Who could have seen it coming? Alabama not only avenged itself of an earlier season loss to LSU, but it shut down and shut out the No. 1 team in the nation. With its 21-0 win, Alabama dismissed earlier talk that a win over LSU might not be enough to give it the No. 1 ranking. Seemingly, a close win would still allow LSU to retain the top spot, something the Tide wasn’t about to let happen.

National Champions

By winning by the equivalent of three touchdowns and by shutting out one of the most vaunted offenses in the nation, Alabama proved that at 12-1, it is the best FBS college football team in the nation. The Tide garnered 55 of the 60 first place votes in the AP poll, to No. 2 LSU’s one and No. 3 Oklahoma State’s four. Oddly, there was one person who still thought that LSU deserved to be ranked ahead of the team that held the Tigers to just 92 yards of offense. The shut out was also a first in the history of the BCS.

The state of Alabama has much to rejoice in for the third consecutive year. Last year, Auburn one the national championship. The year before, it was Alabama. For a state with fewer than 5 million residents, it has demonstrated outsize importance in college football. Alabama’s national title win was its eighth, tying it with Notre Dame for the most number of wins.

Defensive Struggle

The defense was clearly the champion of the game, limiting LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson to just 53 yards passing and grabbing one interception. But it was also Jeremy Shelley’s leg that accounted for all of the points through the first three quarters, kicking five field goals. LSU’s red zone defense was excellent, but it was five successful field goal attempts that spelled the difference. With 4:36 left in regulation, Trent Richardson scored the only touchdown of the game. By then it was clearly apparent that Alabama was worthy of winning the national championship.

For the sixth consecutive year, an SEC team is the best team in the land. This year, it is also the second best and the fifth best with LSU and Arkansas taking those positions. Break up the SEC! Seriously, the SEC remains the premier football conference in America and may easily retain that position for a few more years. What may not stay the same is the BCS arrangement which is wholly dependent on post season bowl games to choose a national champion. This week, 11 conference officials and independent Notre Dame will be meeting to discuss making changes to the BCS reports the New York Times.

BCS Changes

What changes will we see? First, those changes won’t happen for at least two more years as the current television contract, worth $125 million, is played out. Second, what changes do occur probably won’t go far enough to match what the FCS teams face: a 16-team playoff. Instead, it seems that two scenarios are likely to get the most consideration: keep the traditional bowl format and seed everyone after the final bowl game is played to determine the two top teams in the nation who would play for a championship game or choose the top four teams who would have a chance to play for the national championship. Those games would not replace the existing bowl games which would go on, but perhaps played on different dates.

Thank you for staying with us as we covered college football this year. Until September, enjoy the run-up to the 2012 season!

Utes fans await the Pitt Panthers for Thursday night action.

Can it be here already? That “here” would be the 2010 college football season.

After an active summer when several colleges announced that they would be leaving their leagues for brighter horizons, the conference transfer rumors quickly died down and practice for the season began. Those warm ups are now over and the first games will be held tomorrow night with opening weekend action continuing through Labor Day.

Thursday Night

The very first game of this season and weekend will kick off at 6:30 p.m. as Presbyterian plays at Wake Forest. The weekend’s action concludes on Monday at 8 p.m. when Boise State and Virginia Tech duke it out in Washington, D.C. Key games are getting air time with some getting national coverage while others are being shown locally.

Although there are a number of lopsided contests scheduled for this weekend–considering that college football doesn’t have a preseason like the NFL that is understandable–there are a number of contests worth following this weekend including:

Southern Miss at South Carolina – The Golden Eagles take on the Gamecocks in Columbia, a contest between a middle of the road Conference USA team and a middle of the road SEC school. I’m picking the Gamecocks to win at home.

Pittsburgh at Utah — Of course, THE game to watch on Thursday night is the Panthers at the Utes. The Panthers are the top choice for Big East honors this year while the Utes will be heading to the Pac 10 (12) next year. A lot is riding on this game for both teams, but I’m going with Utah in a close one.

Friday action is a disappointment as the only games scheduled are Villanova at Temple and Arizona at Toledo. Seems to me someone could have put a marquee game on; plenty of people won’t be able to tune in on Thursday night, but they will on Friday.

UConn at Michigan – Of all the Saturday contests, this one could be easily overlooked. Michigan is improved and so are the Huskies. I’m going with UConn to pull out an upset in front of 110,000 disappointed Wolverine fans in Ann Arbor.

San Jose State at Alabama – The only reason to watch this game is to see last year’s national champions start off their quest for a repeat. You’ll watch the game long enough for the real action to begin the following hour. Obviously, the Crimson Tide will romp.

Oregon State at TCU – 45 minutes after the ‘Bama game starts, these two teams will hash it out in Texas. I’m not sure why, but I keep thinking that the Beavers will dispose of the Horned Frogs in Arlington.

LSU at North Carolina — I like this match up because it is one of the more even games between ranked teams. Though I live only 30 minutes from Chapel Hill, I believe the Tigers will prevail.

Sunday will be like Friday as Tulsa takes on East Carolina followed by Southern Methodist at Texas Tech. Instead, fire up the grill and invite some friends over.

Labor Day games risk getting overlooked as people head back from the shore and are relaxing by cooking out or are preparing to head back to school. Though you may not be interested in tuning in to Navy at Maryland at 4 p.m. ET, you’ll want to make sure that you view the 8 p.m. contest between Boise State and Virginia Tech. Yes, the best game has been saved for last! I believe the Hokies will squeeze by the Broncos who, by the way, no longer are a surprise or underrated college football team.

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Photo courtesy of the University of Utah.

Good Game Tonight

Tonight, a Top 25 match up between Nebraska and Missouri will cause a lot of people to lose sleep, especially east coast college football fans who probably won’t hit the sack until well after midnight. As we progress deeper into the season, a number of Thursday night tilts could be conference decider’s, therefore ESPN will come out the ratings winner while employers will wonder why their personnel are dragging their feet on Fridays.

Besides the Cornhuskers and Tigers tonight, another set of Tigers and  theGators will suit up on Saturday for what promises to be the best game of the season so far. Here are my predictions:

Nebraska over Missouri – Missouri has the home field advantage, but I believe that the Cornhuskers will pull this one out late. Only Nebraska has been tested so far this season, losing by one point on the road to a very good Virginia Tech team.

Alabama at Mississippi – Is the Crimson Tide the best team in the land? Some folks outside of Florida and Louisiana think so. Can Mark Ingram be stopped? With nearly 500 yards rushing so far, the 5’10” Ingram is a giant among running backs. The Michigan native (how did the Wolverines or Spartans lose him?) is averaging about six yards a carry and should run past the Rebels early and often this Saturday afternoon.

Wisconsin at Ohio State – The Badgers are 5-0 and the Buckeyes are 4-1, but Ohio State is ranked #9 while Wisconsin isn’t in the Top 25. And for good reason too: Wisconsin has yet to play a game against a top notch opponent, something that will change this weekend. I expect that Ohio State will win by two touchdowns or more, but I can also see an upset brewing if the Buckeyes don’t put the Badgers in their place early.

Florida at LSU – Cancel your date plans this Saturday night. Or, if she is an avid football fan, then watch the game with her. Better yet, propose to her – she’ll put up with your football watching ways for many years.  What more can be said about this match up? The Tigers have had three close calls already this season while the Gators are exactly where they should be. Still, is Tim Tebow fully recovered from his concussion yet? If not, this game belongs to the Tigers. If he is, the Gators should squeeze this one out. Honestly, this game is a toss up.

Halfway Point of the Season

This weekend will be the sixth game for a number of teams, meaning these schools have now reached the halfway mark to the season. Fortunately, most contests from this point forward feature conference action, just what most fans want at this stage of the game.

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The Tigers initial ascent to the pinnacle of national college baseball did not begin until they won their first ever championship in 1991. By that time, Southern Cal had already won eleven CWS titles while Arizona, Stanford, Wichita State and Georgia were all rising powers themselves. The school made a name for itself by winning the national championship in football in 2007, but a return to baseball greatness remained elusive.

Wednesday’s win came on the heels of a narrow extra inning victory on Monday followed by a strong Longhorn performance on Tuesday where Texas cooled off the previously hot LSU bats, 5-1. Fears that Texas would once again keep LSU hitters out of the final game were quickly dashed when Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer first inning homer that led to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Texas responded with two runs each in the  third and fifth innings to tie the game, but the Tigers erupted for five more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

While all of the LSU players celebrated the Tigers victory, for one player this was his second national championship at the Louisiana school. Outfielder Jared Mitchell who is a first-round pick for the Chicago White Sox is also a wide receiver for the football team. The 2007 team won the SEC title and followed that up in early 2008 with a national championship of their own. Mitchell was also named as the CWS MVP, batting .348 with two homers and seven runs batted in.

Sources: ESPN, LSU Sports

Photo Credit: Nathaniel Tutvid

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The college football season is fast approaching, with the first games to be held the last weekend of this month. Yes, the lull from the January bowl games to Labor Day is about over, giving fans from Athens to Laramie and everywhere else a chance to cheer on their favorite teams.

LSU was crowned champion last season despite doing what no other #1 team had done previously — they lost two twice before knocking off Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS title game.

LSU Opens Light

This year, LSU starts the season on August 30th against Appalachian State (ASU), the top team from the formerly known as 1-AA division. That ASU team started the 2007 season with a shocking victory on the University of Michigan’s field, but don’t expect LSU to be caught looking when the Mountaineers from Boone, NC come to town. LSU follows up its opening contest with games against Troy and North Texas before heading into SEC play.

Early Season Tilt

With major college football now a twelve game season, most schools are electing to pad their schedules with a subdivision team or a weak BCS team in a bid to get that extra win and position themselves for a higher post season bowl opportunity. Not so with Ohio State and USC who will be meeting each other, Rose Bowl style, at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday, September 13th.

Both schools have a decent conference schedule this year with most of their toughest games at home. Whether worthy of that distinction or not, the winner of this tilt will be an early season favorite to play at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL on January 8, 2009. Me thinks that several other programs will take exception to this theory, including several powerhouses from the SEC.

Any Fight Left In The Irish?

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish made history last year, but not the kind of history the Irish are noted for.  Fresh off a 10-3 season in 2006, Irish faithful expected much in 2007, but got very little. Three wins to be exact and a heart-wrenching home loss to Navy. The arm of Jimmy Clausen will guide the troops this year, but it is the defense that needs the most improvement, a unit that gave up 29 points per game last season.

Sporting News says that the Irish are the #28 team on their Top 50 list for 2008 and NBC recently extended their exclusive TV contract with the university through the 2015 season. Expect the team to forget last season as soon as they take the field when they open up against San Diego State on September 6th.

Big East, Not The Least

A few years back when the Big East Conference lost its top three teams, the Miami Hurricanes, Boston College Eagles, and Virginia Tech Hokies, most pundits said that the conference’s ability to compete on the national level would be limited to only one team: the West Virginia Mountaineers. Since the Big 3 fled for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East’s fortunes have actually improved while the ACC still remains a full step behind the SEC.

This year, West Virginia is expected to shine, but the South Florida Bulls are right up there as well. In addition, a renewed Pitt Panther team should be bowl bound while UConn, Rutgers, Louisville, and Cincinnati, battle for the two remaining post season positions.  Speaking of Rutgers, will Ray Rice’s early exit to the NFL hurt the team and will the State of New Jersey find enough money to fully fund the stadium upgrade?

Lots Of Coverage This Fall

SayCampusLife will keep an eye on big time college football this fall, but we’ll throw in a few surprises including some smaller school programs and other tidbits. The season starts early, but by the time the first fall chill is in the air, we’ll have a good idea just how far some of these teams will go.

The major college teams, what are now called BCS (bowl champion series) division schools, rake in hundreds of millions of dollars each year in revenue thanks to ticket sales, promotional offers, championship games, and the bowl games. Throw in clothing rights and other advertising options and the revenue generated each year is probably in the billions of dollars.

Those universities fielding a high ranked team can expect to reap more than ten million dollars from a major bowl appearance alone.  Teams that were selected for the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, Rose, and BCS Bowls each earned $17 million from the bowls, an amount many college administrators salivate over.

One administrator, Michael F. Adams of Georgia, apparently has had enough with the current system and is calling for an eight-team playoff system to be introduced citing inequity of the current set up. What Adams doesn’t mention is that his Georgia Bulldogs, who also lost twice this season, wasn’t in a position to compete for the national championship. Although the Bulldogs had the opportunity to play in the high-paying Sugar Bowl, it wasn’t enough.

Some see Adams’ call for a playoff system to be hypocritical. Columnist Jason Whitlock, for example, said as much and is urging that the NCAA “adopt” top high school football and basketball athletes by providing them with a college prep education. As only a handful of college players ever make it to the pro ranks, most will graduate college with barely the skills to make it in life.

Whitlock’s call, in my opinion, is refreshing as much as it is revealing. College sports, enjoyed by millions, benefits the coffers of the universities more than the future of its student-athletes. Like Whitlock, I believe paying college students to play isn’t the way to go, but making sure that they are equipped to compete in the world later on makes perfect sense.

Will the universities go with Whitlock’s suggestions? Probably not.  Instead, we’re likely to see more money pour into college sports with little residual benefit for the players.

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