I absolutely love this idea by College Football Examiner, Kevin McGuire.

The problem is, it makes so much sense and is such a brilliant idea, that the Big East would never go for it.

Either way, I am using those division names for my NCAA12 Dynasty

Kevin McGuire gave a good break down of the rule changes coming to college football in 2012.

These rules are changed to protect the players. Anything done with players safety in mind is a good thing, and I agree with most of them. However, I believe that the rule changes to kickoffs are bad for the game.

First off, teams will kick off from the 35 yard line. As we saw with the NFL, that does not necessarily prevent more returns. How many 105+ yard returns did we see in the NFL?

So, to give the receiving team more incentive to down the ball for a touchback, the ball will be placed at the 25 yard line, rather than the 20. 

For a returner receiving the ball in the end zone, it seems like a no brainer now to down the ball. Not only is the kicking team 5 yards closer, giving less time for blocking to be set up, but you get 5 extra yard on a touchback.

However, kicking teams are going to do everything in their power to prevent touchbacks. I can guarantee that teams will be practicing to get kickoffs inside the 10, but outside of the endzone, if they do not do so already.

I personally feel that the change in the touchback spot is a horrible idea. Ultimately, I believe it was too much and won’t make a significant difference in player safety. 

I believe much of this is in response to the horrible injury suffered by Rutger’s Eric LeGrande. However, if you recall, that kickoff was taken from right at the 5 yard line. So, even with the kickoff 5 yards up, still would have been returned.

I commend the NCAA for putting players safety first, but I feel that they missed the ball on this one.

James, obviously isn’t an automatic qualifier. I guess he couldn’t handle the week in and week out schedule of big boy politics.

Story here. 

Although I disagree with some of the points made, I would fully support this. 

I will always remember you as the greatest coach in college football history. You are a legend and a hero in my eyes and I will teach my sons of your greatness. 

When the bowl games were announced, I said that I would only be watching Utah’s bowl game. I am proud to say that I stuck with that. And I didn’t even have to watch in on TV as I was at the game. (In fact, I didn’t even have to pay for a ticket as I got media credentials. Self Plug.)

Sure I checked scores online and on my ipod, but I refused to give ratings to any of the bowls. (The Sugar Bowl was recorded because my girlfriend is a Wolverines fan.) And in all honesty, I don’t feel that I missed out on anything. (Except for the Fiesta Bowl, I REALLY wanted to watch Oklahoma State vs Stanford.) 

But all in all, I don’t regret my decision. Actually, I will do the exact same thing next year and every year until there is a playoff at the highest level of college football. Boycotting the bowls, especially the BCS bowls, is the only way to make a push for a playoff system.

Many people like to make the claim that certain programs don’t deserve as much credit as SEC or even other BCS conferences because the week in and week out competition isn’t there. Even if they win games, and big ones, and put up huge numbers, it doesn’t matter. So, using that some logic on Alabama’s defense, let’s take a look at the numbers. We will exclude Ga. Southern as they are an FCS team, but LSU will be counted twice for averages.

The best passing offense Alabama faced, Arkansas, was ranked 13th in passing offense. However, they were only ranked 80th in rushing offense. That put them at 28th in total offense and the best offense Alabama would play all year. In fact, Arkansas was the only top 50 offense that Alabama played all year. Counting LSU twice at 57th and Mississippi State at 72nd, Alabama played as many teams in the top 80 (4) as they did in the bottom 20: Kent State, North Texas, Ole Miss and Tennessee. 

The averages for the teams Alabama played are as follows: Passing Offense: 88, Rushing Offense: 61, Scoring Offense: 70, and Total Offense: 85

Alabama also didn’t play a single offense that could be considered balanced. Every rushing offense that Alabama played that ranked in the Top 50 in rushing was ranked in the bottom 30 in passing. 

I don’t want to take anything away from Alabama’s performance in the National Championship game, but when looking at the numbers, it is easy to see why they had the top defense: they played poor competition. If Alabama and SEC fans don’t like that logic, then they shouldn’t use it against teams like Boise State, Houston and TCU. 

The rating for the national title game were down 14% from last year and 24% from the year before. It was the lowest rated title game in the history of the BCS. 

But no, no. Alabama vs LSU was the best match up and the BCS is working just fine. 

And for everyone drooling over ‘Bama’s defense, just remember that LSU didn’t even have a top 80 offense. That’s right, they were in the bottom third in all of FBS football in terms of offense this season. 

Norm Chow will reportedly be the next head coach at Hawaii. Implications?