FanHouse

Matt Simms Leaves Louisville After Not Being Anointed the Starter

Chas Rich — 2009-01-07T19:20:00+00:00

by Chas RichMatt Simms looked to be the frontrunner for the starting quarterback job at Louisville next season. The redshirt sophomore, though, was not actually named the frontrunner by Coach Steve Kragthorpe. The Cardinals also gained the commitment of a junior college QB. That apparently was the final straw, and Simms has decided to leave Louisville.

Aside from being the son of former New York Giants' quarterback Phil Simms, Matt Simms had gained notoriety for his performance in the New Jersey State Championship -- specifically flipping the bird to fans of the opposing team after the game.

Matt Simms has thrown all of ten passes in his time at Louisville. Simms had also been suspended for four games this past season for the nebulous "team rules" violation, better explained by a photo that made the rounds on the internet. That was about the most noticeable thing he accomplished at Louisville. Somehow, other than hurting depth at the spot, it does not seem that the departure of Matt Simms will have much of an impact on Louisville.

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Arkansas Restores Home Hog Advantage

Chas Rich — 2009-01-07T00:33:00+00:00

by Chas RichArkansas knocked off a Big 12 team ranked in the top-10 for the second time in eight days. This time they beat Texas 67-61. The Razorbacks completely shut down A.J. Abrams and the Longhorns got very little from the other guards.

It has been nearly a year since Arkansas lost at Bud Walton Arena, running their home winning streak to seventeen. They have also run their record this season to 12-1 with the help of 11 home games in the non-conference slate.

This was supposed to be a major rebuilding year for Arkansas with six seniors gone along with Patrick Beverley was kicked off the team for academic problems -- mainly not bothering with the academics.

While this team had incoming talent, it has been a pleasant surprise to see how quickly they have gelled from the start of the season until now. Coach John Pelphrey may not have been the first choice of Arkansas (or even their third or fourth), but he has managed to clear a lot of problems from the Stan Heath era, along with excellent recruiting and even better coaching. Plus, he and the young Hogs have made Fayetteville a feared road game for opponents once more.

The big question is how they will fair on the road. They haven't left Fayetteville since late November. It's very common for a young team like Arkansas to struggle away from home.

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Utah's Attorney General Latest to Threaten Lawsuit for a Playoff

Chas Rich — 2009-01-06T23:43:00+00:00

by Chas RichThe whole state of Utah seems to be losing it's mind. They are spamming AP voters. To raise the money to send the Utah band to Washington D.C. for the inauguration, they are requesting that any donations to the Utah band be for $13 or $130 (13-0, get it?). Now, the Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff -- who immediately announced his donation of $130 -- has also made it known that his office is investigating whether the BCS violates federal antitrust laws.

Now, fuming over their apparent denial of a national championship after an undefeated season, he's considering launching an investigation into college football's Bowl Championship Series. Shurtleff plans to meet with some of his lawyers and investigators next week to consider building an antitrust case against the BCS.

"This game proved that it's an unfair system," the attorney general said in an interview with the Desert News on Monday. "A team like Utah will never be given a chance."

Shurtleff, a BYU grad and Utah law school grad, made the trip to Louisiana to cheer the Utes before returning to Salt Lake City to be sworn in for his third term. This isn't the first time, Shurtleff has complained about the system. He started threatening a similar thing back in 2003, but dropped the matter when Congress held hearings.

Expect a little more publicity and grandstanding from attorney generals and US Congressmen in Utah, Idaho, Hawaii, and maybe Wyoming, Nevada and New Mexico (the six states with 1-A football programs, but no BCS member teams). Utah Senator Orrin Hatch has already thrown his support (or at least press release) of a probe.

Aside from that, little else. The 2008 Utah team will still not be given a part of the BCS Championship.

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Bowl Season '08: Fiesta Bowl LiveBlog

Chas Rich — 2009-01-05T20:01:00+00:00

by Chas Rich
FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

Strangely, despite both programs being big names, highly successful and loaded with talent, this game is being perceived mainly as a "money" match for the Fiesta Bowl. Not a match-up particularly desired by fans, but chosen because of how well both fans travel and the potential strength of the ratings.

Why? Well, mainly it is because of the Big Ten team everyone is tired of seeing blown out in the BCS Championship game. This is the sixth BCS bowl in the last seven years for the Buckeyes. Ohio State may have won three straight BCS bowls prior to the last two blowouts (including the national championship), but those were some fierce beatdowns in the biggest games.

The other side has a Texas team (and fans) that feels this is not the game they should be playing, against a team they shouldn't be playing. They feel they should be in that other game that will be played on Wednesday. Even if they were not going to the BCS Championship game, shouldn't the Longhorns be playing a team like Utah or Alabama or even USC? Teams that are (or were) making their own claims at being left out of the national championship equation.

Well, it's one of the last games of the college football season. It's still a big game. If Texas wants to have any standing in the "unfairness" of the system, they need to win this game. Ohio State is looking to gain some measure of redemption.

Join us around 8 pm EST for the Fiesta Bowl LiveBlog.

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Louisville Avoids a Collapse Against Kentucky

Chas Rich — 2009-01-04T21:54:00+00:00

by Chas RichIt's an odd thing to see a team coached by Rick Pitino struggle so mightily against a trapping, pressure defense. Yet, that is what this Louisville team was doing against Kentucky today. It's rivalry game in a commonwealth where basketball comes first. You are never surprised by a close game, where rankings and expectations mean little.

Still, it looked like Louisville had finally put Kentucky down with a 71-64 lead and only 48 seconds left. Instead, Kentucky's Jodie Meeks, panic by Louisville and boneheaded fouls by Louisville made it a 71-71 tie.

First Meeks was fouled by Jerry Smith on a three-point attempt. Meeks sank all three to pull the Wildcats to within four with 33 seconds left. Louisville completely panicked trying to get the ball inbounded and upcourt against Kentucky and turned the ball over. Patrick Patterson got the ball to Meeks inside for a quick layup with only a few seconds off the clock. Louisville was still flustered by the turnover, and the attempt to inbound it over the top of everybody was fielded again by Kentucky. Meeks again, got the ball inside and was fouled by Earl Clark. Meeks sank them both to tie the game with 18 seconds left.

It really looked like a complete Louisville collapse . It seemed so obvious that in the inevitable overtime, Kentucky would take out the deflated Cards.

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Oregon State Finally Wins in the Pac-10

Chas Rich — 2009-01-04T20:19:00+00:00

by Chas RichIt's been a while. Clearly change has come. Not simply to that place where Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson's brother-in-law will be taking up residence, but in Corvallis as well. The Beavers had not won a game within the Pac-10 in 23 months. The last time was a home win over Washington in late-February 2007. A span of 21 games.

It had to end sometime. So why not against a team many pegged for the top-25, but now looks like a surefire bubble team. Oregon State knocked off USC in overtime, 62-58.

Oregon State made it a complete defensive game. Every possession was contested. Both sides had to use most of the shot clock to get an attempt. It wasn't a case where the teams just couldn't make a basket. Oregon State shot 50% and USC hit 44%. Neither side got many opportunities.

While both teams relied heavily on frontcourt play, the game was ultimately decided by the backcourt and perimeter shooting. Oregon State's Roeland Schaftenaar hit a three with four seconds left to force overtime and then Omari Lawrence hit a tying three after USC's DeMar DeRozan missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Despite only being tied, USC panicked and settled for jumpers. Oregon State's guard Calvin Haynes, countered with two straight drives to the basket for lay-ins.

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BYU Fans Having Self-Control Issues

Chas Rich — 2009-01-03T21:50:00+00:00

by Chas RichUnless you are one of the fifteen people who have and know you have the Mtn. -- the Mountain West's cable channel -- you are probably missing a great game between Wake Forest and BYU. The game atmosphere in Provo at the Marriot Center is fantastic. They have not had many (any?) ranked major conference opponents come to Provo for a game, so the fans are exceptionally juiced. And maybe a little too unused to it.

In a tight game, with BYU leading 64-60, Wake got a break to the basket and BYU's Jonathan Tavernari got called for a weak foul as he tried to impede Wake Forest Jeff Teague's easy lay-up. The fan reaction, to say the least, was outsized compared to the call. It may have been a cheapie, but there was contact on the body and no attempt to play the ball.

The rain of boos was one thing, but to the extent of throwing stuff on the court? Really? When your team is leading? It forced BYU coach Dave Rose to jump on the P.A. to admonish the fans to "let the players play." To say nothing of not costing BYU a technical foul.

It is a great game, though. Wake Forest is holding a 79-78 lead with under six minutes to go.

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Brown's Done All He Can for UConn

Chas Rich — 2009-01-03T19:38:00+00:00

by Chas RichA few weeks ago Donald Brown announced that he would come back to UConn for his senior year. The announcement was not taken completely seriously, since most players either say something like that or carefully phrase a non-denial only to "re-evaluate" their decision after their bowl game.

Well Brown finished off the season as the nation's leading rusher by going for another 261 yards in the International Bowl. He cracked 2000 yards for the season as the UConn Huskies beat Buffalo, 38-20. At the post-game press conference, UConn coach Randy Edsall and Brown did not bother to keep the pretense going any longer.

"I'm not coming back," Brown said. "I'm going to the NFL. I know I told you guys earlier that I was coming back but that was too eliminate the distractions on our team. We had enough internal distractions going on and they didn't need that one as a burden as well so I apologize for "lying" for what I did to protect my team. They mean the world to me, so I'm willing to put my neck on the line for them."

It is something of a rarity that Brown admitted that he had made up his mind well in advance. No pretending that he had a change of heart. No "reconsiderations." Not sure how much it was to "protect" his team, though, as much as it was trying to avoid being asked about it for nearly a month.

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Notre Dame Stumbles Against St. John's

Chas Rich — 2009-01-03T17:04:00+00:00

by Chas RichMaybe it wasn't a total shock that St. John's beat Notre Dame, 71-65, today. After all, as the upset began to take shape, an ESPN graphic pointed out that two of the teams' past three meetings had been decided by three points or less.

Still, that was misleading since ND beat St. John's handily last year. The prior year, the Irish were playing their first game without the suspended Kyle McAlarney. That third game in the nifty graphic was in 2005.

The reality is that this was a huge upset.

Sure, it was technically a road game for Notre Dame, and away from the comfort of the Joyce Center the Irish have not been particularly impressive. This was at Madison Square Garden, and for at least the first half, the game had the feel of at least being a neutral site game. As the game hit the second half, and Notre Dame continued to struggle, the large contingent of Irish fans grew much more quiet and pensive.

St. John's had lost three straight to teams not supposed to be as good as Notre Dame and had their best player, Anthony Mason, Jr., lost for the season early. Malik Boothe, the team's starting point guard, was out with a broken thumb. There just wasn't much going right for St. John's.

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Rutgers' Kenny Britt Says That's It: Turning Pro

Chas Rich — 2009-01-03T14:52:00+00:00

by Chas RichNot much of a shock, but the fourth-leading receiver in the country, Rutgers junior Kenny Britt, has decided to skip his senior year and enter the NFL Draft.

"It's always been a dream to me to go to the NFL," Britt said at a press conference at Rutgers' Hale Center. "This year was my gateway, my opening."

Britt finished the 2008 season with 87 catches for 1371 yards. In his three years at Rutgers, he had 14 100-yard games, and with 3,043 career receiving yards, holds the Big East record. Despite Britt's fantastic numbers this year, and being the best receiver in the Big East, Britt was not even a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award.

The decision for Britt to go pro was not surprising, despite not being a first round draft pick. His numbers are almost sure to suffer as Rutgers will be breaking in a new quarterback next year because of Mike Teel's graduation. There is no clear favorite to win the job. It most likely will go immediately to an incoming freshman, the heralded Tom Savage, but that doesn't provide a great incentive to stay.

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Pitt Goes Inside to Dominate Georgetown

Chas Rich — 2009-01-03T14:25:00+00:00

by Chas RichThe final score of 70-54 made it look like a blowout. With 14:15 left in the game, though, it was a 40-40 tie and Pitt had never led by six. Then Pitt went on a 17-4 run over the next seven minutes to turn it into a laugher, snapping Georgetown's 29-game home winning streak (15 in the Big East) with the win in the Verizon Center. It was also Pitt's first win on the road against a top-25 team in eight tries.

Maybe it was the fact that he only played eight minutes in the prior game. Maybe he just was excited for a big game. Maybe he just was annoyed with reading nothing but hype for Georgetown's stud freshman center, Greg Monroe, the last couple days. Whatever the reason, Pitt's DeJuan Blair absolutely dominated the inside paint and made Monroe look silly. Blair had 20 points and 17 rebounds to lead Pitt to the win.

Georgetown was following the standard defensive gameplan against Pitt. Try to pack it inside to keep Pitt from feeding it inside. Make Pitt have to shoot from the perimeter.

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Bowl Season '08: Orange Bowl Live Blog

Chas Rich — 2009-01-01T19:29:00+00:00

by Chas Rich
FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

What? You want more liveblogging? The Rose Bowl LiveBlog wasn't enough? Well, it wasn't enough for us either. A short break, and we are coming back with the Orange Bowl.

This is the game where FOX kicks off their BCS game coverage. Announcers that have not paid any attention to college football all season opining on what they are seeing. Lots of ridiculously long and numerous commercial breaks that will totally break up the flow of the game. Needless to say, expectations are low for the production.

As for the game itself, it is Virginia Tech and Cincinnati. The champs of the ACC and Big East. The Big East, has won their last three BCS Bowl games. The ACC has lost eight straight in the BCS.

Will there be any changes to the status quo? Join us around 8:30 PM ET for the fun.

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Terry Bowden Ends Running Joke by Finally Getting a Coaching Job

Chas Rich — 2009-01-01T11:43:00+00:00

by Chas RichIt's been an amusing little sidebar for the past couple years of the annual coaching carousel. A job would open up in Division 1-A and Terry Bowden would do what he could to get an interview or be considered for the job. Even if he didn't know a thing about the job or the region.

Now that is over with Terry Bowden assuming the reigns at North Alabama in Division II. One of the more successful D-II programs over the past few years. Bowden takes over from Mark Hudspeth who left to become an assistant coach at Mississippi State. Hudspeth had been the coach of the Lions for the past seven years, and the past four years North Alabama made the D-II playoffs and won at least 10 games.

Bowden has attributed his open pursuit of just about any job, to a burning desire to get back to coaching. Realizing how much he had missed it after being out of it since 1998. It probably didn't hurt that the money in college coaching has gotten much larger.

The problem for Bowden has been that he was out of coaching for nearly a decade and the fact that he resigned from Auburn in mid-season (though, with the recent insanity at Auburn, his departure has taken a slightly different perspective). His father, Bobby Bowden had recently advised Terry to stop shooting for big jobs, and just find a job that fit best to help rebuild his coaching reputation.

There could be one other reason for Bowden taking the North Alabama job over other possible jobs in D-II or even 1-AA. Bowden spent about five years at Auburn. The Alabama pension system only vests after ten years. If he just left the money there instead of rolling it into a IRA, then he could definitely use a few more years in Alabama (and even if he did roll it over, he likely would be able to buy back the years if he so chose).

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Bowl Season '08: Worst Game of Bowl Season Award Goes to the Sun Bowl

Chas Rich — 2008-12-31T22:44:00+00:00

by Chas RichFanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

It will take an epically bad game to top the putridity of the 75th Sun Bowl. Pitt and Oregon State pillow fought their way to a 3-0 Oregon State win. This was downright colossal in disturbingly bad offensive performances.

There are games where the numbers don't tell the story. This game is not one of them. Only two drives that got into the red zone, five turnovers, eleven sacks, thirteen three-and-outs, twenty punts, and less than 500 total yards between the two teams.

Admittedly both teams were diminished on offense. Oregon State was playing without the Pac-10's Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year in running back Jacquizz Rodgers, along with Rodgers' older brother -- the second leading rusher and third in receiving. Pitt was without their starting center and left tackle on the offensive line.

Predictably, neither team was going to produce big numbers. Still, this was well below any expectations.

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Bowl Season '08: Diddy Drives Cincy From Miami Hotel

Chas Rich — 2008-12-30T21:45:00+00:00

by Chas RichFanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

The Cincy football team finds itself changing hotels the night before the Orange Bowl. Not because of some plan from the Cincy coaches to avoid Virginia Tech fans trying to disrupt the sleep of the players. Not for some motivational strategy. No, it is because Fontainebleau Hotel where the Bearcats are staying will also be the location of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' New Years Eve party.

"It's just too much of a distraction," Kelly said. "We have secured another hotel. If things go the way I've seen them go in that hotel after 12 o'clock, we'll be in another hotel on New Year's Eve."

Go figure. A bunch of college athletes at a luxury hotel in Miami supposedly getting a good night's sleep in their rooms before the biggest game in their careers. All the while a huge, high-end, trendy New Years Eve Party rages below. What could go wrong?

The quote does raise other questions. When was Brian Kelly at a New Years Eve Party at the Fontainebleau Hotel that he's seen the way they go? And who was hosting that party?

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Miami Will Release Mr. Football Outside the State Lines

Chas Rich — 2008-12-30T15:51:00+00:00

by Chas RichAs soon as the news was out that Patrick Nix was fired as offensive coordinator at Miami, the odds on quarterback Robert Marve transferring jumped from probable to near certainty. Marve was close to Nix. Much closer than he was to head coach Randy Shannon.

Harris played well enough in the Emerald Bowl to Shannon that he stated that Harris would go into 2009 as the starter. That was enough for Marve.

"I had to get out," Marve told the AP from his family's home in Tampa. "I just decided that I can't play for coach Shannon."

Marve has requested and received his release from Miami, but it apparently has come with some tight restrictions. He can't transfer to any team in Florida, plus no teams in the ACC or SEC. That means Florida, LSU and Tennessee -- three programs he was rumored to be considering are out.

No shock, the Marve family is not happy about the restrictions.

"We don't quite know the rules or how to approach things, but we're going to challenge it," Eugene Marve said.

Good luck with that.

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Add Tubby Smith's Name to the Ever Growing List of Possible Coaches at Arizona

Chas Rich — 2008-12-29T23:52:00+00:00

by Chas RichSure. Why not. There's plenty of room with Mark Few, Jamie Dixon, John Calipari, Lon Kruger, Sean Miller, Dave Rose, Tony Bennett, Kevin Stallings, Mark Fox, Reggie Theus, and whatever random name people feel like rationalizing as being a possibility.

So, why not have a rumor of Minnesota coach Tubby Smith being a possible candidate? Maybe because, aside from Smith winning a national championship and being a "name" coach, the idea makes little sense.

Forget being "comfortable" and having a very good recruiting class coming next year, as cited in the story. How about the fact that Tubby Smith has been through a similar scenario before? Smith had to follow Rick Pitino at Kentucky. Winning a national championship wasn't enough because it was done with Pitino's players. Then it simply was that Smith could never measure up to the past coaching greats at Kentucky.

There was a reason he left, and moved to Minnesota. Why would he want to follow a sequel in Arizona where everything he did would be compared to Lute Olson? He's already seen how that kind of situation ends.

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Georgetown Would Like to Remind Everyone Why the Big East Will Be So Brutal in 2009

Chas Rich — 2008-12-29T22:17:00+00:00

by Chas RichIt is easy to get complacent and try to line up teams in a conference in a presumed pecking order and just know that things will shake out a certain way. The ACC has that this year. If you predict North Carolina, Duke and then some order of Wake Forest, Clemson and Miami; you probably won't be too far afield for the top 5 teams. The Big East is no where near that neat and tidy.

Before the season started, it was anyone's guess between UConn, Pitt, Louisville and Notre Dame as to the top team. UConn and Louisville had the most talent and the top flight talent. Pitt and Notre Dame had fine young coaches with veteran players and great team chemistry. Choosing any of those teams to win the Big East were defensible. After that, picking a team like Marquette, Villanova, Syracuse, West Virginia or Georgetown seemed too speculative. There were too many questions on those teams.

Moving through the non-conference slate, it looked like UConn would be the class of the conference by a slight margin over Pitt. Notre Dame was very good. Louisville was struggling with what has become a typical December malaise. Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova and Georgetown were much not too far behind.

Still, there are givens. A team is not going to Storrs (or in this case, Hartford) and take a game from the Huskies right from the opening tip to the end. The number 2 team in the country never had the lead and couldn't even tie after starting 0-0. Georgetown dominated UConn on their way to a 84-73 win.

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Auburn Takes Another Shot at Having a High-Powered Offense

Chas Rich — 2008-12-29T01:17:00+00:00

by Chas RichOkay, so the first attempt didn't go so well. Tony Franklin was brought in to modernize the Auburn offense was shown the door in mid-season. It also factored in the end of the Tommy Tuberville era.

New head coach Gene Chizik is not afraid. He's bringing in Gus Malzhan from Tulsa to be the new offensive coordinator. The bright side for Gus Malzahn, is that unlike Franklin, he will not be working with holdover coaches resistant to any change.

Malzahn runs a fast-paced, no-huddle offense that was one of the most explosive in the country. Tulsa was second in the country in total offense and scoring offense. Auburn, by contrast, was 103rd in total offense and 110th in scoring offense. Malzahn will remain at Tulsa through the GMAC Bowl game on Monday, January 6.

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Devendorf Finishes Initial 40 Hours With a Hair Net to Rejoin Syracuse

Chas Rich — 2008-12-28T22:17:00+00:00

by Chas RichWhen Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf had his season long suspension reduced to only 40 hours of community service before he could rejoin the Orange, it was figured that he could bang it out in a week over Syracuse's winter break. He would miss the last two non-conference games, but if he just put in the time he would be back for the start of Big East Conference action on December 30 against Seton Hall.

Sure enough, Devendorf spent the week washing dishes at the Rescue Mission of Syracuse. By Friday he was back practicing with the team. Exactly a week after the decision was made by the Syracuse Appeals Board.

Will a week washing dishes at a rescue mission really change Devendorf? Will it make him appreciate the opportunities before him to play basketball at a major conference program and get an education? For some reason I doubt it.

Seeing the pictures of himself in a hair net washing dishes as a foreshadowing of what could be awaiting him if he blows it? Well, that might actually have something of an effect.

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