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Will USC Lose its National Titles?

If one is to pass judgement based on pass history of the NCAA, based on this report, Reggie Bush may of just cost himself the Heisman Trophy and his team two National Championships:

The existence of taped conversations between Reggie Bush or members of his family and an investor in a failed sports marketing agency could confirm the New Orleans Saints running back received cash and gifts while playing for Southern California, Yahoo.com reported Wednesday.

A federal investigation into extortion claims by Bush and his family revealed the existence of the taped conversations, according to the Yahoo.com report.

Lake told Yahoo in August 2006 that he contributed a portion of the cash and gifts allegedly given to Bush and his family as part of an agreement to represent the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner when he signed an NFL contract. In September, Yahoo.com reported Ornstein also supplied Bush and his family with gifts while he was still at USC.

According to Yahoo.com, nearly $280,000 in cash, rent and gifts was allegedly given to Bush and his family.

The Pac-10 Conference and the NCAA are investigating whether Bush or his family broke NCAA rules and compromised his eligibility during the 2004 and ’05 seasons by taking extra benefits.

If Bush is found to have violated NCAA rules, USC, which won a national title in ’04 and played for the ’05 championship, could be sanctioned.

Also, the Heisman Trophy Trust requires players be in good standing with the NCAA to be eligible for the award given to college football’s top player. If Bush is ruled ineligible by the NCAA, he could be in danger of having his Heisman taken away.

If true this would be a black-eye to Reggie’s College Career and USC Football. Its a shame that the actions of one stupid person would wipe away the achievements of an entire team, but as many College Programs, like Michigan (Chris Weber), have learned it is the way the NCAA handles these incidents. Only time will tell if these tapes really exist and the damage it will do to two National Championship seasons for USC. It won’t affect Reggie Bush much as he makes millions in the NFL, but for all the other players who didn’t make millions in the NFL and for the school his stupidity could end up wiping their achievements from the record books and hurt the image of an excellent football program for years. But only time will tell how the NCAA handles this.

 

Mario Danelo, USC Kicker, Found Dead

Mario Danelo, USC’s kicker, was found dead today at the foot of a cliff, ESPN reports.

Danelo’s body was found at the bottom of White Point Cliff in San Pedro, according for a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. Police did not release further details.

Danelo, a redshirt junior, walked on with the Trojans in 2003 and earned a scholarship in 2005, according to the USC athletic department’s Web site. He was 15-for-16 on field goals this season and made 44 of 48 PATs, leading the team in scoring with 89 points.

Danelo is the son of former NFL kicker Joe Danelo.

Horrible news. The cause of death is not known at this time.

 

California Rugby Starts 125th Season

Rugby is still an obscure sport for most in the country, relegated to a side show status at most parks played purely by amateurs and retired professional players. In the college ranks rarely do the teams get school support as an athletic program (usually because of insurance costs and Title IX compliance) however; the Cal Bears are one of the lone exceptions. This year marks the beginning of the teams 125th season and the quest for a 23rd National Title, in the past 24 years Cal has posted a 391-64-5 record and 18 national championships.

Of course in 2001 Cal was involved one of the most embarrassing moments in rugby when Stanford University forfeited to Cal because the team was “very afraid to get injured”. Committing the cardinal sin of rugby led to Stanford’s demotion to Division 2 (where they promptly won a national title) as well as being the laughing stock of the entire rugby community.

If you’re interested in an opportunity on US soil to see world-class rugby being played at the USA Sevens Tournament in San Diego on February 10-11th is a perfect opportunity.

 

College Bowl Game Overload

NBCSports.com’s John Walters has an amusing column entitled “The Spirit of 7-6” on last night’s Emerald Bowl matchup between FSU and UCLA.

When did college football’s postseason become a walk-a-thon? When did two programs walking the .500 tightrope and with almost no chance of sniffing the final AP top 25 poll become worthy of a post-game podium and a trophy nearly as heavy as a female cheerleader?

Florida State (your ACC Atlantic Division 5th-place finisher) defeated UCLA (your Pacific-10 4th-place squad) 44-27 in the fifth annual Emerald Bowl this evening, thereby sending both teams home for the 2006 season with 7-6 records. There are 32 bowl games dotting your television listings between December 19th and January 8th, and the Emerald Bowl is definitely… one of them.

[...]

[T]he great drama in this evening’s game was whether Seminole head coach Bobby Bowden, now in his 31st season in Tallahassee, would finish the year sub-500 for the first time since his first season in Tallahassee. There’s more than one way to make history in a bowl game.

Indeed. I have, so far, watched zero of the bowl games. The college football season seemingly ended months ago and they’re still playing consolation games. Eventually, they will get around to playing the BCS Championship game, featuring teams that have been idle for weeks.

My Alabama Crimson Tide plays this afternoon in the Independence Bowl against Oklahoma State. Both teams had pathetic 6-6 seasons. Indeed, Alabama’s coach was fired seemingly ages ago and the Tide will be led by Interim Coach for Life Joe Kines.

Birmingham News writer Jon Solomon provides some statistics:

Seven 6-6 teams advanced to bowls this year, and four teams – including Oklahoma State – had only five victories against Division I-A opponents. Alabama and Miami added to their resumes with two victories each against winless teams.

Fifty-four percent of the 119 I-A teams are now in bowls. Television ratings and bowl payouts show there is interest.

One argument made for bowl games is they provide a reward to players for their season. Yet six-win seasons by Alabama and Miami rewarded their coaches with pink slips. “If we come out (today) with a win, I think it will be a mark for this team because we’ve been through it all,” Alabama running back Kenneth Darby said. “This season wasn’t perfect, but at least we come out with a 7-6 record. That would be a winning record, as far as I’m concerned.”

Bear Bryant wouldn’t agree, methinks. I suppose I’ll watch the game but, frankly, who really cares? Finishing 7-6 is hardly anything to cheer about.

 

Jim Harbaugh Hired as Stanford Head Coach

Former Bears QB Jim Harbaugh has been hired to replace Walt Harris at Stanford.

Stanford hired former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh on Monday to take over its struggling football program. Harbaugh had spent the last three years as head coach at the University of San Diego, a non-scholarship Division I-AA program. He led the Toreros to a 29-6 record, winning 27 of his final 29 games at San Diego. The school planned to formally introduce Harbaugh at a news conference Tuesday. Phone messages left for Harbaugh were not immediately returned.

Harbaugh has the tough task of turning around the Cardinal, who set a school record for losses in a 1-11 season this year that led to the firing of coach Walt Harris. Stanford has won just 16 games in the past five seasons under Harris and Buddy Teevens, and have to struggled to compete in the Pac-10 since Tyrone Willingham left for Notre Dame following the 2001 season.

The first challenge for Harbaugh will be recruiting talented players who can meet Stanford’s stringent academic requirements. Harris and Teevens both struggled in that aspect of the job.

Harbaugh was a star in college at Michigan, finishing third in the voting for the 1986 Heisman Trophy award. But he does have ties to Stanford, where his father, Jack, served as defensive coordinator in 1980-81. Harbaugh spent his final two years as a prep player at Palo Alto High School before going to Michigan.

In all honesty, I didn’t realize Harbaugh was coaching these days. A former NFL quarterback has a huge advantage in recruiting, though, because it gives him instant credibility with blue chip athletes who are dreaming of a pro career.

 

#2 USC Loses, BCS Picture in Turmoil

Ohio State is ranked #1. With the loss of #2 USC last night, though, it’s anyone’s guess who they will face in the title game. And ESPN’s Pat Forde isn’t happy about it.

Now that USC has perpetrated the biggest choke in the 2006 college football season … now that UCLA has sucker-punched the status quo … now that the stunner in SoCal has launched the BCS into absolute anarchy … there is only one question to ask: Florida or Michigan?

OK, you could ask one other question: How screwed up is this? What kind of twisted reality reduces a gorgeous regular season to haphazard guesswork at the 11th hour?

But there appears to be no imminent NCAA legislation that’s going to abolish the BCS before its bids are announced, so we’re playing the hand we’re dealt.

Who do you like? Gators or Wolverines?

“Like” is the key word here. It’s not love. It’s not even infatuation. It’s certainly not adamant belief or conviction.

It’s conjecture and nothing more. Who ever decided a national title matchup on a hunch bet?

[...]

I’d personally cast a vote in favor of Florida. I agree that a team should win its conference title to play for the national title. I don’t like the idea of putting the best team in America in double jeopardy against an opponent it already has beaten. But if the system spits out Michigan Sunday, who’s to argue other than Urban Meyer?

Indeed, Michigan remained #2 following it’s loss to Ohio State and only dropped because they had a weekend off while USC beat Notre Dame. I’d rather see Florida given the shot, too, for the reasons Forde gives as well as a believe that the SEC is the tougher conference.

 

USC Leaps Over Michigan in BCS Poll

Losing to Ohio State two weeks ago didn’t drop Michigan out of the #2 spot in the BCS rankings. Having the week off did.

Southern California is a win away from returning to the national title game. The Trojans moved into second place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday, passing idle Michigan on the strength of a 44-24 victory over Notre Dame and closing in on a matchup with undefeated Ohio State in the title game.

USC plays crosstown-rival UCLA on Saturday and a victory would likely lock up the Trojans’ third consecutive appearance in the BCS title game. The Trojans have already locked up the Pac-10′s automatic BCS bid, but playing in the Rose Bowl would be a letdown for USC this season.

“I think we’re a pretty good team right now,” USC coach Pete Carroll said after beating Notre Dame. “We’ll play anybody, anywhere.”

First-place Ohio State has already sealed up its trip to Glendale, Ariz., for the Jan. 8 championship game. The final BCS standings and bowl pairings will be announced next Sunday.

Michigan had managed to hold onto second place after losing 42-39 at Ohio State two weeks ago, but the Wolverines’ lead over USC was razor thin.

USC’s convincing victory over the Fighting Irish helped the Trojans increase their cushion over Michigan in the coaches’ poll and Harris poll, and boosted USC’s computer rating ahead of the Wolverines’.

This is the right result, as it would have been absurd to have a rematch between undefeated Ohio State and a team that they’d already beaten decide the mythical national championship. Still, it’s a mighty strange process.

 

Tennessee Stuns #9 Cal

The California Golden Bears took their #9 preseason rankings to Knoxville yesterday, hoping to roll over the pitiful Volunteers of last year. Instead, they got taken to the woodshed.

Relief replaced misery on Rocky Top. Nine months ago, Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was grim as he answered questions about a 5-6 finish, his first losing season and a bowl-less holiday for his Volunteers. He may have been one of the most relieved — but least surprised — among the 106,009 people in Neyland Stadium who watched the 23rd-ranked Vols’ 35-18 win over No. 9 California on Saturday. “We expected to win this ball game and be Tennessee,” Fulmer said.

[...]

Tennessee Whups #9 Cal Photo Tennessee wide receiver Robert Meachem (3) beats California's Thomas DeCoud (4), Worrell Williams (1) and Desmond Bishop (10) to the end zone as he scores a touchdown in the second quarter of their college football game on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) For at least a week, Fulmer will be spared from speculation about how many games he needs to win to keep his job. Fulmer described last year as an aberration, and the Vols might have proved him right.

Tennessee had been 0-6 against top 10 teams in Neyland Stadium since 2000, and many fans stayed to the end. After all, their last glimpse of the 2005 Vols was in an embarrassing loss to Vanderbilt.

[...]

For the Golden Bears, it was a shocking blow at the beginning of a greatly anticipated season. Cal’s ranking was its highest since 1952. Many believe this could be the Bears’ year to challenge Southern California for the Pac-10 title, and they still could with this loss outside conference play. But any run at a national championship was likely dashed.

Tennessee has long been a top program in what has traditionally been the most powerful conference in college football. They weren’t going to stay down for long.

 
 


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