Least Returning Starters

Teams with the least returning starters for the 2012 season.

New Mexico State 4
The Aggies return fewer starters than any team in the country. On offense, both tackles and a wide receiver return, while the defense will only see the return of the starting strong side linebacker. Most of the recruits coming into the program are junior college transfers.

Air Force 6
The Falcons return just three starters on both their offense and defense. Don't expect Air Force to go to their sixth consecutive bowl with the addition of three former WAC teams to the Mountain West this season.

Penn State 6
With the recent departures of returning starters Silas Redd and Justin Brown, Penn State is going into the 2012 campaign with just six starters from 2011. Redd and Brown combined for most of the Nittany Lions' offense. Penn State will probably not be relevant in college football this season.

Temple 7
Things are setting up badly for Temple in 2012. The team lost Bernard Pierce in the NFL draft and has moved back to the Big East after a seven year absence. Only two starters return on offense. Preseason rags are predicting the Owls to go 1-6 in conference games.

Boise State 7
After years of dominance, 2012 looks to be the year the Broncos drop off. Only one returning starter comes back on defense. Who will replace Kellen Moore? Chris Petersen has got to be nervous about facing Michigan State on national television August 31st.

Idaho 7
The Vandals are in a precarious position. They were 111th in offense and 101st in defense last season. With few starters returning, it will be hard to return to a bowl for the first time since 2009. The only positive note is that the WAC is very watered-down with the departures of Fresno State, Nevada, and Hawaii.

On The Hot Seat: Week 14

1. David Bailiff—Rice went 4-8 this season and had its fourth sub-.500 season under Bailiff in his five seasons leading the program. Under Bailiff, the Owls have never won more than 3 conference games in a season except for the 2008 season where Rice won the Texas Bowl.

2. Robb Akey—The Vandals finished their fifth season under Akey, going 2-10. Akey has an overall winning percentage of .306 and a winning percentage of .259 against FBS opponents.

3. Mike Riley—Oregon State finished the season 3-9, losing the season finale to Oregon by a score of 49-21. The Beavers have now lost the last four Civil Wars. Mike Riley had his worst campaign as a head coach and has brought Oregon State fans back-to-back losing seasons.

4. David Cutcliffe—Cutcliffe is a good coach but in a very tough place to win. However, Duke seems to be paying him way too much money, $1.65 million per year, for providing four losing seasons. Furthermore, Cutcliffe’s Blue Devils are only 2-2 against FCS teams.

5. Derek Dooley—Dooley is 11-14 after two seasons. Surely Tennessee will need a lot of time to rebuild into the great program it once was, but Volunteer fans have a short fuse. Dooley will need to get at least 7 wins in the regular season next year to survive.

6. Mike Price—Mike Price finished his eighth season in El Paso with a 5-7 record. Each of Price’s last six seasons has featured more losses than wins. Price is 0-3 in bowl games during his eight-year tenure. How long will the Miners athletic department be complacent with subpar performance?

7. Frank Spaziani—Boston College is not going to a bowl game for the first time since the 1998 season. Boston College’s offense was atrocious this season, scoring more than 19 points only in three games. Spaziani’s record as a head coach plummeted to 20-19 after a 4-8 season.

8. Randy Edsall—Edsall inherited a 9-4 team and went 2-10 in his first season. One such loss was from a 38-7 thumping by Temple, Maryland’s first loss to Temple ever. Eight of the ten losses were by double-digit margins. Usually coaches shouldn’t be judged after one or two seasons, but Maryland has become the ACC’s blow-up doll.

9. Bobby Hauck—Hauck is 4-21 after his first two seasons. His winning percentage of .160 is the worst in the history of UNLV Rebels football.

10. DeWayne Walker—Walker’s Aggies are 9-29 in three seasons. Walker needs to show improvement in a WAC that becomes weaker next year with the departure of Hawaii, Fresno State, and Nevada.

Waiting list: Jeff Quinn, Dan Enos

Fired: Paul Wulff, Neil Callaway, Ron Zook, Steve Fairchild, Dennis Erickson, Turner Gill, Rob Ianello, Larry Porter, Rick Neuheisel, Mike Sherman, Pat Hill

On The Hot Seat: Week 10

1. Paul Wulff—Washington State is on a five-game losing streak. Out of those five losses, only one game was close. The Cougars fall to 3-6 on the season and will not go to the postseason for the eighth straight year unless they can win all of their last three games: Arizona State, Utah, and Washington at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. Wulff is 8-38 in his career at Wazzou.

2. Neil Callaway—Ever since Callaway’s hiring almost five years ago, rumors have chimed that the University of Alabama Board of Trustees wanted to keep the Birmingham campus’s football program inferior to the Tuscaloosa campus’s football program, and that is why Callaway was hired over more sought after coaches for the opening in Birmingham. Is the administration still trying to hold UAB down by not letting them get rid of a coach with a 16-45 record? The Blazers were outscored in their last two games 115-27.

3. Mike Riley—Oregon State is 7-14 over their last 21 games. Mike Riley’s squad has plummeted to Pac-12 doormat status along with Washington State and Colorado. Riley is contracted to coach the Beavers through the 2019 season. Oregon State should not have made such a lengthy contract extension.

4. Frank Spaziani—The Eagles finally beat a FBS team when they took down a bad Maryland team on Halloween weekend, but on the following Thursday, Florida State went to Chestnut Hill and blasted the Eagles 38-7. Boston College’s streak of 12 consecutive bowls came to an end as the Eagles fell to 2-7 on the season.

5. Steve Fairchild—Colorado State has been just plain bad this season. On its current four-game losing streak, it has lost to teams like San Jose State, UTEP, and UNLV. The Rams have four games left, with three games at home, but it is unlikely the 3-5 Rams will see the postseason with San Diego State, TCU, Air Force, and Wyoming on deck. Fairchild will likely have his third consecutive losing season.

6. Robb Akey— The Vandals beat San Jose State 32-29 November 5^th, getting their first win over a FBS team this season. Since the Vandals are 2-7 with three games left, Akey will have his fourth losing season in his five years in Moscow. Robb Akey is 19-40 in his fifth season.

7. David Bailiff—The Owl defense allowed Houston to put up 73 points on them in Bayou Bucket Classic on October 27^th. Rice is 3-6 overall and 2-4 in conference games. Bailiff is 22-36 in his fifth year. Bailiff will have his fourth losing season in five years unless he can win out against Northwestern, Tulane, and SMU.

8. Rick Neuheisel—After a brawl with Arizona on October 20^th and the resulting suspensions of six players, Neuheisel got his team refocused and picked up quality wins over California and No. 20 Arizona State the last two Saturdays. With games against Utah, Colorado, and USC left, Neuheisel should be able to go 7-5 or even 8-4 f he can beat the Bruins’ cross-town rival. Neuheisel’s chair is cooling off a little.

9. Turner Gill—Gill does not seem to be making much progress in Lawrence.  Kansas is 5-16 during his 1 ¾ year tenure. The Jayhawks are just 1-13 against Big 12 opponents since Gill took over at Kansas. Kansas is in last place in the Big 12 with a 0-6 record. Games against Baylor, Texas A&M, and Missouri remain. Will Kansas get another win this season?

10. Rob Ianello—Rob Ianello and the Zips went 1-11 in 2010 and are currently 1-8 in 2011. If J.D. Brookhart got fired for going 3-9 in 2009, Ianello’s stool has to be getting very hot. Akron is a tough place to coach, but two wins in two seasons doesn’t cut it.

Waiting list: Danny Hope

Resigned: Houston Nutt

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 12.

On The Hot Seat: Week 8

1. Neil Callaway—The Blazers finally won their first game of the 2011 season last Thursday against Central Florida in front of a home crowd of 8,872. Regardless, the Blazers are 1-6 this season and almost assuredly will have a losing season, resulting in Callaway having five consecutive losing seasons. The Callaway era at UAB can best be summed up as a train wreck.

2. Paul Wulff—Wulff is 8-36 in slightly over three and a half years at Washington State. The Cougars have lost their last three games and have fallen to 3-4 now. In Pac-12 games, Washington State is 1-3. While three W's are more victories than Wulff has gotten over his first three seasons in Pullman, it is still subpar. The Cougars still have to play Oregon and California on the road, then Arizona State and Utah at home, before finishing the season with the Apple Cup in Seattle. It is not looking good.

3. Mike Riley—Oregon State is 2-5, losing to BYU and beating Washington State over the last two weeks. Looking ahead, the Beavers have Utah, California, and Oregon on the road, and Stanford and Washington at home. At best, the Beavers might get two wins out of their last five games, considering the way they have been playing. Riley will almost assuredly have his second consecutive losing season.

4. Rick Neuheisel—The Bruins had two weeks to prepare for an Arizona Wildcats team that had lost ten straight games against FBS opponents, yet lost by a margin of 36 points on primetime national television. To make matters worse a brawl erupted just before halftime that led to the suspension of six Bruins. Rick Neuheisel cannot afford to lose any more games, or he'll be out before the season is over.

5. Frank Spaziani—Boston College is a dismal 1-6 with a away game at Maryland next Saturday, followed by a home game five days later against Florida State. Boston College has lost seven straight to FBS foes. Spaziani was a great defensive coordinator, but he isn't cutting it as a head coach. One more loss will send his winning percentage south of .500.

6. Robb Akey—One more loss will guarantee Idaho its fourth losing season in Robb Akey's five seasons as head coach in Moscow. The Vandals are 1-6 with their only win coming over an FCS program. Attendance at home games so far this has averaged 13,300 per game, well below the NCAA's attendance requirement for the Football Bowl Subdivision.

7. David Bailiff—Bailiff has a .375 winning percentage in his fifth season at Rice. The Owls are 2-5 after eight weeks of play and need to win four of their last five to be bowl eligible and also avoid the program's fourth losing season in Bailiff's five years. The Owls play cross-town rival Houston on Thursday in the Bayou Bucket Classic.

8. Steve Fairchild—Fairchild is 16-28 in his fourth season, with a record of 7-19 in Mountain West Conference games. The Rams are 3-4 this season with games against UNLV, San Diego State, TCU, Air Force, and Wyoming remaining. Colorado State will probably be favored in only one of the last five games.

9. Houston Nutt—Ole Miss played Arkansas tight last week, losing by a score of 29-24. Unfortunately, the Rebels are still 2-5 and 0-4 in SEC games this season. Nutt will likely have his second consecutive losing season. It will cost $6 million to buy out Nutt's contract, so firing might be out of the question for Mississippi in 2011.

10. Turner Gill—Gill is only in his second season at Kansas, but his record against Big 12 teams is 1-11, and his overall record at Kansas is 5-14. Last Saturday, in-state rival Kansas State utterly destroyed the Jayhawks at home by a score of 59-21. Kansas has been getting blown out left, right, and center; the Jayhawks are 120^th in the nation in total defense and scoring defense.

Waiting list: Rob Ianello

Resigned: Bob Toledo

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 10.

On The Hot Seat: Week 6

1. Neil Callaway—The Blazers are 0-5 after six weeks of football, with two of the losses being in conference games. Callaway is now 15-38 at UAB. The Blazers’ 2011 campaign will likely be their seventh losing season. I do not see how Callaway will be retained as head coach. Look for him to be canned in the next couple weeks.

2. Paul Wulff—The Cougars defeated Colorado on the road and lost to UCLA narrowly on the road over the past two weeks. The Cougars, now 3-2, are looking better than they have been the last three seasons, but Wulff is still 8-34 (.190) in three and a half years. He has won only three conference games as the Cougars head coach, and three of his other victories were over 1AA programs.

3. Mike Riley—The Beavers are 1-4 after six weeks of football. Oregon State finally ended a six-game losing streak dating back to last year by beating Arizona 37-27 October 8^th. Mike Stoops was canned as a result of Mike Riley’s good fortune, but Riley might also be out of a job if things keep going the way they are in Corvallis.

4. Bob Toledo—Tulane was humiliated 45-6 by Army October 1^st and played Syracuse tight in a loss at home on October 8^th. Bob Toledo is 15-39 in his fifth season. Tulane is 2-4 this season. Trying to be positive, the Green Wave has seven games left to make something happen in 2011: six conference dates and a season finale at Hawaii.

5. Frank Spaziani—Boston College is 1-5, their only win coming over 1AA UMass. Four of Boston College’s last six games will be on the road. Things are not looking up for the Eagles. Spaziani just might have a chance at returning for another year if he can pull a few upsets. I hear Jeff Jagodzinski is available for interviews.

6. Robb Akey—So far the highlight of the season for Robb Akey’s 1-5 Vandals was taking Virginia to overtime on October 1^st, losing the game trying to steal a victory by going for a two-point conversion instead of kicking a PAT to force a second overtime. Idaho’s only win was over 1AA North Dakota. Idaho does have some winnable WAC games coming up, but they likely won’t get close to bowl eligibility.

7. David Bailiff—The Owls are at 1-1 in Conference USA play and 2-3 overall. Rice walked over Memphis like a doormat last Saturday, but got doubled up by Southern Mississippi 48-24 on October 1^st. The Owls will need to become bowl eligible for Bailiff to have any chance of returning for another season. If Rice cannot win four more games, David Bailiff will have four losing seasons in five years.

8. Rick Neuheisel—Rick Neuheisel has the Bruins sitting at 3-3 with a 2-1 conference record. The good news is that the Bruins have the better part of two weeks to prepare for a 1-5 Arizona team that just lost their coach. If Neuheisel can get his team to a bowl-eligible and win a bowl game, I think he will remove any doubt about his leadership.

9. Houston Nutt—Ole Miss was able to get a win over Fresno State on the first Saturday of the month, but the 2-3 Rebels have otherwise looked sad this season. Mississippi has AAA the next three weeks: Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn. If the Rebels keep playing the way they have, they could easily go 0-3 over this stretch and Nutt could be sent packing.

10. Mike Price—The Miners are sitting at 2-3. UTEP's defense gave up 101 points in the last two games to South Florida and Houston. Price needs to get some momentum going in El Paso or he will have his sixth straight losing season.

Waiting list: DeWayne Walker, Danny Hope, Steve Fairchild

Fired: Mike Stoops

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 8.

On The Hot Seat: Week 4

1. Paul Wulff—Paul Wulff has got the Cougars at 2-1 after four weeks of football. Wazzou beat FCS Idaho State 64-21 and UNLV 59-7, before falling to San Diego State in Week 3 by a margin of 18. Wulff is still 7-33 at his alma mater and needs to show he can win in the Pac-12.

2. Mike Riley—The Oregon State Beavers are 0-3 after losing to FCS Sacramento State, getting shutout 35-0 by Wisconsin, and losing at home this past Saturday to a suspect UCLA team whose coach is also on the hot seat. Riley also posted a meager 5-7 record last year after high expectations in Corvallis.

3. Neil Callaway—The Blazers are 0-3 to start the season and 0-2 in conference games. Things are not looking good in Birmingham. UAB has a tough road game against Troy next week.

4. Bob Toledo—The Green are 2-2 overall and 1-1 in Conference USA games. Things could be better, and things could be worse. Tulane needs to win games and beating Army on the road next week would help Toledo get off the hot seat.

5. Rick Neuheisel—The Bruins have started the season 2-2, which includes wins over San Jose State and Oregon State—two teams that don’t look to be too good this year. The results of UCLA’s eight upcoming Pac-12 games will determine whether Neuheisel will be out of a job or kept on.

6. Houston Nutt—After two 9-4 seasons in 2008 and 2009, Ole Miss dropped to 4-8 in 2010 including a loss to 1AA Jacksonville State. The 2011 season has started out poorly with losses to BYU, Vanderbilt, and Georgia. SEC bottomfeeder Vanderbilt beat the Rebels 30-7. The only win came over 1AA Southern Illinois.

7. David Bailiff—Rice upset Purdue 24-22 on September 10^th. While the Owls are 1-2, they have yet to play a conference game yet. If the Owls can make some noise in the C-USA West Division this year, Bailiff may be still around.

8. Robb Akey—Akey is 1-3 this season, only beating FCS school North Dakota. Akey has had only one winning season and is now in his fifth year. There is little excitement in Moscow over Vandals football, depicted by the empty seats in the Kibbie Dome.

9. Frank Spaziani—Boston College started the season 1-3, with the only win coming over 1AA UMass. The Eagles have lost at home to Northwestern and Duke and on the road to UCF. Spaz is also 0 for 2 against Notre Dame during his tenure. Boston College needs to defend its reputation.

10. DeWayne Walker—Walker got the biggest win of his head coaching career against Minnesota Week 2. Other than the big upset in Minneapolis, NMSU has lost to rival UTEP, Ohio, and SJSU. Will the Aggies follow the Lobos example and hit the reset button this season?

Waiting list: Mike Price, Ron English, Steve Fairchild, Mike Stoops

Fired: Mike Locksley

Off the hot seat: Ron Zook, Dennis Erickson

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 6.

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

WAC Home Attendance Figures

	Boise State			Fresno State
Bronco Stadium			Bulldog Stadium
S25 Oregon State	34,137		S4 Cincinnati	37,238
O9 Toledo	33,833		O2 Cal Poly	37,069
O26 Louisiana Tech	32,026		O9 Hwaii	38,494
N6 Hawaii	34,060		O16 New Mexico State	32,334
N19 Fresno State	33,454		N13 Nevada	37,116
D4 Utah State	32,101		N27 Idaho	25,965
			D3 Illinois	30,625
AVERAGE	33,269		AVERAGE	34,120
	Hawaii			Idaho
Aloha Stadium			Kibbie Dome
S2 Hawaii	44,204		S2 North Dakota	11,466
S25 Charleston Southrn	30,300		S18 UNLV	15,390
O2 Louisiana Tech	29,469		O23 New Mexico State	13,812
O16 Nevada	42,031		N6 Nevada	11,247
O30 Idaho	37,466		N12 Boise State	16,453
N20 San Jose State	30,011		D4 San Jose State	8,011
D4 UNLV	37,820
AVERAGE	35,900		AVERAGE	12,730
	Louisiana Tech			Nevada
Joe Aillet Stadium			Mackay Stadium
S18 Navy	23,122		S2 Eastern Washington	16,313
S25 Southern Miss	22,344		S11 Colorado State	18,098
O9 Utah State	16,073		S17 California	28,809
O16 Idaho	19,750		O9 San Jose State	20,636
N6 Fresno State	17,057		O30 Utah State	11,558
D4 Nevada	18,562		N20 New Mexico State	10,906
			N26 Boise State	30,712
AVERAGE	19,485		AVERAGE	19,576
	New Mexico State			San Jose State
Aggie Memorial Stadium			Spartan Stadium
S11 San Jose State	16,891		S18 Southern Utah	16,739
O2 Boise State	19,661		O2 UC Davis	17,844
O9 New Mexico	21,437		O16 Boise State	20,239
O30 San Jose State	13,117		O23 Fresno State	11,314
N13 Louisiana Tech	12,486		N13 Utah State	12,239
N27 Hawaii	11,841		N27 Louisiana Tech	8,467
AVERAGE	15,906		AVERAGE	14,474
	Utah State
Romney Stadium
S11 Idaho State	18,347
S18 Fresno State	19,059
O1 BYU	24,152
O23 Hawaii	17,111
N6 New Mexico State	14,524
N20 Idaho	14,072
AVERAGE	17,878

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Hawaii	35,900
Fresno State	34,120
Boise State	33,269
Nevada	19,576
Louisiana Tech	19,485
Utah State	17,878
New Mexico State	15,906
San Jose State	14,474
Idaho	12,730