University of Mississippi football coach Houston Nutt said Wednesday he is optimistic his quarterback will win his appeal because other players have been granted waivers after being dismissed from teams. The NCAA on Tuesday ruled Jeremiah Masoli ineligible for the season because he had been kicked off the team at the University of Oregon. “I have seen 12 different cases that are very similar,” Nutt said after practice. — Clarion-Ledger
West Virginia freshman wide receiver Ivan McCartney is getting some high-powered advice these days. “Be great at whatever you do,” McCartney’s cousin has told him. “Work harder than anyone in the nation.” Who is McCartney’s cousin? None other than Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and reality TV star Chad Ochocinco. McCartney is listening to Ochocinco, but he is still his own person. McCartney had the opportunity to choose jersey No. 85 like his cousin, but he instead selected Pat White’s old number (5). “If I would’ve chosen 85, everyone would’ve known me as Chad Ochocinco,” McCartney said. “I wanted to make my own legacy.” McCartney, a U.S. Army All-American from Miramar (Fla.) High, said he doesn’t have the mentality of most wide receivers. “I’m not a very cocky and arrogant person,” he said. “We all work together.” — Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
One team is really hurting for cash. The other team badly wants to go to a bowl game. Combine those two interests and the result is a $300,000 deal between San Diego State and Nicholls State of Louisiana. In exchange for that money, Nicholls State has agreed to play SDSU Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium in the football season opener for both teams. The Colonels made the agreement even though they play in an inferior division with fewer resources and smaller, slower players. Meanwhile, SDSU has never paid that much money to bring in an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision. The Aztecs might even lose money on the game. Keep in mind SDSU’s average per-game ticket revenue last year was $233,000. But the deal works for both teams because of the inequities in Division I football and the importance SDSU is placing on earning its first bowl berth since 1998. — San Diego Union-Tribune
The relationship between college football and the city is one of the wackiest things in New York sports. The last significant game played in the area was in 2002. Only one market in the entire country had a lower TV rating for last year’s BCS national-championship game (New York was 55th, Providence, R.I., was 56th). So there’s a case to be made that being New York’s college-football team in recent years is a bit like being Albuquerque’s curling team. But a confluence of new stadiums, new strategies to take New York and even a bowl game has resulted in something the city hasn’t seen in years: a crowded college-football landscape, a heightened battle to be the region’s team and, dare we say, a college-football renaissance in New York.
Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said on an A&M-sponsored radio show this week that he was hesitant for the Aggies to potentially move to the Southeastern Conference because of competitive issues. “I was concerned with changing conferences that we may not be ready for the level of competition if we decided to leave,” Byrne told “Aggie Hour” host Dave South. “I was very concerned about trying to take things slowly, and not rush.” Byrne, who arrived at A&M in late 2002, cited the Aggies’ conference shift in 1996 as reason for pause this summer, when A&M nearly bolted for the SEC as part of a Big 12 shakeup. — San Antonio Express-News
It’s a new era for the Big Ten and the Iowa football program. On Wednesday, the Big Ten announced how the league would align into two divisions beginning in 2011 when Nebraska joins the league. Iowa will enter a division with Minnesota and Nebraska, along with Northwestern, Michigan and Michigan State. The Hawkeyes will play those five schools annually — plus Purdue as a cross-divisional rival — each year. The opposite division consists of Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana and Purdue. In 2011, the league will play its first title game. Playing Nebraska each year excites Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta, and the Big Ten shifted Iowa’s traditional end-of-season rivalry game from Minnesota to Nebraska. Iowa will play Nebraska on Thanksgiving weekend in 2011 and 2012. The Hawkeyes had ended their league season with Minnesota in 25 of the past 27 years. — World-Herald
ESPN’s Dave Brown, one of the most talented game/team brokers in sports for the World Wide Leader, spoke with authority and enthusiasm and he was immaculately dressed, like a high-powered TV mogul. Brown sold BYU football like it was ruby in its regal crown He couldn’t cite all the ratings on the spot, but said last year’s BYU-Oklahoma game ranked No. 9 in the rating season, going up against Virginia Tech-Alabama. “BYU always rates great for us,” Brown said. “The Miami game back in the ’90s with Ty Detmer did a six rating for us, and the Holiday Bowl games in the ’80s did a much higher rating than ESPN had in the regular season.” Brown said ESPN could pull together games for the Cougars in football and basketball. He refuted the idea that ESPN could take a former broker role to get BYU a BCS slot. He said nothing about unofficial ESPN hierarchy old boy’s talk at summer cruises and golf outings with the bigwigs of the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC. Neither BYU nor Brown talked money figures, but the Oklahoma-BYU game brought the Cougars just over a million dollars. One can guess BYU’s future home football games with ESPN (seven to eight a year) will be in the $700,000 to $1.2 million range apiece, with the Notre Dame and Texas games on the high end. Then there are ESPN broadcasts of BYU home basketball games. You do the math. — Deseret News
Word trickled down from Happy Valley a few times in the preseason that freshman Robert Bolden was looking more and more like a serious contender to become Penn State’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener. Despite those reports, the thought among veteran Joe Paterno watchers was that the 83-year-old coach would never – ever – choose a guy going into his first collegiate game to take the initial snap from center, especially in front of 100,000 people, no matter how friendly. But in an announcement that was, strangely, somewhat surprising but not totally unexpected, Bolden was named Wednesday night by Paterno as the starter for Saturday’s game against Youngstown State at Beaver Stadium. In marking the first time in his 45-year tenure as head coach that a true freshman will start an opener at quarterback. Paterno gave Bolden the nod over sophomores Matt McGloin and Kevin Newsome, the backup last year to Daryll Clark. “Based on what we have seen to this point, Bolden has a slight edge right now,” Paterno said in a statement, “but we are confident all three quarterbacks are ready to go and hope to give them an opportunity to play until we settle on the one that gives us the best chance to win.” With those remarks, Paterno left the door open for McGloin and Newsome to overtake Bolden as the regular starter. On the Nittany Lions’ depth chart, Bolden, McGloin, and Newsome will be designated 1A, 1B, and 1C, respectively. For now, though, Bolden is the first true freshman to start at quarterback in Penn State’s opener. — Philadelphia Inquirer
A Long Island special education teacher has revolutionized big-league play-calling with BoomGuard, a simple device that shields coaches’ mouths from potential lip-readers. Inventor Ramone Ward remembers the autumn Sunday in 2005 when it came to him: for all those NFL coaches holding laminated play cards over their mouths and running from cameras to protect their secrets, there had to be a better way. “Someone was going to make a lot of money,” he says. “And I decided that was going to be me.” Less than five years later, Ward’s award-winning BoomGuard device is building a steady following in multiple professional and high school sports, including auto racing and football. — Boom Guard
Odds to win the 2010 BCS Championship (From BoDog.com)
Alabama 4/1
Ohio State 5/1
Oklahoma 15/2
Boise State 8/1
Florida 9/1
Texas 14/1
Nebraska 15/1
Miami 18/1
TCU 18/1
Virginia Tech 18/1
September 1, 2010 9:57 pm
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As a student at Arizona State, NBC’s Al Michaels was sports editor of The State Press, and took delight in fooling the big newspaper in town. He created a fictional baseball player from a remote high school and phoned in phony results to The Republic. We published them (until the ruse was discovered), and he laughed (still does). “I made up a guy named Clint Romas, and called The Arizona Republic, and had this phony guy in like four box scores,” Michaels said. “Then they gave me the Walter Cronkite Award, and Walter is there, and I’m going, ‘Wait a minute . . . I’m the guy who created this farcical thing with The Republic.” … <!–nextpage–>”I’m registering for classes as a freshman, standing in registration line hoping to get the classes I want, and I start to talk to the guy standing in front of me,” Michaels said. “He says he’s there to play baseball. I say, ‘That’s interesting. I’m here to broadcast sports, major in radio and TV, and hopefully end up doing baseball games on campus. That guy was (future major-league star) Sal Bando. “And somewhere in our storage area in Los Angeles, on a reel-to-reel tape, I have myself announcing a football game, and the cornerback for the Sun Devils was Reginald Martinez Jackson.” — Arizona Republic
Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick did acknowledge that an independent BYU would provide a strong option for future November schedules, when many schools are restricted by conference affiliation. BYU would be college football’s fourth independent, joining Notre Dame, Army and Navy. “Even prior to this announcement, we were talking to them about doing some games,” Swarbrick said of BYU. When asked if the Cougars could be the final piece to the 2011 scheduling puzzle, Swarbrick responded, “I don’t have it in front of me.” Notre Dame and BYU have met six times in football (1992-94, 2003-05) – four times in South Bend and twice in Provo, Utah. The Irish hold a 4-2 edge in the series. — South Bend Tribune
If Les Miles avoids the pressure of the powers at be at and around LSU and remains at LSU for the 2011 season, it will be because Jordan Jefferson avoided the pressure behind a troubled offensive line. “I didn’t really seek that role,” Miles said when asked about his shaky job security that has included two straight off-seasons in which his contract was not rolled over. This decreased his buyout by his year’s salary of $3.85 million each time. After this season, he will have four years left on his contract, which would mean it will still cost as much as $15 million to fire him. “My view, very honestly, has been a view of how to coach and prepare my team for victory,” he said. “I’m very fortunate to have a good contract. I don’t think that’s the issue. I think the issue is preparing my football team.” — Daily Advertiser
There’s a growing list of people who are ready to anoint Terrelle Pryor as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is not ready to do that just yet. Pryor will lead the Buckeyes into Thursday’s season-opener with a slew of expectations, expectations that have grown exponentially since he graduated from high school as the top-ranked recruit in the nation. But Tressel said longtime OSU media relations coordinator Steve Snapp always preached tempering such candidacy early on. “Steve always taught us you don’t think about that until three or four games in,” Tressel said. “If you don’t have production that points toward that, don’t bother. “We don’t come out at the beginning of the year and say, ‘So and so is a candidate.’ We kind of wait until they see how they do. That’s one think I love about major awards is they have gone away from being a popularity contest and have evolved into who’s doing well on great teams, which is what is should be about.” — Morning Journal
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt says he has no doubt Jeremiah Masoli is in the right place. “We’re in the people-helping business,” he said, making a plea for the NCAA to reconsider its stance. — Mobile Press-Register
Doug Marrone, the second-year coach of the Syracuse University football team, knows better. He knows a five-year contract no longer comes with a five-year warranty. He knows that behind the written language is this unspoken message: Win soon or else. It is the simple reality in Marrone’s chosen profession today. It is an instant-access era in which impatience displayed in Internet chat rooms and on talk radio can create a contagious wave of negativity capable of swamping a rebuilding project before it takes root. The bottom line is a coach can come in with a five-year plan, but he better get results well before then or he will land on somebody’s hot seat. ‘’The pressure now is we have to go out and win,” Marrone said. “We’ve got to get to a bowl. We just have to get to it. We haven’t been in one in a long time. We have to do it. Once we pass that hurdle I think great things could happen.” — Syracuse Post-Standard
Just because your school is starting out in college football’s preseason top 10 doesn’t mean it belongs there. In fact, there’s a fair chance it won’t finish anywhere near there. Of the 120 teams ranked in the Associated Press’s preseason top 10 since 1998, 21—nearly two per season—finished completely outside the final top-25 poll. The biggest flop of the BCS era, hands down, was Alabama in 2000. Ranked third before the season, coach Mike DuBose’s Crimson Tide went 3-8, setting in motion the school’s blundering series of coaching moves (Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula) before the school finally landed Nick Saban. Arizona opened 1999 ranked fourth, then got embarrassed 41-7 at Penn State and never recovered, finishing 6-6. Steve Kragthorpe began his Louisville coaching tenure in 2007 ranked 10th, but soon lost to Syracuse as a 37-point favorite. Last season, Oklahoma had three of the NFL’s eventual top four draft picks on its roster, yet it still went 8-5 because of numerous injuries, most notably to quarterback Sam Bradford. — Wall Street Journal
Which UM player will surprise people and have a breakout season? We asked 16 returning Canes players and one name was mentioned by far the most (seven times): running back Lamar Miller. Kylan Robinson was cited second-most and Kendal Thompkins third. “Speed kills; Lamar will shock people,” cornerback Brandon McGee said. “If he gets past the defensive line, nobody will catch him nine times out of 10. You can put him out wide, too.” Graig Cooper said, “I’ve never seen anyone run as smoothly as Lamar.” Running backs coach Mike Cassano has said defensive coordinators “will hold their breath when he has the ball.” — Miami Herald
Remember the 30-to-45 day timetable Commissioner Jim Delany laid out regarding the announcement of Big Ten divisions? Well, Wednesday marks Day 30. And sources indicate the league is ready to move. A Wednesday announcement would allow fans to digest the divisional breakdown a day before the season kicks off with three Big Ten games: Marshall- Ohio State, Towson-Indiana and Minnesota-Middle Tennessee. Athletic directors also are eager to get to work on their teams’ 2011 schedules. Delany last week said the process was “80 percent” complete, and Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez revealed the Badgers would be placed in a different division than rival Iowa. Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips told the Tribune on Monday he believes the Wildcats’ rivalry with Illinois will be protected. He also would love to play Wisconsin and Iowa annually, but … “Everybody has to make some concessions,” he said. – Chicago Tribune
Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor is a slight favorite to win this years Heisman Trophy, according to our friends at Bodog.com.
Here are the complete odds for this years top prize in college sports.
Odds to win the 2010 Heisman Trophy
Terrelle Pryor 4/1
Mark Ingram 5/1
Ryan Mallett 9/1
Kellen Moore 10/1
Jacory Harris 12/1
Jake Locker 12/1
Noel Devine 12/1
Andrew Luck 15/1
Case Keenum 15/1
Christian Ponder 15/1
University of Miami top signee Seantrel Henderson, rated the No. 1 incoming freshman in the country, might play some Thursday. Henderson, an offensive tackle listed at 6-8 and 355 pounds (coach Randy Shannon said he has lost some weight), has been doing well in practice, the coach said. On Monday, Henderson played with the second team, and defensive end Marcus Robinson was having no luck getting past him during the first few minutes of practice attended by the media. Shannon said Henderson “knows about a quarter to half of the playbook, and he’s getting better every week and every day.” — Miami Herald
As Nevada begins its transition into the Mountain West Conference, there are two certainties. One, the Wolf Pack will eventually get there, perhaps as early as next summer. Two, little is likely to be decided before Nevada’s lawyers and the WAC’s lawyers earn their paychecks. Nevada’s intentions to leave the WAC and to do so in less than a year have violated two contracts, and the WAC is prepared to take legal action to recoup its losses, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said Monday. Nevada and Fresno State announced on Aug. 18 their intention of joining the MWC, which Benson said violates a resolution agreed to by all the WAC schools except Boise State and Louisiana Tech. The resolution, reached Aug. 13 and also agreed to by BYU, states that those WAC schools would remain in the WAC through June 30, 2016 or face a $5 million penalty. Fresno State signed the resolution; Nevada President Milton Glick verbally agreed to it on Aug. 14. The resolution was drawn up in reaction to BYU’s desire to become a football independent and join the WAC in all other sports. BYU, in discussions with the WAC, wanted assurance that the WAC would maintain its current structure. – Reno Gazette-Journal
Georgia Tech will unveil its Heisman Trophy push for quarterback Joshua Nesbitt. — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
LSU coach Les Miles also made it clear that Jordan Jefferson is his starting quarterback after some recent stories that suggested Lee was close to possibly replacing Jefferson as the starter Saturday against the Tar Heels. These stories were written partly because Miles has not been consistently clear since the spring about how close the competition between Lee and Jefferson has been. At times, he said Jefferson was the starter. At times, he said Lee could still win the job. On Monday, Miles left no doubt. “I think Jarrett Lee has really improved,” Miles said. “I think he’s improved in scrimmage play. I think he’s improved in drill play. I think he had a really strong summer. I think he has real support of his teammates. Jordan Jefferson is a much better quarterback than he was a year ago. And if Jarrett Lee was just competing with the guy that started for the Tigers a year ago, I think it would be different today. But Jordan Jefferson is better. I think he’ll look forward to playing this Saturday, and hopefully the differences will be seen.” — Shreveport Times
As the window further closes, it increasingly appears the Western Athletic Conference is not in Brigham Young University’s plans as school officials sort out their options for going independent in football and placing BYU’s other sports in another league. Sources in Logan familiar with the situation told The Tribune on Monday it appeared the Cougars were now looking elsewhere for a nonfootball affiliation. That could mean the West Coast Conference — an eight-school league composed of private, faith-based institutions — is now BYU’s destination for its other sports. Utah State, which as of two weeks ago was closely tied to BYU’s plans, expects details about BYU’s intentions of becoming an independent in football to be announced today. BYU must give the Mountain West Conference notice of its intention to leave by Wednesday. — Salt Lake Tribune
Louisiana-Lafayette is getting $875,000 from Georgia to visit, in a deal signed three years ago. And in today’s world that’s a bargain. Georgia just signed a deal to give Buffalo $975,000 to open the 2012 season in Athens. Similar deals were given to North Texas ($975,000 to come in 2013) and New Mexico State ($925,000 for 2011.) On the flip side, Louisiana-Lafayette hasn’t signed a deal for under $900,000 since it scheduled Georgia. It’s getting $950,000 from Florida for a 2012 game. That matchup with the Gators was negotiated with Greg McGarity, then at Florida, now the Georgia athletics director. “The key thing is getting teams in here for one game,” McGarity said. “And you’re gonna have to pay a million dollars. It’s not gonna go down.” How did it get to this point? It traces back to the NCAA allowing all teams to play a 12th regular season game, starting with the 2006 season. — Ledger-Enquirer
Since being fired, former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach has done some odd jobs, including consulting work for an American football team in France. One of the perks, he said, was that hanging out with the locals, he didn’t have to ask directions in Paris. — Arkansas News
It has been assured that Ohio State and Michigan will continue to play annually, but a debate rages over whether to slot Ohio State and Michigan in opposite divisions and run the risk of the Buckeyes and Wolverines playing on back-to-back weekends. In that instance, ”The Game” might be moved to earlier in the season, a change that has been panned by former players even as OSU director of athletics Gene Smith, president E. Gordon Gee and Michigan AD Dave Brandon have said recently they’re open-minded to moving. The Ohio State-Michigan game has been the two teams’ finale since 1935. On Monday, speaking at his first weekly luncheon in preparation for the season opener Thursday night against Marshall, Tressel tried to bob and weave. ”I guess my stance on all of this stuff is what I am going to be in favor of is what the group needs and what the group decides,” Tressel said. ”I’m going to focus on [OSU's] 25 seniors and the 2010 football team and not allow myself to get distracted [by] all of the discussion.’
Lawyer Wil Florin was driving to a meeting with several attorneys and professional wrestler Hulk Hogan about the highly publicized car crash involving Hogan’s son. On the way, Florin’s iPhone rang. It was Jim Leavitt, who had been fired that day as the University of South Florida’s football coach, and suddenly found himself in need of a good attorney. So Florin changed plans, drove to Leavitt’s house and checked on the other meeting by cell phone. Before long, Florin had filed a lawsuit on Leavitt’s behalf, criticizing USF for a “biased, flawed and legally unsupportable” investigation that led to the firing. That’s the kind of year it has been for Florin, 55, who has found himself in some of the most-scrutinized cases in the Tampa Bay area. — St. Petersburg Times
Frank Beamer knows an excellent football program when he sees one. Entering his 24th season as the coach at Virginia Tech and as the second-winningest active coach, Beamer has faced top 10 programs year in and year out. He said he’s as impressed with Boise State, which his team faces Monday in Landover, Md., as most that his team has played against. “They’re not going to beat themselves,” Beamer said Monday. “You’ve got to beat them … they’re a legit team. They’re certainly deserving of the No. 5 ranking (in the coaches’ poll), and maybe higher.” Boise State is third in the Associated Press poll, while Beamer’s Hokies are sixth in the coaches’ poll and 10th in the AP poll. The Hokies opened last season on a neutral field against a team ranked fifth in the coaches’ poll — at the Georgia Dome against Alabama. Of course, the Crimson Tide wound up winning the national title. “I think for us it’s the same kind of opening as when we played Alabama last year,” Beamer said. “They were No. 5 in the USA Today poll, Boise’s five and higher in most polls. We knew last year we’d have to have great preparation and play a great football game to beat Alabama. We had a couple turnovers and a couple long plays against us. It’s going to take the same thing. We’ve got to play a great ball game to have an opportunity to beat Boise State.” — Idaho Press
UPS announced it has become the official package delivery and logistics sponsor of the Southeastern Conference and all SEC Championship events. The contract, which was negotiated through SEC Sports Marketing, an IMG College Property, will run through June 2013. With a total base of more than 172 million fans, 29 million of whom earn more than $100,000 a year, the college market’s fan base provides a key consumer audience for companies like UPS. — Business Wire
The official college-football team portrait, a tradition that’s been around for more than a century, has long been a sober exercise. Student-athletes are encouraged to comb their hair, place their hands politely on their knees and gaze thoughtfully into the camera. In recent years, however, the photo that goes on posters and into game programs isn’t the only one the players pose for. At some schools, as many as half the players, sometimes more, will strip to their uniform pants, lather up with oil and flex their pectorals while posing with an ever-more-eclectic array of props including chains, sledgehammers, hard hats and, in one recent case, a $120,000 orange Lamborghini Gallardo. These unofficial photos aren’t widely distributed. They’re printed in small quantities and given to players to hand out to friends and family as evidence of their progress in physical training. But some of the better ones have—no surprise here—begun to make their way to the Internet, where confused fans have bombarded them with comments describing them as anything from “embarrassing” and “hilarious” to “really hot.”
The Illinois High School Association plans to hype March Madness for high school hoops. That group, which controls the rights to the phrase for high schools while the NCAA controls it for college play, plans to have its MarchMadness.org site track high school basketball state tournaments across the country. — USA Today
Quarterbacks Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin are awaiting the announcement of the Penn State starter for Saturday’s opener. The quarterback listing read: “Matt McGloin OR Kevin Newsome OR Robert Bolden.” McGloin, a redshirt sophomore, is said to have a slight lead over Newsome, a sophomore. Reports from Happy Valley are that Bolden, a freshman who has been on campus less than three months, has been extremely impressive and could get some playing time in the opener. According to reports, all three took snaps with the first team Friday in the final scrimmage of preseason. Paterno hasn’t commented on the quarterback situation, or anything involving the Lions, since the team’s Aug. 12 media day. He is expected to make his next comments Tuesday when he holds the first of his weekly teleconferences. — Philadelphia Inquirer
Just the thought of being in a select fraternity brought a smile to Ben Ijalana’s face.
Earlier this month, the Villanova left tackle rattled off the names of three former Rancocas Valley High products who played in the NFL. “Alonzo Spellman, Franco Harris, and Irving Fryar,” said Ijalana, a 2007 Rancocas Valley graduate. “Those are all greats.” If everything goes as planned, the 6-foot-4, 320-pound senior’s name may be added to that list. Ijalana is listed by NFLDraftScout.com as the second-best senior prospect at guard for the 2011 NFL draft, behind Florida State’s Rodney Hudson. NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said most NFL teams give the Wildcat a third-round grade. “He’s barely 6-foot-4, but he’s got long arms,” said Mayock, who think Ijalana is suited to play left tackle in the NFL. “He’s got real good feet. And in a pass-first league, he’s the kind of tackle teams are looking for.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
