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.

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.

On The Hot Seat: Preseason

1. Mike Locksley—The Mike Locksley era at New Mexico is a train wreck. He is 2-22, with New Mexico getting massacred in most of those 22 losses. The Lobos ranked dead last in total offense last season and second-to-last in total defense out of 120 FBS teams. Toss in his off-the-field infractions and you have an absolutely pathetic head coach.

2. Paul Wulff—Paul Wulff is lucky to be coaching at a school that allows you to come back after going 5-32 in three seasons. Any other school, no matter what the circumstances, would not accept a .135 winning percentage. Wulff needs to turn the Cougars around 180 degrees this season.

3. Bob Toledo—The Green Wave have finished in last place in the C-USA’s West Division each of the last two seasons and have never won more than four games in a season under Toledo’s leadership. If Tulane does not become bowl-eligible, Bob Toledo is going to get kicked to the curb.

4. Neil Callaway—The Blazers have not had a winning season under Callaway, nor finished better than fourth in their division. With 15 starters returning, UAB should be able to string together wins and possibly save Coach Callaway’s job.

5. Steve Fairchild—Fairchild is heading into his fourth season, going 3-9 in both 2009 and 2010. The Rams have an uncompetitive 2-14 record in the Mountain West the past two seasons. Fairchild will get canned if he cannot produce at least a half dozen wins in 2011.

6. Dennis Erickson—This is the final year of Erickson’s contract, and if he does not win at least seven games, it is certain is contract will not be renewed. Erickson has lost 21 games over the last three seasons, making his last three years in Tempe the worst three seasons of his head coaching career.

7. David Bailiff—The Owls have gone 6-18 over the last two seasons since their great run in 2008. The Owl pass defense has been almost nonexistent. If Bailiff can get his defense to improve and put together a respectable conference record, he has a chance of coming back for a sixth season.

8. Ron Zook—The question of whether to fire Zook or not has been swirling around Urbana-Champaign over the past three seasons. By going 7-6 last season and getting the Illini’s first bowl win in eleven years, Zook seems to only be on a warm seat at the moment, but a fifth sub-.500 season will get him fired.

9. Rick Neuheisel —Rick Neuheisel’s time at his alma mater has been a subpar 15-22, with a pathetic 8-19 conference record. The Bruins have finished eighth, eighth, and ninth in the final three years of the Pac-10. Slick Rick needs to turn things around at UCLA this season, or he’s out.

10. Mike Price—The Miners have not had a winning season since 2005, Price’s second season in El Paso. With a record of 40-45, Mike Price is going to have to become bowl-eligible like last season to feel safe about his livelihood. It won’t be an easy task with 1 starter returning on offense.

Waiting list: Ron English, DeWayne Walker

We will revisit On The Hot Seat after Week 4.

Pac-10 Home Attendance Figures

	Arizona			Arizona State
Arizona Stadium			Sun Devil Stadium
S11 The Citadel	54,814		S4 Portland State	43,238
S18 Iowa	57,864		S11 Northern Arizona	49,043
S25 California	51,906		S25 Oregon	60,326
O9 Oregon State	56,054		O30 Washington State	44,903
O23 Washington	56,244		N13 Stanford	45,592
N13 USC	54,722		N26 UCLA	44,555
D2 Arizona State	56,253
AVERAGE	55,408		AVERAGE	47,943
	California			Oregon
Memorial Stadium			Autzen Stadium
S4 UC Davis	58,040		S4 New Mexico	59,104
S11 Colorado	55,440		S18 Portland State	58,086
O9 UCLA	61,664		O2 Stanford	59,818
O23 Arizona State	51,599		O21 UCLA	59,372
N13 Oregon	65,963		N6 Washington	60,017
N20 Stanford	67,793		N26 Arizona	59,990
N27 Washington	44,613
AVERAGE	57,873		AVERAGE	59,398
	Oregon State			Stanford
Reser Stadium			Stanford Stadium
S18 Louisville	45,379		S4 Sacramento State	30,626
O2 Arizona State	45,409		S18 Wake Forest	39,061
O30 California	45,439		O9 USC	51,607
N13 Washington State	45,389		O23 Washington State	36,679
N20 USC	44,969		N6 Arizona	43,506
D4 Oregon	46,469		N27 Oregon State	38,775
AVERAGE	45,509		AVERAGE	40,042
	UCLA			USC
Rose Bowl			Los Angeles Coliseum
S11 Stanford	56,931		S11 Virginia	81,375
S18 Houston	54,407		O2 Washington	82,796
O2 Washington State	62,072		O16 California	72,386
O30 Arizona	53,408		O30 Oregon	88,726
N6 Oregon State	64,330		N6 Arizona State	68,744
D4 USC	71,105		N27 Notre Dame	85,417
AVERAGE	60,376		AVERAGE	79,907
	Washington			Washington State
Husky Stadium			Martin Stadium
S11 Syracuse	62,418		S11 Montana State	26,356
S18 Nebraska	72,876		S25 USC	24,310
O9 Arizona State	65,685		O9 Oregon	24,768
O16 Oregon State	65,235		O16 Arizona	23,955
O30 Stanford	69,020		N6 California	17,648
N18 UCLA	62,347		D4 Washington	30,157
AVERAGE	66,264		AVERAGE	24,532

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

USC	79,907
Washington	66,264
UCLA	60,376
Oregon	59,398
California	57,873
Arizona	55,408
Arizona State	47,943
Oregon State	45,509
Stanford	40,042
Washington State	24,532