recognized outside of the D3 world for what he's done. I mean, the guy has a better winning percentage that freaking Knute Rockne.

[Lint]

Notre Dame invested its quarterbacking future in Everett Golson, effectively shunting all other contenders to the side before the 2012 season to get the kinetic, multi-faceted sophomore as prepared as possible to lead the offense both in the present and for years to come.

The immediate result was a trip to the national title game. As of Saturday, any return journey will be made without the Irish's incumbent starter.

Golson no longer is enrolled at Notre Dame for what two sources told the Tribune was an academic violation. The school officially confirmed Golson is no longer a student but offered no more details, including when or if the player who started 11 games last season can return.

But the belief is Golson is gone for 2013, potentially undoing everything coach Brian Kelly and his staff had done to secure the position for seasons to come.

There is a logical and seasoned solution on hand, of course, in senior Tommy Rees and his career totals of 4,413 passing yards and 34 passing touchdowns.

Rees appeared in relief of Golson multiple times and playing a key role in saving victories while Golson sorted through early struggles.

But, clearly, Golson's robust arm and ability to present a running threat were to be the linchpins of the Irish offense moving forward. In his last six games in 2012, Golson threw for an average of 239.5 yards per game with eight of his touchdown passes coming in that span.

In his first year as a starter, Golson joined Joe Theismann (1970) and Jarious Jackson (1999) as the only Irish quarterbacks to pass for more than 2,000 yards and rush for more than 300 in a season.

His understanding of the offense — limited early in 2012 — grew with each start and Kelly even said during spring practice that the staff had reined in Golson's impulse to devour as much of the playbook as possible.

Now Notre Dame enters a rugged 2013 schedule with questions at nearly every position on offense, perhaps save two spots on the offensive line.

At quarterback, Rees and his 18 career starts offer a solid fallback. Thanks to the offseason transfer of former five-star recruit Gunner Kiel, the backups initially would be veteran Andrew Hendrix and freshman Malik Zaire, who was an early enrollee in January.

By any measure, though, replicating the soaring 2012 season — and improving on the implosion at the end of it in a BCS championship game loss to Alabama — now is substantially more difficult for Notre Dame. It no longer has the quarterback who helped steer it there in the first place.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-everett-golson-notre-dame-20130525,0,7747175.story

[gunnar hendershow]

Zaire will probably turn into a real good QB, but I don't think he's ready for this year. Golson developed well over the year and turned into the kind of player Kelly really likes, but he seems to have a good track record of developing college QBs so I don't know how much this will hold them back.

[Meacon Keaton]

I say fuck it and put in Zairr. I think he is going to be a good one. We already know we are an 8-5 team with Rees and his limited abilities. Lets play Zaire and let him get the experience this year instead of next.

[gunnar hendershow]

Probably the smartest option to be honest. They're an 8-5 team with Rees absolutely, Zaire is a great unknown but taking the chance with him could pay off big. If he flounders in year one it's just one year, after the season ND had last year I would think that finally there's a coach there with at least some bit of leeway, and if he shows promise by year's end ND puts themselves right back in the BCS picture for 2014.

[HailtotheYo]

LOL Notre Dame ...

[Meacon Keaton]

Because Florida State has never had a kid kicked out for academic reasons.