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Now that we are well into the midst of the conference schedules, it’s time to take an updated look atJeff’s Sagarin’s Conference ratings .

The following are updated through October 27, 2008:

1 BIG 12 (78.18)
2 BIG TEN (77.24)
3 ATLANTIC COAST (76.97)
4 SOUTHEASTERN (76.54)
5 PAC-10 (74.33)
6 BIG EAST (73.44)
7 MOUNTAIN WEST (70.27)
8 I-A INDEPENDENTS (67.33)
9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (65.57)
10 MID-AMERICAN (65.18)
11 CONFERENCE USA (63.31)
12 SUN BELT (61.11)

A find a couple facets of the current rankings rather fascinating:

- The SEC is the fourth best conference, top-to-bottom? Seriously? The SEC is 20-7 out-of-conference against DI-A teams this year. Granted, three of those seven losses are to the ACC, but… the ACC returned the favor in losing three to the SEC. Sagarin has three SEC teams in his top ten, but the ACC gets the slight nod when you contrast the middle and bottom of each conference, which makes sense when you consider that there are… like… forty-seven teams tied for first in the ACC.

- Is another non-BCS blowout in the offing? Cinderella teams from the WAC (Boise State), Mountain West (Utah, TCU), MAC (Ball State), and C-USA (Tulsa) are all looking to qualify into a BCS bowl this year. Sagarin’s ratings would seem to indicate that their resumes might be lacking if and when they get to the big stage.

- The BCS conferences are head-and-shoulders above the non-BCS conferences. The separation between the Big East and Mountain West is statically significant, and I don’t think we’ve seen any rankings that dispute that designation in the last four years.

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One day after San Diego State finished with a 41-21 win over UNLV to complete a disappointing 2-10 season, the school announced it had raised private funds to fire Long and pay him the remaining $1.4 million for the two years left on his contract. Go inside for more.

Colorado University got a big commit out of the state of Texas on Tuesday in the form of Nate Bonsu. At 6-foot-2, 265 pounds, the three-star defensive tackle is big in more ways than one. Though Bonsu fell in love with Boulder, Colo. and the campus, he took his time in making sure it was the right decision

NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Now that we are well into the midst of the conference schedules, it’s time to take an updated look at Jeff’s Sagarin’s Conference ratings.

The following are updated through October 27, 2008:

1 BIG 12 (78.18)
2 BIG TEN (77.24)
3 ATLANTIC COAST (76.97)
4 SOUTHEASTERN (76.54)
5 PAC-10 (74.33)
6 BIG EAST (73.44)
7 MOUNTAIN WEST (70.27)
8 I-A INDEPENDENTS (67.33)
9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (65.57)
10 MID-AMERICAN (65.18)
11 CONFERENCE USA (63.31)
12 SUN BELT (61.11)

A find a couple facets of the current rankings rather fascinating:

- The SEC is the fourth best conference, top-to-bottom? Seriously? The SEC is 20-7 out-of-conference against DI-A teams this year. Granted, three of those seven losses are to the ACC, but… the ACC returned the favor in losing three to the SEC. Sagarin has three SEC teams in his top ten, but the ACC gets the slight nod when you contrast the middle and bottom of each conference, which makes sense when you consider that there are… like… forty-seven teams tied for first in the ACC.

- Is another non-BCS blowout in the offing? Cinderella teams from the WAC (Boise State), Mountain West (Utah, TCU), MAC (Ball State), and C-USA (Tulsa) are all looking to qualify into a BCS bowl this year. Sagarin’s ratings would seem to indicate that their resumes might be lacking if and when they get to the big stage.

- The BCS conferences are head-and-shoulders above the non-BCS conferences. The separation between the Big East and Mountain West is statically significant, and I don’t think we’ve seen any rankings that dispute that designation in the last four years.

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MADISON, Wis. For the Wisconsin football team, Saturday’s game, albeit a win, was a great conclusion to a season that many times failed to cash in on plenty of opportunities

Call it Iowa’s version of Greene Day as the Hawkeye running back continued his rewriting of the single season record book. In our weekly look at news and notes from Saturday’s win for the Hawkeyes, we look at Greene’s records, a big day for Ricky Stanzi, the play of the Iowa defense, and we hand out our weekly game balls for the Hawkeyes on offense, defense, and special teams

NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Keeping the top in-state targets at home is something the Kentucky football staff has always made a priority during its time in Lexington. The Wildcats are on track to sign most of the players on their wish list again this year with five verbal commitments from the Bluegrass State’s top 10 prospects

NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Amid rumors that the University of Tennessee is about to swoop in and sign Tarheels coach Butch Davis to a long-term deal, came this interesting non-denial from the Butchster himself.

“The long and short of it is, the administration and I are completely and firmly committed to building a championship football program at North Carolina,” he told reporters a week ago. “My family and I are very happy in Chapel Hill.”

Just my two cents: You can go ahead and add the words “today” and “for now” to the end of each sentence.

Davis’s comments haven’t gone unnoticed in ACC country, either.

J.P. Giglio from the News & Observer says Davis’s future is “brighter than Tennessee” and runs down the potential moves for Butch, who can almost write his own ticket for any opening in the country.

Let’s be clear, Davis can coach. UNC was one of the 10 worst programs in the BCS era before Davis arrived. In less than two seasons, Davis has the Heels 7-2 and ranked in the top 20.

…

With Davis’ original intent in mind, there are few jobs he would leave UNC for. Save for Florida, and that would be awkward given his Miami background – although not impossible based on Rick Pitino’s precedent in college basketball – there likely isn’t a job in the SEC that Davis would take.

That leaves, in order:

1) University of Texas

Texas Tech, Missouri and Kansas have all made noise in the past two seasons but the Big 12 is essentially the Big 2 – Texas and Oklahoma.

Given Davis’ past at Oklahoma State, I’m going to rule out Oklahoma – which also fired Davis’ right-hand man, John Blake, so I don’t think the two would be eager to run to Norman.

Davis recruiting at Texas is a frightening proposition. The 2001 Miami team, that won the national title the year after Davis left, was, from No. 1 through No. 85, the most-talented team in the history of the game.

He could give that roster a run for its money with Texas’ recruiting resources and rich talent base.

Of course, Mack Brown is the coach at Texas. But Brown, after 11 seasons and a national title in Austin, could take another job or leave coaching to get an AD or commissioner job.

The pressure would be greater to deliver at Texas than at Chapel Hill, but Brown handled the transition and so could Davis.

2) Dallas Cowboys
…

3) Penn State

It’s a longshot but it would at least be worth a conversation. Like the ACC, the Big Ten is ripe for domination. There’s Ohio State and not exactly.

On the verge of another Big Ten title, Joe Paterno has reconfirmed that his successor will be his call and Davis won’t be his choice.

But replacing a legend never works – like Frank Solich, like Ray Perkins – so the PSU search committee would have to cast a wider net in 2010.

Interestingly enough, Paterno almost took the Miami job when Davis was ultimately hired in 1995.

4) USC

Talk about owning a conference, please, Carroll owns everything west of Austin.

Los Angeles might be a little out of Davis’ comfort zone, but it’s an unbelievable recruiting base and you’re guaranteed an annual crack at the national title.

Plus, at USC, there’s no NFL team in LA and no one really cares about the basketball program.

I know what you’re thinking… why in the world would Texas ever hire a Tarheels football coach? Oh… wait.

I’m just being honest here when I say that I can’t think of too many people other than Butch Davis who could even step into Mack Brown’s shoes at Texas. Can you?

And — despite the prominent shadow — I don’t think its much of a stretch to see Davis taking over for JoPa. The field of really strong, viable candidates has definitely dwindled. (You don’t hear Greg Schiano’s name much these days, do ya?)

Could Davis take over at Notre Dame? I think Davis could coach circles around Charlie Weis. And he already has, now that I think about it. Think the Irish faithful want some Butch? You betchya!

What do yall think? Butch in 2009 – Carolina Blue or something new?

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NCAA Football Blog Headlines

The Friday Morning Briefing finds the football team potentially playing for a bowl game, the women’s volleyball season comes to a close, women’s basketball sets a record with 16 three-pointers and baseball is nominated for another award as RedWaveReport.com takes a look at Fresno State athletics for Friday, November 21

NCAA Football Blog Headlines

While undefeated Penn State is staking its claim to a BCS National Championship berth, Rivals.com’s Tom Dienhart cautions football fans and voters tosteer clear of the Nittany Lions .

It’s foolish to think a Big Ten team has any business on college football’s biggest stage. But the No. 3 Nittany Lions now are poised to play for the championship in Miami. After being off next week, they travel to Iowa, then play host to Indiana and Michigan State. A 12-0 regular-season record is well within reach.

…

But this team – and this conference – doesn’t deserve another chance at college football’s biggest prize. Besides, Paterno is used to fashioning an unbeaten team, then getting left out of the championship party. That has happened four times: 1968, 1969, 1973 and 1994.

So, please, don’t give us Penn State on Jan. 8, 2009, in Dolphin Stadium. Give us life, give us liberty, give us hope for a good game. That means give us Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia or USC. Heck, we’ll even take Texas Tech and its diabolical offense and kooky coach. They all have been more impressive than and likely would beat any Big Ten team.

Even a perfect Penn State.

Then again… this is from the same college football genius whoforgot that there are 11 teams in the Big 10 , so….

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NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Multiple sources are reporting to ESPN that Phillip Fulmer willstep down as Tennessee coach at the end of the year . Fulmer had a meeting with school officials this morning and it was determined that it would “be best for all parties if he didn’t return next season”, otherwise known as the hit the road, Jack, scenario…

This is the 17th season for Fulmer in Knoxville, the longest current tenure of any SEC coach, and he has 150 wins thus far, puting him in 2nd place behind stadium namesake Robert Neyland, who had 173 victories. The dubious title of ‘Dean of SEC coaches’ will probably transfer over to Tommy Tuberville of Auburn, assuming he’s still around to claim it come next season.

On a personal note, I am disappointed that it has come to this, especially considering that earlier in the season, I promulagtedmy my own reasons why I believed he would stay . Perhaps that’s why I am in like 30th place in the Pick Em contest…

Attention now will be turned to former long-time Vol OC and current Duke coach David Cutcliffe. While he may be the early favorite among Tennessee fans, his closeness with Fulmer probably mitigates his chances somewhat, as he would most certainly need Fulmer’s blessing to even consider taking the job.

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While one running back committed to the Colorado State football program last weekend, it won’t affect the decision of another CSU running back target. Scottsdale (Ariz.) running back Beau Burton reports his trip to Fort Collins was a success and added his decision on a school will come soon.

NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Florida backup quarterback Cameron Newton was charged with stealing another student’s laptop computer after being arrested Friday.

Pflugerville (Texas) High DE Alex Okafor‘s season and high school career ended last week but he went out with an impressive three-sack performance. Okafor and some other top prospects in Texas were among the players that Rivals.com recruiting analysts had the opportunity to scout in person last wee

NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Now that we are well into the midst of the conference schedules, it’s time to take an updated look at Jeff’s Sagarin’s Conference ratings.

The following are updated through October 27, 2008:

1 BIG 12 (78.18)
2 BIG TEN (77.24)
3 ATLANTIC COAST (76.97)
4 SOUTHEASTERN (76.54)
5 PAC-10 (74.33)
6 BIG EAST (73.44)
7 MOUNTAIN WEST (70.27)
8 I-A INDEPENDENTS (67.33)
9 WESTERN ATHLETIC (65.57)
10 MID-AMERICAN (65.18)
11 CONFERENCE USA (63.31)
12 SUN BELT (61.11)

A find a couple facets of the current rankings rather fascinating:

- The SEC is the fourth best conference, top-to-bottom? Seriously? The SEC is 20-7 out-of-conference against DI-A teams this year. Granted, three of those seven losses are to the ACC, but… the ACC returned the favor in losing three to the SEC. Sagarin has three SEC teams in his top ten, but the ACC gets the slight nod when you contrast the middle and bottom of each conference, which makes sense when you consider that there are… like… forty-seven teams tied for first in the ACC.

- Is another non-BCS blowout in the offing? Cinderella teams from the WAC (Boise State), Mountain West (Utah, TCU), MAC (Ball State), and C-USA (Tulsa) are all looking to qualify into a BCS bowl this year. Sagarin’s ratings would seem to indicate that their resumes might be lacking if and when they get to the big stage.

- The BCS conferences are head-and-shoulders above the non-BCS conferences. The separation between the Big East and Mountain West is statically significant, and I don’t think we’ve seen any rankings that dispute that designation in the last four years.

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NCAA Football Blog Headlines

Lining against the Pahokee Blue Devils is a major challenge for any high school football player, including the nation’s elite prospects. Notre Dame commit Zeke Motta led his Vero Beach teammates into a battle with Pahokee earlier this month, but fell short, 28-10. The Rivals250 prospects chats with the AMP team after the game to talk football and Notre Dame

Oregon State presents a very difficult challenge for an Arizona team that needs another big win to solidify its credibility. The Beavers have been one of the biggest surprises on the year, and are now in control of a Rose Bowl birth

The Washington-Washingotn State series dates back to 1900, with the Huskies holding a 64-30-6 edge in the 100-game series. Washington will be traveling to Martin Stadium in Pullman, WA, where the Huskies are 8-5 over all