Traditional Powers Trying to Get Back on Top

The great thing about college football is there are more than a handful of traditionally strong programs across the nation.

It gives the ability to have a few big time powers struggle for a few years, but there are more than a few to pick up the slack.

Every big time program goes through their own peaks and valley's. Right now Oklahoma, Ohio State, Texas, Florida, Southern Cal, are a few premier programs that are at the top of their games right now, and then there are a few that are trying like heck to get back to that plateau.

First one that comes to mind are the Michigan Wolverines. The Maze and Blue record the last four years is 30-20, which isn't terrible, but by Michigan's standards it isn't all that great either. Most of the focus is on last year's record of 3-9 for first year coach Rich Rodriguez. When you take into account the change in offensive systems and philosophy, added with players transferring out, resulted in the struggle that was 2008.

Michigan has now last five of their last seven bowl games going back to 2002. Going back in recent history, Michigan had produced double digit wins in five of their last seven seasons from 1997-2003, they've only got one double digit winning season in their last four seasons.

Michigan's 20 losses in the last four years are the most for the Wolverines since 1965-1968, where they lost 18 games.

Michigan will turn it around though, and quick. Their recruiting class last year was solid, and they added some real speed at key positions, the kind of speed that the Big Ten just doesn't see on a regular basis.

One of Michigan's key rivals, Notre Dame, is another obvious pick. The Irish, maybe the most historically rich program in the nation, have produced a 29-21 record over the last four years, and an even worse 10-15 record the last two seasons.

One of the most disturbing trends is losses in nine of their last ten bowl games. Their bowl win last season actually broke a nine year losing streak in bowl games, a streak that spanned from 1995-2007.

Notre Dame is a program that usually feasts on the lesser programs that they face every year, but in the last two years the Irish have lost to Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Air Force, and allowed Navy to break a 43 game winning steak over the Midshipmen in 2007.

It's not just Notre Dame itself though, Charlie Weis is fighting for his legacy as well. As of now, only three Notre Dame coaches historically have a worse winning percentage than Weis does right now. It's now or never for the Irish as Weis has put together some very good recruiting classes the last few years. You should begin to see some results in 2009, or Weis will be in serious trouble.

When was the last time Nebraska produced a player the caliber of Tommy Frazier? Lawrence Phillips? Ahman Green? The Cornhuskers are another team that is looking to regain the dominance they had in the 70's and the 90's. The Huskers are 31-20 over the last four years, never losing less than four games in that span.

Obviously you can't expect the run like the one they had in the 90's where they won three national championships and had a stretch of nine of eleven double digit winning seasons from 1993-2003.

The Cornhuskers are moving in the right direction with Bo Pelini, and a win last year over Clemson in their bowl game was a nice momentum builder for a program that hasn't finished the season ranked since 2005.

Well thanks to the NCAA, Florida State's recent record now looks much different in the official record books, but for the sake of argument, let's just take their on the field records anyway and not pay attention to the vacated wins.

Of the teams mentioned in this article, the Seminoles actually are the only one that doesn't have a losing record in the last four years, but they also have lost six games twice, and hold a 31-21 record since 2005. Their next worst four year span of losses was from 1973-1976 where they lost 35 games.

Then Bobby Bowden got that program rolling in the 80's and 90's like nobody else. Florida State actually went to a BCS bowl, or what is now a BCS bowl, in 12 of 14 seasons from 1992-2005, an incredible streak.

Now, the Noles have a 3-4 record in their last seven bowl games, and haven't made a January bowl game since 2005, and they lost five games that season.

The question is can the Seminoles turn it around to ACC champion status before Bowden hangs it up. With the NCAA vacating the Noles wins, the all time coaching record is probably not within reach for Bowden.

The last of the five programs that are looking to get back on top are the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols were an absolute NFL factory in the 90's, but have since fallen off resulting in the firing of Phillip Fulmer and the hiring of Lane Kiffin.

The Vols sport a 29-21 record the last four years, and have only made two bowl games in that same span, winning only one. Even worse, the Vols are only 3-5 in their last eight bowl games. Before 2005, the Vols went 15 years in a row making a bowl game.

Another recent historical trend is losing to Florida. Now Tennessee hasn't had a lot of success against Florida in the last 20 years, but they have lost four in a row and seven of ten to the Gators. That's extremely important because if the Vols want to turn it around to national prominence, beating their division rival is an absolute must.

Goal one for new coach Kiffin, is find and develop a quarterback. Kiffin has put together a very good staff and they are showing they will recruit well. Honestly though, any program in the same division that Florida is in right now has a big hill to climb.

Looking at those five programs, I'd say Florida State and Tennessee look like they can make the quickest climb back to a BCS bowl, with Notre Dame in third.

The Noles and the Vols have the richest recruiting areas to take advantage of, and are a quarterback away from being very competitive.

Notre Dame just needs their quarterback to live up to billing, and recruit some speed on defense. The next two years could be very promising for the Irish as some top notch recruits should start rising to the top.

Nebraska and Michigan to me have the longest rise back to national prominence. The Cornhuskers are a good team this year, but in a conference with Oklahoma and Texas right now, that's a huge hill to climb and not enough talent in the midwest to take advantage of after those two.

Michigan has a unique oppoturnity though, as the Big Ten isn't known for speed, but Rodriguez's offense is predicated on speed and the Wolverines dipped down into Florida last year to grab some real speedsters. In a year or two they could be an extremely dangerous team in that conference.

Notre Dame, TV contracts, and what the BCS could be.

$18 million. That's the amount of money that perennial cellar dweller Vanderbilt is raking in on an annual basis thanks to the SEC's new TV contracts with ESPN, CBS, and the SEC championship game.

Notre Dame on the other hand?

The Irish are making $9 million off the NBC TV contract annually, they don't have a championship game since they are independent. While I couldn't find the numbers for what Notre Dame makes being a member of Big East basketball, I'd guess it isn't close to $9 million a year, especially when you split it between 16 teams.

So why do the Irish still hold out and relish their identity as an independent and claim the TV contract with NBC as a leading reason?

The Irish are sitting right in the middle of Big Ten country, a conference with 11 teams, and yet they are still independent and the Big Ten still has 11 teams.

The SEC set the standard for what a big time conference can achieve in TV contracts last summer when they signed a 15 year deal with ESPN worth $2.25 billion. That payout gives $12.5 million per team a year, plus the CBS contract which is 15 years and $4.6 million per team a year, plus what the SEC earns from their conference championship game gives each team around $18 million annually.

So teams like Vanderbilt and Kentucky make more money than Notre Dame on a yearly basis, that's almost unthinkable. The NBC/Notre Dame deal used to be the thing that made everyone else around the nation jealous. Now it's just looked as a good deal, but not great.

So why does Notre Dame and the Big Ten still stay separate? If they joined the Big Ten, they would no doubt up their annual payout and may push the Big Ten to bigger contracts than even the SEC. The Big Ten already makes $7 million per team a year from the Big Ten Network, and they make another $9 million per team a year from ABC.

So think what the contract would look like if Notre Dame was a part of that conference? Not to mention that would lead to a conference championship game, which means another million or two a year as well.

Notre Dame potentially holds the key to unlock all that the BCS could be, just think about it.

Notre Dame wises up and joins the Big Ten, which is a no brainer. The Big Ten then creates their championship game, which the Big 12, ACC, and SEC already have. Anyone think the Pac 10 won't follow suit?

Of course they will. First, I think the Rose Bowl will want their two traditional conference crowning a champion the same way. Second, the Pac 10 will be the only big time conference other than the Big East to not have a conference championship. They will see the money flowing from TV contracts and a conference championship game and they will want a piece of that pie.

So with the Big Ten and Pac 10 now having conference championship games, the pressure will be unreal on the BCS and athletic directors to make these championships a play in to the BCS playoff.

Sure these steps to a playoff are far fetched for right now, but that's the potential, but Notre Dame can start the ball rolling.

Recently, the Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said they had no plans to expand at this time, but there's no doubt his tune would change very quickly if Notre Dame wanted in.

So get with the program Irish. At the very least, you should join the Big Ten because it makes more sense than anything in this world right now. More money, keep your three out of conference games with USC, Stanford, and Navy if you want to.

Be a part of something bigger than yourself Notre Dame, join the Big Ten, and let's that that one giant leap for college football fans everywhere towards a playoff, or at the very least do what makes sense, or cents.

2009 SEC Preview: Tennessee Volunteers

The Vols enter 2009 in rebuilding mode, but don't tell new head coach Lane Kiffin that.

Kiffin has already done enough talking to fire up most coaches in the league, now comes time to do the talking on the field.

Goal number one, find a quarterback, and fast. BJ Coleman was the most impressive during spring practice, but has since transferred when he said he wasn't in the Vols plans for the future.

There's no doubt, the goals for any Tennessee team are make a bowl game at the very least, and it won't be any different for Lane Kiffin, even in his first year.

3 easiest games

1. Western Kentucky 9/5
2. Ohio University 9/26
3. Memphis 11/7

Last year, the Vols got off to a bad start by blowing a lead at UCLA and losing that game. That game sent hints of what was to come with an anemic offense and no quarterback to lead the team. This year those three games should be easy wins, and with two of them in September, the Vols should get some early season confidence before the heart of SEC play.

3 hardest games

1. at Florida 9/19
2. at Alabama 10/24
3. Georgia 10/10

If the Bulldogs don't find an adequate replacement for Matt Stafford, there's a chance the Vols could pull an upset at home in early October. The other two games mentioned have added intrigue this year. Lane Kiffin took shots at both schools in the off season, and now has to make road trips to both places. The Alabama game should be a good defensive, hard hitting game. Meanwhile, Urban Meyer WILL try and run the score up on Kiffin, no doubt about it. Don't be surprised though if the Vols hang around, just a gut feeling.

Top Offensive and Defensive Players

Offense: Gerald Jones, Wide Receiver, Junior

Jones racked up almost 500 yards of offense last season and 5 touchdowns. The offense was a mess with no quarterback to get him the ball, but Jones found ways to make plays, including playing the quarterback in the Wildcat formation. He's the best athlete on the team next to Eric Berry.

Defense: Eric Berry, Safety, Junior

This super safety had over 70 tackles and 3 sacks, but he's best known for his 7 interceptions returned for 2 touchdowns and a total of 265 return yards last season. There isn't a better safety in the nation, only USC's Taylor Mays is in the same ballpark. Watch him while you can, this junior may be off to the NFL after this season.

Breakout Player

Chris Walker, Defensive End, Junior

This 6'3 240 pound end may be on the small side, but he's ultra quick and dominated during the spring. He had 3 sacks last season in a backup role, think Dwight Freeney.

#1 Strength and Concern

Strength: Defensive Backs

The strength for the Vols will of course be their secondary. Even with the dismissal of Demetrice Morley from the team, having Eric Berry back there is plenty, but Art Evans, Rod Wilks, and Dennis Rogan will make the secondary a strong unit.

Concern: Quarterback

The main concern is still the quarterback. It looks like Jonathan Crompton will emerge as the starter, especially with BJ Coleman transferring, but no Vol could do anything well under center last year. Tennessee will not be a threat on offense until they get better QB play.

2009 will be successful if?

For this season to be a success the offense is going to have to be much better than 115th in the country. The defense will be there with Berry and senior linebacker Rico McCoy, but if Tennessee can't score it will be another long year.

As far as records go, 8-4 would be a success after a 5-7 season a year ago, and that would mean a New Year's Bowl game. For Vols fans though, if they can win over Alabama, Florida, or Georgia, that would be icing on the cake. One Vol fan told me, "remember, Saban went 6-6 in his first year, so we have to be better than that."

A Day with the Tiger Prowl: Behind the Scenes in Hoover

Here's a summary of what I experienced on Thursday at Hoover High School with the Auburn football coaching staff.

Showed up, grabbed some pics, and hung out until Tommy Thigpen, Phillip Lolley, and Ted Roof got there in their BMW, yes BMW.

I stood there and talked with every coach on that staff, one on one, UNREAL. OC Gus Malzahn is all kinds of down to earth. Even asked me who some kids are at Hoover that we should keep an eye on. Talked QB's, etc. Awesome guy. Rocker gave a "War Damn Eagle" walking in, he definetly has a prescence about him.

Curtis Luper and Trooper Taylor were awesome greeting people, laughing, having a good time. You could tell meeting people was cool, but when I gave them that "War Eagle" they lit up like, heck yea War Damn Eagle!

Then we went into the school, Josh and I actually walked Trooper through the school back to the athletic offices. He had just finished doing the Paul Finebaum interview. We were talking about that, about how the Prowl was going, etc. Once again, ridiculous doing that, super guy.

Then we hung around with all the coaches, they talked with head coach at Hoover Coach Niblett. Malzahn and Lolley talked with him for 10 minutes or more. Coach Rocker said the tour was going great.

Then talked with Coach Roof about the defense and linebackers. Just talked about not trying to get people hurt in A-Day, etc.

Cool moment, an Auburn fan brought his son in with an Auburn jersey to meet the coaches. Trooper immediately saw him and went and shook his hand. Trooper then took him to meet Malzahn because he said he was a QB. Kid got pics with Trooper, Rocker, and Malzahn.

Then back outside before they left, I had the chance to talk with Lolley. Talked about instate recruiting, and how he knows Alabama will get their share, they just have to get their 3, 4, 5 for sure, you can't walk out of the state with zero big time players from instate. I asked Lolley if some Alabama coaches were showing up at some of their stops, and his response was reflective of the entire trip really. He said yea a few of them have. He said, "We don't care though. We're not intimidated by anyone, they could all show up. Wouldn't matter to us."

Then they headed out, Curtis Luper and Trooper Taylor to Oklahoma, Phillip Lolley back to Jess Lanier High School, then the other four coaches to Spain Park High School.

Another great highlight was before they left, I was able to go into the stretch Hummer and sit for a second with Coach Tracy Rocker. That thing is the lap of luxury for sure.

Let me say this, EVERY coach was down to earth, unreal to talk to all of them. Awesome guys. Seriously one of the best days ever, ridiculous. HERE'S THE QUOTE OF THE DAY from Coach Malzahn. Josh and I were talking to him about last year, how rough it was. His response was, "It's a new day. We have a great staff and it's a new day."

Here's some pics.

Auburn vetoes game with UCLA?

According to this report, ABC was attempting to set up a matchup between UCLA and Auburn in the Georgia Dome in 2010.

Personally, I can't blame Auburn officials for not wanting the game. They already have Clemson on the schedule for 2010 at home, so why add another big time OOC game?

You can win a national title by playing one tough OOC game, seems like there's more to lose by playing two tough OOC games.

Remember 2003 Auburn fans? Thought playing USC and Georgia Tech was a good idea, that landed you in the Music City bowl.

Here's the report. Read down to find the story.

Auburn A-Day Scoring System

Gene Chizik has brought a new scoring system to Auburn's scrimmages this season, rewarding the offense and defense for all kinds of different things, all things that are important to these coaches in being successful.

So here's the scoring system for Saturday's A-Day game in Auburn, might want to write this down if you plan on keeping score in the crowd.

The offense can score these ways:

1. 6 points for a touchdown
2. 3 points for a field goal
3. 2 points for three consecutive first downs
4. 2 points for a play of 15 yards or longer
5. 2 points for a two-point conversion after TD
6. 1 point for a PAT

The defense can score these ways:

1. 7 points for a touchdown
2. 5 points for a takeaway (interception or fumble recovery)
3. 4 points for a quarterback sack
4. 3 points for a blocked field goal
5. 2 points for a tackle behind the line of scrimmage
6. 2 points for a three-and-out for the offense
7. 2 points for a safety
8. 1 point for a blocked kick on a PAT attempt

Former Auburn Receiver Robert Dunn turns Rapper

Wow. So this is what Robert Dunn was doing instead of practicing while he was at Auburn? Working on his rap career, nice. Dunn, a player with a lot of potential, but never fully realized, is now apparently a rapper.

Check out "DUNNCITY" and his new songs below. Oh, one more thing, his record label, Major League Entertainment, is owned by former Auburn defensive end and current Jacksonville Jaguar Quentin Groves, who knew?

FYI, love Groves, leader, family man, great guy. Dunn...not so much.

Anyway, here's the music.

Gene Chizik Addresses Auburn Fans, Encourages Big A-Day crowd.

In an email sent out to Auburn season ticket holders, Gene Chizik encourages a big A-Day crowd and gives Auburn fans an update of where the team is at.

Dear Auburn Family,

It's great to be an Auburn Tiger!

Spring practice is under way, and excitement is building for Auburn Football.

The effort and intensity our players have shown has been outstanding as we strive to improve each and every day.

Our goal is to build a strong foundation for Auburn Football. That starts with recruiting for the future, but it certainly doesn't end there.

We will insist on outstanding effort and doing all the little things right this spring, throughout summer workouts and every day of the upcoming season.

We've got a long way to go to reach the goals we all share, but I can assure you that we will not be outworked. We will be tough, and we will be physical.

Our student-athletes and staff are working hard, and we are all pulling in the same direction. It is exciting for our staff and for me to be a part of something special here at Auburn.

Finally, I want to personally invite you to show your support for these young men on A-Day, which is set for Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m.

We've brought back an old tradition with an autograph session that will follow the game on Pat Dye Field, and other new activities being planned will enhance the A-Day experience for you and your family.

I hope to see you in Auburn.

War Eagle!

Head Coach Gene Chizik

Auburn staff salaries: Old vs. New...also a look at new Alabama salaries.

Just taking a look at the new staff payout to Auburn's new coaches, and the raises to Alabama's coaches. Pretty similar. Auburn closed the gap with Alabama's staff in 2009.

As most know, the SEC is leading the way right now in jacking up coaching staff salaries to never before seen heights. Alabama and Tennessee are leading the way in staff salaries.

Wanted to take a closer look at Auburn's new staff compared to last year's staff. Auburn's staff will make around $639,000 more than Tuberville's staff last year.

Old Staff Salary---------New Staff Salary--------Net
1. Paul Rhoads 305K-------Ted Roof 370K-----------+65K
2. Tony Franklin 285K-----Gus Malzahn 350K-------+65K
3. Eddie Gran 202K--------Trooper Taylor 320K-----+118K
4. Hugh Nall 196K----------Tracy Rocker 300K------+104K
5. Don Dunn 184K----------Jeff Grimes 290K--------+106K
6. Greg Knox 184K---------Curtis Luper 260K--------+76K
7. Steve Ensminger 184K---Tommy Thigpen 250K----+66K
8. Terry Price 184K--------Phillip Lolley 210K--------+26K
9. James Willis 167K--------Jay Boulware 180K-------+13K

Alabama Coaching Staff

1. Joe Pendry 390K
2. Jim McElwain 360K
3. Kirby Smart 360K
4. Sal Sunseri 325K
5. Bobby Williams 290K
6. Bo Davis 250K
7. Burton Burns 250K
8. James Willis 236K
9. Curt Cignetti 225K

Thanks for Nothing Slive

So the Final Four is about to get underway this weekend in Detroit, and as an Auburn fan, you'd think I would have moved past the NCAA tournament snubbing the Tigers received a few weeks ago.

Well I was, until I heard this today.

Ex-Auburn assistant John Cooper, new Tennessee State head basketball coach, was on the radio in Nashville, and has this to say regarding being left out of the tournament:

On if Auburn was hosed in the selection process- "No, we felt like the way things were going (LSU & UT low seeds), we wouldn't have gotten in without winning the SEC tournament. We heard a lot about how the SEC was down, and looking at the 'body of work' vs looking at the last 10 or 12 games that seemed to carry a lot of weight in prior years."

Ok, well you can understand his point there, then Cooper dropped this bombshell:

"I heard from an Associate AD from another school who was in on 'the process' who said that he and the committee were literally shocked that Mike Slive not only just simply recused himself from discussing SEC seedings, but that he never, ever, once mentioned the word 'Auburn' to anyone leading up to the selection weekend, nor any other SEC school by name. They thought it was amazing, from SEC commissioner. We definitely did feel hosed in that way by Slive."

Are you kidding me?

WHAT ARE YOU DOING SLIVE? You are the SEC commissioner, your job in that situation, and ANY situation is to be a champion of the conference and the member institutions that you represent. If there is a SEC team on the bubble of the tournament, you are supposed to do what you can to make sure they are AT LEAST in the discussion!

You didn't even bother to TRY and talk up Auburn, Florida, or South Carolina in the days leading up to the selection? What a joke.

MAYBE IF YOU WEREN'T SO WORRIED ABOUT BECOMING THE NEXT HEAD OF THE NCAA MIKE, YOU WOULD FIGHT FOR THE CONFERENCE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE REPRESENTING, INSTEAD OF BEING SO OBJECTIVE THAT YOU DON'T DO THE JOB YOU HAVE NOW!

Rant over. I'm sure Jeff Lebo appreciates the support of his own commissioner.