Well, if we’re going to turn everything upside down, why don’t we actually do it so something comes out of it that is at least partially coherent.  With that, below are my suggestions for a total realignment in college sports.  Five power conferences, with a few schools left out…but there are always some that are left out, so who cares!?

West States Conference

USC, UCLA, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Colorado, Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada, BYU, Utah

The Great Plains Conference

Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri, Arkansas, LSU, New Mexico, New Mexico State

Southeastern Conference

Florida, Florida State, Miami (FL), Alabama, Mississippi State, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Memphis, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke, Clemson, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest

Midwestern Conference

Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Purdue, Kentucky, Louisville, Marquette

Big East Conference

Syracuse, Boston College, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Connecticut, Rutgers, Temple, Marshall, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Providence, George Washington

I realize there are some bigger or popular schools missing like DePaul, South Florida, and Gonzaga, but I wasn’t quite sure where they would even fit in.  The Big East clearly is in trouble with only 10 football playing schools, but at least it cuts it down from the ridiculousness that it has now…and since I am a Villanova grad, I had to put them somewhere even though they are D-1AA in football (I know they call it something else, but it will always be D-1AA to me).

Anyway, it’s a thought.  Chew on it.

Coaches are often accused of funneling kids into easier classes, or classes that barely even exist, just so that they can keep their minimum GPAs up to remain eligible for play.  There have been stories of players being paid under the table for their commitment to certain schools, or scoring jobs and houses for their families close to campus.  Even high school coaches are part of the mix, joining college coaching staffs only because they are the representative for a big time athlete on their high school team.

Here are some key quotes from the article:

“It is different because in the last 20 years colleges have allowed their ‘money’ sports – football and basketball – to become farm systems for the professional leagues, and in so doing have permitted their athletes to embrace a terrible myth: that attending college with the sole aim of making the pros is compatible with the academic environment, even at the expense of scholarship.  Scholastically handicapped players are thus invited into college to pursue an impossible dream: to become one of the small number of college players (less than 2%) who make it into the NFL and NBA.”

Sure sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  How often do we picture college coaches visiting recruits and showing them how many players they have turned into professional athletes?  Ever hear of one that goes onto say that even if they don’t make it, their education will carry them through to a different lucrative career?  I didn’t think so.

Going into the actual cost of these programs, the article touches on the dollars that are spent in scholarships for 95 football players, plus the salaries of the head coach and ten assistants, all of which must be paid even “before the first pair of sweat socks is handed out.”  Going further into the point:

“What fans do understand is that they don’t have to spend Saturday afternoon watching ol’ State lose, no matter what the school’s team has cost.  And they don’t.  Which means that if a university is going to get even financially, not to mention tap in on the huge profits earned by the most successful football schools, those 95 scholarships had better go to athletes who can deliver: fill those stands, get the team nationally ranked and on TV – and let’s not hear about a star running back losing his eligibility because he cannot conjugate the verb ‘to run.’”

The act of getting these kids through their classes just so they can play is hardly a new story.  The article touches on the point that these kids are losing a tremendous opportunity in school by not taking classes that prepare them for life after their college careers are over, since such a large percentage don’t end up playing sports for a living anyway (and even if they do make it, the average career in basketball and football is less than five years).

“Since television got its thumb on the windpipe, there is so much money to be made in big-time sports that everybody cooperates….The colleges know they cannot justify their sellout by saying they’ll use the loot to give athletes better academic training, so they try to justify it with dream talk.  School publicists send out press releases bragging about their ability to place players in pro ball and decorate the pages of their sports brochures with photographs of those who have ‘graduated’ to the pros.  Last year the University of Miami shamelessly produced a four-color recruiting poster, captioned A PIPELINE TO THE PROS, that included pictures of those Hurricane players who had ‘made it.’”

The points made in the article are hardly shocking.  The purity of college sports was lost years ago.  Arguments about paying players are constantly being brought up, not because we think they need a little extra income while they dedicate so much of their time to their respective school teams but because there are BILLIONS OF DOLLARS being made on their backs.

What’s the real reason this article was so shocking to me and I felt I needed to share it on this blog?  Because it was published by Sports Illustrated in their May 19th, 1980 issue.  That’s right, John Underwood’s article, which I quote extensively above, was written almost 30 years ago and absolutely nothing has changed…in fact, it may even be worse today.

Teams that Villanova beat out: Michigan, Notre Dame, UCLA, Tennessee, Arizona State, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, and Northwestern

Jacobson has been criticized for comments she made at the Atlantic City roast about the Notre Dame football program. The network deemed the remarks “inappropriate” and suspended her for a week. Jacobson issued an apology at that point.

For those who are unaware with the comments, Jacobson reportedly said “F*** Notre Dame, F*** Touchdown Jesus, and F*** Jesus” in an attempt to talk trash to Mike and Mike co-host Mike Golic, a former Notre Dame football player.

Is it just me, or is the last statement a little worse than the first two? ESPN apparently doesn’t agree.

The Notre Dame football team finished last season with a 3-9 record has not won a bowl game since 1994.

The Scourge of South Bend, And All Mankind
Of course all the accountability for Notre Dame’s historic offensive collapse rests with Ty Willingham (2). The Dash deeply regrets not coming to that conclusion last week. It doesn’t matter how many three-and-outs occur on the watch of the current head coach; just blame it on the last one.

The Dash has received a few hundred loving, affectionate e-mails from Fighting Irish fans insisting that they knew this horrific season was coming, thanks to the lack of recruiting by Willingham during his final two years in South Bend. Well, sure — now that you mention it, the preseason pessimism was rampant. Just look at this August post from The Rock Report, a Domer fan blog, which averaged out season predictions from more than 3,000 Notre Dame fans and concluded the Irish would go 8-4:

“For ND fans, if things were to break right, we’re looking at a two loss season. If things were to break wrong, we’re looking at a possible five loss season. Four losses looks likely from an ND fans(sic) point of view, but that’s usually on the optimistic side.”

If that doesn’t sound like a communal acknowledgement of a terrible season to come, what does? Though The Dash doesn’t see anything in there about: “If things break wrong, we’re looking at no offensive touchdowns through three weeks and a potential 0-8 start.”

In keeping with September revisionist history, Notre Dame fans have unearthed evidence that Hurricane Katrina (3), high gas prices (4) and defaulted home loans (5) also are directly attributable to Willingham’s tenure in South Bend, Ind.

Click here for the full article.

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Michigan
6. West Virginia
7. Wisconsin
8. Oklahoma
9. Virginia Tech
10. Ohio State
11. Louisville
12. California
13. Georgia
14. Auburn
15. Tennessee
16. Rutgers
17. UCLA
18. Penn State
19. Nebraska
20. Arkansas
21. Florida State
22. TCU
23. Boise State
24. Hawaii
25. Texas A&M

Didn’t this use to be the USA Today/ESPN poll? Whatever it is, everyone knows that the AP Poll is really the one that counts anyway.

Again, more football before it needs to be covered, but at least college football starts at the end of this month as opposed to next month when the NFL finally gets underway.

Michigan on the other hand played #2 Notre Dame and handily beat them 47-21 in South Bend. Though many have called Notre Dame overrated, they will still be playing in a BCS Bowl game.

Some other points of interest:

Michigan’s only loss was to #1 Ohio State. Florida’s only loss was to #11 Auburn, who did not earn a BCS Bowl bid.

Florida finished 3-1 against ranked opponents (teams who were either ranked at the time or finished ranked), beating LSU (#9 pre-game, #4 final BCS), Tennessee (13, 17), and Arkansas (8, 12) and lost to Auburn (11, 9)
Michigan finished 2-1 against ranked opponents, beating Wisconsin (unranked, finished 6th) and Notre Dame (2, 11) and lost to Ohio State (1,1).

In the end you can go with either team…I just wish they went with Michigan after voting them the second best team in the country for weeks.

While watching this year’s Notre Dame vs. USC game I couldn’t help but notice how much Brent Musberger (and frankly the rest of the sports media) spoke about Brady Quinn and how he is probably the top NFL prospect in college football. I must admit that the kid has some good stuff, but I am puzzled by how much credit he gets for leading the Fighting Irish. I’ve only seen him play twice this year and they both happen to be losses…bad losses. A 47-21 loss at home to Michigan and last night’s 44-24 loss at USC. This made me want to look back at how he’s done over the year’s in big games, and here is what I found:

2003 (Freshman Year)
Wins: At Pittsburgh, home against Navy, home against Brigham Young, and at Stanford
Losses: at Michigan, home against Michigan State, at Purdue, home against USC, at Boston College, home against Florida State and at Syracuse.

Best Game: 23-39 for 350 yards and 2 touchdowns in a loss at Boston College.
Second Best Game: 29 of 59 for 297 and 1 touchdown (4 interceptions) in a loss at Purdue.

2004 (Sophomore Year)
Wins: home against Michigan, at Michigan State, home against Washington, home against Stanford, at Navy, at Tenessee
Losses: at Brigham Young, home against Purdue, home against Boston College, home against Pittsburgh, at USC, at Oregon State

Best Game: 26 of 46 for 432 yards and 1 touchdown in a loss at home to Purdue.
Second Best Game: 17 of 32 for 266 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 38-3 win vs. Washington

2005 (Junior Year)
Wins: at Pittsburgh, at Michigan, at Washington, at Purdue, home against Brigham Young, home against Tennessee, home against Navy, home against Syracuse, at Stanford
Losses: home against Michigan State, home against USC, at Ohio State

Best Game: 32 of 41 for 467 and 6 touchdowns in a win home against Brigham Young
Second Best Game: 33 of 60 for 487 yards and 5 touchdowns in a loss at home to Michigan State

2006 (Senior Year)
Wins: at Georgia Tech, home against Penn State, at Michigan State, home against Purdue, home against Stanford, home against UCLA, at Navy, home against North Carolina, at Air Force, home against Army
Losses: home against Michigan, at USC

Best Game: 20 of 36 for 319 yards and 5 touchdowns at Michigan State
Second Best Game: 23 of 35 for 346 yards and 4 touchdowns home against North Carolina

Career vs. USC (0-4)
2003: lost at USC 45-14 – 15 of 34 for 168 yards and 1 touchdown
2004: lost at home 41-10 – 15 of 29 for 105 yards and 1 touchdown
2005: lost 34-31 at home – 19 of 35 for 264 yards, 2 touchdowns (1 passing and 1 rushing) and 1 interception
2006: lost at USC 44-24 – 22 of 45 for 274 and 3 touchdowns

Career vs. Michigan (2-2)
2003: lost at Michigan 38-0 – 3 of 10 for 36 yards and 1 interception (first career game)
2004: won at home 28-20 – 10 of 20 for 178 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions
2005: won at Michigan 17-10 – 19 of 30 yards and 2 touchdowns
2006: lost at Home 47-21 – 24 of 48 for 234 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions

Other Big Games:
2003: lost at home 37-0 to Florida State – 20 of 52 for 175 and 3 interceptions
2004: won at Tennessee 17-13 – 12 of 23 for 118 yards and 1 touchdown
2004: lost at home to Purdue 41-16 – 36 of 46 for 432 yards and 1 touchdown
2005: lost at Ohio State 34-20 – 29 0f 45 for 286 yards
2005: won at home vs. Tennessee 41-21 – 20 of 33 fo r295 and 3 touchdowns

The Armed Forces
2001 (1-0): won at home vs. Navy 27-24 – 14 of 27 for 137 and 1 touchdown
2002 (1-0): won at Navy 27-9 – 11 of 20 for 130 yards
2003 (1-0): won at home vs. Navy 42-21 – 22 of 31 for 284 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception
2004 (3-0): won at Navy 38-14 – 18 of 25 for 295 yards, 4 touchdowns (3 passing and 1 rushing); won at Air Force (39-17) – 14 of 19 for 207 yards and 4 touchdowns; won at home vs. Army 41-9 – 22 of 30 for 218 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception

Doesn’t seem like he really wins that many big games. How can we give him this much credit if he can’t pull one out against a good opponent?

NO CHANCE
Boise State: Finished the season undefeated at 11-0, including a win against Hawaii (9-2), who is now ranked #25. Unfortunately for the Broncos, their next biggest win is against Oregon State, who finished 7-4 (but did beat USC, which we will discuss later). Without a bigger out of conference win, Boise State is out of luck.

Wisconsin: Finished 11-1 overall, the loss coming at Michigan, who is also the only ranked team the Badgers played. With Ohio State and Michigan dominating the Big Ten, Wisconsin is left out.

Rutgers: Had a HUGE win against Louisville at home, but followed it up with a loss to Cincinnati, who improved to 6-5 with the win. Any loss against an unranked opponent (especially one fighting to even play in a bowl game) will kill any chance of playing for a national championship.

Louisville: Lost to Rutgers, who was also undefeated at the time, which didn’t seem that bad until Rutgers came back to earth and lost to Cincinnati. They also beat Miami, who was #17 at the time, but the Hurricanes have been in a tailspin all season long. A big win against West Virginia certainly helps their cause, but the Rutgers loss might be too big to overcome.

West Virginia: They might have the best chance of any of the Big East teams to make it to the championship game. The loss to Louisville hurt, but not as much as Louisville’s loss to Rutgers. Unfortunately for the Big East, the possibility of all three teams beating each other (Rutgers over Louisville, Louisville over West Virginia, West Virginia over Rutgers) pretty much takes all of them out of contention.

MAYBE
Notre Dame: Seemed to play an unusually light schedule this year, until you realize they played the same teams they always play, it’s just that their opponents weren’t that good. Lost badly to Michigan in South Bend and still has to play at USC. Regardless of whether or not they beat the Trojans, the loss to Michigan should keep them from the championship game.

USC: Still needs to play against Notre Dame, but even if they win, the loss to Oregon State should keep them out of it. This team has gotten better and better as the season goes on, but one bad loss is enough to keep this team out of the National Championship game.

A LITTLE MORE THAN MAYBE…
Arkansas: The only loss for the Razorbacks this season is to USC, who is currently #3; a good loss, except that they got absolutely destroyed, losing 50-14. If they do end up winning the SEC (they still have to beat LSU and Florida), the case to include them becomes VERY strong.

Florida: Only one loss, which came at Auburn, the Gators look very strong with their two-QB system. They still need to play at Florida State, and then the SEC championship game against Arkansas, but if they beat both of those teams, they should be in line for the national championship game, except for…

Michigan: Michigan’s loss to Ohio State proved they can play with the Buckeyes, which seems like more than anyone else has proven. They manhandled Notre Dame in South Bend and also beat 11-1 Wisconsin by two touchdowns. The negatives against this team are big though: they did not win their conference and only beat 1 ranked team (Wisconsin wasn’t ranked at the time of the game). Regardless of the negatives however, they proved that they are the second best team in college football, which is exactly who should be playing Ohio State for the National Championship.