Texas A&M Is Adamant On Leaving The Big 12

Texas announced today it is adamant on leaving the Big 12 and hopes to do so by July 2012. It will agree to pay the penalties associated with leaving the conference. The Aggies are still hoping to get in with the SEC, but it sounds like they may be open to joining any conference. The other viable options would probably be the Big 10 or the Pac-12.

If the Big 12 looks to survive as a conference, it will have to find a replacement. Current independant BYU would be a good fit. The Cougars would be able to compete in the conference and would now have better access to playing in a BCS bowl game. Southern Methodist has publicly expressed interest in joining the Big 12, but the addtion of the Mustangs would not add a new television market like the addition of BYU would in Salt Lake City, Provo, and Ogden. It is also debatable whether the 'Stangs could compete with the large state schools. Houston and Texas Christian would be able to hold their own with the current Big 12 members, but again no new television markets would be added, so taking another Texas team is not as sexy as taking a team from outside areas with Big 12 schools.

The moral of the story here is do not allow one school in a conference favoritism over the others. Profit sharing in the Big 12 is not equal like it is in the Big 10 or SEC. The Longhorn Network destroyed the Big 12 conference. If the playing field is not equal for all schools, why stick around?

The SEC Saved College Football, For Now

The Southeastern Conference came to the decision to not offer membership to Texas A&M. The conference is happy with the 12 teams it currently has, but will not rule out expansion in the future. By the SEC showing restraint and avoiding the temptation to become a superconference, college football is spared, at least for now, a big shake-up like we saw last summer and fall.

It looks like Texas A&M is going to be stuck in the Big 12 for the forseeable future. The university kind of looks bad now, making a big deal to leave the Big 12 for the SEC, and the SEC won't even offer them a spot. They will have to sit around and be relegated to Texas's bitch for the short term. Texas and its Longhorn Network look to be in command of the marketing and finances for the entire Big 12, at least for now.

All Hell Could Break Loose This Week

If Texas A&M heads to the Southeastern Conference next week, the conference shuffle will start all over again.

Likely, the SEC would want to get a fourteenth team for the sake of balance. It will likely go after Florida State or Clemson from the ACC, or Missouri from the Big 12. Right now, Mizzou says it is committed to staying in the Big 12. Other sexy additions could be Louisville, Georgia Tech, or Virginia Tech. Any of these teams would geographically be a good fit for the SEC.

To replace the Aggies, the Big 12 would likely go after Houston, Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, or BYU. As long as Texas and Oklahoma stick together, the conference could probably survive in some form.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 could expand as well, but that won't likely happen unless it becomes apparent alot of dominoes start falling and these conferences need to go on the defense to stay competitive with a superconference consisting of either fourteen or sixteen teams.

The Big East and ACC sit in a precarious position. Both could get poached from. They are both seen as more of basketball conferences rather than football conferences. Keep in mind that college football generates more money than college basketball. The Big East needs to get on with expanding to ten teams if it wants to ensure its survival. Moving Villanova's football program up from the FCS to the FBS would require a much larger stadium than Villanova Stadium, and it looks like the Wildcats either don't have the space and/or money to expand their miniscule 12,500-seat stadium. Using Lincoln Financial Field, where the Philadelphia Eagles play, for home games is not an option; Temple uses this stadium as its home field.

Texas A&M Is Moving To The SEC

It looks almost official that Texas A&M will be moving to the SEC. We will know for sure Monday. A ten-team Big 12 looked pretty stable until Texas decided to launch the Longhorn Sports Network this fall. A year ago, Texas saved the Big 12 by deciding to stay in the Big 12. Now, it has destroyed the Big 12 with its elevated status in the conference, as seen by its need to have its own television network rather than to be a part of the rest of the conference's television dealings. Can you blame the Aggies for not wanting to stick around and let its rival run the conference? The Aggies have a strong athletic program and can easily go where they want. The same can not be said for a number of other schools left in the Big 12. These other programs have no choice but to stick by the University of Texas. The Longhorn-Aggies rivalry has become even more bitter at the moment, but if the two powers are in separate conferences, the rivalry may cease to exist as a football game every Thanksgiving.

Big questions will need to be answered in the coming days:
-Will the SEC look for a fourteenth team if the Aggies do join the SEC?
-What will become of the nine-team Big 12 if the Aggies do leave the conference?
-Will other dominoes fall as other conferences fight to remain relevant and competitive?

Howard Schnellenberger

Howard Schnellenberger announced late Thursday that he will be retiring from coaching at the end of the 2011 football season. College football will lose another coaching legend.

Coach Schnellenberger sparked the string of success at Miami upon winning the 1983 national title, revived the Louisville football program from going under, and created an FBS football program at Florida Atlantic. The Owls will finally have an on-campus stadium to play in this fall thanks to Coach Schnellenberger's constant pushing since 2001.

Florida Atlantic's first home game in the 30,000-seat FAU Stadium will be on October 15 against Western Kentucky.

Athlon Sports's preseason rankings predict Florida Atlantic to be the worst team in the FBS this season, ranking the Owls #120. Hopefully, the Owls can put together a good season and send their coach out in style.

Nine-Game Conference Schedules

The Pac-12 (formerly Pac-10) has played a nine-game conference schedule since 2006. The Big 12 will start playing a nine-game conference schedule during the 2011 season due to the conference shrinking to ten teams. Just a couple days ago, the Big 10 announced it will move to a nine-game schedule in the 2017 season.

With 3 of arguably the top 4 college football conferences playing 75% of their schedule in conference, will the SEC make the transition to match any time soon?

Coaches in the Big 10 are opposed to the 2017 shift. The three nonconference games will still probably be filled with cupcake teams to ensure bowl eligibility. Where the downsizing will have its effect is on the sexy nonconference match-ups between BCS conference programs. Teams will be less likely to undertake these marquee matchup when there are less nonconference games available to make up for possible L's incurred in big match-ups.

The nine-game schedule has been criticized in the Pac-12. Take for example last season: only 4 teams out of 10 were able to go to bowls. Three Pac-12 bowl tie-ins were given to teams from other conferences to fill the void. The extra conference game ensures six more losses will be assigned to teams within the conference, instead to teams outside of the conference.

With only three nonconference games, scheduling for traditional rivalries will be very tight and in some cases, these games may have to be abandoned. Strength of schedule is less important in college football than it is in college basketball. Generally, the number of W's is looked at before who those W's came at the expense of. Interesting games pitting foes of different leagues and styles will become rarer. A four-home, four-away conference schedule will now become an unbalanced four-home, five-away league schedule one year and a five-home, four-away league schedule the subsequent season. The only advantage I see in a nine-game conference schedule is it may give a slight boost to teams' attendance figures.

Scheduling Cupcakes

Everybody loves cupcakes, even college football teams. It is commonplace now for most FBS teams to schedule a FCS opponent to get an almost-guaranteed win against an undersized opponent. A few teams even go so far as to schedule two foes from the lower subdivision to pad their schedules with W's. The NCAA allows only one win over an FCS team to count toward bowl eligibility. Sometimes, eating too many cupcakes can backfire. Case in point: Arizona State got six wins last seasons, but two were against FCS teams, so they only had five wins toward bowl eligibility. The Sun Devils got snubbed from playing a thirteenth game. 

Twenty-seven FBS teams will not play an FCS opponent this season, while 93 teams will play at least one. Of those 93 programs, 4 have decided to schedule TWO lower division opponents this season.

• -North Carolina State (Liberty, South Alabama)
• -Eastern Michigan (Howard, Alabama State)
• -Air Force (South Alabama, Tennessee State)
• -Wyoming (Weber State, Texas State)

The first 4 weeks of the season will feature many of these cross-subdivision match-ups. 84 of the 97 of such contests will be in the first month of college pigskin.

• Week 1: 38 of 78 games
• Week 2: 19 of 65 games
• Week 3: 16 of 64 games
• Week 4: 11 of 58 games

BCS conference teams are also notorious for scheduling FBS mid-majors for nonconference games to pad their schedules. Many of these uneven games will also take place during the first month of college football. Despite this, there will be a number of sexy games prior to conference play going into full-swing.

Least Returning Starters

Teams with the least returning starters for the 2011 season.

Auburn 5
After winning the national championship last season, the Tigers return the fewest starters in the nation--a paltry 5. However, the Tigers compensate a lack of experience with talent. They recruited the #1 class for 2011 and their 2010 recruiting class was ranked #6. Still, don't expect back-to-back national titles.

TCU 6
The Horned Frogs have only 2 starters returning on offense and 4 starters coming back on defense. Texas Christian's talent level and favorable schedule should get the program to a bowl game but there are lots of questions surrounding the 2011 TCU football team.

Fresno State 6
The Bulldogs are young and inexperienced. They play California, Nebraska, Mississippi, and Boise State in nonconference games. With a lack of experience and leadership, they could easily go 0-4 in those games.

Memphis 7
The Memphis Tigers look to be in big trouble with only 7 starters coming back and not too much hype surrounding the program after going 1-11 last year. Analysts predict Memphis to go 1-11 again and finish last in Conference USA.

Most Returning Starters

Teams with the most returning starters for the 2011 season.

Vanderbilt 18
The Commodores will have all but one offensive starter returning and eight starters coming back on defense. Things are looking good for James Franklin's first year as head coach.

Texas A&M 18
With key players back like Ryan Tannehill and Cyrus Gray on offense and the entire seconday coming back, will this be the Aggies year to win the Big 12 title for the first time since 1998?

Southern Methodist 18
The Mustangs have won the C-USA West the last two seasons, but with almost the entire offense coming back, 2011 could be the year SMU wins its first league championship since the Death Penalty.

Florida State 17
Combine the fact that Florida State is returning 17 starters and has recruited Top Ten classes in 2011 (#2) and 2010 (#9), and it is apparent the Seminoles are going to be good, real good. The Noles are the clear frontrunner in the ACC.

Toledo 17
With 50 lettermen and 17 starters back, the Rockets are poised to win the MAC title. Preseason rags state Toledo will have the best receiving corp and secondary in the league.

Conference Realignment Summary

After chatting with some coworkers, it became apparent that many college football fans are still confused about the conference realignments in the FBS and when these moves take affect. Here is a summary.

Fall 2011
-Nebraska is playing in the Big 10.
-Colorado and Utah are playing in the Pacific-12.
-Boise State is playing in the Mountain West.
-BYU becomes an independant.

Fall 2012
-Fresno State, Nevada, and Hawaii move to the Mountain West.
-Texas Christian moves to the Big East.
-UT-San Antonio and Texas State move up from the FCS the Western Athletic Conference.
-Massachusetts moves up from the FCS into the Mid-America Conference.

NCAA Violations

College football has been plagued by scandals over the past few years. We've seen a can of worms bust open at Ohio State, USC vacating the 2004 national championship, improper benefits at North Carolina, Camgate at Auburn, the free textbook scandal at Alabama, recruiting violations at Oregon and Tennessee, and the list goes on and on.

The question arises: Has there been any FBS programs that have not come under the scrutiny of the NCAA?

The NCAA classifies violations as being either major or secondary. Major violations are ones that give a school an extensive recruiting or competitive advantage. Football and men's basketball are the two sports involved in most cases of rule-breaking. There are 17 schools in the FBS that have never been found to have committed a major violation in any sport since 1953, the year rule violations started being tracked. Those schools are Boston College, Northwestern, Penn State, Stanford, Air Force, Boise State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, Kent State, North Texas, Ohio, Rice, Troy, UAB, and Western Michigan. Only 4 are BCS conference schools. Boise State may be leaving the list soon as it is currently under investigation by the NCAA's infractions committee in five sports.

Firings and Resignations Critique, Part 2

Bill Lynch   19-30 (6-26)
Indiana
Fired 11/28/10

Indiana is probably the hardest place to build a winning program at in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have to recruit against Purdue, Notre Dame, and Louisville locally and also hold the stigma of being a “basketball school”. Lynch had a .388 winning percentage, the third best winning percentage of the last 12 Indiana head coaches. Only Terry Hoeppner (.391) and Bill Mallory (.463) had better winning percentages than since 1947, and both of those coaches were short of breaking even. Lynch’s players bought into his program and achieved the late Terry Hoeppner’s dream of getting Indiana to a bowl for the first time since 1993. The Hoosiers did seem to be improving as a team, but not winning enough conference games (.188) was Lynch’s downfall. Indiana also had a few games decided by bad officiating, in particular, against Michigan and Iowa during the 2009 season. The icing on the cake was losing to Wisconsin by 63 points on November 13^th. Indiana’s defense appeared inept. In the end, it is time for Indiana to move on and give defensive guru Kevin Wilson a try. Unless Wilson can pull off some upsets, he will be out of a job after four seasons as well.


Rickey Bustle   38-56 (28-31)

UL-Lafayette

Fired 11/29/10

After nine seasons in Lafayette with no bowl appearance and one conference title in 2005, Rickey Bustle needed to be cut loose. Bustle was able to compile 6-6 records in 2008 and 2009, but the team regressed to 3-9 in 2010, finishing sixth in the Sun Belt. Bustle had four six-win seasons, but he was never able to exceed six W’s. In the Sun Belt conference, it is not uncommon to go 0-4 in the nonconference season when playing ragdoll to BCS conference schools. However, the conference standing of a team should indicate how well the program can compete with teams at the same level of talent. During Bustle’s tenure, the Ragin’ Cajuns were below .500 in conference winning percentage.  New energy is needed to reinvigorate Louisiana-Lafayette to a breakthrough season.

Steve Roberts   37-47 (25-22)

Arkansas State
Resigned 11/29/10

After nine seasons in Jonesboro, the athletic department at Arkansas State had decided the football program had become stagnant and needed change. The administration forced Steve Roberts to resign with one year left on his contract. Under Roberts, Arkansas State won the Sun Belt title in 2005 and led the Red Wolves to their first and only bowl appearance, the 2005 New Orleans Bowl. The Red Wolves were bowl-eligible in four of Roberts’ nine seasons. Under Steve Roberts’ tutelage, the program had notable non-conference wins over Tulsa, Army, SMU, Memphis, and Texas A&M. The 2008 win over the Aggies is the Red Wolves first and only win over a BCS automatic qualifying conference opponent since ASU joined the FBS. Roberts last two seasons ended with disappointing 4-8 records. Arkansas State is not an easy place to coach. Losses and injuries build up playing against teams from the big conferences during the nonconference schedule, and the Sun Belt is more competitive than ever. Interestingly, offensive coordinator High Freeze was promoted to take over as head coach of the Red Wolves. I am not so sure they Freeze will be able to do any better at this assignment.

Dave Wannstedt   42-31 (24-18)

Pittsburgh

Resigned 12/7/10

Dave Wannstedt was pressured by the University of Pittsburgh to step down after failing to meet expectations. Wannstedt failed to win the conference outright and get to a BCS bowl game during his six years. The Panthers went 7-5, after the Big East Media Poll predicted them to be the strong favorite to win the Big East Championship during the preseason. Wanny got the Panthers to bowl games in his final three seasons, 2008-2010. In 2009, Wannstedt led Pitt to its first 10-win season since 1981. Wannstedt was popular among his players, most of whom wanted him to remain the head coach. Surely, Pitt saw talent leave early for the NFL with the ouster of Wanny and recruits change their commitments. The University of Pittsburgh needs to realize, that despite a few untimely losses, Dave Wannstedt did far more good than bad for Panther football. It is not the 1980’s anymore. The program could very well bottom out in the coming years.

Ralph Friedgen   75-50 (43-37)

Maryland

Fired 12/20/10

I do not see the point in firing Ralph Friedgen. The Fridge went 9-4 with a Military Bowl victory over East Carolina and has performed admirably over the last ten football seasons at a school that was a doormat in the decade before Friedgen arrived. Friedgen was 5-2 in bowl games and won the ACC title in his first season. He holds is the first Terp head coach to have a winning record since Bobby Ross (1982-1986). Friedgen, a former offensive guard at Maryland, was passionate about his alma mater’s football program; it was his destination job. There is no way Randy Edsall will have the same passion for Terrapin football, and that may become evident to boosters when a better job becomes available. Other than a down season in 2009 (2-10), the Fridge did a great deal with little at a program that is not a national powerhouse in football.

Mike Haywood   0-0 (0-0)

Pittsburgh
Fired 1/1/11

Mike Haywood was rightfully fired from the head coach position at Pittsburgh after only sixteen days on the job. Haywood committed domestic battery on the mother of his child. Before X’s and O’s, a college football coach needs to be a good role model for young men. Felons need not apply. Haywood only had two years of head coach experience at a mid-major, so his hiring as a head coach at a BCS school with little experience was controversial to begin with. The whole Haywood-Pitt episode makes athletic director Steve Pederson’s decision to force out Dave Wannstedt look stupid.


Rich Rodriguez   15-22 (6-18)

Michigan
Fired 1/5/11

Rich Rodriguez was rightfully dismissed from Michigan after taking a once-dominant football program to a new all time low. Rodriguez has the lowest winning percentage of any Wolverine head coach ever at .405. Michigan’s 2008 season (3-9) was its worst in the 131-year history of Michigan football. During his three seasons at Michigan, Rodriguez never beat either of the Wolverines’ chief rivals: Ohio State and Michigan State. A 52-14 massacre at the hands of Mississippi State in the 2011 Gator Bowl was the last straw. Rodriguez and his staff were criticized for offensive language and belittling players, resulting in players transferring out of Michigan and recruits not committing to the school. Michigan committed five major NCAA rule violations and many minor violations during the Rich Rodriguez-era. Prior to Rodriguez’s arrival, Michigan football had never in its history committed major NCAA rule violations. The Josh-Groban-reciting coach could not win on the field and all around lacked class. He had to go.

Firings and Resignations Critique, Part 1

Tim Brewster   15-30 (6-21)

Minnesota

Fired 10/17/10

Firing Brewster was the right decision. His conference record was .222 and nonconference record was .500. His marquee loss was to the South Dakota Coyotes during Week 2 of the 2010 season. Brewster was able to get Minnesota to the Insight Bowl twice (2008, 2009) during his 3 ½ years, but both games ended in losses. Minnesota is a tough assignment but not a place where it’s impossible to win and recruit. The university has a new stadium, is located in a large metro area, has no in-state competition for recruits, and has a large alumni base. With hard work, strong leadership, and some luck, the Golden Gophers could find their way into the Top 25 in the next few years.

Todd Dodge   6-37 (3-23)

North Texas

Fired 10/20/10

When Dodge took over the program at North Texas, the program was coming off of two dismal seasons. Dodge never was able to make much improvement only winning 3 conference games in his 3 ½ years at North Texas. The Mean Green never finished better than 2-10 under his direction. During the 2010 season, North Texas was plagued heavily by injuries early in the season and never had a chance to rebound. The Mean Green had ten starters injured (nine season-ending) after their third game. Dodge has proven to be an elite high school coach, but the high school level and college level are two different beasts.

Dan Hawkins   19-39 (10-27)

Colorado

Fired 11/9/10

Dan Hawkins tenure started out rotten and ended rotten. In his first game as head coach, the Buffs lost to FCS Montana State. He was never able to guide the program to a better-than-.500 season. Hawkins had a .074 winning percentage in games not played at Folsom Field or Invesco Field at Mile High. The last straw was on November 6^th when Colorado blew a 28 point lead in the fourth quarter over Kansas. The Jayhawks won 52-45. This was the biggest meltdown in the history of Buffaloes football. The writing was on the wall that Dan Hawkins could not bring Colorado back to its 1990 glory days. The university should have taken out the trash after the 2009 season.

Doug Martin   29-53 (21-35)

Kent State

Resigned 11/21/10

Doug Martin resigned after seven seasons leading the Golden Flashes. A 29-53 may look bad on paper, but when considering the support the football program gets from the university and the fact that Martin has the best winning percentage at Kent State since Glen Mason coached the Golden Flashes in 1986 and 1987, Martin was doing a pretty good job with the resources he had. The football team shares a weight room with all of the other athletic teams. Kent State’s football program has the smallest recruiting budget in the MAC. Doug Martin was the lowest-paid head coach out of all FBS programs in 2010. Martin’s best record in his seven seasons was 6-6 in 2006. Consider that four of Doug Martin’s seven seasons had five wins. Since 1972, the Golden Flashes have won five games in a season just 12 times. I’m not sure Darrell Hazell will be able to do much better at one of the toughest coaching assignments in the FBS.

Stan Parrish   6-19 (5-11)

Ball State

Fired 11/22/10

Stan Parrish was rightfully fired after going 6-19 as head coach at Ball State. Parrish was Brady Hoke’s offensive coordinator before taking over as head coach when Brady Hoke darted to San Diego State. After Ball State’s amazing 12-2 2008 season, the Cardinals fell back to below average for Parrish’s two full seasons at the helm. The Cardinals went from double digits wins to double digit losses between the 2008 and 2009 seasons. While the job in Muncie is not an easy one, the Cardinals laid some eggs under Parrish: losing to a FCS school in 2009 and 2010, losing to an Eastern Michigan team that was on an 18-game losing streak.

Robbie Caldwell   2-10 (1-7)

Vanderbilt         

Resigned 11/27/10

Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson retired less than two months before the 2010 season, and the Commodores needed a head coach that knew the program ASAP. Robbie Caldwell was thrown into the fire. Caldwell went 2-10 like Johnson did in 2009. He decided to not stay. Perhaps, Caldwell could have had some success in the long term, but Vanderbilt made it clear they needed to get a flashy name to start some buzz in Commodore football again and turn the page on the Bobby Johnson. Vanderbilt is the toughest place to build a winning program in the SEC. It is likely Ron Franklin will not be able to do much better than Caldwell, but at least fresh leadership will attract recruits and reinvigorate the fan base.

Randy Shannon   28-22 (16-16)

Miami

Fired 11/27/10

Randy Shannon did not meet the high expectations that University of Miami has for its football team. The last five head coaches winning percentages at Miami were: .800 (Coker), .718 (Davis), .875 (Erickson), .852 (Johnson), and .719 (Schnellenberger). Randy Shannon’s: .560. Add to that the fact that the Hurricanes never won their division or a bowl game in Shannon’s four years. Four of the previous five Miami head coaches won national championships. Losing to Florida State, 45-17, falling to South Florida, 23-20 in overtime, and a loss to a rebuilding Virginia team made getting rid of Shannon necessary. However, Shannon did get players to attend classes and stay out of trouble. The moniker Thug U was nonexistent during the Shannon years. While Shannon did not have the winning percentage or resume of his predecessors, he bled Miami green and orange and acted like a father figure to many of his players. Miami has lost ground to other programs in recent years and Al Golden, a hire from outside the program, may not be the answer.

FBS Attendance

An institution classified in Football Bowl Subdivision shall meet all the Division I membership

requirements set forth in NCAA Division I Bylaws 20.9.1 through 20.9.5 and in addition, shall:

1. Sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity intercollegiate sports, including football, based on the

minimum sports sponsorship and scheduling requirements set forth in Bylaw 20.

Sponsorship shall include a minimum six sports involving all male teams or mixed teams

(males and females), and a minimum of eight varsity intercollegiate teams involving all

female teams. Institutions may use up to two emerging sports to satisfy the required eight

varsity intercollegiate sports involving all female teams. [Bylaw 20.9.7.1]

2. Schedule and play at least 60 percent of its football contests against members of Football

Bowl Subdivision. Institutions shall schedule and play at least five regular season home

contests against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. [Bylaw 20.9.7.2]

3. Average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football contests over a

rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.3]

4. Provide an average of at least 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of overall

football grants-in-aid per year over a rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(a)]

5. Annually offer a minimum of 200 athletics grants-in-aid or expend at least four million

dollars on grants-in-aid to student-athletes in athletics programs. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(b)]

This means that the home game attendance at any given FBS school from any two consecutive years should average at least 15,000 fans. Six MAC programs, two WAC programs, and two Sun Belt programs have failed to meet the home attendance requirement over the past two seasons.

School	2009	2010	Average
San Jose State	14,474	15,344	14,909
Buffalo	12,981	15,960	14,471
Western Kentucky	14,577	14,103	14,340
Akron	10,185	17,382	13,784
Bowling Green	13,306	14,044	13,675
Miami (OH)	15,519	11,810	13,665
Florida International	16,545	10,204	13,375
Idaho	12,730	12,546	12,638
Eastern Michigan	15,885	5,016	10,451
Ball State	8,947	10,888	9,918

Over the 2009-2010 rolling period, ten teams failed to meet the attendance requirement. Over the 2008-2009 rolling period, six teams failed to meet the attendance requirement. The economy is definitely not getting better. Interestingly, five schools--Bowling Green, Miami (OH), Florida International, Idaho, and Eastern Michigan--have failed to meet NCAA bylaw 20.9.7.3 over the 2008-2009 rolling period and the 2009-2010 rolling period. Miami (OH) and Florida International both won bowl games this past season and should draw a bit better next year.

Should more FCS teams be allowed to move up into the Football Bowl Subdivision when 1/12 of the existing teams in the FBS cannot even meet the FBS attendance requirement? It appears the NCAA does not enforce this rule, which makes some sense: demoting schools would cause even more conference chaos and it is demoralizing for an FBS program to be demoted to the Football Championship Division. But still, rules are rules, and it's seen as favoritism when some rules are strictly enforced by NCAA and others are ignored.

Reference

Underclassmen Declaring For The 2011 NFL Draft

School	Player	Position
Alabama	Marcell Dareus	DE
Alabama	Mark Ingram	RB
Alabama	Julio Jones	WR
Arizona State	Lawrence Guy	DT
Arkansas	Ryan Mallet	QB
Auburn	Darvin Adams	WR
Auburn	Nick Fairley	DT
Auburn	Cam Newton	QB
California	Shane Vareen	RB
Clemson	Da'Quan Bowers	DE
Clemson	Jamie Harper	RB
Connecticut	Jordan Todman	RB
Florida	Will Hill	S
Fresno State	Jamel Hamler	WR
Georgia	A.J. Green	WR
Georgia	Justin Houston	LB
Georgia Tech	Nick Claytor	OT
Georgia Tech	Jerrard Tarrant	S
Illinois	Mikel Leshoure	RB
Illinois	Corey Liuget	DT
Illinois	Martez Wilson	LB
Indiana	Tandon Doss	WR
Iowa	Tyler Sash	S
Kentucky	Randall Cobb	WR
LSU	Patrick Peterson	CB
LSU	Stevan Ridley	RB
Maryland	Torrey Smith	WR
Miami	Brandon Harris	CB
Missouri	Blaine Gabbert	QB
Missouri	Aldon Smith	DE
North Carolina	Marvin Austin	DT
North Carolina	Greg Little	WR
North Carolina	Robert Quinn	DE
Notre Dame	Kyle Rudolph	TE
Oregon	Javes Lewis	S
Oregon State	Jacquizz Rogers	RB
Pittsburgh	Jonathan Baldwin	WR
Pittsburgh	Henry Hynoski	FB
Pittsburgh	Dion Lewis	RB
South Carolina	Tori Gurley	WR
Southern Miss	DeAndre Brown	WR
Stanford	Thomas Keiser	LB
Temple	Muhammad Wilkerson	DT
Texas	Aaron Williams	CB
UCLA	Akim Ayers	LB
UCLA	Rahim Moore	S
USC	Jurell Casey	DT
USC	Tyron Smith	OT
Utah	Brandon Burton	CB
Utah	Sealver Siligi	DT
Virginia	Zane Parr	DE
Virginia Tech	Darren Evans	RB
Virginia Tech	Ryan Williams	RB
West Virginia	Robert Sands	S
Wisconsin	John Clay	RB
Wisconsin	J.J. Watt	DE