"...where completion is considered unlikely"
Crime in college football
The headlining story in college football this week is the recent study produced by Sports Illustrated and CBS News surrounding the number of scholarship football players on NCAA rosters with criminal records.
Of the 2,837 players on top 25 teams in college football last season, 8.1 percent of players had criminal records. Pittsburgh, who had a tough year in itself, led all schools with 22 players. Other notables included Iowa with 18, Arkansas with 18, Penn State with 16 and Virginia Tech with 13. A surprising school to make the top of the list was Boise State with 16.
Nearly 40 percent of the arrests were counted as serious offenses, including 56 violent crimes. A large number of the crimes, not surprisingly, were drug and alcohol related crimes, at 105 cases.
The study really isn’t a surprise to anyone who follows college football closely. Each year the college football offseason is littered with player arrests in the news.
In perfect timing, Auburn running back Eric Smith was arrested for third-degree domestic violence and released from the football team.
Washington State linebacker Louis Bland was also arrested this week, on charges of assault in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend.
Bad luck for wideouts recently
If you’re a wide receiver in college football, you may want to watch your step when you exit your house. Keep a close eye for black cats and ladders placed conveniently outside your door.
A day after ex-Alabama wideout Julio Jones posted one of the better NFL Combines in recent history for a wideout, including posting an 11-foot, 3-inch broad jump and 4.39 40-time, it was learned Jones will need surgery to replace a broken bone in his foot. Jones will have a pin inserted to repair the stress fracture, in which recovery should take 6 to 8 weeks. (AP Photo)
Oregon State senior wideout James Rodgers was granted another year of eligibility after a season ending knee injury last season, but that season may be put on hold or not come at all. James will need a second surgery on his injured knee before he can play next fall. As a junior in 2009, James caught 91 balls for over 1,000 yards.
Purdue wide receiver Keith Smith was denied a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after a season ending injury in 2010. In 2009, Smith was a first team All-Big Ten selection after leading the conference in receptions with 91 and reciveing yards with 1,100. He was granted an invitation to the NFL Combine, but couldn’t participate as he’s still recovering from the injury.
Major program going down
Let the speculation set in. ESPN commentator and radio show host Colin Cowherd claims “a top 10-12” college football team will be “unseated” as a result of major recruiting violations.
In layman’s terms, a big program is about to get thrown under the bus, you know what is hitting the fan. Cowherd released the statement during his daily radio program, stating he received a text from a major media outlet, which program, though, remains a mystery.
There was later speculation that the program referred to was Oregon, but it was later shot down. The best bet is to look somewhere within the top 10-to-12 range in college football. That’s just my guess.
UConn paid for a beating
Getting a downright beating on national TV in the Fiesta Bowl and paying for it on the field wasn’t enough for the University of Connecticut. They had to pay for it off the field, as well.
The Huskies football program reached their first ever BCS Bowl last year, when they received an invitation to play Big XII champ Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The outcome was rather forgetful, however, in a 48-20 Sooner win.
As it turns out, UConn actually lost money in the end. In a funny way of looking at it, the Huskies paid for a major loss. The program received $2,523,200 from the Big East Conference for making the Fiesta Bowl and winning the conference, but total travel expenses for the Huskies reached upward of $4,280,998, a $1.8 million loss.
The pin that popped the Huskies Fiesta float was the near 15,000 tickets the school couldn’t sell, which in result were forced to buy up. Ticket prices alone cost the school $2,924,385.
I’m fairly confident the Huskies might be set on the Pinstripe Bowl next year.
NCAA Prez on board for playoff
NCAA President Mark Emmert recently stated he’s willing to help in an effort for a playoff system in FBS college football. The NCAA’s contract with the BCS does not expire until 2014.
In a recent statement to the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge Emmert expressed his response to the question:
"If the leadership of those universities ... want to move in that direction, then the NCAA knows how to run championships and we'd be happy to help."
Emmert, showing his political side, wouldn’t fully commit to the possibility of a playoff system, saying that the NCAA sees value in the bowl system.
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