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.

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.

Big 12 Home Attendance Figures

	Baylor			Colorado
Floyd Casey Stadium			Folsom Field
S4 Sam Houston State	42,821		S18 Hawaii	47,840
S11 Buffalo	40,853		O2 Georgia	52,855
O2 Kansas	35,405		O16 Baylor	48,953
O23 Kansas State	40,057		O23 Texas Tech	47,665
N13 Texas A&M	45,089		N13 Iowa State	42,722
N20 Oklahoma	36,034		N20 Kansas State	41,147
AVERAGE	40,043		AVERAGE	46,864
	Iowa State			Kansas
Jack Trice Stadium			Memorial Stadium
S2 Northern Illinois	43,116		S4 North Dakota State	48,417
S25 Northern Iowa	48,874		S11 Georgia Tech	46,907
O2 Texas Tech	43,162		S25 New Mexico State	46,719
O9 Utah	43,195		O14 Kansas State	47,561
O30 Kansas	46,485		O23 Texas A&M	44,239
N6 Nebraska	51,159		N6 Colorado	40,851
N20 Missouri	41,776		N20 Oklahoma State	39,261
AVERAGE	45,395		AVERAGE	44,851
	Kansas State			Missouri
Bill Snyder Stadium			Faurot Field
S4 UCLA	51,059		S11 McNeese State	55,582
S11 Missouri State	48,672		S18 San Diego State	56,050
S25 UCF	50,586		S25 Miami (OH)	60,329
O7 Nebraska	51,015		O9 Colorado	62,965
O30 Oklahoma State	50,831		O23 Oklahoma	71,004
N6 Texas	46,734		N13 Kansas State	63,310
AVERAGE	49,816		AVERAGE	61,540
	Nebraska			Oklahoma
Memorial Stadium			Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
S4 Western Kentucky	85,555		S4 Utah State	85,151
S11 Idaho	85,732		S11 Florida State	85,630
S25 South Dakota State	85,573		S18 Air Force	84,332
O16 Texas	85,648		O16 Iowa State	84,024
O30 Missouri	85,907		O30 Colorado	84,173
N13 Kansas	85,587		N13 Texas Tech	85,116
N26 Colorado	85,646
AVERAGE	85,664		AVERAGE	84,738
	Oklahoma State			Texas
Boone Pickens Stadium			Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
S4 Washington State	48,692		S11 Wyoming	101,339
S11 Troy	48,820		S25 UCLA	101,437
S18 Tulsa	51,778		O23 Iowa State	100,142
S30 Texas A&M	48,284		O30 Baylor	100,452
O23 Nebraska	55,935		N13 Oklahoma State	100,659
N6 Baylor	50,741		N20 Florida Atlantic	99,799
N27 Oklahoma	51,164		N25 Texas A&M	100,752
AVERAGE	50,773		AVERAGE	100,654
	Texas A&M			Texas Tech
Kyle Field			Jones AT&T Stadium
S4 Stephen F. Austin	81,287		S5 SMU	57,528
S11 Louisiana Tech	77,579		S18 Texas	60,454
S18 FIU	79,069		O16 Oklahoma State	60,454
O16 Missouri	83,453		N6 Missouri	55,667
O30 Texas Tech	84,479		N20 Weber State	55,083
N6 Oklahoma	81,392		N27 Houston	53,461
N20 Nebraska	90,079
AVERAGE	82,477		AVERAGE	57,108

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Texas	100,654
Nebraska	85,664
Oklahoma	84,738
Texas A&M	82,477
Missouri	61,540
Texas Tech	57,108
Oklahoma State	50,773
Kansas State	49,816
Colorado	46,864
Iowa State	45,395
Kansas	44,851
Baylor	40,043

Helmet Stickers: Week 11

ACC—The Hurricanes gave the Yellow Jackets their third consecutive loss in a game between two backup quarterbacks. Freshman quarterback Stephen Morris passed for 230 yards and a touchdown. He completed 10 of 18 attempts. Four different Hurricanes ran for touchdowns—Lamar Miller, Damien Berry, Mike James, and Graig Cooper—in the triumph.

Big 12—Just days after head coach Dan Hawkins gets fired, the Buffaloes rebound and paste the Cyclones 34-14 at Folsom Field under interim coach Brian Cabral, who has been a coach at Colorado since 1989. Colorado’s bowl hopes are still alive, if just barely. The Colorado defense played with intensity, picking up eight sacks and holding the Cyclones to -6 rushing yards. Colorado safety Patrick Mahnke sacked Iowa State’s Austen Arnaud in the fourth quarter, knocking Arnaud out of the game.

Big East—South Florida is bowl-eligible after an overtime win over Louisville on Saturday. Louisville tied the game at 21 apiece with 1:21 left. Louisville drove to the 4 yard line in overtime. On fourth and inches on the Bulls’ 4 yard line, the Cardinals tried a quarterback sneak instead of going for a field goal. The South Florida defense held and the sneak came up short. The Bulls ran the ball to the Cardinals’ 20 yard line and kicked a 37-yard field goal for the 24-21 win. South Florida wide receiver Lindsey Lamar returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown just before the half.

Big Ten—Northwestern defeated No. 13 Iowa by a score of 21-17 on a rainy Saturday in Evanston. The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter down 17-7. After Jeremy Ebert caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Dan Persa with 6:21 left to close the deficit to 3 points, Dan Persa connected with Demetrius Fields on a 20-yard touchdown pass with just 1:22 left in the game to take the lead. Northwestern safety Brian Peters intercepted Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi early in the fourth quarter to launch the rally. Northwestern has beaten Iowa in five of their last six meetings.

C-USA—Southern Mississippi dealt Central Florida its first conference loss in a 31-21 contest at BH Networks Stadium in Orlando. The Golden Eagles went 11 for 16 on third downs. Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns. The Golden Eagle defense contained the Knights’ dual threat quarterback Jeff Godfrey by only allowing him to rush for 6 net yards on 12 rushing attempts. Southern Miss prevented UCF from scoring between 5:40 in the first quarter through 4:21 in the fourth quarter—a stretch of over forty-six minutes.

MAC—Western Michigan defeated Eastern Michigan at Waldo Stadium in a game that featured 1,009 yards of offense. Broncos quarterback Carder threw for 349 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions, going 17 for 21. Broncos running back Brian Fields rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns and caught a third touchdown. Receivers Jordan White and Juan Nunez each had over 100 yards receiving. The former caught one touchdown pass, while the latter had two touchdowns in the 45-30 cross-state rivalry.

MWC—UNLV gets a helmet sticker this week, routing Wyoming 42-16. The Rebels ended a five-game skid and got their second win of the season. Rebels quarterback Omar Clayton threw for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman running back Tim Cornett caught one of those touchdown passes and rushed for an additional three scores. UNLV cornerback Will Chandler picked off Austyn Carta-Samuels in the fourth quarter.

Pac-10—Washington State got its first FBS win of the season! The Cougars snapped a sixteen-game Pac-10 losing streak dating back to the 2008 Apple Cup by defeating Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday. It was the first time Washington State held a team scoreless in the first half since outscoring Stanford 10-0 in 2007. Cougars quarterback Jeff Tuel completed 10 of 15 throws for 157 yards. Tuel also rushed 18 times for 79 yards.

SEC—South Carolina clinched the SEC East with its 36-14 win over Florida. Gamecocks running back Marcus Lattimore ran for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Stephen Garcia threw for 156 yards, ran for 28 yards, and accounted for no turnovers. The Florida Gators were dealt their first three-game home losing streak since 1989. South Carolina got only its second win over Florida since 1939.

Sun Belt—Florida International set a school record for rushing with 448 yards in its 52-35 win over perennial Sun Belt powerhouse Troy. Running back Darriet Perry rushed for 186 yards. Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton rushed for 158 yards. Running back Darrian Mallary rushed for 118 yards. It was the first home loss for Troy since 2007 and puts the Trojans in jeopardy of not getting at least a share of the Sun Belt conference title for the first season since 2005. The Golden Panthers moved into first place in the Sun Belt standings with the win.

WAC—The Wolf Pack got by the Bulldogs 35-34 in a back-and-forth game with seven lead changes. Colin Kaepernick threw for 171 yards and ran for 153 yards. Wolf Pack running back Vai Taua rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 4:51 left in the game. The victory marked the first time since 1945-49 that Nevada has won three straight games against Fresno State. Nevada is now 9-1 and can capture the WAC title with a win over Boise State on November 26.

                                 

Independents—After losses to Navy and Tulsa and a bye week, Notre Dame destroyed No. 14 Utah 28-3. The Fighting Irish held the Utes to a season-low three points and ended an 11-game losing streak against Top 25 teams. It was the Fighting Irish’s first victory over a ranked opponent since beating Penn State in 2006. In his first start, Tommy Rees looked much improved, throwing three touchdown passes and no interceptions. The Irish defense held the Utes’ offense to a season-low 265 yards. In the battle between Catholics and Mormons, the Catholics dominated. Notre Dame students stormed the field at the end of the game.