It's less than 100 days until toe meets leather on Labor Day Weekend, thus starting the 2012 college football season. I'm already looking forward to tailgate prep, road trips, and trying to set my DVR up to record as many games as possible. I also look forward to my weekly column, so I'll get an early start this season and put out a couple of columns before the season starts. So enjoy this post, and always remember, we still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Observations
...Hello Bisbee! Arizona has a new HC in Rich Rodriguez and now another helmet. This year for special occasions, the Wildcats will sport copper helmets. Yes, COPPER. So, Trojan fans, get ready to see those buckets when USC goes to Tucson. I'm sure that will be a special occasion.
...ASU is still loving their new sets of uniforms from last year, yet rumors persist that the Sun Devils will bring back the old helmets with Sparky on the side.
..Bulldogs with no bite in their conference: One of the reasons that Pat Hill was let go at Fresno State was a lack of hardware for the trophy case. With all the press about their brutal non-conference tilts, Fresno State did not finish higher than second place in the WAC since 1999 and hasn't won an outright league title since winning the Big West Conference crown in 1989.
...That natural feel; Florida State and Georgia Tech are the only two FBS schools that will play all their 2012 regular season games on natural grass.
...Just not the right time; In a letter to bRuin football boosters, the groundwork for more alternate uniforms was laid down along with a caveat. All new uniforms for UCLA would be introduced with better regards to timing. Translation: UCLA won't break out any new uniforms v. USC ever again.
...No grass stains; Minnesota, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Miami (OH), and Arkansas State will play their full 2012 slate on artificial turf.
...Busy as Bees in the Big XII; Do not underestimate the impact of the Big XII making a deal for a bowl game with SEC. The game is supposed to host the champions of both leagues in case both don't make it into the BCS Championship game. Let's look at this a few years down the road. With the Big Ten and Pac 12 continuing to face each other in the Rose Bowl, the Big XII-SEC Bowl could easily be the other half of a college football final four. After those two games are played, it's real easy to match the winners up in a +1 bowl for the national title.
...I think the whole reason the Sun Belt Conference exists is to provide the SEC with the seventh home game on their schedules. The FCS exists to give them the eighth home game.
...I've got an idea for a cool plus one; Stanford hosts Duke this year and Northwestern hosts Vanderbilt. I'd like to see the winners play each other in the first annual Brain Bowl. The players on the winning team will get a free ride to grad school.
...Epic Fail; I knew nobody liked Crag James, but now it's official. The reviled former SMU Mustang and ESPN blowhard garnered a paltry 4% of the vote in the Texas Republican primary for the US Senate.
That speaks volumes about how reviled he must be. How do you get just 4% of the vote in Texas when you're good looking, rich, and a gen-u-ine Texas football hero?
...Officer Bob; I heard that Bob Petrino has a new job to fulfill the conditions of his buyout by Arkansas. He's going to be the campus chief of motorcycle safety.
...Why darker? Nike got ahold Minnesota's uniforms for the 2012 season and the Golden Gophers will sport a darker shade of maroon. Which begs the question why? Minnesota is the only school with its' own registered special color: Minnesota Maroon. So, why ever change it?
...And you thought their uniforms were ugly; Last season Maryland broke out some pretty ugly uniforms. Now, it will be their field. The Terps are putting in a new artificial surface. The field won't be green, that's for sure. The skinny/rumor is that the field will be a black turtle pattern with the state flag in the endzones. Here's a mock up...
Rules Changes for 2012
...Goin' Low: Offensive players in the tackle box at the snap of the ball who are not in motion will be allowed to block below the waist legally and without restriction. The rule change is a field day for option teams.
...Keep 'em up strapped up tight; If a player's helmet comes off during a play, that player must sit out the next play.
...No up and over; On punts the defense can no longer try to leap over the protection shilled or personal protector for the punter in an attempt to block the kick.
...Those Dangerous Kickoffs: A New Hope; The NCAA views the kickoff as the most dangerous play in the sport. The powers that be feel that there are just too many high speed collisions that occur during the kickoff. So, to cut down on collisions, kickoffs for the 2012 season will be moved up 5 yards to the 35-yard line.
...Those Dangerous Kickoffs: The Offense Strikes Back; To compensate for the increase in touchbacks by kicking off from the 35-yard line, offenses will start from the 25-yard line after a touchback.
...Those Dangerous Kickoffs: Return Of The Pooch Kick; No coaches will want to give up those extra five yards this year. Expect to see a lot of pooch kicks that land about the 5-yard line and about the same number of collisions as before the rules changes.
...Those Dangerous Kickoffs: The 5-Yard Menace; players on the kickoff coverage units can't line up more than 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. No more running starts.
Conference Musical Chairs
...That Wacky WAC; Fresno State and Hawaii are out. The Texas State Bobcats and University of Texas- San Antonio Roadrunners are in. The Bobcats and Roadrunners are making their FBS debuts this season. That leaves the WAC with just seven teams: Louisiana Tech, Utah State, San Jose State, Idaho, New Mexico State, Texas State, and UTSA.
...That Mountain West high; TCU is out, Fresno State and Hawaii are in. The league now has 10 teams: Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State, Air Force, San Diego State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Hawaii, UNLV, and New Mexico.
...Big XII fuzzy math; The Big XII still has just 10 teams, but did do some shuffling as Missouri and Texas A&M left while West Virginia and TCU came in to take their place. Here's the league for 2012: Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, TCU, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Baylor, and Iowa State.
...Big East barely hangs on; West Virginia left, but Temple came in to keep the league at eight teams. Temple's return to a BCS Conference is a remarkable story. Remember folks, Temple is the only school that played so badly, that it was kicked out of its' own league. The Big East showed Temple the door after the 2004 season. At that point Temple had suffered 18 straight losing seasons. The Owls then stumbled around as an independent for two seasons , then joined the MAC and got a lot better. So, fast forward to 2012 where the Big East needs teams just to ensure survival, Temple agreed to a second go-around with the Big East. Here's the eight teams for 2012: South Florida, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Temple.
...The SEC is the biggest league in the FBS now at 14 teams with the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri.
...Bad geography; The MAC lost Temple, but picked up Massachusetts. Yup, the Umass Minutemen are now in the Mid-America Conference. The league has 13 teams: Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Ohio U., Miami (OH), Bowling Green, Kent State, Buffalo, Akron, and Umass.
...A bigger belt; The Sun Belt Conference adds another notch this year as South Alabama makes their FBS debut. The South Alabama Jaguars are the first big experiment in college football genetic engineering. This program did not work its' way up to the FBS from the lower reaches of college football. This program was born in 2007 with the express goal of playing in the FBS as a soon as a possible. The early results are promising with the Jaguars piling up a 23-4 mark along the way. The Jags will take their lumps in 2012, but it will be interesting to see how fast it takes South Alabama to become a good FBS team.
...No falling apart until 2013; The ACC has no changes for 2012. However, Florida State and Clemson are still beating their chests about bolting to the Big XII.
...More fuzzy math: The Big Ten still has 12 teams. The same 12 from last season.
...More fuzzy math: The Big Ten still has 12 teams. The same 12 from last season.
...C-USA stability; Conference USA still sits at 12 teams with no changes for 2012.
...Four against the world; Notre Dame, Army, Navy, and BYU are the only independent teams in the FBS this season.
Next time folks, we'll look at 2012 schedules and take a trip on the coaching carousel.
-The Commissioner
