Category: NCAA Football

The Quad

It’s kind of late for me to mention this, but The Quad college football blog from The New York Times is, I think, quite good at following college football without getting carried away about it.

The Quad is a blog about the fierce competition and engrossing culture of college football. From the Bowl Championship Series and Heisman Trophy watch, to news and features about one’s alma mater or local collegiate team, The New York Times will take readers inside America’s great fall weekend ritual with interviews, insights and analysis from the tailgates to the sidelines.

Tim Tebow Facts

When it rains in the Swamp, Tim Tebow doesn’t get wet. The rain gets Tim Tebow’d.

Tim Tebow has counted to infinity — twice.

Tim Tebow doesn’t bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.

Tim Tebow always knows the exact location of Carmen SanDiego.

Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas.

Update: Tebow once completed a high school game with a broken leg. He completed yesterday’s blowout of Florida State with a broken right hand. (He throws with his left.)

Winningest

Driving today listening to college football (which began at 10:00 Mountain Time from Boulder) I heard a reference to the winningest college football programs. Once home I did a little research. Here are the 11 schools that have won more than 700 games, with the number of wins through Friday, November 23rd.

Michigan 868
Notre Dame 823
Texas 819
Nebraska 808
Ohio State 797
Penn State 788
Alabama 786
Oklahoma 777
Tennessee 770
USC 752
Georgia 711

Numbers three and four, Texas and Nebraska, lost Friday. So did LSU, which is next in line with 690 wins.

Michigan and Notre Dame have the best won-lost percentages too; .745 and .738 respectively.

It was a long wait

The students at The University of Arizona showed great patience before taking the field in celebration last night as the Wildcats beat #2 Oregon 34-24. The ‘Cats, (5-6) have a chance for their first winning season since 1998 if they beat ASU and win a bowl game.

Oregon became the fifth number two team in seven weeks to lose to an unranked opponent.

Call it the luck of the Irish

Even Notre Dame, in the midst of its worst season ever, can suddenly stake a claim to No. 1.

The Fighting Irish have beaten UCLA, which beat Stanford, which beat USC, which beat Cal, which beat Tennessee, which beat Georgia, which beat Florida, which beat Kentucky, which beat newly top-ranked LSU. Notre Dame’s long-distance claim to No. 1 could be fleeting, however: The Irish host fellow 1-and-9er Duke on Saturday.

Sideline Chatter

Callin’ the shots

Last night, when the score early was just LSU 10, Louisiana Tech 7, Kirk Herbstreit, covering the Kansas-Oklahoma State game on ABC, said LSU would probably win 56-7.

Pretty close. 58-10.

Too bad Herbstreit is paired with the ever-garrulous 68-year-old Brent Musburger.

Speaking of shots.

Yet another cost of college

College towns bring together academic minds, alumni, students and sports enthusiasts, especially in the fall when football fans flock to reconnect with the nostalgia of happy college years.  The reasons they come – pageantry, culture, tradition and idyllic settings – are also the reason many want to stay and become homeowners in their college town.  According to the third annual Coldwell Banker® College Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI), while Ohio State may be leading the nation in the football polls, it is the Ball State Cardinals and Stanford Cardinal and their athletic conferences that hold the distinction of being located in the nation’s most affordable and expensive college towns, respectively.

Coldwell Banker-HPCI

The link above has all the details. Pointer via The Quad, which had this convenient summary. Price is for “a 2,220-foot, 4 bedroom 2 ½ bath home with a family room and two car garage.”

10 MOST EXPENSIVE
1. Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. $1,677,000
2. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass., $1,381,250
3. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., $1,306,333
3. U.C.L.A., Los Angeles, Calif., $1,306,333
5. University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif., $1,287,500
6. San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif., $1,145,000
7. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, $843,750
8. Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., $708,000
9. Florida International University, Miami, Fla., $638,333
9. University of Miami, Miami, Fla. $638,333

10 LEAST EXPENSIVE
1. Ball State University, Muncie, Ind. $150,000
2. Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, $151,250
3. University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla., $153,750
4. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla., $162,000
5. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, $163,250
6. University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, $163, 278
7. University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, La., $164,499
8. University of Houston, Houston, Texas, $169,736
8. Rice University, Houston, Texas, $169,736
10. Utah State University, Logan, Utah $172,978

The University of New Mexico is tagged at $317,319. My alma mater, The University of Arizona, at $286,667.

Weis vs. Willingham: The numbers might surprise you

Jon Wilner takes a look at the past and present Notre Dame football coaches. He begins:

In my estimation, Weis’ numbers are no better than Willingham’s and quite possibly worse.

He has that 34-31 loss to USC on his resume. (Has any coach ever gotten more mileage out of a loss?) But Willingham did better against Michigan and significantly better against ranked opponents.

Elsewhere Pat Forde doubts the unbeatens.

Start with the Perfect Five, noting that they are perfect in record only. The Dash has to ask: Is this the worst collection of unbeaten teams ever?

None has a victory over a team currently in the BCS standings. None plays in what Jeff Sagarin’s computer ranks as one of the top two conferences (SEC and Big East). And none has even played what Sagarin says is a top-three team in its own conference.

In other words: You’re on borrowed time, gents.

Best I don’t think he thought through what he’s saying line of the day, so far

“We gave up 24 points there in the blink of an eye, but we’ve had losses worse than this one.”

University of Arizona linebacker Spencer Larsen quoted by Greg Hansen in his Arizona Daily Star column after the Wildcats lost to Oregon State 31-16.

Hansen himself has a pretty foolish line:

“A week ago you might have bought stock in the UA football program. Today you would probably sell at a deficit. If the Wildcats get to something like 5-7, winning three more games, [Coach] Stoops would be a miracle worker.”

So, if I understand that correctly, Stoops would be responsible for the 5, but not the 7 in his fourth season as head coach?

Keeping things in proportion

EUGENE, Ore. — One of the first people in the press box today was the Pac-10 Commissioner, Tom Hansen.

Two weeks ago in Gainesville, I sat next to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive at the Florida-Tennessee game. He’d taken a private plane in from Birmingham that morning and gotten a police escort to the stadium. Hansen?

“My private jet is called Southwest,” he said with a smile.

The Quad

The Bottom 10

Thanks to an item at Sideline Chatter, NewMexiKen learned that Steve Harvey’s The Bottom 10 (Colleges) is back. This is from last Thursday (follow the link to see the rankings):

On strike for 13 years, Bottom Ten selectors were so inspired by the miserable Fighting Rash of Notre Dame (0-3) that they put aside their grievances about press box hot dogs and went back to ranking the worst football teams in the nation.

Charlie Weis’ weaklings, to no one’s surprise, were rated No. 1, just ahead of the red-faced Orangemen of Syracuse (0-3). The teams could well meet in the postseason Woes Bowl, tentatively set for Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

The Bottom Ten is a set of rankings based on second-hand information, rumors, gossip and grudges. In other words, it is compiled in much the same manner as the top 10 rankings.

The Bottom Ten, by the way, should not be confused with the Big Ten, though both are composed of horrible teams.

Where do they get these guys?

NewMexiKen has been listening to the radio broadcast of the California-Arizona football game on the Cal network. We all misspeak, but really …

“He hit the right crossbar.” (Isn’t it the right upright?)

“The motivation has changed.” (Isn’t it the momentum that changes?)

“Tuitama is over center.” (Aren’t quarterbacks under center?)

And all these in the first half.

Best line of the day, so far

“How bad was it? It was Gila Bend in July.”

Greg Hansen in the Tucson Arizona Daily Star on last night’s loss by Arizona at home to the New Mexico Lobos 29-27.

“How bad was it? With 13 minutes remaining, the large video scoreboard displayed its weekly ‘Hit of the Game.’ It was a highlight from the little leaguers who scrimmaged at halftime.”

[In 3¼ seasons Arizona coach Mike Stoops is 9-24 against I-A opponents.]

Losers

“The demolition of Michigan’s national championship hopes Saturday allowed several other coaches to fly under the condemnation radar after pitiful performances by their teams to open the season. Guys who should be sending fruit baskets to Ann Arbor include:”

Charlie Weis, Notre Dame
Al Groh, Virginia
Mike Stoops, Arizona
Bobby Bowden, Florida State
and others.

Read what Pat Forde has to say.

Of course, “Nobody feels worse than Carr, and nobody should. He took a career-long penchant for playing down to the level of his opponent to a historic extreme.”