FanHouse Ncaa Fb Rumors

All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham reportedly won't be available for Oklahom'as Saturday night's season opener against No.20 BYU, according to mutliple media outlets in Oklahoma.

But the news could get worse if Gresham requires season-ending surgery, as KWTV speculated could be a possibility on its Web site.

The loss of Gresham could be a huge blow to the Sooners and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford as they look to win their fourth straight Big 12 championship. But according to reports out of Norman, no determination on the extent of the injury sustained during Wednesday night's practice has been determined. OU head coach Bob Stoops or anyone from the school has made a comment on Gresham's injury or the possibility he will not play Saturday in the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington, Texas.

In the least secret secret negotiations ever, it appears that the Alamo Bowl is about to ditch the Big Ten for the Pac 10. The San Antonio-based bowl has already moved its game into January and is increasing its per-team payout to $3 million.

If the rumored plan is true the Pac 10's No. 2 team would head to San Antonio to play the Big 12's No. 3. Currently the Pac 10's runner-up plays in the Holiday Bowl.

As a college football fan, I can only applaud the move. It's been no secret that the Pac 10's bowl tie-ins have been, how shall we say, a little weak. Maybe it's because they don't play any games outside their home territory, apart from the Sun Bowl in that well-known media hotspot El Paso.

But isn't this a huge insult to the Big Ten?

Not so fast, my friend. Wait, that's not Lou Holtz's line. That's Lee Corso's line.

Anyway, not so fast, my friend. Just a day after rumors began flying that the former coach at (insert name of every Division I school here) was considering running for Congress in Florida's 24th congressional district, Holtz has now told a South Bend TV station that he's not going to run.

Holtz spoke to WNDU-TV during a golf outing in southwestern Michigan on Wednesday. The 72-year-old coach confirmed to others, though not directly to WNDU, that he met with Republican strategists. Holtz did tell the TV station he was happy with his job at ESPN and was going to "fulfill the commitment" he made to the World Wide Leader.

Just when you and I both thought college football couldn't get any weirder, it's trying. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Lou Holtz, former coach of William and Mary, NC State, the New York Jets, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, and South Carolina (whew), is pondering a run for Congress.

Holtz would seek the Republican nomination in Florida's 24th congressional district, which includes parts of the Orlando suburbs and the Space Coast.

If Holtz succeeds in winning the nomination, he would challenge first-term Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, a Democrat from New Smyrna Beach. Should Holtz win in 2010, he would join Nebraska's Tom Osborne, who represented Nebraska's 3rd district from 2000 to 2006, as the only college coaches to serve in Congress.

The real question: How big are those "if"s?

From the "Totally Freaking Obvious" department: Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer, who has won two national championships in the past three seasons, told golfers at a Gainesville benefit tournament, "I'm not going to Notre Dame. Ever. I'm going to be the coach at Florida for a long time, as long as they want me."

In other news, gravity remains in effect and forks are still useful.

Outgoing LSU receiver Demetrius Byrd is hospitalized and in intensive care after an auto accident. The Associated Press says his agent David Dunn expects him to be OK while LSU officials say the accident happened Sunday near his Miami home.

We're delighted to hear he should be alright but this is obviously tough news for him and his family just days before the NFL draft. Byrd had 37 receptions for 513 yards and four touchdowns last year, his second at LSU after transferring in from a junior college. He is perhaps most famous for his beautiful corner of the end zone game winning touchdown catch as time expired against Auburn in 2007 (video after the jump) that helped preserve LSU's national title hopes.

First, the Green Bay Packers expressed interest in Greg Paulus, the former Duke University point guard and high school All-American quarterback. Then, University of Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez had a meet-and-greet with Paulus about the possibility of playing in Ann Arbor this fall.

And today, there's this: Duke also wants in on the Paulus action. But unlike the Wolverines -- who could envision him as a quarterback in their spread offense -- Blue Devils football coach David Cutcliffe has no such plans. Nope, he'd like to kick the tires on Paulus, college wide receiver.

The excellent Dr. Saturday unearthed a nice find last Tuesday, citing a newspaper columnist in Alabama frustrated with the NCAA's punishment of Alabama and Florida State while USC seems to skate by after the Reggie Bush affair.

Progress has certainly been slow for the NCAA in developing some kind of punishment for the Trojans. It certainly appears Bush received extensive compensation from several wannabe agents while he was still playing at Troy, conduct against NCAA amateur rules. Folks are frustrated and out for blood, but perhaps they shouldn't be.

Lane Kiffin has done a bunch of kind of silly things since he became the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. But none of them can really top his most recent behavior: his coaching staff started ripping their shirts in front of recruits, WWE style.

Seriously. Now, apparently Kiffin didn't actually rip his, but the whole point of the exercise was to get the players pumped. And it worked, according to some of the accounts, even if it started a little awkwardly after an assistant coach told the high schoolers how seriously they take special teams at Tennessee.

We've been following this Bryce Brown saga for, well, probably less than the amount of time constituting a true "saga," but enough to possibly give credence that highly-recruited tailbacks are to the college game what highly-paid receivers are to the NFL (see also: David Oku).

While linking his name to nearly every hot commodity outside of his Wichita origins, up to and including Canada, the No. 1 offensive prospect according to Rivals had a verbal commitment to Miami, bolstered by the fact that his brother is currently a linebacker for the 'Canes and his pops apparently wants to see him at Miami too.