West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez has rejected the Alabama football head coaching job.

See how all the Coaches Voted in the USA Today Coaches poll, which is a part of the BCS. (Flash player required, just scroll your mouse over the coach’s name to see how he voted).

Thoughts? Rants?

Have at it.

It looks like ND will be heading to the Rose Bowl or the Sugar Bowl. My guess is that it will be the latter against the SEC champion.

Ivan Maisel’s take on the firing of Mike Shula and the state of the ‘Bama nation.

The AP has this report.

USC whipped the Irish good, and the Trojans deserve to play in the title game.

Congrats to SC and all Trojan fans. It was a heck of a win.

I concur.

Beat SC!

“Anyone but Michigan!”

“Beat SC!”

-Brady Quinn

Who really wants to see an Ohio State v. Michigan rematch for the national championship (other than Michigan fans)? I mean seriously, Michigan didn’t even win its conference championship!

I am sorry, but Michigan had its chance and lost. If USC runs the table, then the men of Troy should play for the national title. If Florida beats Arkansas, the Gators should take on the Buckeyes. If ND defeats USC, and Arkansas topples Florida, then one of those two teams should play for the title.

Think about it. What if Michigan plays Ohio State again and Michigan wins? If that isn’t a tainted championship, then I don’t know what is. Best two out of three anyone? No thanks.

In any event, now that all of the experts have ruled out any possibility of ND making the title game, here’s what I hope happens: ND beats USC at home, and Florida defeats Arkansas in the SEC championship. Florida then plays Ohio State for the title, and ND gets a rematch with Michigan. I am not sure whether ND can beat Michigan or not, but I am confident that the Irish will keep it close.

for an Ohio State v. Notre Dame matchup in Arizona.

Bring on the Trojans!

Update: Oh well, Michigan stayed at the second spot despite losing to Ohio State, so it doesn’t look like the Irish will go to the title game even if they beat USC. 

Another SEC regular season is pretty much done (save a couple of non-conference games with Georgia and Florida going against their rivals and the “Egg Bowl” with Ole Miss - MSU) and it seems worthwhile think about the biggest surprises and biggest disappointments of the season.

Clearly, Arkansas is the biggest surprise of the season. At 10-1, headed into the championship game with a pretty good chance at beating Florida, Arkansas has definitely exceeded expectations. Indeed, I thought at the beginning of the season that Huston Nutt would be looking for a new job in December. Darren McFadden is a hoss, as they say - anyone know whether he’s sticking around?

The biggest disappointment? I think that has to go to Georgia. Sure, Alabama’s a candidate, but I think people were just overestimating them at the beginning of the season. They’re just now getting through their scholarship penalties so I wasn’t suprised to watch them not quite get it done. (That said, Shula’s got one more year - he doesn’t deliver a stellar year next year and he’s done, especially, especially if he doesn’t beat Auburn). Georgia - while, again, I think people overestimated them - just hasn’t played consistently all year long. They were great against Western Kentucky, for a half against Tennessee, for another half against Florida, and then really showed up against Auburn. But they can’t defense against the run, their own running game is anemic at best, and Mark Richt seems to be following the Florida State model of play-calling - dull, dull, dull. And no self-respecting team loses to Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the same year. I think they’ll be much better next year - Matthew Stafford is the real deal, but how much better won’t depend on him but on the defense.

As for the SEC championship game? Arkansas 24-10. Too much McFadden…

(Oh, and did you notice that I could write a *whole post* about college football and *not* mention some other team?  It’s true…)

If Arkansas beats Florida in the SEC title game, and Notre Dame beats USC at home (and assuming USC wins out), Notre Dame will play in the title game against the winner of the Ohio State/Michigan game.

Man, will that bring out the ND haters in full force.

My neighbor flies his USC Trojans flag from his front porch after every victory of their football team.

I guarantee you that I won’t have to look at the darn thing this week now that the Trojans lost to the Beavers of Oregon State.

Thank you, Oregon State.  First the College World Series, now this.

A nice video tribute re: the efforts of Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant to break down racial barriers in Alabama.

This weekend the College Game Day crew visted Death Valley for the Clemson v. Georgia Tech game.  It was a great day and a terrific atmosphere in the stadium.  I know you Notre Dame fans are proud of your team and tradition, but take a look at this clip of College Game Day from Clemson.  Southern football excitement at its best–nothing tops it!

Heh.

So Miami U President Donna Sha-la-la thinks that one-game suspensions for brawling is just fine.  What a joke.  What a bunch of losers - I hope they get blown out by Duke.

Beat Stanford!

Oh, and feel free to use this post as an open thread to discuss any other college football game.

A friend of mine takes issue with the normal methods of ranking college football teams.  In order to correct what he feels are various injustices and illogicalities, he has taken to “doing it the right way” via a scheme of number crunching that will interest some of you and will sap the will to live of others.

Visit his new weblog here.

Feel free to cheer/vent here.

Oh, and go ND! Beat Purdue!

Update: 4-1, baby!   

The AP has this report.

Coach John L. Smith.

Go Irish!

For college football fans.  What did I hear Colin Cowherd, he of the “Charlie Weis is the second coming crowd,” say this morning.  “Can’t spell Independence Bowl without ‘ND’.”  Ouch.

The legendary college football coach died Friday in Statesboro, Georgia, age 80.  Russell was Vince Dooley’s defensive coordinator for 17 years at Georgia, then built a Division I-AA national championship program at Georgia Southern during his 8-year career there (1982-89).  Georgia Southern’s write-up of the memorial service is here; UGA’s tribute to him is here.  There were several stories about Russell in the Sunday Journal-Constitution, but registration is required.  If you don’t want to bother with that, the Macon Telegraph has several articles and features you can access directly.

Methinks not. To the extent that I think it’s complete crap that USC jumped them in the USA Today poll…esp. after a bye week.

Me: And, bear in mind, I’m a Notre Dame hater…

Still think the Irish are overrated?

Beat Tech!