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Date/Time/TV Bowl Site Matchup Saturday Dec. 19 2 :30 pm ET ESPN New Mexico Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Albuquerque, NM University Stadium Wyoming vs. Fresno State Saturday Dec. 19 8:00 pm ET ESPN St. Petersburg Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks St. Petersburg, FL Tropicana Field Rutgers vs. Central Florida Sunday Dec. 20 8:00 pm ET ESPN R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Louisiana Superdome Southern Miss vs. Middle Tenn St Tuesday Dec. 22 8:00 pm ET ESPN MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium BYU vs. Oregon State Wednesday Dec. 23 8:00 pm ET ESPN San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Utah vs. Cal Thursday Dec. 24 8:00 pm ET ESPN Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Honolulu, HI Aloha Stadium SMU vs. Nevada Saturday Dec. 26 4:30 pm ET ESPN Meineke Car Care Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium North Carolina vs. Pitt Saturday Dec. 26 5 :00 pm ET ESPN Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Detroit, MI Ford Field Ohio U vs. Marshall Saturday Dec. 26 8:00 pm ET ESPN Emerald Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Francisco, CA AT&T Park Boston College vs. USC Sunday Dec. 27 8:15 pm ET ESPN Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Nashville, TN LP Field Clemson vs. Kentucky Monday Dec. 28 5:00 pm ET ESPN AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Shreveport, LA Independence Stadium Texas A&M vs. Georgia Tuesday Dec. 29 4:30 pm ET ESPN EagleBank Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Washington, DC RFK Stadium Temple vs. UCLA Tuesday Dec. 29 8:00 pm ET ESPN Champs Sports Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Miami vs. Wisconsin Wednesday Dec. 30 4:30 pm ET ESPN Roady's Humanitarian Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Boise, ID Bronco Stadium Bowling Green vs. Idaho Wednesday Dec. 30 8:00 pm ET ESPN Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Nebraska vs. Arizona Thursday Dec. 31 2:00 pm ET NFL Network Texas Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Houston, TX Reliant Stadium Missouri vs. Navy Thursday Dec. 31 Time TBA ESPN Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Fort Worth, TX Amon G. Carter Stadium Air Force vs. Houston Thursday Dec. 31 12:00 pm ET CBS Brut Sun Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks El Paso, TX Sun Bowl Stadium Stanford vs. Oklahoma Thursday Dec. 31 5:30 pm ET NFL Network Insight Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Tempe, AZ Sun Devil Stadium Minnesota vs. Iowa State Thursday Dec. 31 7:30 pm ET ESPN Chick-fil-A Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee Friday Jan. 1 11:00 am ET ESPN Outback Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium Auburn vs. Northwestern Friday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET CBS Konica Minolta Gator Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Municipal Stadium FSU vs. West Virginia Friday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET ABC Capital One Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Penn State vs. LSU Friday Jan. 1 5:00 pm ET ABC Rose Bowl presented by Citi Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl Ohio State vs. Oregon Friday Jan. 1 8:30 pm ET FOX Allstate Sugar Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Superdome Florida vs. Cincinnati Saturday Jan. 2 12:00 pm ET ESPN2 International Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Toronto, Canada Rogers Centre South Florida vs. Northern Illinois Saturday Jan. 2 2 :00 pm ET ESPN PapaJohns.com Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Birmingham, AL Legion Field Connecticut vs. South Carolina Saturday Jan. 2 2:00 pm ET FOX AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Arlington, TX Cowboys Stadium Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss Saturday Jan. 2 5:30 pm ET ESPN AutoZone Liberty Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Memphis, TN Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium East Carolina vs. Arkansas Saturday Jan. 2 9 :00 pm ET ESPN Valero Alamo Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Antonio, TX Alamodome Michigan State vs. Texas Tech Monday Jan. 4 8:00 pm ET FOX Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Glendale, AZ University of Phoenix Stadium TCU vs. Boise State Tuesday Jan. 5 8:00 pm ET FOX FedEx Orange Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Miami, FL Dolphin Stadium Georgia Tech vs. Iowa Wednesday Jan. 6 7 :00 pm ET ESPN GMAC Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Mobile, AL Ladd Peebles Stadium Troy vs. Central Michigan Thursday Jan. 7 8:00 pm ET ABC BCS National Championship Game Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl Alabama vs. Texas

The 2009 college football season will be capped by exciting college football bowl games, including the 2009 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the 2009 Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, the 2009 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and the 2009 BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, CA.

The best college football teams from the major conferences, including the Big10 conference, Big 12 conference, Pac 10 conference, ACC conference, Big East conference, SEC conference, and Mountain West conference will face off in college football bowl games throughout December and into January.

If you're looking for updated matchups, odds, insights, betting lines and online wagering for the college football bowl games, please be sure to try BangTheBook.com.

Officials from both schools said Wednesday they are discussing the possibility of playing their state rival in a neutral-site game in Atlanta to kick off the 2011 season.

Georgia Tech, which is scheduled to host the Bulldogs that year under the normal home-and-home format, would not give up a game at Bobby Dodd Stadium, said athletic director Dan Radakovich.

Instead, the talks involve taking a one-year break in the schools' season-ending routine for the chance to face each other in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the 70,000-seat Georgia Dome.

The biggest sticking point could be the makeup of Georgia's 2011 schedule. If the Bulldogs have their season-ending home game with the Yellow Jackets shifted to the first game of the season, the team would finish their season with three straight road games.

Let me say this... I love the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic and the ACC-SEC matchups, but... I really don't like the idea of moving a rivalry game to a neutral field if the tradition is home-and-home. It would suck to move Clemson-South Carolina or Florida-Florida State to a neutral field, so... don't.

I also don't agree with taking regular matchups and moving them. I'd much rather see the game continue to pair matchups that we don't normally see, such as FSU-Georgia, Clemson-Auburn, Florida-Virginia Tech, Alabama-Miami, Tennessee-North Carolina or other interesting possibilities.

Officials from the SEC have already confirmed their participation to The Birmingham News. Under the terms, the Gator will get "at least" the sixth pick of bowl-eligible SEC teams. The pick position could vary on a year-to-year basis, but more details would be announced once the Big 10 announces its bowl agreements next week.

The Gator Bowl is also in final talks to become part of a broadcast deal with ESPN, leaving CBS, in a move that could signal the end of the exclusive broadcast window that has been previously negotiated for the Capital One Bowl.

With the Cotton Bowl moving to January 2nd, the result of the Gator Bowl agreement means that all three non-BCS games on New Years Day will feature SEC vs Big 10 matchups.

With the end of the ACC / Big East relationship in the Gator Bowl, the ACC and Big East have signed an agreement with the Champs Bowl which will essentially recreates the conferences past Gator relationship in Orlando.

Under the terms to begin with the 2010 season, the ACC will send its #3 selection to the Champs Bowl to face the Big East's #2 selection or Notre Dame. The Champs can select Notre Dame once over the four year agreement if the Irish have seven wins and are within two wins of the #2 Big East school.

With the Gator Bowl now aligned with SEC, the Independence Bowl finds itself as odd-man out in the SEC bowl mix after 15 years with the conference. Instead, the Independence Bowl will look to sign a new bowl matchup between the ACC and Mountain West.

The final straw appears to be FSU's loss to Boston College before a televised audience that showed the nation's 99th offense rack up more than 400 yards against the Seminoles defense and yet another failed goal-line drive for the Florida State offense, the fourth time in the last two game that FSU has been stopped with first and goal inside the ten.

Despite an impressive win over BYU earlier this season, Florida State (2-3) is off to their worst start in more than a quarter of a century. In the past 11 games against DI-A opponents, FSU is just 5-6 and has not won back-to-back games during that span. And following the 28-21 loss to the Eagles, the Noles are 0-2 in ACC play for the first time in the school's history.

Jim Smith, the chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, told the Tallahassee Democrat that change must come to Seminole football.

"My hope is frankly that we'll go ahead, and if we have to, let the world know that this year will be the end of the Bowden Era," said Smith... "… I do appreciate what he's done for us, what he's done for the program, what's he done really for the state of Florida."

"But I think the record will show that the Seminole Nation has been more than patient. We have been in a decline not for a year or two or three but I think we’re coming up on seven or eight. I think enough is enough."

Smith cautioned that change shouldn't come midseason, but insisted that it come after this season.

One complicating factor is that FSU President, T.K. Wetherell, has announced his own retirement. There is some debate that Wetherell, who once played for Bowden at Florida State, may not be in a position to force the coach's resignation, should Bowden not be inclined to retire. However, Smith insisted that the talks are ongoing within the Office of the Presindent, as the Trustees do not want to leave the matter for an incoming university president.

FSU named Jimbo Fisher as head coach in waiting in 2007 under a contract that would guarantee him the position following the 2010 season or a cash payment of $5 million. FSU fans were buoyed by the move initially, but have grown more impatient as the Noles have arguably regressed in the 2009 campaign.

Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat that FSU is working on the terms of a head coaching contract for Fisher. While details have not been announced, the Democrat said the term would be for five years and give Fisher the ability to hire and fire assistant coaches at the end of this season.

A number of rumors are lighting up FSU message boards, all signaling infighting between the FSU assistant coaches, including Fisher.

One such rumor had long-term defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews challenging Fisher over who should give the pre-game speech to the team. While no media organization has been able to confirm the rumors, it really shouldn't surprise anyone - considering that FSU has a head coach, a coach in waiting, an executive head coach, an associate head coach and an assistant head coach.

New rumors are swirling that an announcement regarding the coaching staff may be coming this week; however, I think that is highly unlikely, especially as it relates to Bowden. An announcement regarding the future of the team - including a new contract for Fisher - would be more likely after this week's game, as the Seminoles have a bye week following the Georgia Tech game.

Fisher drew both intense support and criticism for his comments following the loss to South Florida, saying that FSU players and fans need a culture change.

"I don't mean this in any disrespect - we have to forget the past," he said. "This isn't Florida State of the '90s. This is Florida State of the 2000s. Whether it's good or bad... we have to create our own history. We have to create our own culture. We have to create our own mystique. That's what those guys did during that time."

FSU fans have taken to Facebook to initiate a black-out campaign at all remaining home games as a signal to the administration that the time has come for change.

From my perspective, Smith's comments signal an intense behind-the-scenes effort to encourage Bowden's retirement haven't born fruit. As a result, the university is now upping the ante, with Smith publicly stating what many within the university have been saying for months.

For his part, Bowden has said that he will evaluate his future at the end of the season -- as he does every year -- regardless of the support or criticism he faces.

"'I've been through it. I'm old. I won't listen. I don't do a lot of reading when we are doing bad. Some people tell me, but I don't do a lot of reading when we are doing bad. I know a lot of coaches don't even read the sports page.

But I will determine my situation. I will tell Florida State University when my move is to come. I already know in the back of my mind when I want to leave here. I won't let some guys speculation tell me when to move or what decision to make. If it has something to do with that, it will be based with me and the president of our university."

And the 79-year old coach insisted that he isn't throwing in the towel on FSU's season during the post-game press conference.

"I think there's enough quality on this football team and enough brains on this staff to eventually get this thing together," Bowden said. "We get beat here, we get beat there, we close that, we lose this here and it's just a matter that you can't give up. You can't give up, I refuse to."

Conner proposes combining the eight football schools of the Big East with the twelve schools of the ACC, creating the largest conference to "control the entire East Coast's TV markets, rule the world in basketball with crazy competition and paydays in football and basketball?"

With logistics in mind, let's pull out a map here...oh yes: you could have a four divisions of five: You could put, say, UConn, Boston College, Rutgers, Syracuse and Maryland in one division; Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Wake Forest and say Louisville in another; Virginia, Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State in one and then group Clemson, Georgia Tech, South Florida, Miami and Florida State together?

How's the scheduling work?

Well, you would play the other four teams from your division, play another division and one team from the other two for a total of 10 league games and then schedule two non-conference games.

In the realm of crazy ideas, I've heard crazier.

If the ACC folks aren't interested, Connor suggests walking this idea to the Big 10 and adding Notre Dame to form a 20-team superconference, but I see that as the less likely scenario, actually.

If you could rewrite the BCS eligibility to ensure the superconference maintains its two guaranteed spots (BE spot & ACC spot) as well as permit up to two additional schools (as the BE & ACC can already have two each), then you might be on to something.

Anybody up for a Big East / ACC Superconference?

1. Florida (53)
2. Texas (4)
3. Oklahoma (1)
4. Southern California (1)
5. Alabama
6. Ohio State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Penn State
9. LSU
10. Mississippi
11. Oklahoma State
12. California
13. Georgia
14. Oregon
15. Georgia Tech
16. Boise State
17. TCU
18. Utah
19. Florida State
20. North Carolina
21. Iowa
22. Nebraska
23. Notre Dame
24. Brigham Young
25. Oregon State

Others receiving votes (with 2008 records):
Kansas (8-5) 138; Michigan State (9-4) 136; Texas Tech (11-2) 114; Cincinnati (11-3) 90; Pittsburgh (9-4) 64; West Virginia (9-4) 55; Rutgers (8-5) 51; Miami (Fla.) (7-6) 46; Missouri (10-4) 44; Illinois (5-7) 38; Clemson (7-6) 30; South Carolina (7-6) 18; UCLA (4-8) 14; Auburn (5-7) 12; Nevada (7-6) 11; South Florida (8-5) 11; Kentucky (7-6) 9; North Carolina State (6-7) 7; Arkansas (5-7) 6; Wisconsin (7-6) 6; Northwestern (9-4) 5; Southern Mississippi (7-6) 4; Wake Forest (8-5) 4; Arizona (8-5) 3; Boston College (9-5) 3; Central Michigan (8-5) 3; East Carolina (9-5) 3; Colorado (5-7) 2; Maryland (8-5) 2; Navy (8-5) 2; Tennessee (5-7) 2; Houston (8-5) 1; Michigan (3-9) 1; Minnesota (7-6) 1; Troy (8-5) 1.

I know what you're thinking? Where's the ritual preseason vote for Duke? I have no idea. Although South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is voting this year in the coaches poll, he did not cast his annual vote for the Blue Devils. Perhaps the uproar of blaming his assistant for snubbing Tim Tebow hit a little too close to home.

And not to beat a dead horse, but I *hate* preseason polls. They are *not* accurate indicators of success. Case in point? Last year's preseason coaches poll failed to rank 14 of the 25 teams in final season coaches poll. That's right. The 2008 preseason coaches poll failed to rank 56% of the teams in the 2008 final poll.

So... if you like you're football indicators with a 44% accuracy, then - by all means - go nuts over this one.

The contract between the Gator Bowl and the Big East is in its final season, and the new Big East commissioner expects changes.

"We want an exclusive deal," Marinatto said, "and we've remained firm. And if (a deal) is not going to be with the Gator Bowl, then it will be with someone else."

Gator Bowl President Rick Catlett called the Big East's position "disappointing" but made clear that the hybrid model is in the best interest of fans and the bowl game, for now.

The Gator Bowl, which picks the third in the ACC selection, has traditionally chosen first from the bowl-eligible pool of Big East teams, but the bowl is making it known that it would like a future agreement with the SEC.

"We have had a lot of conversations with the SEC," Catlett said. "It's a natural tie-in. We sit in their geographic footprint. We would very much like to be a part of the SEC's bowl picks. The problem is they've got some awfully good partners."

While the Gator Bowl would be a nice fit for the SEC, the current arrangement with ABC and the Capital One Bowl guarantees that no other SEC team will play in their early afternoon time slot (which is shared by the Gator Bowl) on New Year's Day. The Gator is not interested in moving its time slot, so a new arrangement would be required before the bowl could select an SEC team.

So is the Gator barking up the wrong tree? Maybe not. The Gator Bowl's gestures to the SEC come during the exact time that the Capital One Bowl is negotiating with ABC... who - by the way - just signed a huge deal with the SEC.

The Gator is hoping it's prime television slot and $2.5 million payout will prompt the SEC to work on its behalf, provided the bowl can pick within the first five slots of the conference.

In other words, stay tuned. This might get interesting.

But the Gator Bowl isn't putting all it's eggs in one basket. It has also held talks with the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12 conferences in hopes of reaching a long-term arrangement for the Jacksonville game.

Two sources said the eight-team Big East would consider adding a ninth member by exploring whether there was interest on behalf of Maryland to jump from the ACC, and for Boston College to rejoin the league.

Both seem a little far-fetched on the surface, but Maryland always has played Big East schools, and the balance of power in the ACC is in the south. And Boston College is learning that life in the ACC, where it has no natural rivals, isn't all it's cracked up to be.

A little far-fetched? The Smoking Musket breaks it down.

Hahahahahahahaha. No, really. Why either one of these schools would ever leave their nice home with a warm bed in the ACC to join or rejoin the Big East is beyond me. Despite the conference's recent struggles, they are making more money and getting far more TV exposure in the ACC than they ever could in the BE. And what about the basketball schools? "Hey DePaul, thanks for letting our old guard pad their tournament resume's against you for a few years, but we think the conference needs to make a more concerted effort to constrain itself to one time zone. Have fun in the Horizon league." Yes, we would all love to see BC, Maryland, Penn State and Notre Dame join the BE for all sports, but we would also all love to see Megan Fox lying in our bed in nothing but a Noel Devine jersey when we get home from work. Neither is going to happen any time soon. That being said, if either happened, I would definitely have to change my pants.

Not sure if the changing pants reference is a Big East or Megan Fox callback, but I digress....

Obviously the new Big East commish is trying to shake things up. Good for him, but... I think we need to come back down to reality.

For all the knocks on the ACC for not having a recent contender for a BCS title, you cannot fault the business acumen of the conference. The ACC is in a position to renegotiate both its HIGHLY lucrative basketball television contracts AND football contracts - at the same time - next season. The likely outcome is a huge increase in revenues as the conference looks to bundle its offerings for a big payday. (Maybe not SEC big, but keep in mind that the ACC was already making $260 million... just on the football side.) In other words, there's no financial incentive to leave the ACC right now.

Does BC want to return to the Big East and cut travel expenses? I'll split on that. No, to the Big East and yes, to cutting expenses. Talk has already surfaced among the ACC presidents to realign the conference as ACC North and ACC South. That move alone would save BC a pretty penny. Perception of a problem (as opposed to an actual "problem") resolved.

I can't fault the Big East for trying. Heck... maybe they should try swapping Maryland for... say... South Florida. Or dishing Rutgers to the ACC. I'm sure the Swofford would love to have a foot hold in the New York TV markets.

Or... if you really want to get serious, Big East, go knocking for FSU, Miami and Virginia Tech. If you're going to dream... DREAM BIG! (Hey... that could be the slogan!)

But... seriously... silly season is over. It's August. No more fantasy talk, Big East. Let's play some damn football.

To wet your whistle, here's a few ideas:

Tennessee vs Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway
You can pretty much bank on 170,000+ fans piling into BIS for this game. The high banking in the stands would provide great lines of sight for nearly every seat. Don't even get me started about the tailgating.

Army vs Navy on the National Mall in Washington DC
The crowd would be obscenely large - a boon for the service academies - but the seating would be less than ideal. With satellite screens set up, you could easily attract 300,000+ fans for the game.

Texas vs Southern Cal at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City
Bringing two of the nation's landmark teams to Mexico City would be a boon to college football, in general. The stadium had "only" 103,000 in attendance the last time the NFL was in town, but the capacity would likely be closer to 115,000 without upteen million NFL cameras in the way.

Illinois vs Northwestern at Wrigley Field
The NCAA has outlawed the "offensive" 'Sweet Sioux Tomahawk' trophy, so the Illini & Wildcats are getting a new trophy in 2009, so why not feature the game in a legendary venue? It might be the only way you get me to an Illini game, after all.

Auburn vs Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway
Can you imagine a crowd of 165,000 at the Iron Bowl? Boom!

Florida vs Notre Dame at Wembley Stadium in London
You know that Florida fans would be up for a chance to finally beat the Irish and Notre Dame fans, well, they're everywhere. The Brits love coming to Florida... so I'm thinking 105,000 for this one.

Alright, guys... whatchya got?

This article raised some interesting prospects for 2009, but the title of this thread is one that I have been pondering for some time.

Is the ACC significantly under rated?

While the SEC fans complain about the troubles of playing so many good teams week in and week out, the reality is this argument was better applied to the ACC in 2008. 11 of the 12 teams went between 5-3 and 3-5 in conference play. That is the definition of any team can beat any other team in any week.

The ACC had 8 teams in contention for their conference title with 2 weeks left in the season and placed a record 10 teams in a bowl game.

The biggest issue with the ACC last year was not their lack of strength but their over abundance of it. 2 teams went undefeated out of conference and 8 teams went 3-1 out of conference, including bottom dweller Duke. The remaining 2 split their OOC games.

They split the season 6-6 with the SEC and beat the mighty Big 12 4 out of 5. Notre Dame and Navy combined for a 1-4 record against the ACC. While the Big East did score a 4-3 lead over the ACC, one can hardly argue the ACC performed well in their out of conference by picking on smaller conference teams.

For the ACC to succeed two or three teams are going to have to raise themselves above the fray. This will require raising themselves above some of the most competitive and under rated teams in the nation.

If such a team can be found in the ACC in 2009 you are looking at the 2009 national champion. Now, is that team Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Boston College, FSU, Maryland, Clemson, Wake Forest, North Carolina or Miami(FL)?

Pick any 6 or 7 of those and add in another top 25 out of conference game or two and ask yourself, does my team's schedule really compare this year, regardless of what the other 4 games are?

SCHOOL	FORMER COACH	NEW COACH
Auburn	Tommy Tuberville	Gene Chizik
Army	Stan Brock	Rich Ellerson
Ball State	Brady Hoke	Stan Parrish
Boston College	Jeff Jagodzinski	Frank Spaziani
Bowling Green	Gregg Brandon	Dave Clawson
Clemson	Tommy Bowden	Dabo Swinney
Eastern Michigan	Jeff Genyk	Ron English
Iowa State	Gene Chizik	Paul Rhodes
Kansas State	Ron Prince	Bill Snyder
Miami (Ohio)	Shane Montgomery	Mike Haywood
Mississippi State	Sylvester Croom	Dan Mullen
New Mexico	Rocky Long	Mike Locksley
New Mexico State	Hal Mumme	DeWayne Walker
Oregon	Mike Bellotti	Chip Kelly
Purdue	Joe Tiller	Danny Hope
San Diego State	Chuck Long	Brady Hoke
Syracuse	Greg Robinson	Doug Marrone
Tennessee	Phil Fulmer	Lane Kiffin
Toledo	Tom Amstutz	Tim Beckman
Utah State	Brent Guy	Gary Andersen
Washington	Tyrone Willingham	Steve Sarkisian
Wyoming	Joe Glenn	Dave Christensen

The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection hosted the hearings. Of the twenty-nine House members on the committee, three showed up to participate

The hearing leader, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), introduced the key guest, BCS coordinator John Swofford, as the commissioner of the Athletic Coast Conference. Rep. Rush, I pretty sure it's the Atlantic Coast Conference, although they do play athletics, so I guess we'll give you partial credit, Congressman.

Craig Thompson was introduced as the commissioner of the West Mountain. Seriously? The West Mountain? Is Thompson the chief ski lift operator there or something? Could someone not point out to the leader of the BCS committee hearing that MWC is an acronym for the Mountain West Conference and not West Mountain?

None of the congressmen attending the hearing was aware that all eleven major conferences are members and financial benefactors of the BCS.

I mean... seriously... is this how our congressmen prepare for an on-the-record House hearing? I cringe to think what would happen if the discussion was the future of medicare. In the words of Britney Spears, "Ding dang, y'all!"

Rep Joe Barton (R-Tex.), an outspoken advocate for scapping the BCS in favor of a playoff format, demonstrated his grasp of playoff proposals by insisting that a March Madness style bracket format may be the solution for college football.

"You could have a playoff system with 64 teams, and use every bowl that's currently in there," Barton said Friday. "You could do that."

No you couldn't.

"We'd still be playing," Alamo Bowl CEO Derrick Fox quipped.

Congressman, if 64 teams are play in a single-elimination format... then it takes 63 total games to determine the winner. That's how it works.

Barton has proposed legislation that would forbid the BCS from awarding a "national championship" trophy. Within the bill, any organization would be barred from "the marketing, promotion, and advertising of a postseason game as a 'national championship' football game, unless it is the result of a playoff system. Violations of the prohibition will be treated as violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice."

Let me see if I understand the implication: Since the BCS does not award a National Championship trophy... the BCS would continue unchanged. Yep. The American Football Coaches Association would still hand out the Coaches Trophy. The AP would still crown its own champion as well. In other words, Barton's legislation would permit the BCS to continue unchanged.

So... Barton's bill means nothing to the BCS... at all? Well, yeah. Congressman Barton told Swofford during the hearing that the BCS wouldn't be obligated to institute any change.

"You don't have to change it. Our bill doesn't say you have to change it."

(That said... I would still love for someone to start handing out the "Barton Cup".)

Later Barton -- who's bill was the entire basis for the hearings -- left the committee meeting to catch a flight home.

Now maybe it's just me, but when you introduce a bill to change the BCS... that you GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to explain will not change the BCS... and then you leave your own hearing to fly home... I'm going to have a hard time taking you seriously. Maybe it's just me.

Rep. Rush went on to ask the Athletic Conference and West Mountain conference commissioners if they believed the current BCS system was fair. Thompson stated that the current system was "grossly inequitable." Swofford said that the revenue distribution "represents the marketplace", which is really just a nice way of saying some BCS teams are drawing 70,000+... for their spring practice games. Blutarsky points out that Georgia drew 42,458... which would have ranked them 54th in attendance last season (pdf!), just ahead of... UTAH!

Was Thompson hoping for a federal bailout with the "grossly inequitable" comment? Seriously, man... some of your schools don't even offer ESPN on campus cable networks??

But Thompson got in his own polite comment when asked if he believed Congress should intervene in the BCS.

"The U.S. Congress represents fans and constituencies," Thompson said. "Our university presidents work with that same group of constituents."

In other words, they guy who is paying lobbyists to push for an eight-team playoff would kindly like Congress to mind its own business and stay out of college football.

Well said, Commissioner. Well said.

The full hearing is posted online at CSpan, but -- I'm warning you -- regardless of where you stand on this one, you're probably going to hate yourself for enduring this.

They appear to update it as new polls come available, so this should be a good link to check out when the college football withdrawn pangs strike.

I have ported the data to excel to represent a more traditional vote count and compute a standard deviation. My average figures do not exclude the highest and lowest values, swapping FSU and Cal and a few ORV's.

The following data is static. For a current picture go here.

Top 25:

Team (FPV) Points, AVE, SD
1) Florida (11) 323, 1.15, 0.38
2) Texas (2) 307, 2.38, 1.12
3) Oklahoma 295, 3.31, 1.38
4) USC 276, 4.77, 1.96

5) Alabama 254, 6.46, 2.79
6) Oklahoma State 238, 7.69, 2.56
7) Virginia Tech 231, 8.23, 4.57
8) LSU 229, 8.38, 3.20
9) Ohio State 220, 9.07, 3.01
10) Ole Miss 214, 9.53, 3.60

11) Georgia Tech 176, 12.46, 1.85
12) Penn State 163, 13.46, 3.26
13) Oregon 149, 14.54, 5.75
14) Georgia 132, 15.85, 3.73
15) Boise State 130, 16.00, 6.26
16) Florida State 116, 17.08, 5.77
17) Cal 114, 17.23, 4.2

18) TCU 89, 19.15, 5.06
19-T) Utah 86, 19.38, 3.23
19-T) Iowa 86, 19.38, 5.22
21) North Carolina 74, 20.3, 6.17

[Note: If you are not one of the above teams nor play at least three of these teams you have no chance of at the 2009-2010 national title.]

22) Pittsburgh 51, 22.08, 5.19
23) Kansas 45, 22.54, 3.61
24) Notre Dame 41, 22.84, 4.88
25) Texas Tech 32, 23.54, 2.82

Others receiving votes:
Nebraska 29, Miami(FL) 23, Oregon State 19, Clemsonn 15, BYU 14, East Carolina 11, West Virginia 7, North Carolina State 6, Minnesota 5, Cincinnati 5, South Florida 5, Tennessee 5, Auburn 2, Boston College 2, Michigan State 2, Arkansas 1, Houston 1, Rutgers 1, Vanderbilt 1

Conference tallies:
SEC: 5
Big 12: 5
ACC: 4
PAC 10: 3
BIG 10: 3
MWC: 2
WAC: 1
Big East: 1
IND: 1

This looks be a fairly reasonable estimate of the staring positions for 2009, one I like a lot. I really want to see a #3 undefeated Big East champion lose to a #10 one loss MWC champion in the Orange Bowl this year. This smells like TCU's year to me.

[EDIT]: Remember, you heard it here first. - zac

Notre Dame might even go 9-3 and get a BCS Berth.

Now I am off to figure out the physics of Red Matter... (Warning, mild Star Trek spoiler)

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Graham Watson:

BYU offensive line: The Cougars will have to fill four of the five starting spots on the offensive line, but do have some depth there since several players received playing time due to injuries and some shuffling last year.

Boise State wide receivers: Boise State lost its three starting receivers, including Jeremy Childs, who left early for the NFL. Childs led the team in receiving yards and receptions last year and now quarterback Kellen Moore is going to have to break in some new playmakers.

Brian Bennett:

Louisville: The biggest bunch of newbies are at quarterback, where there are four candidates for the job but not one who's seen any significant playing time at this level.

South Florida: Look no farther than the offensive line, where four of five starters need to be replaced.

Tim Griffin:

Oklahoma offensive line: The departure of starting center Jon Cooper, tackle Phil Loadholt and guards Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker means that Sam Bradford will have an inexperienced group protecting him next season. Trent Williams moves to left tackle and Bob Stoops likes his incoming talent, if not its early work habits.

Texas defensive line: The major question dogging the Longhorns' national title hopes will be rebuilding a defensive front that loses All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo, defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive tackleAaron Lewis and defensive end Henry Melton from last season.

Texas Tech offensive line: New quarterback Taylor Potts will be relying on a retooled offensive line protecting his blind side after left tackle Rylan Reed, left guard Louis Vasquez and center Stephen Hamby all departed from last year.

Chris Low:

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are replacing three-year starter John Parker Wilson at quarterback, but losing the threesome of Andre Smith, Marlon Davis and Antoine Caldwell on the offensive line leaves the biggest void. They were at the crux of just about everything Alabama did on offense last season.

Georgia: Much of the focus this spring will be on Joe Cox and the quarterback position, but the Bulldogs' most glaring weakness is the lack of a dominant pass-rusher from the defensive end position. They've got to find somebody who can consistently get to the quarterback.

LSU: Jordan Jefferson started the final two games at quarterback last season as a true freshman and enters 2009 as the favorite to win the job. His main competition will come from another true freshman, Russell Shepard, who graduated early and is going through spring practice.

Heather Dinich:

GEORGIA TECH -- Having lost three of four starters on the defensive line, it's easily one of the greenest groups in the whole conference.

MIAMI -- The Canes are still young everywhere, but remember quarterback Jacory Harris has only started two games and his backups have no collegiate experience.

NORTH CAROLINA -- The Tar Heels lost their top three receivers and will be counting heavily on inexperienced players to replace Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.

Ted Miller

Arizona State -- QB: Combined starts of the five candidates to replace Rudy Carpenter at quarterback? Zero.

Oregon -- DT: Both starting defensive tackles are gone and this unofficial depth chart shows 14 combine tackles for seven potential replacements.

Oregon State -- DE: Sackmasters Victor Butler and Slade Norris and their 41.5 combined sacks over the past two seasons are gone. Sophomore Kevin Frahm and senior Ben Terry, who split two sacks between themselves in 2008, are in.

Adam Rittenberg

Ohio State's offensive line -- Don't be shocked if Ohio State enters 2009 with three sophomores (Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts) and a transfer (Justin Boren) on its starting line.

Penn State's defensive ends -- Jerome Hayes should be back from another knee injury, but Penn State will be on the lookout for a proven pass rusher after losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines.

Purdue's wide receivers -- New coach Danny Hope made wide receiver a peak priority in his first recruiting class after losing Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, who combined for 136 receptions and 1,596 yards last year.

Wisconsin's defensive line -- The Badgers lose three multiyear starters (Matt Shaughnessy, Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman) and don't return many proven players aside from ends O'Brien Schofield and Dan Moore.

And -- of course -- everyone's favorite green unit: