Title door for Boise State, TCU closes slightly as Stanford gently weeps

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Apparently, the reports of Auburn’s first-half death were greatly exaggerated.  As was the notion of Boise State and TCU pulling up a chair at the BcS title table — for now.

The Tigers dodged a major bullet, erasing what was at one point a 24-0 deficit in the 28-27 win over Alabama, and kept their title hopes very much alive, while simultaneously breaking the hearts of those in Boise and Fort Worth as this could be the last big test for either Auburn or Oregon.  The stirring comeback, one of the greatest in the tradition-rich history of the Iron Bowl, seemingly removes the final major obstacle in the Tigers’ path to Glendale.  Or does it?

Barring a complete collapse — or an NCAA ruling coming down on Cam Newton’s eligibility beforehand — Auburn should be able to handle their business in the SEC championship game against South Carolina.  ”Should” is the operative word here, though; the Gamecocks took a 27-21 lead into the fourth quarter on the road in late September, but turned the ball over four times in the fourth quarter as the Tigers mounted one of their eight fourth-quarter comebacks.  Certainly Auburn will be favored, possibly heavily, in the conference title game but, as Alabama showed today, the Tigers are far from invincible… provided you play four quarters.

As for Oregon, the Pac-10 school still has two games remaining — tonight against Arizona, then the Civil War against in-state rival Oregon State — and remain in the driver’s seat for a spot opposite Auburn.  As also proven by the Tide, though, the Ducks should tread lightly and warily when facing a rival on the road; you don’t think there’s anything the Beavers, in the midst of a wildly disappointing season, would love to do more than knocking their bitter rivals from the national championship picture?  Still, and provided they survive tonight, they will be heavy favorites next weekend and have a path to Glendale that’s as equal to or greater in ease than their potential opponent in the BcS title game.

Three shots remain, though.  A trio of chances for Boise State and TCU to sneak through the back cargo door and onto a plane headed for Arizona.

Is it possible that a non-automatic qualifier will make it to the title game in 2010?  Certainly.  Is it probable?  Given the paths remaining for the two schools ahead of them in the BcS rankings, certainly not.  While it’s a credit to those two programs that we are this deep in the season and they’re still in the discussion, it’s also an indictment of the current system used to determine a national champion and screams “damn shame” that an equitable solution to what most perceive to be a major problem is easily found in a playoff format.  Of course, the BcS is not about fairness or equity or any other virtue espoused by the member institutions; rather, it’s all about funneling the most money possible to the Big Six “power” conferences.  Even at the expense of one of its own.

And what of Stanford, one of the Big Six’s own?  There probably wasn’t a bigger Alabama fan in the country as afternoon faded into evening than that program.  Should both Auburn and Oregon win out, and Boise State/TCU remain unbeaten, the Rose Bowl would be contractually obligated to take the highest-rated of the non-AQs… at the expense of the Cardinal.

Forget Boise State and TCU; Stanford might be subjected to the biggest jobbing of the 2010 season.

And the biggest reason yet for a playoff to get here sooner rather than later.

AP

Updated: 3:20 p.m. ET: The worst fears regarding Bill Stewart’s health have unfortunately come true.

In an announcement, West Virginia confirmed that Stewart, 59, has died of an apparent heart attack. There was no other news in the release.

Obviously, our deepest sympathies go to Stewart’s family, friends and the WVU community.

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While details of the situation are scarce, they are nevertheless worrisome for former West Virginia coach Bill Stewart.

According to connect-bridgeport.com via Tim Brady, the executive director of the Greater Bridgeport Convention and Visitors Bureau, Stewart was taken from the Stonewall Resort in Lewis County by ambulance today due to what is initially being called “an undetermined medical condition.”

West Virginia MetroNews later reported it to be “an apparent heart attack.“

Stewart was golfing at the resort and has reportedly been transported to the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital in Weston.

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Just a few days after the announcement of the Big 12-SEC bowl game, one site is already publicly expressing interest in playing host.

Speaking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chick-fil-A Bowl president Gary Stokan said he would consider bidding for the game.

“If we have the opportunity, we definitely would be interested in bidding, just as we would be very interested in bidding for the national championship game if it is decided to bid that out,” Stokan said.

Atlanta, Dallas and New Orleans are some of the cities already connected as possible host sites for the game. And therein lies the biggest benefit of the agreement: the conferences, not the bowls, dictate the terms of the event.

Though the site of the game is to be bid out, one would have to think the leagues would still have some say in the matter; I can’t imagine the Big 12 would agree to allow the bowl to be in Atlanta, at least not every year.

Maybe then scouts from each conference can go to bowl sites and get wined and dined for a weekend instead of the other way around.

(Hat tip: ChuckOliver.net) 

Last week, Auburn was one of a handful of finalists who lost out — for now — on four-star Salt Lake City quarterback Cooper Bateman, who gave a non-binding verbal commitment to Alabama.

The Tigers, though, have landed another similarly-starred member of the Class of 2013.

AuburnSports.com was one of several recruiting websites confirming with Jeremy Johnson himself that the quarterback informed AU of his decision to verbal to the school on an unofficial visit Sunday.  The Mobile, Ala, native opted for the Tigers over, among others, SEC rivals LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

Johnson, who allowed that LSU and Ole Miss were his other three finalists, said in essence that AU’s homefield advantage played a significant role in his decision.

“It feels great,” Johnson, who is the first verbal for the Tigers at his position in next year’s class, told the Rivals.com AU website. “I prayed about it, talked to my family about it and I feel like it’s the best choice for me. Auburn is right up the road from home.

“I’m excited about going to Auburn. It’s a great feeling. I thank God. He is the one who gave me this ability.”

That ability has led to both 247Sports.com and Scout.com rating Johnson as a four-star prospect, with the former placing him at No. 13 among pro-style QBs and the latter at No. 18 among all of the signal callers, pro-style or dual-threat.

Rivals rates Johnson as a three-star prospect and the No. 18 pro-style QB.

(Photo credit: Mobile (Ala.) Carver High School)

(Prepare for the Florida State-to-Big Ten rumors in  three… two… one…)

Already flush with cash, each member of the Big Ten will realize a significantly higher windfall than they’ve ever received in the past.

According to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch over the weekend, 11 of the 12 members of the conference — Nebraska, which officially joined the league last year, does not yet receive a full share — will receive an estimated $24.6 million this year in shared revenue.  The Post-Dispatch obtained the financial information from the Illinois athletic department.

The nearly $25 million per-school payout (pictured) is a record for the conference, topping the $22.8 million total each member received last year.  In 2008, each school received $18.7 million, meaning the payouts have increased over 35 percent the past four years.

By comparison, the paper notes, SEC schools were paid $19.5 million last year.  That financial gap between the two most powerful conferences in the country should be closed in short order, however, as the SEC will reap the benefits from a revamped TV deal in the not-so-distant future.  How much reaping could be potentially be involved?  ”[A]bout $8 million a year in revenue under soon-to-be-renegotiated television agreements,” USA Today wrote Monday morning.

The Big 12 and ACC recently completed — or will soon officially complete — new deals that will pay each conference member annually an average of roughly $20 million and $17 million, respectively, over the life of the contract.  The Pac-12′s new-ish deal is expected to pay each member in the neighborhood of $22 million a year.  Actually, that could be a very lowball number for the Pac-12; in that same USA Today piece, it’s estimated that the conference could make at least $30 million a year per member when the revenues from national television deals and regional Pac-12 networks are combined.

The Big Ten’s record haul comes despite the payout from the wildly successful Big Ten Network coming in less than last year.  In 2011, Big Ten schools received $7.9 million from the network; this year, that total will drop to “just” $7.2 million.  A 22-percent increase in its television deals, however, more than offset that dip in network payouts.

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With off-field issues for a trio of players at the position, wide receivers could be in short supply at the start of the 2012 season.

While the Sooners added a receiver transfer from Fresno State, Jalen Saunders very likely won’t be available until 2013 thanks to NCAA transfer rules.  Immediate help for OU, however, is on its way.

According to the Daily Oklahoman, JUCO receiver LaColtan Bester has signed with the Sooners and will play for OU this coming season.  Bester spent the 2011 season at East Mississippi Community College, where he caught 76 passes for 1,042 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Rivals.com reported that Baylor and Kentucky, among others, were interested in the 6-3, 205-pound player.  Bester will have three years to use his final two seasons of collegiate eligibility.

Receivers Trey Franks, Kameel Jackson and Jaz Reynolds were suspended indefinitely for unspecified violations of team rules earlier this month.  What further punishment — up to and including any game suspensions — is on the offing for the trio is unclear.

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Some links from around college football on a Sunday… 

– LSU’s assistants to remain among the highest paid in college football.

– Commissioner John Swofford remains confident in the ACC’s stability.

– We’re getting closer to a final four in college football, writes George Schroeder of the Eugene Register-Guard.

– Some uplifting stories from Haiti with players from USC, Pitt and Oklahoma.

– History says Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez will struggle in Year 1.

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While the college football world waits (some with bated breath) to see what will become of Florida State and the ACC, there’s another angle to the realignment story that should be addressed: will the Big 12 even expand?

According to one beat writer with knowledge of the league, that continues to be a divisive issue among its 10 members. The Tulsa World‘s Dave Sittler tweeted Sunday afternoon that, regarding expansion, four Big 12 schools are okay with the idea, four are one the fence, one is pushing hard in favor of it and one is pushing hard to prevent it.

That seems about right. You can create a general outline of which schools hold which opinions, but one is as obvious as it gets. The program pushing hard to prevent expansion? It rhymes with “Lexus.”

New Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said earlier this week that the “topic of expansion will be on every agenda going forward,” referring to both his league as well as all other conferences. With a new TV deal in the home stretch, you can bet getting a collective vote on membership one way or the other will be one of the next items on Bowlsby’s docket.

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Though Air Force running back Asher Clark played his final down for the Falcons in a Military Bowl loss to Toledo, his collegiate days weren’t quite over.

That may have changed with a recent story from The Gazette of Colorado Springs, which states Clark has been removed from the academy less than a week before he was scheduled to graduate as part of  an illegal drug use investigation.

An academy spokesperson would only confirm to the Gazette that Clark was no longer enrolled, but the academy has been going through a drug investigation for the past several months that involved 31 cadets.

Clark was not invited to an appearance at the White House last month when Air Force received the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy from President Barack Obama. A spokesperson told the Gazette Clark was “not meeting academy standards” related to the absence.

Clark rushed for over 1,100 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He finishes his career at AF with 3,594 rushing yards, good enough for second all time.

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Appearing on the wrong end of the post-spring depth chart, a pair of safeties have decided to take their collective leaves from North Carolina State.

Head coach Tom O’Brien announced Friday that Donald Coleman and Dean Haynes (pictured) have decided to transfer from his football program.

Coleman, a Princeton, NJ, native, has already graduated as a rising redshirt junior and would be eligible to play immediately if he decided to transfer to a Div. 1-A (FBS) program.  Haynes, who played his high school football in Georgia, would’ve been a redshirt junior in 2012 but, unlike Coleman, has not yet graduated.

In 2010 as a redshirt freshman, Haynes moved from defensive back to running back shortly before the start of the season and finished third on the team in rushing with 320 yards and three rushing touchdowns.  He was moved back to defense last year.

Both players played mainly on special teams in 2011.

Additionally, quarterback Brian Taylor (no relation), who was third on the spring depth chart, has decided to quit playing football but will remain in school.

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Some links from around college football on a Saturday… 

– Big Ten schools are making bank, you guys.

– Ole Miss wide receiver Nickolas Brassell has apologized for becoming academically ineligible.

– Another reaction from Friday’s Big 12-SEC announcement from the New York Times‘ Pete Thamel.

– More detailed allegations are emerging in the Jerry Sandusky case (warning: graphic content).

– Mike Leach shot a bear. Mike Leach. Shot a bear. 

– New Arkansas coach John L. Smith has something to prove. 

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Well, here we go again. Again.

Like it or not, yesterday’s announcement that the Big 12 and SEC were forming a new postseason game is triggering all kinds of realignment talk as many wonder aloud what will happen to the likes of Florida State, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Miami and so on.

What’s clear is that four conferences are separating themselves from the rest of college athletics; what isn’t is just how much bigger each of those leagues will get, if at all.

According to at least one Big 12 source speaking to the Dallas Morning News, expansion may not be over.

“I really can’t believe I’m saying this,” one Big 12 school source said. “We might be moving to four superconferences — and the Big 12 would be one of those.”

Granted, superconferences could also have an entirely new meaning than it did one or two years ago, where the prefix “super” refers to wealth rather than size. But with each new TV contract or bowl agreement, there will undoubtedly be talk of what it means to the landscape of college football. Earlier this week, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany likened realignment to tectonic plates, adding that he was “monitoring” the situation.

You can bet all other commissioners are doing the same. Does it mean Florida State will be in the Big 12 by Labor Day weekend and the ACC absorbs part of the Big East? Not necessarily. Remember, the Big 12 was dead twice and the Big Ten was going east before they weren’t.

Just be prepared for another summer of realignment talk that will absolutely tack another five years off all of our lives.

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Despite tight scholarship numbers thanks to lingering NCAA sanctions, it appears USC will be bringing in a transfer to its football program, although this one may not actually “count” toward its limit.

According to Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News, tight end J.T. Kerr has decided to leave Nebraska and transfer to USC.  Not only that, but Wolf reports that Kerr will move from TE to fullback.

Neither school has confirmed the move, and the rumor is Kerr may be a non-scholarship-type player, at least initially.

After redshirting his true freshman season in 2009 and not playing in 2010 due to a variety of injuries, Kerr… well… didn’t play in 2011, either.

Kerr was a three-star member of the Cornhuskers’ 2009 recruiting class coming out of Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego.

AP

Yesterday’s announcement that the Big 12 and the SEC were joining forces to create a new bowl game was tangible evidence that the college football landscape is indeed changing.

When and exactly how — looking at you, realignment — remains to be seen. But change doesn’t solely have to mean conference affiliation, either. If anything, the news was a symbol that major conferences are willing and able to dictate the terms of their postseason in a way that brings revenue back to where it belongs: with member institutions.

Where things get a bit convoluted is trying to figure out what this means for the likes of Florida State and Notre Dame. Depending on the day, the tides and/or who you ask, Florida State is either looking to escape the ACC, or remains perfectly content.  Now that the ACC is on the outside looking in, though, the pressure could escalate for the Seminoles to make a move.

Does that mean FSU is the Big 12′s newest member? Not necessarily, acting Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas told the Austin-American Statesman.

“We did before,” Neinas said, referring to interested parties in general. “Who? Maybe some old folks, maybe some new ones. Have we had any conversations with Florida State? No.”

Keep in mind that while Neinas and Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds have publicly stated there’s no interest (today) in expanding, let alone FSU, there is at least one account of the Big 12 reaching out to the ‘Noles. How accurate that account is remains unknown.

As for Notre Dame, the other school having its name tossed around? Neinas reaffirmed what many already believe.

“I don’t think Notre Dame is going to join a league,” Neinas said. “They’re in the process of extending their contract with NBC. No, I don’t see any pressure on them.”

While the effects of the Big 12-SEC bowl game have the potential to be as monumental as any playoff, it’s the latter that still determines Notre Dame’s independent status. A playoff consisting of the four highest-ranked conference champions would obviously have a much greater impact on Notre Dame’s conference affiliation — or, lack thereof — than what the Big 12 and SEC decide to do independently.

The point is that as long as Notre Dame’s chances for inclusion in college football’s new postseason don’t diminish, don’t expect them to join a conference.

Yes, that means the Big 12 too.

AP

Last month, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio offered up some fresh bulletin board material when asked about going up against big-brother Michigan on the recruiting trail.

“We’re laying in the weeds,” Dantonio said at the time. “We’ve beat Michigan the last four years. So where’s the threat?”

Friday, Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke was asked about the shot across UM’s bow during a radio interview.  Instead of huffing and puffing over the crack, Hoke refreshingly allowed that, yeah, his football team has some on-the-field work to do against the Spartans.

“They’ve beat Michigan the last four years, and we need to do something about it,” Hoke said by way of AnnArbor.com. “I mean, we have to do our job. We haven’t done our job.”

Only one of those four wins came at the expense of Hoke, of course, with the other three laying squarely at the feet of the deposed Rich Rodriguez.  Hoke ended a seven-game non-winning streak against Ohio State in his first season in Ann Arbor last year, but couldn’t do the same with the MSU streak in East Lansing.

The Wolverines’ will get the Spartans at the Big House in late October this year, although Hoke’s program will have a couple of other hurdles to get past — Alabama, Notre Dame in South Bend chief among them — before even worrying about slaying his second significant losing streak at the school.

“To be honest with you, we try and take it one week at a time, one game at a time, and we’ve got better things to worry about here at Michigan, and to talk about, than what other people may think or say,” the coach said.

The extended Clemson football family has suffered a loss as a former standout wide receiver was killed this past week.

First reported by multiple media outlets, the university confirmed via a press release that Brian Wofford died Friday morning after the motorcycle that he was driving was hit by an automobile at an intersection in the city of Moore, SC.  The accident occurred at approximately 11:15 local time and Wofford, who was wearing a helmet the release stated, died at the scene.

From OrangeAndWhite.com:

According to the S.C. Highway Patrol, Wofford was riding his 2008 Yamaha motorcycle west on Reidville Road when a 2003 Saturn driven by 20-year-old Jewell Cote of Pacolet attempted to turn right onto Reidville Road from Plateau Street, entering the road in the motorcycle’s path.

Cote was not injured in the wreck.  The accident remains under investigation.

Wofford played for the Tigers from 1996-99 and had 138 receptions for 1,857 yards and 13 touchdowns over his career.   He still ranks 10th in school history in receptions, ninth in reception yards and is tied for eighth in school history in touchdown receptions.

His 147 yards receiving in the 1999 Chick-fil-A Bowl remains a postseason record for the school.

His coach his senior year was Tommy Bowden, who released a statement through the school on his former player’s death.

“When you come to a new program you look to players who will set a standard of excellence and will bind your team together. Brian was one of those players in my first year.

“He was top notch in every area. He was a terrific student, a hard worker during practice, a leader…he was everything college athletics is all about from a positive standpoint. He represented our football program, our university and his family with great distinction.

“One thing I remember about Brian was how happy he was when he heard what our offense was all about. He knew he would get a lot of opportunities as a receiver in our offense and he made the most of it.”

At the time of his death, the 34-year-old Wofford was the head of the Spartanburg city parks system.

Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to Wofford’s family and friends during this heartbreaking time.

(Photo credit: Clemson athletics)