Coaching carousel plot twists: week 12

It’s just about time to spin the coaching carousel, and surely, even more names will be added to the list as other coaches get fired in the coming weeks. One coach — on the verge of losing his job — just might have rescued himself. At the very least, he gave himself the opportunity to […]

If the conferences are given autonomy in their ability to stage championship games, we could see the end of split-division conferences. We could also see conferences decide to make the conference title game a flex-game entity in which the conference champion might not play in it. For instance, the Big Ten could have chosen this year (under a liberalized structure) to anoint Ohio State as its champion. The conference title game slot this Saturday could have beloned to Michigan State and Wisconsin, the second- and third-place teams. Ohio State would love the ability to rest and heal for the bowls. Michigan State and Wisconsin could gain a quality win. Shouldn’t conferences have the freedom to be able to do this? They might… if legislation makes its way through an NCAA board in April.

Ohio State vs Michigan: Everything You Need to Know About “The Game”

Ohio State. Michigan. You can’t think of one program without having visions of the other flash across your memory of tapestry. The Yankees are more of a cultural icon because of the Red Sox, Ali is a legend largely because of Frazier, and Duke and North Carolina have a mystique linked together with emotion and […]

CLEMSON, SC – NOVEMBER 07: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Clemson Tigers runs with the ball against the Florida State Seminoles during their game at Memorial Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

TSS Top 25 Poll After Week 12

At the conclusion of each week’s games, the staff at the Student Section will team with writers from other Bloguin sites to publish a Top 25 poll. Here’s the latest installment, with some notes and analysis about our panel’s choices after a very exciting week 12. Rank Team Points 1 Clemson (6) 174 2 Alabama […]

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen (3) dunks against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Division I Championship semi-final game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Five Things Learned at the 2K Classic

Another season of college basketball is underway, and while football is still center stage, the November slate of hoops is always fun with endless enticing non-conference matchups. The 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden brought Duke, Wisconsin, Georgetown, and VCU to Manhattan, and they played four action-packed games that entertained the thousands. A lot happened, […]

Case Studies: South Florida

Willie Taggart, welcome back to the list of hot coaching names. Taggart — remember him? — was the artist formerly known as the architect of Western Kentucky football. Taggart, in relatively short order, guided the Hilltoppers from the 0-12 cellar at the end of the 2009 season (under former coach David Elson) to a 7-5 […]

Case Studies: Utah

If South Florida is the classic example of the late-November surge no one anticipated, the Utah Utes model the exact opposite case study: the late multi-game losing skid which abruptly turns a team’s first-ever division title in its new conference into a jarringly barren season. Utah — playoff contender for two and a half months […]

Coaching notebook: how reputations are (and aren’t) changing

We have just two weeks left in the regular season for a relatively small group of teams (those playing conference championship games or in one of a few conferences such as the Sun Belt and the Big 12), and only one week for most FBS programs. We’re not handing out awards here, but we are […]

Coaching carousel: match game

Schools need to have their ideal candidates and their backup candidates. Coaches can aspire to pursue certain jobs, but they should in most cases maintain reasonable expectations of what they’re likely to be able to obtain. Some of them should be content to stay where they are. Fans and pundits are busy trying to figure […]

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – OCTOBER 25: Head coach Chuck Pagano of the Indianapolis Colts looks on against the New Orleans Saints during a game at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 25, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Saints defeated the Colts 27-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Chuck Pagano is Miami’s Pete Carroll if the Canes hire him

Yo, Miami, if you give me a fourth of what you’re paying Korn Ferry, I’ll go find a coach for you. Or, hell, I’ll just give it to you here: Chuck Pagano. There will be plenty of rumors, innuendo, he-said-she-said over the coming months as the Hurricanes attempt to fill their vacancy. It’s a very […]

College Football Playoff Bubble Watch: Week 12

At our count last week, there will still 16 teams left alive in the College Football Playoff hunt. Now, with just two weeks left to go, we are down to 13. TCU was eliminated when they picked up their second loss, Wisconsin’s chances ended when Iowa clinched the Big Ten West, and Houston’s pipe dream […]

This is what Les Miles must feel like when his team averages at least four yards per carry in a game. No team has a higher winning percentage in such games since the 2005 FBS season.

10 reasons firing Les Miles would be really dumb (unless Jimbo Fisher is sealed)

It might happen. It seems as though the political and financial winds are swirling to the point that it WILL happen. We’re not dismissing the real possibility that it COULD happen. However, it never SHOULD happen, with the possible allowance of one very tenuous exception which we’ll address below. Les Miles really could be fired […]

Saturday’s biggest winner? Nick Saban

It was a very good Saturday for Nick Saban. See that photo above? That’s Saban taking the team picture with the 1998 Michigan State Spartans. The 1998 Spartans did not possess championship aspirations, and they did not fulfill them. Michigan State lingered in — if not obscurity — “second-class status” for quite some time following […]

MADISON, WI – OCTOBER 03: Head Coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes stands on the sidelines during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on October 03, 2015 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)

13-0 — if it was so easy, we’d see it more often

Hitting a baseball. Winning 70 NBA games. 16-0 in the NFL. Winning the Grand Slam in golf or tennis — ask Serena Williams. These are some of the hardest things to do in sports. We know this intellectually, on a “head level,” but do we really appreciate the enormity of the task and what it […]

Zeke Elliott, Ohio State, and handling frustration the wrong way

When you flood the basement, the rats come out. It was a long time coming for Ohio State — the loss to Michigan State, that is. The other stuff is just a lead-up to it. The fact that Ohio State had ripped off more than 20 straight wins is truly remarkable, even more so when […]

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