Which is settled by 2014, Iraq or the BCS?

In case you weren’t aware, you should know that the BCS commissioners are getting together later this month in Florida. Will the “P” word, or the “P-O” phrase be heard? Probably, but don’t expect any earth shattering developments on that front.  The Shia and Sunni factions conference commissioners don’t see eye to eye:

… the major conferences are still stalemated over the issue with four in favor and two opposed. The conferences against remain the Pacific 10 and Big Ten, which are firmly entrenched and have the benefit of a separate contract with the Rose Bowl and ABC that runs through the 2013 season.

Unless the Pac-10 and Big Ten can be swayed, there probably will be no playoff before then.

Tony Barnhart mentions a few matters that indicate the college football game is very healthy and then throws out this kicker:

… Many schools with full football stadiums during the regular season are having a tough time keeping their athletics budgets in the black. They don’t want to see any change that would de-emphasize a single game.

Or do you believe that no matter how you might change the post-season (playoff, etc.) the regular season would be just fine because the game is so popular?

When you phrase the question that broadly, of course not.  But is there a happy medium that lowers the angst over the postseason without tampering with the passion and popularity of the regular season?  Probably.  Are these guys smart enough – and fearless enough –  to find it?  Perhaps.  If they do, are they sensible enough to quit once they’re ahead?  Doubtful.

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Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Coaches Hot Seat Blog gets to the heart of the matter with the Spurrier Era in Columbia:

… At Florida, Spurrier’s teams averaged scoring 37.11 points per game, and gave up on defense 18 points per game. At South Carolina, Spurrier’s teams are averaging scoring 25.5 points per game, and the defense is giving up 21.7 points per game. It doesn’t take a genius to see why Spurrier won so many games at Florida, and has struggled so at South Carolina, and the way out of this mess is strikingly simple. Spurrier and the Gamecocks simple needs to score more points, averaging at least 28 to 30 points per game, and Ellis Johnson (the new USC defensive coordinator) needs to keep the opposing teams below 25 points per game…

Unfortunately if you’re a Gamecock fan, CHSB doesn’t see that happening this year.

We predict that Steve Spurrier and South Carolina will have a 6-6 record in 2008. Steve Spurrier is a great football coach, but the lack of a quality QB and a very tough schedule in the SEC will hold the Gamecocks back in ’08.

Tough SEC schedule?  Somebody better clue Corso in.

Oh, and don’t miss the “he coulda been a contenda” conclusion.

“That’s why,” he said, “we have two.”

Metaphor? Bad karma? No big deal? You decide.

Florida’s football team last week suffered an accident with its BCS championship trophy from the 2006 national title. University officials confirmed that the Waterford crystal trophy was knocked off its pedestal and destroyed.

It may remain a mystery who actually destroyed the crystal football, which shattered after hitting the ground outside head coach Urban Meyer’s office. Florida has already contacted the company in Kentucky that makes the base of the trophy and imports the crystal from Ireland for a replacement.

Florida associate athletic director Chip Howard confirmed the accident. The trophy was sitting on a coffee table outside of Meyer’s office while construction of new coaches’ offices is being completed.

Coffee table? I guess that beats using it as a paperweight.

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UPDATE: The trophy was destroyed by a high school recruit, tight end Orson Charles.  He’s got a bright future in Gainesville.

A look at 2008 non-conference schedules

Scheduling is a topic on the front burner for Dawg fans, given how Georgia’s 2008 slate shapes up (just ask Kirk and Lee).

Rivals has an article up today about how the other half lives this season, looking at how non-conference scheduling breaks down this season for D-1 football. In a lot of ways, it’s not particularly pretty.

Start with this: scheduling games against 1-AA opponents, after dropping in 2007, is on the rise this season and in fact is at its highest level ever in the last four years.

“BIG SIX” VS. I-AA GAMES

2008: 51 games
2007: 41 games
2006: 47 games
2005: 31 games
NOTE: Starting in 2006, teams were allowed to play 12 regular-season games.

Three ACC teams, including our friends on the Flats, don’t see a problem with that – they’ve each put two 1-AA schools on their schedules.

PLAYING TWO I-AA TEAMS

*Clemson
*Florida State
*Georgia Tech
*Texas Tech
Western Kentucky

There are several teams who do not play any non-conference games against an opponent from a BCS conference.

PLAYING NO “BIG-SIXERS”

Air Force
*Arizona
*Indiana
*LSU
*Minnesota
*Texas Tech
*Wisconsin
NOTES: This is the third season in a row Texas Tech is on this list. This is the second season in a row for Arizona, Indiana and Minnesota. It’s the second time in three seasons for Wisconsin.

But it’s LSU that wins the daily double for also being one of only four D-1 schools with eight home games.

TEAMS WITH EIGHT HOME GAMES

*Indiana
*Louisville
*LSU
*Nebraska
NOTE: Last season, there were eight teams with eight home games, and four of those were from the SEC, two from the Pac-10, one from the Big Ten and one from the Big East.

Yeah, I know the Tigahs pulled the Florida-Georgia-South Carolina rotation from the SEC East this season. Big whoop, when your toughest non-conference game is Troy. If the schedule is as big a deal as Lee “South Carolina will play for all the marbles” Corso insists that it is, I don’t know how you can ignore LSU’s chances this year, even if Perrilloux is unreliable.