It was  good year for Florida State football. The Seminoles got a taste of the glory days for the program by winning an ACC title and a victory in a BCS bowl game, even if it was against BCS buster Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl. The Seminoles fell a little short of my preseason expectations in 2012 but I feel they might be capable of another run through the ACC this upcoming season, which kicks off in Pittsburgh against a new conference foe in week one.

We now know what the celebratory and honorary bling that accompanies these milestone victories look like, thanks to some nice CAD video showcasing the designs for Florida State’s ACC and Orange Bowl championship rings. What, no ring for winning the ACC Atlantic Division?

First, Florida State’s ACC Championship ring design…

And Florida State’s Orange Bowl ring…

I like them. What do you think?

Helmet sticker to Reddit.

Hype this up on BallHyped.

The appeal of playing a football game in a baseball stadium is a novelty that will continue to draw some sort of interest though, and I am curious which baseball stadium would be next to give football a try. As a baseball fan I find it almost sacrilegious to cross football with one of baseball’s all-time meccas, Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox did once serve as the venue for football.

Source: Boston Red Sox

While the most common occupant for football was the Boston Patriots (now the New England Patriots of course), Boston College played a number of games at Fenway Park in the 1930s and 1940s as well. Boston College announced plans for Alumni Stadium in 1957, when it became known that football would no longer be played in Fenway. The Eagles also played some of their games in old Braves Field, home to the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves) and now a part of the Boston University athletics program. Dartmouth and Boston University have also played football games in Fenway Park, including Dartmouth’s 1944 game against Notre Dame. The Irish enjoyed their visit to Fenway, leaving with a 64-0 victory over the Ivy League squad.

Last September it was reported that Notre Dame was in discussions with Connecticut to play a game in Fenway Park. The idea should have been seen coming after Fenway Park was used to host the NHL Winter Classic a couple of years ago. With updated stadium features in recent years, including seats on top of the Green Monster, it would figure to be a notable venue for a neutral site college football game involving a team from the New England area. I may prefer to see Boston College play in the game as the home team, personally, but we’ll see if this plan can actually come together.

“You know me, I love Fenway Park,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said in September (via USA Today). “I just don’t know if it’s big enough. As long as they do the due diligence, and I know Jack (Swarbrick) is looking for great venues, and I don’t think they played a game there in a long time. If it’s on the schedule, we’re going to play it.”

I doubt I would get too excited about a college football game in a baseball mainstay, but I certainly admit I would be interested to see how it unfolds.

Image: EA Sports

Helmet sticker to Operation Sports.

And now some more NCAA Football 14 images…

[Show as slideshow]

Wyoming plays in one of college football’s premier conferences! @themwc #ThinkWYO twitter.com/CowboysFootbal…

— Wyoming Cowboy FB (@CowboysFootball) May 17, 2013

If you know me, then hopefully you know how much of a fan of the Mountain West Conference I actually am, so please do not continue reading I am simply attempting to squash the conference as a whole. But let’s just lay out the numbers and keep everything fair and balanced on this discussion.

Last season the Mountain West Conference had the worst conference bowl record, with a final count of 1-4. Boise state picked up the conference’s only win of the postseason by beating Washington, helping the conference split the two postseason meetings against the Pac 12. Elsewhere the conference went 0-2 against Conference USA with Fresno State losing to SMU and Air Force losing to Rice. San Diego State lost to BYU, which much have added a little salt to the wounds and Nevada lost to Arizona for the other Pac 12 decision.

The conference did not exactly light the world on fire the previous postseason either, going 2-3 overall with Boise State and TCU managing the only wins by the conference.

And we have not even gotten to the big point here, which is where are those teams who have won those BCS bowl games for the Mountain West Conference today? Utah won two of those games and they are now in the Pac 12. TCU won the other and is now in the Big 12. I could have maybe given you a pass if you were actually accounting for realignment changes and taking credit for Boise State’s BCS performances (in which case you also have to take Hawaii’s dumpster fire against Georgia), but they didn’t even do that, giving credit to the WAC for Boise State’s previous victories.

Current membership in the Mountain West Conference is 2-1 in BCS bowl games. For a conference without an automatic bid without working the rankings, that is darn impressive and a proud bragging point (even if it does truly belong to the WAC).

I get it Wyoming. You are trying to keep interest in your football program. As I have said before, that is no easy task and I applaud much of what you do. But this could have been better left on the drawing board.

Be sure to stop by Crystal Ball Run all next week as our conference preview theme shifts to the Mountain West Conference.

The Lott IMPACT Trophy is awarded to the top defensive player in the country, with respect to on-field performance and personal character as determined by a panel of selected voters. It is named after former USC Trojan College Football Hall of Fame player, and one of the top defensive players in NFL history, Ronnie Lott. Last year the trophy was awarded to Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o. For a full list of past LOTT Impact Trophy winners.

• Henry Anderson, DL, Stanford
• Geoffrey Bacon, LB, Army
• Calvin Barnett, DL, Oklahoma State
• Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA
• Nat Behre, DB, San Diego State
• Chris Borland, LB, Wisconsin
• Max Bullough, LB, Michigan State
• Ibraheim Campbell, DB, Northwestern
• Ross Cockrell, CB, Duke
• Aaron Colvin, CB, Oklahoma
• Scott Crichton, DL, Oregon State
• Alden Darby, DB, Arizona State
• Aaron Donald, DL, Pitt
• Steele DiVitto, LB, Boston College
• Ahmad Dixon, S, Baylor
• Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB, Oregon
• Antone Exum, CB, Virginia Tech
• Jake Fischer, LB, Arizona
• Chase Garnham, LB, Vanderbilt
• Bryce Hager, LB, Baylor
• Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas
• A.J. Johnson, LB, Tennessee
• Lamarcus Joyner, S/CB, Florida State
• Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA
• Devon Kennard, DL, USC
• James Morris, LB, Iowa
• C.J. Moseley, LB, Alabama
• Damien Proby, LB, Northwestern
• Ed Reynolds, S, Stanford
• Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State
• D.T. Shackleford, LB, Ole Miss
• Ryan Shazier, LB, Ohio State
• Danny Shelton, DT, Washington
• Spencer Shuey, LB, Clemson
• Derron Smith, DB, Fresno State
• John Timu, LB, Washington
• Stephon Tuitt, DE, Notre Dame
• Jack Tyler, LB, Virginia Tech
• Kyle Van Noy, LB, BYU
• Jason Verrett, CB, TCU
• Avery Williamson, LB, Kentucky
• Ty Zimmerman, S, Kansas State

Helmet sticker to College Football Talk for the full list.

I have always been a fan of these preseason magazines. There have been years when I would buy the national addition from each magazine publisher. As someone who covers college football today I find myself even more interested in the magazines, and they actually have become a nice easy reference guide at times. Naturally, I have been curious about the process of putting these all together, especially in an age where we not only get national editions but numerous conference or region-specific editions to provide a little bit more information. I am sure there are some junkies out there who buy all of the national and available region editions. If that describes you, I admire your devotion.

But how do these magazines continue to put together a quality product year-in and year-out when faced with increasing competition sources from the Internet? More importantly, how does a business built on a foundation in print media adapt to the latest digital trends and options?

To walk us through a bit of the magazine production process I was joined by Steven Lassan from Athlon Sports. Lassan is the college football editor at Athlon Sports and AthlonSports.com and has been kind enough to invite me to participate from time to time with their ongoing round table discussions with staff members. In addition to getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the magazine business, we also touch on a couple nuggets from the past couple of weeks in college football, with quick takes on Brady Hoke calling out Notre Dame and Bob Stoops saying the SEC is over-hyped. For good measure I threw in a Mack Brown question.

If the audio widget below does not show up, click this link to listen to the podcast. Or…

Subscribe to the No 2-Minute Warning podcast on iTunes.

Add No 2-Minute Warning to your favorites on Stitcher.

Follow No 2-Minute Warning n Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

“I did think the other day what it would be like to be a high school head coach or to be at a small school,” Kiffin said in the AP story. “I thought about it the other day. The first time. I wonder if there’s something to that peace of mind. Maybe it’s something I can go back and do when I get older. I’m going to go coach high school.”

If 2013 does not go well, could Lane Kiffin be at a smaller school in 2014? Photo: Getty Images

Kiffin is entering his fourth year at USC, where he has coached the Trojans to a 25-13 record after one season in the SEC with Tennessee. Last season the Trojans entered the season as the preseason number one team in the AP Top 25 but Kiffin and USC quickly dropped in the polls and ended the season on the outside of the top 25 polls with a loss in the Sun Bowl against ACC Championship runner-up Georgia Tech. Although USC is still sifting through the impact of NCAA sanctions, including a reduction in scholarships and a two-year postseason ban, the bar was set high for Kiffin and the Trojans and they failed to clear it in miserable fashion in 2012.

“It’s just the game,” Kiffin says. “It’s the game in its realest sense and it’s fun. Working with the kids and not all this other stuff. You go back and have fun.”

The last thing Kiffin will be focusing on this season is his job security, although it certainly appears to be on stilts ready to tumble.

“I’m not going to start getting into those things,” USC Athletics Director Pat Haden said in the AP story. “I’m not going to make any pronouncements. Let’s just enjoy the season.”

USC’s season kicks off on the road with a trip to Hawaii on August 29. If all goes according to plan, the Trojans will play in their first Pac 12 championship game on December 7. If the Trojans fail to play in that game, Kiffin could very well be preparing for a coach a smaller profile school after all. Should Kiffin be removed as head coach, his profile should finally take enough of a hit to keep him out of the running for a high profile job.

This is the real breaking news out of #Eagles practice right now. RT @zberm: Chip is wearing a hat, not a visor.

— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) May 13, 2013

Darn you NFL!

Rutgers still managed to finish in the four-way tie with Louisville, Cincinnati and ACC-bound Syracuse though, and they rewarded their team appropriately with championship rings.

Rutgers 2012 Big East championship rings.

Not too shabby. You will notice the one side of the rings has “F.A.M.I.L.Y” in the molding. If you recall, the acronym stands for “Forget about me, I love you.” The acronym is found throughout Rutgers football facilities and made a debut on alternate uniforms last season. Players and coaches have been wearing the acronym on bracelets as far back as 2008. and it continues to be a staple within the program.

Rutgers will play one season in the newly created or reformed American Athletics Conference, a mix of Conference USA members and the remainder of the Big East’s football members. Will the Scarlet Knights add one more championship ring to the jewelry collection before making the move to the Big Ten in 2014?

Image via imgur.

Wyoming’s brown and yellow colors tend to yield some dull uniform options, but I actually think Wyoming has found a way to make them work. You know I can be picky about uniforms. I used to think Wyoming was a bit of a wreck, but over time I have grown to respect how Wyoming has committed to owning the color scheme and finding ways to make it work. I may not like the all-yellow uniforms, but this is a basic uniform philosophy across the board I just cannot get on board with. It’s not you Wyoming, it’s me.

Wyoming football certainly does not have a pool of talent to recruit from within the state boundaries. Wyoming is the least populated state in the country and as you might expect, the program is relatively isolated. This does not mean success in football is unfounded. At the FCS level we have seen Montana and Montana State build reputable programs and North Dakota State has thrived at the FCS level as well. If Wyoming was playing at the FCS level, would they be able to have similar success? It would be overly speculative to assume so but with the right guidance and commitment anything would be possible. Mountain West Conference rival Boise State has become the model program in the region.

But I think the image is changing for Wyoming. I am not anywhere near saying we have a Boise State clone in the making, although I would definitely encourage the program to emulate the Broncos as closely as possible without losing their identity. But over the past couple of years I think Wyoming has taken some measures to try and build some excitement about the program. The latest move was a redesign of the field and end zones on the football field, which received high praise around the college football blogosphere this week.

Via Wyoming Athletics

The design above is what Wyoming’s field at War Memorial Stadium will look like this fall, upgrading the field from this. I have to say, I love it. Let’s review the features that I think make this one of the best looking fields in college football for the 2013 season.

One of the drawbacks, in my book, is that the new Wyoming field is an artificial turf. I prefer my college football to be played on natural grass of course so any time field turf is used it is sad to see. But the technology continues to improve and many schools see a benefit to a potential lower maintenance cost. For Wyoming, an artificial field makes plenty of sense (or cents). Getting past that little fact, the field design is terrific.

Alternating Greens: If the graphic is going to be truly representative of what we can look forward to, Wyoming’s playing surface will alter in shades of green slightly every five yards.  For some reason I always seemed to like that visual, and it can actually help make the game easier to watch as long as the shades of green are not too far apart or extreme.

Field Logos: I happen to like Wyoming’s logo, with a cowboy riding his galloping horse while waving his hat in the air. That logo remains at midfield, outlined in white to stand out a little more. The Mountain West Conference logos will now be shaded in Wyoming colors instead of the purple and gray. This is a significant improvement as brown, yellow, purple and gray just is not a good look. What I find kind of odd is that the conference logos both face the same way, which is nothing new. This is done for TV purposes, as the TV cameras will capture the conference logos without forcing the viewer to mentally turn the logo around. I always thought it made more sense to have the logos face the closest sideline, but everything is about TV. No gripes here, just expanding on the thought.

7,220 Feet: Mile High Stadium, the former home of the Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies, had a marker to remind fans (and the opposition) that they were actually one mile above sea level (I’m not sure if either pro stadium in Denver does this any more, please feel free to fill me in if they do). Laramie, Wyoming is roughly 2,000 feet higher above sea level. If you did not already know that, War Memorial Stadium’s sidelines are going to remind you of that fact. The elevation is printed on the sideline by the end zones on each sideline. I like giving opponents a gentle reminder of just how quickly they could lose their breath while playing the Cowboys. It is the highest stadium elevation in the FBS.

The End Zones: The new end zone designs are great. The Wyoming end zones used to be a brown background with yellow block lettering reading “Wyoming” and “Cowboys” in each end zone. Simple, and bland. No more. Wyoming’s new design doesn’t just include a more unique font to spell out “Wyoming” and “Cowboys,” but they even add in a mountain landscape design to represent the Teton Mountains. Yes, it looks like something ripped from The Oregon Trail, but it is unique and symbolic of Wyoming’s geography and conference affiliation.

Do these visual modifications make Wyoming a better football team? Of course not. But it does give us a reason to praise Wyoming football, and this does not happen enough.

Hype this up on BallHyped.