The College Football Notebook

Hosting Change

The Notebook Family is now hosted as part of the Real Clear Sports blog network. You can use th domain name www.thecollegefootballnotebook.com to get there directly.

Spring Overview: Best Of The Rest

It used to be when you talked of contenders outside the box of the big conferences, that was just a way of saying it was time to talk about Notre Dame. No more. Even after you go beyond the BCS, and beyond the Mountain West, you have to stop in Boise before you can even get to the Irish. How times have changed. Notre Dame is excited about the coming year with Brian Kelly coming in, but they also have a lot of rebuilding to do. In the meantime, Boise State has ripped off perfect seasons in two of the last three years and capped off both with Fiesta Bowl triumphs. If you're counting, that's exactly two more major bowl victories than Notre Dame has in the period since Lou Holtz retired to become Dr. Lou on ESPN. Boise returns 42 of the 44 players on its two-deep and is finally getting real respect--including from someone like me, who long dismissed the midmajors (I know, I'm sure my respect helps Chris Peterson sleep at night)--as a legitimate national title hopeful in 2010.

Boise won't have much competition in the WAC, save for Fresno State. The Bulldogs have 17 starters back, albeit from a team that disappointed last year. Nevada was terribly disappointing a year ago and loses its entire back seven. Louisiana Tech, with a decent defense, may be a sleeper, but they are light years behind the Broncos. As for Notre Dame, they again don't have an easy path to even being the top independent, a spot Navy has taken over. The Midshipmen have a veteran offense and experienced option quarterback Ricky Dobbs back from the team that smoldered Missouri in a bowl game last year. And Army, with coach Rich Ellerson in Year 2, isn't a pushover anymore either.

In Conference USA, East Carolina has won it two straight years, but has to rebuild its entire program, as Skip Holtz has left for South Florida. Houston and SMU are both looking to take over the top and both can blow out the scoreboard lights. The Cougars bring back Case Keenum and his top three recievers. And June Jones looks to have another great offense going with the Mustangs. He played mostly freshman last year on the offensive line and at quarterback and still won the Hawaii Bowl. The SMU of the early 1980s was the Pony Express, with Eric Dickerson and Craig James. Now it's Air Mustang. Central Florida is the one potential contender in this league known for its defense.

The MAC has kind of fallen off the national radar a little bit, after a brief period of ascendancy when it held a status close to what the Mountain West or WAC has now. Central Michigan and Ohio are tough in the interior, Northern Illinois should score points and the Temple program has made tremendous strides in recent years since getting out of the Big East.

That concludes spring practice at the Notebook. It was just a brief walkthrough intended to help everyone get their football legs back in the midst of the start of baseball and the playoffs in the NBA & NHL (which I'm watching intently, even though I don't write about either sport, and am looking forward to attending Game 3 of the Bruins-Flyers series in Philly). College football talk will return at the beginning of August with season previews, as will pro football. In the meantime, regular action continues over at The Baseball Notebook.

Spring Overview: Mountain West

I'm excited about the Mountain West for this coming season. This wasn't a league the Notebook covered last year, save for discussion about TCU in the national championship race. But as I go into my second season, expansion of coverage will be a part of that and the MWC will get the same top-to-bottom discussion as the six major BCS conferences. It should be an interesting year on the field too. TCU is back with experience across the board and hoping to make a real run at a national title. Utah has veterans in the trenches and sophomore quarterback Jordan Wynn who was tested by fire. Air Force has its option quarterback Tim Jefferson back and ready to lead a team that rolled over Houston in its bowl game. Of the league's upper echelon, only BYU is rebuilding.

If you're looking for a Cinderella possiblities in this conference, Colorado State has a veteran defense and Wyoming has a veteran offense. San Diego State has a group of experienced offensive lineman to protect an overall solid passing game. UNLV brings a lot back, although they also have a long way to go. Only New Mexico looks truly hopeless.

On Saturday we'll wrap up the Notebook's own version of spring practice with mismash look at Notre Dame and top midmajors, led up by Boise State.

Spring Overview: Pac-10

The Pac-10 had an interesting offseason, with transition at Southern Cal and turmoil in Oregon. Pete Carroll is in the NFL, one step ahead of the NCAA posse in Los Angeles and Lane Kiffin is now the top man for USC. At Oregon, quarterback Jeremiah Massoli has been suspended for the season. When changes hit both the league's pre-eminent program along with its defending champ, it's a sure formula for promising an even more interesting regular season. Oregon not only lost Masoli, but running back LaMichael James was suspended for the season opener. The Ducks have a lot of talent back from last year's Rose Bowl team, but a lot of self-inflicted problems to overcome. At USC, Matt Barkley is back with a year of experience under his best, but has a new system from an unproven coach to learn.

At Cal & Stanford, running back is the story. Each team lost a big-name back from 2009, Jahvid Best for the Golden Bears, Toby Gerhart for the Cardinal. At least for Cal, Best's season faded badly and Shane Vereen was already getting the bulk of the carries. Vereen is back this year. Stanford has to replace the Heisman runner-up and start from scratch. One place there's no question marks in the backfield is Corvallis, where Oregon State returns the Rodgers boys, James and Jacquizz, who made such a marvelous tandem last year, both running and catching the ball.

Places where quarterback talk is pre-eminent are at UCLA, Arizona and Washington. The Bruins return Kevin Prince who started last year as a freshman. The defense carried the team to a bowl game and they are hoping Prince can help them reach another level. Nic Foles, off a very good year in Tucson is back and has to carry the load for a defense that is rebuilding. And perhaps nowhere is optimism higher than at Washington, where Jake Locker is the most prominent of 18 returning starters.

Arizona State and Washington State are both rebuilding, although WSU has taken that to a new level. The Cougar program is perhaps the worst in the BCS conferences, while Arizona State's rebuilding is a little more within the norm.

Our spring overviews conclude next week with the Mountain West, plus a look at Notre Dame, Boise State and other prominent midmajors.

Spring Overview: Big 12

Texas will get to reap the fruits of frustration this year. Sophomore quarterback Garrett Gilbert got trial under fire when he had to step in for Colt McCoy in last year’s BCS National Championship Game. McCoy’s shoulder injury may have cost the Longhorns a national title, but as a consolation, Mack Brown isn’t starting completely from scratch at quarterback anymore. Gilbert played well in the second half against Alabama and nearly pulled off an amazing comeback. Now Brown needs to get him some receivers, as the new signal-callers settles in for the long haul.

Oklahoma is the reverse of last year, when they had Sam Bradford, but little experience elsewhere and were overrated from the start. This year, with vets everywhere, but no quarterback, they are a good candidate to be overlooked in August. Through the rest of the South Division, Texas A&M is the best bet to challenge the Big Two, with most of the defense back, plus explosive quarterback Jerrod Johnson. The future has to be considered bright at Texas Tech with the arrival of new coach Tommy Tuberville, who produced consistent winners at Auburn, including a perfect season in 2004.

Up North, Nebraska is back as the odds-on favorite, so long as they can replace star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. They are the one program that can compete with the powers of the South. Kansas State looks to be moving back to respectability under Bill Snyder and Kansas is beginning a new era with Turner Gill replacing Mark Mangino, and quarterback Todd Reesing having graduated. Colorado’s Dan Hawkins is facing make-or-break time. The imbalance between the two divisions isn’t good for a conference, but it works great for Nebraska’s national title hopes.

Be back Saturday with a look at the Pac-10.

Spring Overview: SEC

The SEC secured its fourth straight national title last year, and Alabama marked the third team to do it. Add to that Auburn’s unbeaten and uncrowned team in 2004, and you have the markings of a dynasty conference. Until proven otherwise, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt, but there are spring questions about the two leadership positions, quarterback and coach, at a lot of places in this league.

After a brief soap opera before the Sugar Bowl that had him retiring and unretiring, Urban Meyer has dropped the Brett Favre routine and is back coaching Florida. He’s got a lot to replace, with Tim Tebow being just the biggest personnel loss. Tennessee is on its third coach in three years, as Derek Dooley comes up from Louisiana Tech to replace the flamboyant and mediocre Lane Kiffin. And Kentucky and Vanderbilt aren’t without storylines. The Wildcats bring in a new coach in Joker Phillips, while Vandy’s offense may be led by Jordan Rodgers, the brother of the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron. By comparison, Georgia is quiet. The Bulldogs are just putting in a 3-4 defensive scheme to improve a woeful unit, but that might be the change with the biggest impact on the football field this fall.

Alabama isn’t basking the glow of its national title. They have a lot of rebuilding to do, but they do return the passing combination of Greg McElroy and Julio Jones. Arkansas brings back the explosive Ryan Mallett and his key receivers. Like Georgia, the Hogs need to focus on defense as the key to improvement. Rebuilding is also going on at Ole Miss and LSU. The Rebels lose Jevan Snead, who disappointed in his senior year at quarterback, and running back Dexter McCluster, who was most definitely not a disappointment. The Tigers have to rebuild both trenches, putting a lot of pressure on athletic, but inconsistent quarterback Jordan Jefferson.

On Wednesday, we'll look at the Big 12.

Spring Overview: Big Ten

The Big Ten stepped up and finally made a statement in big bowl games last year, after several years of being the whipping boy for the SEC & Big 12. The league's top four teams all won their postseason games and expectations are high in places like Columbus, Madison and Iowa City coming into a new season.

Ohio State won the Rose Bowl and brings back Terrelle Pryor, plus a veteran defense. The D was excellent last year, but Pryor's passing was a disappointment before a breakout game in Pasadena. Wisconsin has most of its people back from a 9-3 team, but this program has a history of winning when they're supposed to lose and losing when they're supposed to win. This year they're supposed to win. Iowa has defensive talent back from its own outstanding 2009 unit. Kirk Ferentz needs to retool the running game, but that's not something that's ever been a problem for the offensive line guru. Michigan State is another team with reason for optimism. Defensive problems held them back a year ago, but more experience should help this time around.

Michigan & Minnesota both made coaching changes over the last 2-3 years, even though both programs were winning. Minnesota has recovered from a brief collapse following Glen Mason's dismissal after the 2006 season, though the program is no better off than it was at the time. Michigan has got the collapse part down, following Lloyd Carr's forced retirement after 2007. Now we'll have to see if they can recover. Both teams need work on defense and Michigan has to get Rich Rodriguez's offense functioning the way it used to when he was at West Virginia.

Two other places that have coaches on the hot seat are Indiana and Illinois. The former must rebuild its defense, the latter must reconstruct the offense and both need to be playing football somewhere in December. Not an easy challenge for Bill Lynch and Ron Zook. Purdue coach Danny Hope isn't on the hot seat, but his program is at the same level--hoping to scrape together enough wins for a bowl game. The Boilermakers were competitive last year and pulled the conference's biggest upset when they beat Ohio State, so things are moving in the right direction.

Two of the league's best quarterbacks are gone from last year, in Mike Kafka (Northwestern) and Daryl Clark (Penn State). Both teams have some modest rebuilding to do. Joe Paterno also needs an entirely new front seven. Fortunately, he can rebuild against another light non-conference schedule and a league slate that does not include Wisconsin.

On Saturday we'll take a look at the SEC, home of the last three national champions. Today, the Pro Football Notebook looks at the NFC South. And steady posting is going on at The Baseball Notebook, which today looks at the St. Louis Cardinals' depth beyond their stars.

Spring Overview: ACC

It’s going to be a different year in the ACC, with Bobby Bowden no longer on the sidelines for Florida State. FSU was on board with the whole “coach-in-waiting” theory, where the fact that Jumbo Fischer had a front row seat for the ‘Noles underachieving in recent years is ignored and he gets elevated to be head man. As you can tell, I’m skeptical of this whole concept. Even more so at Maryland, where if the Terps don’t rebound from a 2-10 year, they’re going to cut loose Ralph Friedgen and turn to coach-in-waiting James Franklin. How on earth does that all add up? And doesn’t it give the coach-in-waiting just a teensy bit of conflict of interest in pushing for his team’s success?

Name players will also be gone, from the best quarterbacks in Riley Skinner to the best running backs in C.J. Spiller and Jonathan Dwyer. One person that is back is the man who’s become the ACC’s old reliable, and that’s Virginia Tech boss Frank Beamer. He keeps churning out contenders, and has a lot of skill position talent back for another run in 2010.

Georgia Tech won the conference a year ago, but was hit hard by early departures for the NFL. One team that avoided this problem was North Carolina, who may be ready to take the next step. Another program ready to get over the top is Miami, which has a load of experience back across the board.

Duke is coming off an NCAA title in basketball, and they look to be on the verge of having a good football team too. They won five games last year, and David Cutliffe has real excitement going through Durham for the gridiron. Undoubtedly Coach K wouldn’t mind someone taking a little media attention off of him, if only for a few months.

The ACC hasn’t produced great teams in recent years. Indeed, they’ve had problems winning major bowl games. But they’ve always had interesting and exciting conference races. Looks like it will be more of the same this year.

We'll take a look at the Big Ten on Wednesday. In the meantime, the NFC North was reviewed earlier today in The Pro Football Notebook.

Spring Overview: Big East

Coaching questions are at the heart of the Big East, as they gather for another round of spring drills. Cincinnati has ruled the roost here for two straight years, but Brian Kelly cashed that in for a ticket to South Bend. South Florida went and got a coach with a prominent last name in Skip Holtz, son of the former Notre Dame coach and current ESPN commentator Lou. We should also note that Skip’s got a nice track record in his own right, having just won two straight Conference USA titles at East Carolina. And the seat’s going to get warm in West Virginia for Bill Stewart if the Mountaineers don’t return to the championship status they enjoyed under Rich Rodriguez. Right now, it looks like R-Rod’s move to Ann Arbor isn’t working out well for anyone involved.

Those are the places where questions are abounding. The attitude in Cincinnati wasn’t great after Kelly left prior to the Sugar Bowl against Florida and the Bearcats played like they didn’t care in a game where they had to pour every last ounce of emotion into it to have a chance. South Florida had a nice year under Jim Leavitt, making a bowl game after losing their quarterback to a season-ending injury. But Leavitt was one of the coaches forced out this offseason due to player harassment charges. West Virginia came up with a big November win over Pitt, and threw a scare into Cincy, but absolutely spit the bit in a poor Gator Bowl showing against Florida State. Of these three schools, South Florida looks to be the one in the best shape right now, both in terms of returning personnel and having a talented young coach.

Places where optimism is running rampant are in Pitt and Connecticut. The Panthers suffered a devastating loss to Cincinnati that cost them a major bowl bid, but they bounced back and won a tough game over North Carolina and have the league’s best running back in Dion Lewis. UConn really came on strong down the stretch and upset South Carolina in a bowl game. Both programs have been improving gradually and the bowl victories have both of them entering spring on a high note.

When I previewed the Big East last August, I linked Rutgers’ Greg Schiano with Kelly as one who could be headed for better pastures. In Schiano’s case its Penn State once Joe Paterno finally hangs it up. But a disappointing year surely put a crimp in that. Schiano has to rebuild, although given how much last year’s seniors underachieved, it can’t faze him all that much. And bigger rebuilding projects continue at Louisville and Syracuse, which continue to fight for respectability.

On Saturday we’ll take a look at the ACC. In the meantime, The Pro Football Notebook will have an NFC East overview later today, and The Baseball Notebook has a look at the Cubs’ bullpen up on the board.

Letter Of Intent Day

Recruiting news is big right now in college football as the high school kids have inked their committments as of yesterday. I have to admit a great deal of skepticism in this whole process of ranking the top players. Consider the raw number of high school players in the country. Then you're asking me to believe that someone can really differentiate the #1 linebacker from the #25 linebacker? And that's before we factor in all the variables like who will handle the adjustment to college life better, who will fit into what specific systems better and who may have physically matured quicker. It strikes me more as a financial boon for the people who publish recruiting newsletters, for websites that need people to come back during the offseason and junkies who don't like other sports and talk college football at some level, even if it's relevance can't be
established.

Now that I've debunked the whole process, let me make a few concessions. I will allow that broad trends can be discerned. While it may be ridiculous to think people can differentiate Florida's top-ranked class from Texas' 2nd-ranked class, I can buy the notion that if one team is ranked first and the other is ranked 40th, there probably is a talent gap that will show up on the football field. Here's the things that I do consider noteworthy from this year's LOI day...

*The SEC put five teams in the Top 10 and eight in the Top 25. The beat goes on in the nation's top conference.
*UCLA ranked #10. While USC was also in the Top 10, the trend suggests that parity is coming to Los Angeles college football.
*My own team, Wisconsin, was not in the Top 25, suggesting we'll have to be the gritty overachievers for the foreseeable future.

That sums it up. Don't forget, I'm talking basketball five times a week over at
www.thecollegebasketballnotebook.com , so stop in!