Chris Ault honored by Nevada

Chris Ault will forever be a Nevada man. Photo: Getty Images

As he should be, Chris Ault will be honored by the University of Nevada by having the football field named in his honor. For a guy to stick with a program like Nevada for as long as Ault did is truly remarkable. I would like to think that Ault had some opportunities to take on a higher profile job at some point during his 28-year coaching career, but he managed to make Nevada football something worth watching. A two-time WAC coach of the year and a College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ault is also credited with the invention of the Pistol offense, which continues to create an impact not only at the college level but also in the NFL to this day.

On a related note, while looking up something on Ault’s career I was reminded that there was once a bowl game called the Salad Bowl. Nevada played in the 1948 Salad Bowl (during the 1947 season) and defeated Lone Star Conference champion North Texas State Teachers College, 13-6. You know North Texas State Teachers College today simply as North Texas. That was the first bowl game Nevada participated in, but they almost did not participate. The team voted not to play in the game for reasons I am unable to verify, but they ended up playing in the game after a threat of a lawsuit (at least according to Wikipedia). If there are any historians out there who can shed some light on this, I’m all ears.

Steven Bench to South Florida

Straight from the new bull’s mouth…

I’ve decided to attend the University of South Florida and become a bull!! #DoSomething

— Steven Bench (@SBench12) May 23, 2013

Bench decided to transfer from Penn State a few weeks back after a conversation with Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien led to the realization Bench may not be getting much of a chance to compete for a starting job this fall in State College. South Florida will be getting a quarterback who may not have a lot of experience right now, but he has four years to play out three years of remaining eligibility. I expected bench to stay a little closer to home with his transfer. The Georgia native had been choosing between Mississippi State and South Florida by most accounts. Willie Taggart is a good coach too and I expect him to do some good work at South Florida.

Oklahoma football schools come together

Via Brett McMurphy.

The recent storms passing through Oklahoma have brought a tremendous amount of pain and suffering to those in the state. And as we typically see during times of need, sports teams and programs put aside their differences to come together for a worthy cause. That is exactly what Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tulsa have done with this shirt, with net proceeds being donated to United Way to help the victims.

Short-sleeve shirts are available for $19.95 and long-sleeve shirts are going for $24.95. Each school is selling them through their athletic websites.

Remember to follow me on Twitter for my most up-to-date commentary and information. You can also follow this site on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

Gary Danielson and Verne Lundquist return for another year of college football on CBS. Photo: CBS Sports

CBS is entering its 13th season broadcasting SEC football and this one is going to start with what could be the game of the year. The CBS SEC Game of the Week coverage begins Saturday, September 14 with the much-anticipated match-up of SEC West powers, Alabama and Texas A&M. The Aggies, of course, stunned the eventual BCS champions last year in Tuscaloosa so Nick Saban and his Tide will be looking for revenge. And you never want to face Saban under those circumstances, right? The game between potential BCS championship contenders (dare we say BCS Championship Preview?) kicks off at 3:30 pm Eastern in College Station, Texas.

In addition to 16 SEC games during the regular season, which includes a pair of double headers and the SEC Championship Game, CBS will also air the annual Army-Navy Game, Navy’s home game against Air Force, and the Sun Bowl. Each CBS broadcast will be led in to by a half hour edition of College Football Today to get caught up on the early action and preview the games still to be played. Here is the full CBS schedule at the moment, as provided by CBS Sports in a press release today:

• September 14: Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30 PM)
• September 21: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• September 28: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• October 5: Air Force at Navy (11:30 AM), SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• October 12: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• October 19: SEC Doubleheader (Teams TBA, 12 PM, 3:30 PM)
• October 26: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 2: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 9: SEC Doubleheader (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM, 8 PM)
• November 16: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 23: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• November 29 (Friday): Arkansas at LSU (2:30 PM)
• November 30: SEC Game of the Week (Teams TBA, 3:30 PM)
• December 7: SEC Championship Game (4 PM)
• December 14: Army-Navy Game (3 PM)
• December 31: Sun Bowl (2 PM)

The future of CBS Sports and their place in SEC broadcast emphasis should be interesting to watch in the coming years. When ESPN debuts the SEC Network in August 2014 the network has a chance to become the true voice of the conference. It appears as though CBS is keeping a hold on their place covering games of the week, but long will that last as ESPN and the SEC Network move forward?

On Wednesday morning Fitzgerald showed off his newest prized possession with great pride.

Northwestern’s 2013 Gator Bowl championship ring.

If baseball won’t fill the seats, might as well give football a shot.

The SEC and Big 12 have their deal with the Sugar Bowl. The Big Ten and Pac 12 have the Rose Bowl. The ACC has a deal to stay in Miami with an Orange Bowl spot reserved. Now The American wants to stay in Miami as well, despite being essentially locked out of the Orange Bowl. With no spot available in the Orange Bowl, The American is looking to create a brand new bowl game, with Marlins Park potentially serving as the host site according to a report by Tampa Bay Times reporter Greg Auman.

The idea would mean we would have four bowl games being played in baseball stadiums. The Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium), Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl (Tropicana Field) and Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (AT&T Park) have proven that hosting bowl game sin baseball venues is possible, and Marlins Park should be more than big enough to host a football game if this plan gets that far.

But two bowl games in Miami? That is an idea that may need a little more support from the city, although multiple bowl games in the same city is certainly nothing new. New Orleans will host up to three bowl games in some years between the Sugar Bowl and New Orleans Bowl and a BCS Championship Game every now and then. Orlando also has hosted multiple games with the Russell Athletics Bowl and Capital One Bowl. The odds of playing a second bowl game in Sun Life Stadium, the home of the Miami Hurricanes, Miami Dolphins and the Orange Bowl, are probably slim. This makes Marlins Park the obvious choice.

It also makes it the most likely to receive support from the city of Miami, which forked over a large sum of tax payer dollars to construct a baseball stadium that struggles to see 14,000 fans show up on a  regular basis. If baseball is not going to fill the seats, you might as well find as many ways to pack the seats as possible.

Whatever happens with a bowl game in Marlins Park, please do not let Jeffrey Loria have any role in it.

American agrees on revenue split from Big East payments

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Big East exit fees could be valued at about $100 million for the American Athletic Conference. How that money is divided  among the American members appears to have been settled. As expected, schools that are carrying over from the Big East to the American will be receiving a higher cut of the money with a reported 60 percent cut. The new members will split the remaining 40 percent. That means some pretty nice pay days for Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida (estimated $20 million each). Navy will even get a cut of the other 40 percent despite not being a member of the conference until 2015.

More thoughts on Finebaum’s return to radio

I touched on this briefly late in yesterday’s notebook, but this morning on Crystal Ball Run I took some time to dig a little deeper in to how Finebaum’s return to radio might look and what it all means for ESPN and their college football coverage.

Mountain West commissioner sounds off on four-team playoff expansion

It was only a matter of time before one of the commissioners took an opportunity to suggest that a four-team playoff model may not be as solidly locked in place as we are being led to believe. Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson, the sixth most influential conference commissioner by my count, said he was breaking the script by suggesting expanding the playoffs could be a possibility despite a 12-year contract supposedly having a four-team format in stone.

I happen to agree that expanding the playoff field to eight is inevitable, it is just a matter of how soon it happens. Twelve years is a long time, and once these conferences start to see how valuable the playoff can be, expanding the field will probably make too much fiscal sense even if it goes against everything the power conferences say they stand for in terms of class time and schedule length. Give me a break.

Les Miles prefers eight-game SEC schedule

There has been a lot of debate and discussion over whether or not the SEC should move to a nine-game conference schedule or stick with eight. I have always been in favor of eight-game conference schedules under the current set-up of the college football season (12 games). LSU’s Les Miles told Tim Brando he is in favor of an eight-game schedule as well.

RT @mcmurphyespn: .@lsucoachmiles tells @timbrando he favors 8-game SEC schedule. UF’s Will Muschamp also feels same way

— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) May 22, 2013

Brian Urlacher retires from football

Brian Urlacher, a New Mexico Lobo legend, retires from playing football.

Perhaps one of the best defensive players to ever come out of the now defunct football portion of the WAC, Brian Urlacher announced his retirement from the NFL this morning. Quite a solid career for the New Mexico legend.

Worth the Wait

Check out Northwestern’s Gator Bowl championship ring.

The 2013 Gator Bowl Champion Ring! GO CATS! twitter.com/coachfitz51/st…

— Pat Fitzgerald (@coachfitz51) May 22, 2013

CBS releases initial football TV schedule

CBS has laid out their schedule for broadcasts on CBS for the 2013 season. In all, 16 games will include 13 SEC Games of the Week – including the SEC Championship Game – as well as the Army-Navy Game and Sun Bowl. A Navy vs. Air Force game is thrown in the mix as well. The highlights of the SEC schedule include the SEC Game of the Week opener between Alabama and Texas A&M in week three and the day after Thanksgiving game between Arkansas and LSU. More info here.

2013-2014 Bowl Schedule

Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl at the same time? Also, the GoDaddy.com Bowl is now just the GoDaddy Bowl. Full bowl schedule.

Athlon Top 50 Twitter Users

My friends over at Athlon Sports released a list of the top 50 Twitter accounts to follow for college football news and commentary. Sadly I did not make the cut this year (although I was listed on their top 20 Big Ten accounts), but you will see some familiar names in the form of previous podcast guests on this list.

To stay up to date throughout the day, follow me on Twitter. You can also follow this site on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

This post will be updated throughout the day as I see fit, so feel free to check back as often as you like during the day or just check in in the evening to see what you may have missed. Or, check in in the morning as you are checking to see the overnight scores and fantasy team results and more for a good round-up of college football tidbits from the previous day. We’ll see how this goes, and it begins now…

STARTED

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) May 21, 2013

Ole Miss and Photoshop Lies

Ole Miss may claim three national titles, but they have zero of those trophies.

This off-season has seen an increasing usage of Twitter and Photoshops by assistant coaches and head coaches to advertise their respective programs. That now includes Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze, who put together one heck of a recruiting class back in February. I know I am excited to watch what Freeze does with his recruits moving forward, and why shouldn’t we be excited about Ole Miss perhaps becoming a team on the rise?

Check out the image on the right. That is a piece of work shared by Freeze on Twitter recently. You will note that Ole Miss is laying claim to three national championships, complete with three AFCA national championship crystal ball trophies. This of course raises some eyebrows, because Ole Miss has never received one of those trophies. In fact, Ole Miss has never finished a season ranked first overall by the Associated Press or the coaches.

Ole Miss claims national titles in 1959 (Sagarin, two others named Ole Miss champions), 1960 (FWAA, six others), and 1962 (Sagarin, two others). The AFCA National Championship Trophy was first awarded in 1986 to Penn State and was retroactively awarded to schools who had finished on top of the coaches polls dating back to 1950.

But wait, there’s more. The image shared here is actually an updated version of an earlier image that left out the quote source and listed it is “Unknown.” Nice try Ole Miss.I do love the inclusion of the Nike logo for good measure.

100 Days and Counting

Is it college football season yet? 100 days to go.

Michael Mauti speaks to Bill King

I try to start every morning by listening to Bill King’s show. If you like college football, you should too. This morning he had Michael Mauti, former Penn State linebacker, on as a guest. To my surprise they did not really discuss the Sports Illustrated story, but getting to hear Mauti reflect on his past year is worth the listen.

ACC Network? Not so fast!

The Big Ten and Pac 12 have their own networks. The SEC will have one next year. Texas has their own network as well. There was talk of an ACC Network potentially being in the works, but Sports Business Journal explains why that might not be happening as smoothly as you might have thought. The biggest hurdle? Media rights, of course. Ahh, media network battles. Such fun.

What Eddie Vanderdoes does remains unknown

Notre Dame scored a huge recruiting victory when they added blue chip defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes to their Class of 2013, but now it looks uncertain the Irish will even see the massive lineman suit up. The rumor mill is spinning every which way right now with Vanderdoes and Brian Kelly keeping silent. Perhaps silence is a good thing for the Irish.

Is this a new Eastern Michigan helmet?

Eastern Michigan attempted to emulate what Oregon had done with uniform combinations last season. To me, it was well worth the effort and did not look too bad overall. On Tuesday we got a quick glimpse of a potential helmet for the Eagles to wear in 2013, but it was taken down almost immediately.

I like it, at first glance. But there is no confirmation that this helmet will actually see the light of day this season. It certainly would not shock me to see it, considering Eastern Michigan’s recent uniform decisions and need to use any recruiting tool possible to turn things around. I was not a fan of Cincinnati’s similarly styled helmet when I first saw it, but once I had a chance to see it on TV I sort of changed m tune. I imagine this potential Eastern Michigan helmet would look similar.

The Detroit Lions Bowl

According to Brett McMurphy of ESPN, the NFL’s Detroit Lions are interested in taking a page from the New York Yankees playbook and starting a brand new bowl game, which would be hosted in Ford Field.

Detroit Lions expected to start new bowl in 2014, likely B1G vs. ACC, at Ford Field sources told @espn. Would eliminate Little Caesars Bowl

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) May 21, 2013

It’s a good way to do some scouting I suppose, but I just ant to be sure that Matt Millen is in the broadcast booth when this plan comes together.

Worst case scenario for Alabama: Winning the Sugar Bowl, 11 wins

Times are tough for Alabama when the worst possible scenario I could come to grips with putting together still included a Sugar Bowl victory in an 11-2 season. Check out the full run down of best and worst case scenarios for the SEC.

We get it Michigan…

Michigan footballs are made in the USA, not in Ohio.

Michigan footballs are NOT made in Ohio, for those wondering.

PAAAAWWWWWLLLL

Paul Finebaum, the so-called voice of the SEC, is ready to return to the airwaves on August 1. According to a report by Wall Street Journal, Finebaum’s return will air on ESPN Radio, which will be part of a multi-platform contract that has Finebaum also appearing on television regularly on ESPN programming. It also includes a TV simulcast of his radio show that will air on the SEC Network starting in August 2014.

Sure, he has a bias toward the SEC, but it would be an understatement to say he is not one of the top college football media voices. I suspect that many of Finebaum’s regular guests will be prohibited from appearing on his new ESPN show due to contract issues. Some of Finebaum’s top guests, in my book, from the college football media world have been guys like Tony Barnhart, Bruce Feldman and Tim Brando. Those voices are all affiliated in one way or another with CBS Sports of course, so their appearances on a competing network would be limited at best. This opens the door for more ESPN voices of course, from national guys like Brett McMurphy and Ivan Maisel to local ESPN affiliates perhaps. That has potential to be a lateral move in many respects as far as guests, but time will tell for sure.

One thing is for sure though. Finebaum will attract many interesting characters to his show, and I know I’ll hang up and listen.

San Jose State football building approved

Artist rendering of the Vermeil Walsh Athletic Complex.

San Jose State had plans to build a new football facility approved by the California State University board of Trustees today. Named after two Super Bowl winning coaches with San Jose ties, Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil, the building is already halfway funded through pledged money. Per San Jsoe State:

The Vermeil-Walsh Athletic Complex would be a two-story, 61,000 square-foot facility located at the north end of Spartan Stadium. Estimated cost is $38.557-million with the entire project funded by private donations. Presently, more than 50% of the estimated cost is pledged.

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.