Okay so we were a couple of days late, but when you combine moving the KCCGD headquarters, ‘Merica’s birthday, and yours truly’s birthday, time gets tight. So here we are sitting in the middle of the week after a long haul and holidays pumping out yet another mascot to review for Mascot (mostly) Monday. This week we hit up Phil Steele’s number 34 ranked preseason team in Stanford with its official and unofficial mascots. The path to having a color be a mascot had some controversial bumps, while the path for the tree just seemed plain goofy. That said, we’re glad we’re back at the keyboard to bring you another mascot to munch on.
Continue reading Mascot Monday: Cardinal and Tree →
Alrighty, we are in the 1st quarter of bowl season and fortunately we don’t have any Big 12 bowl games until next week. So we have the opportunity to preview and predict what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks for the Big 12. We’ll talk briefly about the match up and go into our expert predictions. Chew on this while you are doing your last minute shopping on Amazon. Oh and please pick us up something nice while you’re at it.
Continue reading Big 12 Bowl Preview and Predictions →
After a well deserved week off, we are back to bringing you some tasty college football. Alot happened during our mini hiatus so we are playing catch up with the Crib Sheet. We have alot to get to here with the start of bowl season this weekend. Tune in soon for a couple of year end reviews, bowl picks, and some bowlspots. Until then, here’s a very chunky Crib Sheet:
- Alabama took the high road when it announced that they will cancel classes for the BCS National Championship. That’s nice for football fans, but the last time I remembered there are people who actually don’t like football AND go to college. It seems kinda chintzy to lob off classes for everyone during the bowl game. Then again, this is South and it is football.
- Congress will crack the whip on the BCS soon and vote on a bill to ban promotion of the NCAA division I football series unless they get a playoff. The argument against it is that they have better things to do (health care bill, anyone). The argument for it is that the NCAA is a business and they should treat the conferences like companies in an industry. Problem with that one is that then the argument will come up that the students should get paid then (on top of free college). The slippery slope just got some juice.
- Charlie Strong is you new Lousiville head coach. This guy was rumored for the Kansas job, but right now the hot note is Buffalo’s Turner Gill. Anywho, back to Strong. This guy was co-defensive coordinator for Florida and looks to be a real good hire. Good luck to Cardinals.
- Tennessee confirms that there is an investigation into their Orange Pride group and possible recruiting violations. Basically, the Orange Pride comprises mostly of very attractive Volunteer females that drive around and persuade recruits to join the program. They would even friend them on Facebook. Did they break any rules? Who knows? This has been going on for a long time, however. The power of gender persuasion is a might force, my friends.
- Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh hired his dad Jack to be interim running backs coach for the Sun Bowl. It’s nice to see that the Harbaughs like to keep in the family. His dad won some titles in Division II and his brother John just happens to the head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
- Notre Dame took the plunge and finally hired a head coach. His name? Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly. It’s a good fit for the Domers. They guy won the Big East the last two years and has won at least 10 games the last three. Let’s hope the boosters expectations aren’t too high this time around, otherwise we’ll be seeing this dance again in three years.
- Mack Brown from Texas is getting an extra $2 million per year on the rest of his contract for doing such a great job. The guy now will make about $5 million per year. Meanwhile, an Iowa senator complains that coaches are being paid too much. Nevermind that Texas brings in about $100 million a year via the athletic department. Oh and don’t let Kirk Ferentz or Paul Rhoads hear this guy. They might go somewhere else and the voters will vent on their frustration in the voting booth.
- Colt McCoy wants a bowl playoff. He’s thought about long and hard. Did he think about it while he almost blew the game for the Longhorns at the Big 12 Championship? Maybe that’s why he wants playoff. It would’ve covered up his mistake. Doh!
- A handful of awards were handed out on ESPN last week to college football players. We’re not going to go through the whole list but we will say that Big 12 was represented very well. Congrats to Colt McCoy and Ndamukong Suh.
- So Kansas ended its coaching search over the weekend. Some people thought it was Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, but that was denied big time. So the Jayhawks fell to their 2nd choice, Turner Gill. This guy turned around Buffalo from perennial losers to a decent MAC team, even winning the title last year. Some people have overlooked that and started a fire-this-guy website. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.
- Congrats to Northwest Missouri State who became the Division II champions over the weekend. It was their first title since 1998. Good job guys!
- Mark Ingram won the Heisman over the weekend as well. The race ended up being the closest ever with Ingram taking it over Gerhart, McCoy, Suh, and Tebow respectively. The sexy pick leading up to it was Suh, but that’s why it was sexy. No chance of winning and you get to appear smart. That said, there was no clear leading guy running up to it, so it’s no surprise it was this close.
- Kansas State special teams stand out Brandon Banks was released from jail after beating a women while stoked on some stimulants. Ruh Roh. At least there’s no bowl to damage for the Wildcats. Hopefully this guy will get his act together and salvage his draft status, if there’s any left.
- Looks like Illinois will hire Kansas State co-defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to be their sole defensive coordinator. He was with Clemson for a couple of years before his one year stint with the Wildcats. Hopefully the Wildcats defense won’t suffer that much.
- Looks like the Big 10 will finally come into the century and explore a possible 12th team and conference championship. Who will it be? Some say Missouri or Iowa State. We know Missouri would listen. Others are point toward the Big East and Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pittsburgh. Let’s hope they keep it Big East for the east coast television money too.
- The NCAA, following the lead of the NFL, will recommend keeping an athlete out of the game if they lose consciousness or show signs of a concussion. Head trauma is big news nowadays and the NCAA is quickly stepping in to cover their own heads with this rule. Now I get the old folks harping about leather helmets and poor pads being a better sport. We’ll be talking like that in a c0uple of years.
As expected, there is a ton of news this week. Conference championships are over, coaches are fired, kids are leaving for the NFL, and the bowls are lighting up. Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet while we go do some Christmas Shopping:
- Mark Mangino resigned last week from his head coaching position at Kansas. They negotiated a fat deal for him to walk away. It was bound to happen. Stories upon stories show how quickly alot of people were ready to turn on this guy. The moral of the story? You can be a big bully until you start losing. And being a bully as a head coach can be hard to do.
- Because of Mangino going, Dezmon Brsicoe will forgo his senior year and head to the NFL Draft. Jeremy Maclin he ain’t, but he will be a force in the NFL.
- As for Mangino’s replacement, the rumor mill is churning big time. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was rumored but declined. Last real talk we heard was Buffalo’s Turner Gill interviewing for the job. No matter who they get, they will have an uphill battle due to teams rebuilding from this year have improved and have a year head start.
- Wisconsin settled a lawsuit with the family of an ABC cameraman who fell from a platform and died at a game in their stadium. Alot of people think the danger is only on the field, but it can also be on the sidelines and in the stands. The Badgers goofed by not properly setting up a rail for the guy to catch onto. They do need those stinkin’ rails.
- Everybody’s talking about undefeated teams this year but let’s not forget the winless teams. Western Kentucky finished out the year winless Thursday and extended their streak of losses to 20. Good job guys!
- Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins has a super secret email address because of all of the hate email he’s been getting. If this guy puts his money where his mouth is and actually produces, he wouldn’t be bombarded with nasty grams between the Viagra spam.
- What about the Heisman? Yes, the race is still on and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy are among the finalists. We also have Florida weeper Tim Tebow, Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, and Alabama running back Mark Ingram. It’s a tight race and it would be cool to see a defender get one. Meanwhile, Suh won the Bronko Nakurski Award.
- Welp, Notre Dame officially blew up. Weiss is out, of course, and his kids voted against going to a bowl this year. Plus, offensive superstars Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate both declared for the NFL Draft. So their offense will dip almost as low as their defense. It’s going to take a strong man to rebuild this program. Maybe Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly is up for it.
- Hofstra’s ending it’s 72 year old football program. Alot more of these smaller schools are axing them due to cash and lopsided scheduling with bigger schools. It’s a shame too. If there are no more small schools, how will the big boys practice for their conference? What about upsets? Let’s hope this slows down.
- Utah State is renaming its field to Merlin Olsen Field, after the famous alumni, NFL star, and actor. Next thing you know, they’ll have Mongo concessions. Mongo like candy!
- Bobby Bowden got his farewell wish and is playing his old school, West Virginia, in the Florida Gator Bowl. We don’t think there will be a group of kids more pumped up to finish out a bowl than the ones that will take the field for this legendary coach. West Virginia should be favored but who knows? They may lay down for the coach.
- A marine accidentally shot another marine to death because of a fight over the Texas and Nebraska Big 12 Championship game. Apparently, there was a tussle and a gun went off. Yikes, aren’t these guys trained to be weapon experts? We’re guessing they were pretty drunk when it happened.
College Sports, Kansas City style
