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cygnus34

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    Big East Expansion talk time again...

    in American Athletic Conference

    Posted

    There will be NO EXPANSION, as long as there are 16 teams in the league.  The ONLY way to have expansion is to have the football schools break away from the BIG EAST B.B. only schools.  At this time there is no way Louisville, Syracuse, UCONN and Rutgers will do that.

    As for what teams would come into the Eastern Ath. Conf.(Football) It would not be ECU, Army or Navy.  There are many reasons and no sense going into it now.

    Top Challengers for the Nat'l. Title

    in American Athletic Conference

    Posted

    Pete Fiutak

    FOX SPORTS

    1. Other than USC and Texas, who are the top challengers for the national title?

    Texas and USC will likely be 1-2 going into the season. Texas has everything in place except quarterback, while USC appears to have reloaded on offense and improved on defense with the addition of Nick Holt as defensive coordinator. Getting to the national championship game requires a good team, a favorable schedule, and a whole bunch of luck. If it's not Texas and/or USC in Phoenix, one or two of these ten teams will likely be there.

    11. California

    Team: One of the 15 most talented in America with a fearsome offense that'll be among the nation's best.

    Schedule: A win at Tennessee in the opener would put the Bears in the hunt, but a road trip on November 18th to USC could end title hopes. Otherwise, it's not bad with almost all the tough games at home outside of Tennessee and USC.

    10. LSU

    Team: It could be argued that there's not a more talented team in America.

    Schedule: Nope. As good as LSU might be, it's not going unbeaten with road trips to Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas.

    9. Florida

    Team: If Leak fits the offense, and vice versa, the Gators should far and away be the best team in the East. It's SEC title game or bust.

    Schedule: Along with home games against Alabama, LSU and South Carolina, there are road dates at Tennessee and Florida State, along with the neutral site game against Georgia, that'll be too tough for an unbeaten season.

    8. Florida State

    Team: Probably the best in the ACC. The offense will be better, but the defense will need time to jell. It won't get it because ...

    Schedule: ... the opener is at Miami. If the 'Noles beat the 'Canes, 12-0 is very possible with the remaining road games at NC State, Duke and Maryland. The only home dates to worry about are against Clemson, Boston College and Virginia before the showdown with Florida.

    7. Miami (FL)

    Team: Solid, but not the killer of past years. Will the offense find any consistency? Can the defense be better? It's still a great team, but it has to always play up to its talent level.

    Schedule: ... Very, very nice considering the home slate. The toughest games are in the Orange Bowl against Florida State, and Virginia Tech, but a road trip to Louisville is dangerous.

    6. Auburn

    Team: Very, very good. Probably a top five team in the preseason rankings as long as the defense plays like a killer in off-season practices.

    Schedule: It's not a walk in the park, but the nasty games are at home. The road games are at Mississippi State, South Carolina and Ole Miss before ending at Alabama. Washington State, LSU, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia travel to Jordan-Hare.

    5. Oklahoma

    Team: Very good. The Sooners will likely be underrated to start the season before taking up permanent residence in the top ten and maybe higher.

    Schedule: No offense to Texas Tech and Texas A&M, but it's a two-game season. If OU wins at Oregon and beats Texas, its national title fate should be in its own hands.

    4. Ohio State

    Team: Top five, likely number three to start the year. The defense will turn out to be fine, while Troy Smith and the offense will be amazing.

    Schedule: September 9th at Texas. A win in Austin would do for Ohio State with the Texas win in Columbus did for the Longhorns last year. The remaining road games are at Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois and Northwestern. That's not bad.

    3. Notre Dame

    Team: The defense won't be appreciably better than last year, but the offense will be lights out with Brady Quinn, Darius Walker and Jeff Samardzija returning.

    Schedule: 11-0 before the trip to USC? The schedule looks harder than it actually might be with Penn State, Michigan, Purdue and UCLA coming to South Bend. A national title caliber team has to beat Georgia Tech, Michigan State and Navy on the road. Of course, things could all blow up on November 25th in L.A.

    2. West Virginia

    Team: Top 20, but not much higher. However, Pat White and Steve Slaton are superior talents, and the offensive line will be great.

    Schedule: Maryland will be tough, at Pitt will be a bear trap and at Mississippi State might be sneaky-tough, but it all comes down to the Louisville game. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, it's played at ...

    1. Louisville

    Team: One of the nation's most explosive offenses, but the defense might be suspect.

    Schedule: A home win over Miami would give the Cardinals the win needed to be discussed in the national title hunt, and a win at Kansas State the week after would really get the ball rolling. It all comes down to the home showdown with West Virginia.

    TOP RECRUIT TO TRANSFER

    in Prospects & Potential Recruits

    Posted

    Bryan Harvey a freshman on the Louisville Cardinal B.B. team has decided to concentrate on academics, then transfer after the spring semester.  

    He was the highest rated recruit in the freshman class at #32 by Louisville-Hoop-Scoop.  "I thought Bryan might get a little discouraged, Andre is playing 27 min. and T. Williams is playing 23min. a game", said Pitino.  Harvey was benched in pre-season for academic reasons and lost ground to the other guys.

    This could be a very good pick up for the BULLS, if they are interested.  If he picks it up in school he has the potential to be very , very good.  I do not think Rick P would like to see him in a BULLS uni.

    CANES have new O.C.

    in State of Florida College Athletics

    Posted

    Hammer Reports Canes to Name Offensive Coordinator Friday

    The Hammer has learned that the University of Miami will announce the hiring of an Offensive Coordinator Friday.

    Hank has also learned that the Hurricanes are targeting Minnesota Vikings Quarterbacks Coach Rich Olson.

    Olson coached with Dennis Ericson at UM from 1992-1994. He has also coached at Washington State, Fresno State, USC, SMU, Arkansas, Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, and San Francisco 49ers.

    MD. to the Big East?

    in USF South Florida Bulls Athletics

    Posted

    This from the TERP. board, apparently this stuff happens after football season. Personally I do not believe one word but just thought you all might want to chip in.

    http://mb21.scout.com/fmaryland4...7371.topic

    I got this in an email that was forwarded to thousands probably. Kinda interesting and prob BS but.....

    Check out the scenario for the new Big East at the bottom though. I would not mind being done with all of the redneck schools personally.

    On a slow day yesterday due to the hurricane, I had a chance to speak with an influential FSU booster about the "new" ACC. He mentioned some very interesting things.

    1. To no one's surprise, all is not roses in ACC-land. The "raid" was

    completely botched. The plan was to have the BE teams leave en masse at

    the deadline, thereby costing the BE their status as a viable

    conference

    and creating a vacuum for the ACC to fill. However, the Skip Prosser

    interview with Pitt allowed word to leak out and the BE exposed the

    plan

    much earlier than the ACC had hoped.

    2. The lawsuit made the ACC look terrible and four schools were

    particularly upset with the way that the conference was portrayed

    (Duke,

    UNC, NC State and Wake Forest).

    3. Not only is the money not there that the schools were told to expect

    (which was predicated on the ACC completely replacing the BE -- see

    point one), several long-time ACC schools are upset that the BE teams

    have come in and dominated the conference (Maryland, UNC, NC State,

    Clemson, for example). This has led to some dissension.

    4. Two schools that he claims are not happy with the new arrangement

    have intimated that they might withdraw from the conference in a couple

    of years, which would deprive the ACC of its championship game (and the

    only reason that anything close to the promised money is even

    available). He told me that one of those schools is Maryland, which is

    not happy with being an also-ran. He wasn't sure about the other one,

    but he thought that it might be UVA, which is now the second best team

    in the conference from Virginia.

    5. The next date of importance for all of us relates to the BCS. He

    doesn't expect that the NCAA will ever implement a football playoff, so

    the BCS will continue in some form or another. If the BE is able to

    weather the storm (interesting that many of the most negative articles

    about the BE have been written by writers who favor the ACC or have

    been

    published in newspapers where the ACC has representation) and survive,

    there will be even more hard feelings within the ACC. He firmly

    believes

    (and is worried) that if the BE continues as a participant in the BCS

    system, Maryland will petition to become a member of the BE because of

    its dissatisfaction and its proximity to the BE schools. This would

    give

    the BE nine full members. Should that happen, he also anticipates that

    between one and three other ACC schools will try to leave as well. His

    prediction for the most likely: UVA. He also expects that BC will send

    out feelers because, without Maryland, the closest school to BC would

    be

    Virginia Tech. If Maryland and UVA were to join the BE, don't be

    surprised if UPS expresses an interest, partly because of the inroads

    into PSU's recruiting territory that would be created by such an

    Eastern

    conference.

    6. There is also some concern in the ACC that Kentucky, which has not

    been happy in the SEC recently, will also petition the BE for

    membership, should the conference survive. If that were to occur, and

    should the Texas schools not move to the SEC as the SEC would like, VT

    is first on the list for expansion -- new markets and big-time football

    reputation.

    He mentioned that clues as to whether he is right will be found in the

    list of schools that the BE talks with about membership. If the

    discussions about Navy, ND, etc. fade away, it should tell you that

    something bigger is in the offing.

    If this person is right, there are many reasons for the BE to win big

    and win now. Even if he's wrong, the risk of the BE losing its spot as

    an automatic qualifier in the BCS series has far-reaching consequences.

    That possibility is why, as much as I dislike WVU, Pitt needs to win

    its

    next two games and WVU needs to win out and enter the BCS bowl as a

    10-1

    team. It will be the best result for the conference in the long run.

    BE East -- BC (PSU?), Syracuse, UCONN, Rutgers, Maryland, USF

    BE West -- WVU, Pitt, Louisville, Cincinnati, Kentucky, UVA

    It's not all that unlikely

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    Former CANES to "right UM ship".

    in State of Florida College Athletics

    Posted

    FLORIDA SPORTS BUZZ

    Irvin wants to help right the UM ship

    Stung by the firings of Art Kehoe and Don Soldinger and concerned about UM's offensive drop-off, Michael Irvin will take a more hands-on approach with the program and wants other prominent ex-Canes to join him.

    The ESPN analyst and former Cowboys great said last week he will spend at least three weeks this spring tutoring UM's receivers on route-routing and other aspects. ''I need to be there. That responsibility falls on me,'' he said off the air. ``It's not anything against the coaching, but you're asking these guys to play at a level that a lot of coaches haven't played at.

    'I didn't work with them last summer and [some players] said, `You should have been there.' I'm going to spend so much time with Lance Leggett. That's the kind of guy I know I can make all the difference in the world with.''

    Irvin also will seek involvement from Edgerrin James and Santana Moss, among others. ''Imagine the influence they can have,'' he said. ``We will right the ship.''

    Coach Larry Coker and receivers coach Curtis Johnson approve of his involvement, Irvin said: ``Their attitude is anything that can make them better [is OK]. That's the sign of a great coach.''

    Irvin said UM ''is right by keeping Coker'' but Kehoe's dismissal 'hurts me. I'm praying they will say, `We were wrong,' and bring [Kehoe and Soldinger] back. These are guys you know will sell the U harder than anybody. Even if you have to reassign them, they deserve to be there. A lot of people feel this way.''

    Irvin offers two ideas to help the floundering offense: 1) Rehire ex-UM and ex-Dolphins coordinator Gary Stevens, who's out of coaching. He said he knows that sounds ''crazy,'' but ''Gary was great''; 2) ''Stop changing systems,'' he said. ``It should be a pro-style offense, and I can't say it was this year. You find pro-style players, and if you're not, you're not coming to the U. That's your best recruiting tool. . . . We're not maximizing the talent. It's killing me seeing USC. It's about being the very best. Anything less in not acceptable.''

    • Excluding Randy Shannon, UM generally doesn't pay top money for assistants (less than $150,000 per year for most), which has frustrated some of them and could affect UM's ability to land a big-time offensive coordinator.

    • Some wonder why Johnson was retained but linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves wasn't. Insiders note Johnson (who recruited Ed Reed and Reggie Wayne) had much more success in recruiting than Hargreaves.

    Miami fires 4, including OC...interesting

    in USF South Florida Bulls Athletics

    Posted

    The one guy that needs to find a new career is WERNER, he is absolutely terrible as an O.C..  The game against Ga. Tech. he insisted on throwing the long ball over and over, even though Tech. was blitzing on every down, which gave the Q.B. no time and he was sacked 6 times and hurried passes all game.  Werner never thought of the short passing game.  His offense since he has become coord. that be miserable.  He is the main reason the CANES are not doing BCS game anymore.

    Case in point; Utah used the short passing game against Tech. in their bowl game and killed them.  

    Tebow to .....

    in State of Florida College Athletics

    Posted

    ST. AUGUSTINE --- In the end, when he finally had to reveal his choice to the world --- a choice he had done his best to carefully guard and made only after agonizing hours of prayer and soul searching --- the All-American kid, Tim Tebow, went with his heart. He was a Gator. He grew up a Gator, the son of Florida graduates, and those ties to family and Florida were tougher to break than the hearts of the schools that came in second.

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