On The Hot Seat: Week 12

1. Paul Wulff—Washington State upset Arizona State on November 12^th and lost to Utah in overtime on November 19^th. The Cougars are slowly improving, but that does not take away from the fact that Washington State will have its fifth consecutive losing season, and fourth under Wulff. Wulff is 4-31 in Pac-12 games. He needs to go.

2. Neil Callaway—UAB got a huge 34-31 upset over No. 22 Southern Mississippi on November 17^th. With a 3-8 record, Callaway will have his fifth consecutive losing season. Callaway is 18-41, or .305, in Birmingham with one game left to play.

3. Ron Zook—After starting out 6-0 this season, the Illini had a meltdown and lost their next five games. The Illini play a 2-9 Minnesota squad in their finale Saturday. If it is their sixth straight loss, Zook will probably be canned.

4. Steve Fairchild—Colorado State started the season 3-1, then dropped six consecutive games to fall to 3-7. Fairchild is 7-22 in Mountain West games during his tenure. If the Rams cannot beat Air Force or Wyoming, they will finish the season with their third consecutive 3-9 season.

5. David Bailiff—Bailiff is 23-37 with one game left to play in his fifth year. The Owls will have their third straight losing season and fourth losing season in Bailiff’s five seasons.

6. Dennis Erickson—A few weeks ago, the Sun Devils were looking good with a 6-2 record and a Top 25 ranking. The following three weeks, Arizona State dropped to 6-5, losing to UCLA, Washington State, and in-state rival Arizona inside Sun Devil Stadium. The Sun Devils are having a meltdown.

7. Mike Riley—Just when you thought the Beavers bottomed out last season, things get even worse in 2011. The Beavers are 3-8. The last time Oregon State was that bad was 1997 when they finished the season 3-8. Oregon State has the Civil War left to play against the Ducks, which will likely put them at 3-9.

8. Turner Gill—Kansas is 2-9 this season, with a 1-15 record in Big 12 games. All but two of the Jayhawks losses were by double-digits. Gill needs to start making some progress in Lawrence before the administration and fans lose their patience.

9. Rob Ianello—Rob Ianello is 1-10 in 2011 and 2-21 overall in almost two seasons. Is Akron happy with one win per season? Will Ianello be back for a third season?

10. Larry Porter—Larry Porter is 3-20 in two years at Memphis. The former Tigers running back is struggling, having beaten only one Conference USA opponent in two years. Two seasons may be too early to cast judgment, but the past two seasons have been dismal.

Waiting list: Robb Akey, Frank Spaziani, Rick Neuheisel

Fired: Joe Paterno

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 14.

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.

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