“Next man up” can be found on page 78, paragraph 10 of the football coaching Almanac of Cliches. Given the inevitability of injuries, there’s merit to the philosophy. But when the next man is following someone the caliber of Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman or Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright, cliches go out the window. That’s become […]
It may still be summer, but Friday night made it feel an awful lot like autumn. High school football kicked off around the nation, and plenty of top college football recruits were in action. Sam Bruce throwing up #TheU after his 2nd TD pic.twitter.com/Hoh59RRCqw — StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) August 29, 2015 They’re playing for their high […]
Quarterback competitions around college football are coming to a close: except where they aren’t. The Alabama quarterback decision appears no closer to a definitive answer today — just eight out from the season opener against Wisconsin — than it did when Blake Sims took his final snap in the Sugar Bowl. Actually, scratch that. When […]
Earlier this month, I published the preseason edition of CFB Huddle’s weekly Heisman Top 10. This ranking is a projection of the Heisman voting landscape based on prominence and media buzz. For me personally, there are a number of players whose credentials warrant more discussion for college football’s most prestigious, individual honor. Likewise, there are […]
In the spring, the FWAA solicited votes from its members — of which I am one — to put together this squad. I didn’t receive an “I Voted!” sticker upon submitting my ballot. Boo! But my participation does mean I’m at least putting my money where my mouth is in spotlighting the 75th Anniversary omissions […]
The Northwestern union efforts launched in the spring of 2014 reached an impasse Monday when the National Labor Relations Board’s dismissed NU’s petition. The key statement from the NLRB’s decision explains its interpretation of the player-university relationship: Even if scholarship players were regarded as analogous to players for professional sports teams who are considered employees […]
Alright, so you’ve probably seen the below video of Rich Rodriguez doing The Whip with members of the Arizona gymnastics team. It’s basically on every sports site across these here internets. This is the latest production of UA “digital guru” Matt Dudek, whose past works include a cinematic prelude to the Wildcats’ Territorial Cup showdown […]
The very first line of Matt Hinton’s Grantland column on the state of college football — specifically, the state of the SEC West, which has made itself synonymous with college football — nicely crystallizes the place in which the division now finds itself: One of the most satisfying aspects of the first year of the […]
SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum’s identity as a media personality is tied to his strong opinions, so his offering up his thoughts on Florida State with Everett Golson isn’t news, in and of itself. However, Golson’s shouting out Finebaum’s assertion that Florida State is on the downslide is certainly newsworthy. The fire been lit, but […]
Pac-12 Networks president Lydia Murphy-Stephans shouted out the popular College Football Twitter hashtag #Pac12AfterDark in her annual address at Pac-12 media days Friday. #Pac12AfterDark helped build national attention for the conference and became something of an identifying slogan for the league in its historic campaign. The University of Arizona athletic department jumped on the hashtag […]
BURBANK, California - Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez and safety Will Parks, and USC quarterback Cody Kessler speak at Friday’s session of Pac-12 media days. Rodriguez is often cited with crediting Bobby Bowden’s four-year model: lose big in Year 1, lose close in Year 2, win close in Year 3 and win big in Year […]
Elements of college football border on the comedic, and in the right hands, the sport is fodder for some outstanding film. Veep co-stars Matt Walsh and Timothy Simons apparently see the potential, as The Hollywood Reporter says the duo successfully pitched a college football-themed comedy to Paramount. Details are very scarce at this point, but […]
Steve Spurrier may be nearing the twilight of his illustrious career, but the Head Ball Coach is insistent the end isn’t here for him yet. To that end, he called a press conference Wednesday that amounted to little more than a pro wrestling promo. It was decidedly heel (read: “bad guy,” for those unversed in […]
The heavy, four-fingered-white-gloved hand of Disney Corp. is coming down hard on ESPN, to the tune of a quarter-billion dollars. Just this week, we’ve seen the Worldwide Leader’s cost-cutting measures result in separations with Keith Olbermann and Colin Cowherd, but focus turns to where the real bulk of ESPN’s budget lies: live-game broadcast rights. ESPN […]
The conference released the official list of SEC media days attendees Wednesday, and it’s pretty standard stuff. In fact, most conferences rather casually include a list on their websites or in the release distributed to credentialed media sans the fanfare, but SEC media days has rapidly evolved into a cornerstone of the league’s propaganda machine. […]
