FanHouse JimLeavitt

The message never changes, but Kansas State quarterback Grant Gregory finds a note in his inbox every week of the college football season.

"Find a way to win."

The words of encouragement find their way to Manhattan, Kan., from hundreds of miles away in Mobile, Ala., where Grant's father, Greg Gregory, is the offensive coordinator of upstart South Alabama. But even in distance, dad seems to know exactly what his son needs to hear.

"I make sure to also put in there, there is always a way," Greg Gregory said, "your job is to find it."

For at least the next 25 days, Cincinnati is the Beast of the East. Everyone in the Big East is now officially chasing the Bearcats following Monday's 47-15 seal clubbing of Rutgers.

The Bearcats and Scarlet Knights opened the Big East season Monday and now there is a 25-day break until the next conference game is played.

The way the Bearcats looked Monday, they may not only stay on top of the Big East standings for 25 days, but for the entire season. The Bearcats made a strong statement in defending last year's Big East title.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- "Miss Dorsey," the voice on the other end of the telephone said, "I regret to inform you your son Keeley has passed away."

Tammie Dorsey received that call on Jan. 17, 2007, telling her that her 19-year old son, Keeley Dorsey, had died. That was more than two years and seven months ago, but those words remain etched in her memory, just as permanent as her son's name is engraved on the concrete grave marker.

"I remember those words like it was yesterday," Tammie said.

The argument to pay college athletes isn't new. For quite some time, college athletics like football and basketball have been driven by money. Money from bowls and money from television contracts. In order to stay competitive, reel in top recruits, and keep the big donors happy, colleges are forced to squeeze every dime out of their athletic programs. And yeah, if you want to keep your innovative up and coming coach, you're going to need a lot of money.

For the majority of schools at the D-1 level, that leaves no money for paying their athletes above and beyond the monthly stipend and tuition they already provide. If that was even allowable. But somehow, Matt Grothe thinks he should get a slice of the money paid for one of his jerseys.

"I definitely think so," Grothe said. "All the great college players that have had thousands of their jerseys sold. The schools are making a ton of profits off it; even the places that sell them are making money. I don't understand why players shouldn't get a small percentage."

I say somehow, because Grothe plays at a school that didn't even have a football program 12 years ago. Through a lot of hard work and sacrifice by Jim Leavitt and everyone involved with that program, they've gone from practicing by the headlights of the coaches cars to a top 25 program in that short time. Grothe and his teammates are the beneficiaries of all that hard work.

Was it really only four years ago that the Big East was in danger of losing it's BCS status? Miami and Virginia Tech left in 2003 and Boston College in 2004. The conference sent Pitt, one of several 8-4 teams in the Big East to lose to Utah in the Fiesta Bowl. And there wasn't much reason to think the conference was going to get better any time soon. The conference was written off by the media and the blogospher didn't even bother to poke fun.

But something happened last week that most of us didn't even notice. The Big East was granted a spot in the BCS through 2013.

The reason is simple: no one noticed the news. No one questioned the Big East's place at the adult table. The reaffirmation wasn't even a note in BCS meeting coverage. "It was quiet,'' Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said Tuesday. "The way I like it."

You'd never make it as a blogger Mr. Tranghese. You need to rub it in someones face every once in a while. The least you could do is hold up one of those foam we're #1 hands. Or one of six, I guess. How bout a little woot-woot? Oh fine!

Despite the picture on the right, you can't just point to West Virginia and say their two BCS bowl victories and three straight top ten finishes are the reason. But I won't argue with you if you do. It really has been the improvement of several teams in the Big East that has brought the conference back to respectability. Louisville was expected to be one of the better teams in the conference. And mostly, they've come through. But the real surprise has been the improvement of South Florida, Rutgers, and Cincinnati. And more recently, Connecticut.

While the conference still isn't flooding the first round of the NFL draft with players, it is putting a lot more teams in the top 25. Sure, some coaches have left for "greener" pastures. Others like Greg Schiano and Jim Leavitt have made commitments to their schools that don't involve contracts. There's a balance, and certainly enough rising programs and programs that are there to keep the Big East respectable. At least until the Big 11 10 decides to add another team. Wankers.

With five turnovers in the first half, it seems that South Florida is not really interested in winning this game. The Bulls haven't been able to do much of anything on offense inside the red zone. Two fumbles and three interceptions have ruined almost every drive by the Bulls. If not for an interception and a kickoff both returned for touchdowns by the Bulls, this game would be way out of hand by now.

On the flip side, Cincinnati is looking more like the team that started out the season 6-0 and was leading the nation in turnover margin. Not the team that has lost it's last two games and was only able to generate one turnover. They've been balanced on offense, and as you can tell very opportunistic on defense.

The Bulls get the ball to start the second half and had better start doing something positive with it. Raymond James stadium already looks about half empty and the crowd shots are getting tighter and tighter. Wasn't it just a little over a month ago that this place was sold out?

Man, I had to make this picture super big just to get Mr. Messerschmidt's name on there. Anyhow, we're going to try something a little different here. We'll have a caption contest for the above picture. All you have to do is fill in the blank of what Jim Leavitt is telling George O'Leary. No prizes, just the satisfaction of recognition. I'll come back to this in a couple days and name a winner. And then of course, you can tell me why I'm wrong.

I think it's customary for the blogger to start things off, so here ya go: "Ya know George, after today you guys are going to be glad this series is coming to an end."

Start your engines....and keep it somewhat clean M'kay?

Update: And the winner is Moonknight! "4. It could be worse George......you could have told the truth about your resume and be coaching Notre Shame right now!" Woop!

Currently, five members of this years recruiting class for the University of South Florida football team are still waiting to find out if they will be allowed to play for the Bulls. For a team that is on the cusp of developing a solid program and cracking the top 25, this is bad news. Even though there is a chance that most or all of the players will be eligible, a trend is starting to develop for the Bulls.

A year ago, USF initially had nine signees fail to qualify academically, though three of those later qualified and joined the program on scholarship in January.

Of the five mentioned above, three have qualified according to the NCAA clearinghouse, but have yet to be accepted by the university. I never knew South Florida had such high academic standards. The other two are still waiting on the clearinghouse. The Bulls have already lost five signees to academics from this years class.

MJD touches on this subject as it applies to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, and I suggest you go read it. Especially the quotes at the end. For his part, Jim Leavitt isn't threatening to leave South Florida. Considering how far he has brought that program, though, it might not be a bad idea. Otherwise, walk-ons could outnumber players on scholarship this fall.