News from the "Who cares?" file

If you ever needed proof that time is relative, look no further than the week before college football starts back. Time has slowed down to an intolerable crawl, and even the baseball highlights are getting recycled into an unimaginative mash of “Stephen Strasburn hurt his arm OMG!!11!!one!!” The season starts in a day and all the preview magazines and articles have exhausted their sources and their readers. As a result, all we have is this awesome news flash out of Alabama: Mark Ingram will miss the Tide’s first game!

Look, it was well known that Ingram’s cohort at tailback, Trent Richardson, will be getting several carries this year, and since ‘Bama’s first game is against San Jose State, it’s not like it really matters. The AP article on Ingram’s surgery (the above link that isn’t about special relativity) states that Ingram’s surgery could have an impact on his chances of repeating as the Heisman winner. Really? The Heisman voters are going to look at the San Jose State game as relevant to Ingram’s Heisman shot? Considering that Alabama has Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State, and Auburn left on its schedule, I think Ingram will be OK. Oh, and if cupcake touchdowns really are a concern for Ingram and the Tide, they still have Duke and Georgia State on the schedule as well. For my money, I’d look at the games against even halfway decent foes as a heck of a lot more important than whatever Ingram does (or doesn’t do) against San Jose State.

Perhaps you’re wondering why I’m treating the surgery with such a nonchalant attitude. The reasons are twofold:

1) As mentioned above, Ingram’s backup is a danged fine running back in his own right. If this is a really serious issue, then Richardson could still easily step in and have a crushingly good season. Need proof? Look no further than this guy, who took over for a 1,000 yard rusher and turned into a 1,000 yard rusher. Yeah, the SEC defenses are better than ACC defenses, but if Alabama’s as good as everyone (including me!) thinks they are, then it shouldn’t matter. You’d have to be a blithering idiot to say that Alabama won the National Championship solely because of Mark Ingram, and his loss shouldn’t immediately stamp out all hope that the Tide can repeat (though it now provides a convenient excuse for the devil Nick Saban should he fail to win).

2) The second reason that the Ingram injury shouldn’t create too much of a panic is this: He’s been hurt once or twice before, and he’s recovered admirably. According to this nifty post, he was hurt slightly in the Auburn game last season, which didn’t stop him from scoring 3 touchdowns against Florida the next week. Like all running backs, he misses at least 4 or 5 plays per game with stingers and bruises, but he still proved outstanding in most of his games last season. Surgery’s a bit more important than a little knee stinger, but still, let’s not go crazy. Nick Saban is evil, but he’s smart. He wouldn’t have allowed Ingram to go under the knife this close to the season (and the big early game against Penn State) without knowing that Ingram will recover in time or having a backup plan. Since that backup plan includes the other guy named as the All-SEC preseason running back, I venture to say that Nick isn’t losing too much sleep over the whole affair.

In conclusion, this whole story really isn’t one until next week. At this juncture, it’s just a nuisance to football fans who just want the dang season to start. Alabama will not lose to San Jose State with or without Mark Ingram, and they’ll still be favored to beat Penn State if he has to sit out that game as well. And if Ingram’s absence does allow SJSU to defeat the Crimson Tide, then I will boil and eat my own favorite Virginia Tech hat as penance for my sins as a blogger. Until then, let’s all eagerly await the spate of fairly mediocre games headed our way on Thursday…

Final Bowl (P)Review

2 bowls remain. "But I thought there was only the national championship!" you say. Well that is because you are ignorant! Oh, wait. Probably shouldn't insult the readers. But there are two games remaining. One is highly important. The other one is the...

January 6, 2010
GMAC Bowl
Central Michigan vs. Troy

Oi. You'd think that someone, somewhere would say something about this bowl being the second to last one available. Seriously, Central Michigan and Troy? If you did not attend those schools, what is the impetus to watch the game? Seriously, the BCS games are all-but done, the season is winding to a pretty exciting climax, and we get a MAC team and a Sun Belt team. Readers! How many of you knew that those conferences existed? Those of you who did know, how many teams from those conferences can you name? The lone reason to watch this game (as ESPN has probably shoved down your throat multiple times by this juncture) is Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour. LeFevour has tossed for 3000 yards and run for 700 this season. That's pretty good, even by MAC standards.

Should I watch this game? Well, Central Michigan has a good quarterback, Troy's got a good offense through the air, and this game should feature a boatload of points. So this game has all of that working for it. Know what's working against it?

IT'S FRIGGIN' CENTRAL MICHIGAN AND TROY!!!!

Jeez. Read a book or something. (NOTE: The lengthy archive of this blog probably qualifies by now...)

CFR Pick: Central Michigan. And no, I won't be watching this one.

January 7, 2010
BCS National Championship Game
#2 Texas vs. #1 Alabama

Well, it's all lead up to this. Two undefeated teams that the computers liked better than the other three duking it out for that ugly crystal football (see below)

So how did we get here? Texas went undefeated in the Big 12, running into some friction in their final two games against Texas A&M and Nebraska. Texas hasn't faced too many big tests this season, and they're up against a very very tough team from Tuscaloosa.

For what it's worth, Alabama's looked really good this season. They ran all over Virginia Tech (score said there was a 10 point difference, trust me, it should have been much greater), went undefeated in a very good SEC, survived a very real scare against Tennessee, and beat the tar out of former #1 Florida during the SEC Championship game.

Now, I've griped about Texas's schedule all season, and Alabama's non-conference other than Virginia Tech was a complete joke (Florida International, Chattanooga, North Texas). I believe Mack Brown possesses almost no loyalty to his school (ask a Carolina football fan, if you can find one) (good luck with that, by the way) and that Nick Saban could, in fact, be the devil (see below:)

With that said, I believe that this is the best possible National Championship matchup. Cincinnati played in an awful conference and Florida made them pay, TCU and Boise State play in lesser conferences, Florida itself relied on help from the officials all season long (not to mention got beat by Alabama), and everyone else had at least 2 losses. So the BCS did get a pretty good national championship matchup. Congrats, I guess. We still lost the excitement that a playoff would have provided.

Should I watch this game? If you don't watch the college football championship, then why would you be here on College Football Review?! Just throwing it out there. Yes, you should watch this game. Heck, it might turn out to be good!

CFR Pick: Alabama. Their defense is solid, and their offense sucks much less than Nebraska's did. And Nebraska only lost to Texas by one. Mind you, Texas has been hearing about that ever since it happened, so we'll have to see how it goes. Still, gotta pick Alabama for the win.

That's all for the previews...reviews come later. Enjoy the games!

Saturday in Review 9/26/09

Ah, another glorious day in college football. An overview of the highlights shall commence.

#1 Florida-41, Kentucky-7

Look, I appreciate a good football story as much as the next guy, but the Tim Tebow overload is approaching ridiculous proportions. Yes, he's one of the best ever at the college level. It goes without saying that he's important to his team. But having to hear about how he took a separate flight to the game because the flu is spreading around Florida is not that interesting.

Also, while I pity him for getting knocked out of the game, one must wonder why he was still in the game! I mean, seriously, the score was 31-7 when Timmy got hurt. Since he was feeling bad (at least according to the media) he should have been taken out when they jumped out to that ridiculous 1st quarter lead. Instead, Urban "I have no soul" Meyer opted to leave him in and show Kentucky a thing or 2 about football. I feel little sympathy for Florida, and none at all for Meyer. You're crushing an inferior team, so there's no point in having your theoretically ailing starter out there.

In conclusion, aside from 1 player playing sick and then getting hurt, this game was about as dull as dirt. Let's move on.

UTEP-7, #2 Texas-64

Food for thought: Texas' nonconference schedule features the following teams: UL Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP, and Central Florida. They play in a conference that is beginning to look more and more overrated as the weeks go on.

Conclusion: If, for some reason, the Longhorns lose to any of their conference foes, their national title shot may be totally done. Simple reason: 4 of their wins (assuming they beat UCF, which they should) will come against the cupcake-iest of cupcakes. So, beware, Longhorn fans. The eyes of the BCS computers are upon you.

Arkansas-7, #3 Alabama-35

A good SEC team crushes a not-so-good SEC team. In this battle of the evil coaches, the truly evil Nick Saban beats the lesser of 2 evils Bobby Petrino. Other than their 1st game against Virginia Tech (which they won by 10), Alabama really doesn't have much of a challenge game until they play LSU later this year. They might run into some trouble against Mississippi, who'll be trying to prove that the loss to South Carolina was a fluke, but my money's on Alabama to make it back to the SEC Championship, and maybe contend with Florida for a slot in the national title game.

Iowa-21, #5 Penn State-10

Well, dang. Looks like no JoePa national title this year. Which is sad, because he seems like a nice old fellow who harmlessly wanders the sidelines, wondering where his pizza is. Still, I think we might have safely eliminated the Big 10 + 1 from contention for the national title with this loss. It's sort of a pity and sort of a good thing, as sending a Big 10 team to the title game would inevitably lead to 700,000 stories about how Ohio State and Penn State had done poorly and so on...

As for Iowa, after barely escaping from a 1-AA team in their opener, they've proven that they're a real contender in the Big 10. Time to see if they can hold up under that scrutiny, or if they're destined for another season of mediocrity. Those Michigan and Ohio State games should help prove whether they're real or not.

#6 Cal-3, Oregon-42

I don't know that I've ever seen a Top 10 team beaten in such a complete manner by an unranked school. Cal's "supercharged run offense" looked beyond pathetic in a fairly mediocre performance against Oregon, the same team that was pretty well handled by the Boise State Broncos.

Jahvid Best, pimped by ESPN last week as the greatest RB in college football, was held to 55 yards. I could feed you more statistics, but that one explains the most. Oregon didn't show any mercy, and unlike that Boise State game, they managed not to punch anyone.

Also: Next week Southern Cal plays California in the battle of the disappointing PAC-10 teams!

#7 LSU-30, Mississippi State-26

LSU barely escaped with their #7 (and now higher) ranking intact. MSU should have won this game, but they decided to get too cute down on the goal line. I appreciate the idea of a play-action pass on 3rd and goal, but LSU did a good job of sniffing out the trick play. Hats off to LSU for playing tight defense, but one wonders what the Mississippi State coordinator was thinking. MSU ran for 151 yards, and you really have to ask why they didn't just run it 4 straight times down on the goal line...

In other news, life will get interesting for LSU when they go to Georgia next week followed by a visit from Florida into Death Valley. If they can get out of that exchange 1-1, consider it a major victory for the Tigers. If they somehow get out 2-0...they might turn into national title favorites.

#8 Boise State-49, Bowling Green-14

I'm fairly sure I don't have to review this game. Boise's itching to prove that they're national title contenders, and this demolition of Bowling Green is a byproduct. Since Boise's in a non-qualifying conference AND they have already played the real big threat on their schedule (Oregon), you're going to see blowouts like this for the remainder of the year. Know why? Because they need to show voters and computers that they can beat up on cupcake teams just like the big boys always do.

It's sad, but I hope the Broncos do weasel their way into a title game. Even if they lose, the outcry from the auto-qualifiers could create the case for...well, you know.

#9 Miami-7, #11 Virginia Tech-31

The Hokie defense showed up, and Jacory Harris went from Heisman candidate to middle-of-the-road ACC QB. Mr. Harris isn't a bad quarterback, he just isn't the second incarnation of Matt Ryan (meaning he might win an ACC Championship, unlike Mr. Ryan). Miami was touted and Tech was ignored by ESPN and the rest of the sports media, but the tables turned on that miserably rainy day in Blacksburg, much to this blogger's delight.

What really got me was that the Miami defense which was so good at shutting down Georgia Tech's running attack last week looked pretty crummy against the Virginia Tech run attack. Tech's not a mystery team, Tyrod Taylor only threw for 4 completions and 98 yards, while the running back stable ran for 272. I'm curious how that happened, since Miami held Georgia Tech to 95 yards last week.

To conclude (since I could go on all day about this), Virginia Tech is on top of the ACC this week. They still have some trap games approaching, and in the crazy conference on the coast, it seems that anyone can lose on any given week. Miami, meanwhile, should shoot whoever made their schedule, since they face Oklahoma next week. If the Hurricanes can win that one, they'll be looking at a downhill run toward the end of the season. Where things will get interesting is if Georgia Tech beats Virginia Tech who beat Miami who beat Georgia Tech. In that case, I vote for a coin flip...

Washington State-6, #12 Southern Cal-27

A nifty, if unconvincing, return to the Trojans' winning ways. Matt Barkley came back (and Pete can use that as an excuse for why they lost last week) and the Trojans beat a lesser team. I didn't see this game, and frankly I don't think I missed anything.

In a serious note, let's all send well-wishes and prayers toward Southern Cal running back Stafon Johnson who was badly hurt in a weightlifting accident. It's a reminder of how dangerous even the training that these kids go through can be. Plus, it's a reminder that no matter how important football may seem, or how much we may hate certain schools, football is still just a game.

Get well soon, Stafon.

Illinois-0, #13 Ohio State-30

Well, looks like FireRonZook.com might get started back up. Illinois has been fairly mediocre this year, and while Illini fans aren't anywhere near as crazy as Gator fans, they will only take so much abuse. And a 30-0 loss is pretty bad.

As for Ohio State, it looks like they're still top dogs in the Big 10 + 1 for now. If they can beat Penn State in Happy Valley on November 7, we'll be looking at another Rose Bowl trip for Columbus' favorite nuts. Ohio State is a strong football team, and they can stick with the competition in big games. The key, however, is beating the competition, something they have not done recently...

Fresno State-20, #14 Cincinnati-28

A close game that was never really thrilling, this was an example of how Fresno State is this close to being a powerful threat to the BCS. At present, they're Boise State Lite: Not strong enough to actually beat big schools, but not weak enough to be considered a cupcake game. Fresno has arguably the craziest schedule in D-1 football, and they deserve to be commended for it. Their conference is admittedly weak, but they have a nonconference schedule that is quite a threat. Mind you, their lone cupcake is also their lone win, so we mustn't laud the Bulldogs too heavily just yet.

As for the Bearcats (What the heck is a Bearcat? Seriously, a Virginia Tech Hokie fan is asking what your mascot is. This should tell you something. Friggin' Ohioans...) they looked pretty good against a good team, and as far as this season is concerned, they look like the top of the Big East. That's not that major of a statement.

#15 TCU-14, Clemson-10

A few years ago this would have come as a major shock. Now, it's more of a common occurrence: a school from a mid-major beating a BCS conference school. In this case, last year's uber-disappointing Clemson squad follows up a fairly handy win over Boston College with a loss against a small conference foe. Clemson is performing better since unceremoniously deposing Tommy Bowden, but it still isn't a return to greatness. They're 2-2 with the wins coming against BC and Middle Tennessee State. BC was picked to fall and fall hard by most pundits, and Middle Tennessee State isn't exactly a superteam. It remains to be seen if Clemson can beat anyone who is a real threat. They'll get their chance on October 24 when they go to Miami.

As for TCU, they can crash the BCS party only if they go undefeated. Other than 2 (bad) ACC foes, they do not play any BCS schools, and their conference is fairly weak. The "prove it" games will come at BYU and when Utah comes to town. If this conference wants to send someone to the BCS bowls, they will have the other teams throw their games against TCU and let the Horned Frogs go undefeated.

Grambling-6, #16 Oklahoma State-56

Oklahoma State continues to "bounce back" from the loss against Houston by playing these little nobody schools. It's a little sick that they get to move up in the polls by beating up on crummy schools while Miami will surely fall below them after playing its 3rd (and soon to be 4th) ranked team in a row. Sorry, Cowboys, I'm less than impressed.

Texas Tech-28, #17 Houston-29

Speaking of Houston, they played Texas Tech this week. Texas Tech has had a rough go of things recently, playing Texas and then Houston on the road back-to-back. Mind you, last year with Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, this would have been an upset. This year, methinks that we're looking at a down team. Look for Texas Tech to make one of those obscure little bowls that get played in early December and that have sponsors like Big Al's House of Staplers.

As for Houston, they're in the buster discussion, and this close win at home really helps. Beating a team that lost to Texas by 10 looks really good on the schedule. The Cougars perform well against their foes, and their schedule is getting easier. Houston could, potentially get themselves into a very big bowl if the chips fall right. Otherwise, look for them to make it into a semi-major bowl. Like the Cotton Bowl...

South Florida-17, #18 Florida State-7

Will the real Florida State please stand up? I think that this team right here was the real Florida State, personally. Their ranking was based entirely on good preseason position and a single win over a top-10 ranked team. Lest we forget, this is a Seminole team that needed a 4th Quarter comeback to beat Jacksonville State.

South Florida hasn't played anyone that good yet, and they really won't this season. Their only 2 ranked opponents left are Cincinnati and Miami. A win against Cincinnati on the 15th of October would virtually cinch the Big East for the Bulls, so that's one to circle for those of you who look forward to undeserving teams in BCS bowls!

Colorado State-23, #19 BYU-42

Utah is a boring state.

Southern Miss-28, #20 Kansas-35

This was a great one if you like defense-free football. In a statistical touch, both of the second-longest winning streaks in the country got snapped this week. Southern Miss and Ole Miss both had 8 game streaks leading into this week, and neither made it out of the week with a win.

Kansas, meanwhile, looks to cruise to 6-0 until a showdown on the 24th with Oklahoma. A win there would certainly shut the Sooners out of the National Championship discussion, and potentially put the Jayhawks into it. But Kansas' schedule doesn't get any easier after that with Texas and a resurgent Nebraska team on the board.

Arizona State-17, #21 Georgia-20

Georgia is an alright SEC school and Arizona State is an alright PAC-10 school. Therefore, I am not going to discuss this game any further.

#22 North Carolina-7, Georgia Tech-24

Well, the Yellow Jackets did really well in their bounce back game. UNC looked fairly hapless against the same Georgia Tech defense that Jacory Harris ripped apart last week. This was a strange game, frankly, in that UNC apparently ignored the film on Georgia Tech and let the Yellow Jackets run all over them. Georgia Tech ran for 317 yards, exactly 300 more than UNC ran for. That's pathetic on Carolina's part. I mean, it's OK to run for almost nothing if you're throwing the ball well, but Carolina didn't pass well either. In short, the Sticky Feet got fairly well smacked around by the same bugs that got squashed last week.

Indiana-33, #23 Michigan-36

Dear Michigan,

Hi, it's me again, I wrote you last week. You're still playing mediocre foes and barely beating them. Your current signature win is against perpetually overrated Notre Dame, you have not left home yet, and your team is still climbing in the rankings. I am not sure how you pulled this off, but I applaud this uncanny ability to pull wool over voters' eyes. I look forward to seeing you in a BCS or semi-major bowl while teams with actual tough schedules get shafted and sent to the Big Al's House of Staplers' Wagon Bowl in Paducah, Kentucky.

Sincerely,
Bones

#24 Washington-14, Stanford-34

So...Washington...your ranking was based on wins against Idaho and Southern Cal. You play Stanford the next week and what happens? You lose. To Stanford. Take note, the Cardinal aren't an awful team by any stretch of anyone's imagination. But the Huskies aren't the 24th best team in the country, they just beat a good school and got rewarded for it with 1 week back in the Top 25. Back to mediocrity!

UL Lafayette-0, #25 Nebraska-35

I guess Nebraska felt like they had to crush the Ragin Cajuns. I'm not sure why, but they ripped up the smaller school on offense and defense, leading to a rather uninteresting conclusion to the Top 25. And now...

Tales from the Bottom 95:

Pity about Wake Forest dropping a late one to BC, though Riley Skinner went from hero to zero in a very short amount of time...Rutgers beat mediocre Maryland...Auburn's offense which was so bad that it got last year's coordinator AND coach fired has scored at least 37 points in every game thus far. They haven't played anyone who's really GOOD yet, but it's a start. This week at Tennessee should actually tell us more...Notre Dame went from being "back" to barely edging out Purdue this weekend. Sure it was a good comeback, but against a team that lost to Northern Illinois, it's not that major of an accomplishment...Tennessee beat Ohio. That would have been impressive if it was a different school with Ohio in the name. As is, it's just a win over a lesser school as UT begins their run of 4 straight games against SEC foes this week against Auburn...

That's all for now, see you Thursday/Friday!

Rankings Rant 11/2/08

Wow! No updates in, like, a week? More than a week! Who runs this thing?! *looks in mirror* Oh.

Might/might not do a Saturday in Review. Who knows? Not I! The Rankings are much more fun to look at this week. We're using BCS rankings here. To prove computers screw up too.

Nick Saban and Alabama got rewarded with the #1 slot in the nation be beating...Arkansas State?! How the heck did that happen?! Now I am certainly not knocking the Crimson Tide. In my humble opinion (and what do I know?) they should have been #1 that week Oklahoma lost to Texas. But apparently it's a college football sin to move to #1 during a bye week. So here we are, eh? 'Bama's the team to beat it would seem, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them from here on out. For now, however, I have no complaints with the Tide as the #1 team in the land.

I stand corrected on Texas Tech. This, friends, is a good football team. They're fairly predictable (53 pass attempts compared to 28 run attempts) but danged if it doesn't work. I guess this is less of a rant than analysis. Meh...

Penn State's still at #3. I sincerely hope they get a shot at the title. It's hard to argue against Texas Tech and Bama (Ooooo, that'd be a good one.) But still. JoePa's a legend (even if he's not a great disciplinarian) and it'd be good to give him a shot. Frankly, weak Big 10 or no, I have a problem if a 1-loss school gets in ahead of an undefeated Penn State team.

I also have a problem with Utah at #8. Not that they're not the 8th best team in the country (they're not, but let's ignore that for now). No, it's more of the fact that they're ahead of Oklahoma State, but behind USC. This is not right. Oklahoma State lost to the #1 team in the country, beat then-number 3 Missouri (who I was totally wrong about...), and plays in one of the 2 best conferences in the country! USC (who, admittedly, I hate with a passion. Keep that in mind if you like being objective) lost to Oregon State and plays in the third-worst BCS conference.

Conclusion: If Utah is "better" than Oklahoma state, then they're "better" than USC too. Utah could beat Washington State by 69, too.

An old "friend" is still hovering in the top 15. #11 Ohio State. I need someone to rationalize this for me. They drop a few spots after losing to Penn State, then move up during a bye week. I'm not OK with this. Who has Ohio State beaten?! They're not in a good conference, and the 2 good teams they've played have defeated them. USC crushed them, and Penn State beat OSU in the Horseshoe! Weird...

Georgia's gone from preseason #1 to a middle of the road SEC team. Still good, but after what Florida did to them on Saturday...the Dawgs have some work yet to do before they hoist that ugly crystal football again.

At #14 sits Missouri. I am of the opinion that any time you beat Baylor by 3, you deserve to stay where you are in the rankings. So I'm glad they didn't move up. As a side note: Chase Daniel, I am sorry for jinxing you...

Ball State sits at #17. I hope they do well. I also enjoyed how, when Tulsa lost the ESPN commentator said "Another fly in the ointment gone." Wow. Do people really think that lowly of non-BCS schools. I mean, Boise State-Oklahoma was a thriller. Utah crushed Pitt in the first BCS game featuring an outsider. Sure, Hawaii stank in the Sugar Bowl last year, but what's with the phrase "fly in the ointment." That kinda screams "elitist conspiracy" to me. Frankly I was hoping for a Tulsa/Utah title game...

Stat o' the day: UNC's record against schools from Virginia: 0-2
UNC's record against schools from the other 49 states: 6-0.
Best hope their 1-AA opponent next year isn't the Richmond Spiders...

As a side note 4 ACC teams are ranked this week. That's impressive. What's sad is that the highest ranked one is UNC. They're the #19 team in the land.

I am curious as to how Maryland is #23 and Cal is #21. Is this anti-East Coast Bias bias? I mean, same record, Maryland's beaten more ranked teams (side note: 1 was Clemson. So...). The kicker, clearly is that these 2 teams played each other. And in that head-to-head matchup, the winner was...Maryland? No, wait, I must've read that wrong. No, no, it was Maryland. I watched that game. Maryland dominated in that game for 3 quarters. How in the heck are the Golden Bears "better" than the Terps?! Isn't that what the rankings are supposed to indicate?! Maryland plays in a mediocre but balanced conference, and has defeated the team ranked 2 slots above them! Cal plays in a conference with one good team, 6 OK to fairly bad teams, and 3 awful teams. AND they lost to Maryland. I am sorry, but that's just wrong.

Oh, and congrats to West Virginia. The only Big (L)east team in the BCS rankings. I'm not going to rant on this...I'm just saying that without Pat White we'd be talking about UConn here.

If at first you don't succeed...you're fired

Well, at least that's the way it works at Auburn. The second-best team in Alabama (This is an insult to Auburn fans. And to UAB, whose offense is better (statistically) than the Tigers) have dropped their offensive coordinator after 7 games. These 7 games include an overtime win against Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, two losses, and the ugliest win in college football history (yeah, that last one might be an overstatement).

However, let's not throw the (former) coordinator Tony Franklin under the bus just yet. While I think the spread offense is something that is touted far too highly in comparison to the actual results it yields, I also think that this is Auburn's mistake. They chose to hire this man after NOT running a spread. That meant the tools necessary to run a spread offense weren't there, which meant the offense wasn't going to run perfectly this year. (See also: Michigan) They're blaming a man who had no chance of succeeding this year with the corps of players he had. This is like handing someone a hammer and saying: "OK, I need you to change the oil in my car and rotate the tires. I'll be back in 10 minutes. If you're not done you're fired."

By far my favorite quote in the ESPN article on the firing is this gem from Tommy Tuberville (my comments in parenthesis): "This is a good offense. (No it isn't) Our guys like it. (This does not help win games) They understand it. (Uhhhh...) They're getting better at it. (Auburn points per game this season: 34, 27, 3, 21, 14, 14. I'm not sure that's "better")"

The Tuberville quote also makes for some intriguing reading. I mean, the guy is saying "Yes, the spread offense is new. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, we just fired our coordinator who brought it. No, we are not going to stop doing this!"

So Tony Franklin is jobless, and Auburn needs a new offensive coordinator. No one wins in this situation. Well, except for Alabama fans. Perhaps this was part of Nick Saban's deal with the devil: High pay, private jet, top recruits, and chaos at Auburn. All for the price of his soul! Now that's a deal most SEC fans can get behind.

But I digress, Franklin will get re-hired somewhere, and I sincerely hope that his new place gives him the opportunity to get the right group in place before they give him the ax. As for Auburn: It'll be interesting to see former defensive guru Tuberville trying to run a train wreck offense this weekend.

In other news, Arkansas might get that elusive SEC win!