K-State jumps up one spot in latest BCS standings

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By Ben KerchevalOct 21, 2012, 8:47 PM EDT

The second BCS rankings were released Sunday night, and there wasn’t much change among the top five. The only move? Kansas State hurdled Oregon to take over the No. 3 position after a convincing win over West Virginia on Saturday.

The SEC still holds the top two spots in the BCS with Alabama and Florida. Notre Dame stayed at No. 5 after barely beating BYU. The Irish will have a chance to move up the standings next week if they can beat No. 8 Oklahoma. LSU, the highest-ranked one-loss team, comes in at No. 6 and Oregon State continues to have a remarkable season at No. 7. USC and Georgia round out the top 10.

The SEC’s presence in the BCS continues with Mississippi State at No. 11 and Florida State comes in at No. 12. The Bulldogs will face top-ranked Alabama next. South Carolina drops six spots after getting throttled at Florida, and a pair of Big East teams, Louisville and Rutgers, land at spots 15 and 16.

West Virginia continues to slide down the polls after its second consecutive blowout loss and Texas A&M comes in at No. 20 to give the SEC seven BCS top-25 teams. Boise State, Michigan (hello again, B1G), Texas, Ohio (for the first time in school history) and Wisconsin round out the top 25.

(Many thanks to the National Football Foundation for the chart)

Darren Carrington’s dad confirms ex-Duck WR is now a Ute

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By John TaylorJul 26, 2017, 6:22 AM EDT

One of the bigger intra-conference transfers this offseason is all but officially official now.

Word surfaced earlier in the day Tuesday that Darren Carrington had pulled the trigger on a transfer to Utah.  Later on that night, the former Oregon wide receiver’s father confirmed to Lynn Worthy of the Salt Lake Tribune via email that, yes, his son will be playing for the Utes in 2017 as a graduate transfer.

From the Tribune:

The circumstances are definitely not what we planned,” Carrington wrote. “However we are so thankful to Coach [Kyle] Whittingham, Dr. Chris Hill-AD and the U of Utah, for providing darren with an opportunity to not only finish is college football career but also for him to be known not just for 2 bad decisions, but as a man of God. One who made some mistakes have learned from them and is now better as a result.

“Special shout out to OC [Troy] Taylor for being the catalyst.

Earlier this month, Oregon announced that it had dismissed Carrington, a move that came a couple of weeks after the senior was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants.

The senior’s 606 yards receiving last year were tops on the Ducks, while his five receiving touchdowns were tied for first. His 43 catches were second on the team as well.

In mid-November of last year, Carrington caught a 17-yard touchdown pass with two seconds left that carried the unranked Ducks to a 30-28 win over the then-12th-ranked Utes 30-28 in Salt Lake City.  October 28 of this year, Carrington will come “home” as Utah will travel to Eugene to take on the Ducks.

Steven Clark transfers to Western Michigan after being medically DQd by Syracuse

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By John TaylorJul 25, 2017, 10:10 PM EDT

Steven Clark will indeed give college football at this level another go.

In a text message to the Syracuse Post-Standard, Clark confirmed that he has decided to transfer to Western Michigan.  The move comes a little over a month after a health issue prematurely ended his time at Syracuse.

While the school’s medical results were disputed by his family, Clark (pictured, No. 72) was medically disqualified by ‘Cuse in June because of a genetic disorder that makes him susceptible to blood clots. Not long after, the defensive lineman stated on Twitter that he had “requested… permission to contact other schools in order to see if I can go anywhere else to play.”

According to the Post-Standard, “four independent doctors cleared Clark for physical activity — two before the disqualification and two after.” WMU doctors will need to sign off on Clark’s health as well.

If that happens, Clark would be eligible to play immediately for the Broncos.

The lineman ended his Orange career having played in 21 games, starting nine of those contests. He was credited with 37 tackles, three tackles for loss and a pair of fumble recoveries.

Coming to SU as a three-star 2015 recruit out of Alabama, Clark held offers from, among others, Florida, Memphis and Vanderbilt.

Ex-Michigan State football player suing Draymond Green

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By John TaylorJul 25, 2017, 7:44 PM EDT

An incident involving one former Michigan State football player and one ex-Spartans basketball player continues to make headlines a year later.

In mid-July last year, former MSU hoops star hoops star and current Golden State Warrior Draymond Green was arrested and charged with assault following an altercation at an East Lansing drinking establishment.  According to police reports at the time, the target of the alleged assault was Spartans cornerback Jermaine Edmondson.

Fast-forward a little over 12 months later, and Edmondson, along with his girlfriend Bianca Williams, has filed a civil lawsuit in California against Green.  Per mlive.com, the attorney representing the plaintiffs “declined to specify an amount of damages her clients are seeking.”

“I think about what happened with Draymond every day,” Edmondson said according to the website. “I still feel his hand on my jaw. There are nights when I wake up crying. I don’t understand why my name has been turned into this joke, and he gets all this credit for being a superstar and for standing up for women.”

Less than a week after the incident, Edmondson, who claimed during today’s press conference he longer felt safe on the university’s campus because the incident involved the beloved Green, was granted a release from his MSU scholarship and transferred from the Spartans.  Reportedly, however, the incident and transfer had nothing to do with each other.

Edmondson ended up at a Div. II program in Virginia, but did not play at all during the 2016 season.

Green ultimately saw the original assault charge dropped, instead paying a noise violation fine.

“Draymond looks forward to defending himself and clearing up the misinformation put forth today,” a portion of a statement from Green’s publicist read.

Larry Fedora part of North Carolina contingent attending mid-August NCAA hearing

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By John TaylorJul 25, 2017, 5:43 PM EDT

I’m quite certain that Larry Fedora is absolutely thrilled over this development.

On Aug. 1, North Carolina football players will report to campus.  A day later, the Tar Heels will kick off their sixth summer camp under Fedora.  Exactly two weeks after that?  Fedora will be forced to leave his football squad as part of the UNC contingent that will be in attendance at the university’s hearing in front of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.

The two-day hearing will take place Aug. 16-17 in Nashville, Tenn.

The news comes exactly two months after, for the third time in as many years, UNC responded to a Notice of Allegations connected to a decade-long academic scandal.

In June of 2014, the NCAA informed UNC “that it would reopen its original 2011 examination of the past academic irregularities.” The first NOA was sent to the university in 2015, with UNC accused of lack of institutional control as to student-athletes in multiple sports, including football, receiving preferential access to the controversial African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM) courses dating all the way back to 2002.  In April of 2016, UNC received an amended NOA that replaced “lack of institutional control” with “failure to monitor.”

A decision from the NCAA on what if any punitive measures the football program will face is expected to come two months or so after the conclusion of the hearing.  Such a timeline would, of course, put the resolution right in the middle of the football season.

It should be noted that Fedora is not facing any type of misconduct connected to the academic scandal.