College Football mid-week roundup

Starting tomorrow night, the race for BCS bids begins with Oregon State and Oregon battling for the Pac 10's Rose Bowl bid. That's just the tip of a college football iceberg that will continue non-stop, well into the wee morning hours on Sunday, when the final gun sounds on Wisconsin's meeting at Hawaii. But what's happened so far this week? A lot, actually. But most of it has dealt with coaching changes, the Heisman race, and more coaching changes. Here's the long and the short of it all...

• ATHENS, GA - Head coaches aren't the only ones on the chopping block this week, as Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, and two of his assistants, received their walking papers this week. Martinez was one of the hottest coordinators not all that long ago, but the Bulldog defense hasn't been too stingy lately. He'll coach through the bowl game.

• IOWA CITY, IA - Kirk Ferentz doesn't want the Notre Dame job, despite his name being thrown around since Charlie Weis got the axe this week. However, the Hawkeyes head man does want a BCS bid for his team. Ferentz said this week that he believes Iowa can play with any team in the nation, and has the resume to prove it. Frankly, I actually think Ferentz is correct. If the Big Ten gets two BCS bids, the Hawks should get the second behind Ohio State's Rose Bowl trip.

• FORT WORTH, TX - Speaking of the Notre Dame job, TCU coach Gary Patterson made it clear that he isn't interested, either. Patterson was locked up by TCU for another five years, getting an extension through 2016.

• LOS ANGELES, CA - USC isn't going to a BCS bowl game, but one Trojan had a few words about the Oregon-OSU battle tomorrow night. USC center Jeff Byars said that he'd pick Oregon State over Oregon, adding that OSU plays a more "hard nose" style of football. Also mentioned was a great headline this week: Nike U vs. Lunchpail U.

• PALO ALTO, CA - (Ok, so some of these datelines aren't real datelines, but it works for this post well enough.) Sports Illustrated was all over Stanford's Toby Gerhart this week. There's a growing contingent of sports writers and TV personalities that are pushing for Gerhart to get an invite to NYC for the Heisman ceremony. I'm not so sure he'll get it, mostly because there are still stories running that explain to readers just who Toby Gerhart is, exactly. Not a good sign with only a week left in the regular season. Plus, playing on the West Coast, as a white running back, is like double-doom for any Heisman hopeful these days.

• LOUISVILLE, KY - Back to coaching news, it looks like Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong is the leading candidate for the Louisville job. Yeah, I didn't know Steve Kragthorpe was fired, either. The Cardinals have gone with offensive-minded coaches the last two times, but will follow the Notre Dame angle, searching for a defensive-minded head man. What ever happened to just hiring a football-minded head coach, instead of one with a certain specialty?

• NEW HAVEN, CT - Why is Tim Tebow up for ANY awards this season? Because he's a senior? Because he's won a bunch in the past? God, I hate this sentimental crap these awards people pull.

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL, USA - Go beer and snack shopping early tomorrow, because you won't have time the rest of this week. I can't remember the last time the final week of college football meant this much. It's incredible that I'm actually excited to watch almost every game.

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Red Meat Monday: WWL's shot across the bow

Penn State football camp opened today, but let's first get a little blood pumping in today's Red Meat Monday. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the World Wide Leader in all its Big Ten-disparaging glory.

Mark Schlabach ranks the conferences, and as you would expect, the SEC leads the way.

1. SEC - "Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss are potential top-10 teams along with the Gators."
2. Big XII - "Oklahoma and Texas are national title contenders, and Oklahoma State is a dark horse to be in the BCS mix. Kansas and Nebraska are slowly closing the gap in the Big 12 North."
3. ACC - "The league has been ridiculed in recent seasons for not being very good, but there might not be a more balanced conference in 2009."
4. Pac-10 - "Despite losing a boatload of talent to the NFL, it would be a big surprise if USC didn't win at least a share of the Pac-10 championship for the eighth season in a row."
5. Big Ten - "Illinois, Iowa and Michigan State will be tough outs, but the Big Ten simply isn't as strong when Michigan isn't very good."
6. Mountain West - "The Utes aren't going away, and neither are TCU, BYU and Air Force."
7. Big East - "After proving it was BCS-worthy with a few key bowl victories in recent seasons, the Big East again needs a jolt of energy in 2009."
8. Western Athletic - "In 2008, Boise State came within two points of finishing unbeaten for the second time in three seasons, but the Broncos could use some help."

Adam Rittenberg counters with typical grounded logic.

"The SEC has become the nation's preeminent conference, but how many other leagues separate the Big Ten from the top?

I put the Big 12 at No. 2 in my conference power rankings, but well behind the SEC and not far in front of the Pac-10 and Big Ten. The Big 12's quarterback play is superb and the offensive innovation... is fun to watch. But the Big 12 was less than impressive during the postseason. Though the Big Ten went 0-3 against the Big 12 in bowls, two of those games (Fiesta and Alamo) easily could have gone the other way.

Still, the Big Ten's putrid postseason performances can't be overlooked."

I swear, you wouldn't know from his writing that Rittenberg is the WWL's resident Big Ten blogger. He's supposed to be a homer, but unlike pretty much all the others on that site, he's most definitely not.

I was thinking about writing my own counter to Schlabach's rankings, but unless I want to pump out 3,000 words on the double standard applied to the Big Ten, I'll leave this for your own thought.

Up later

Penn State camp opened today!

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