For the 10th time in the last 16 years, the Mount Union football team captured the DIII national championship, beating Wisconsin-Whitewater 31-26 on Saturday.
Think about that: 10 national titles in 16 years. That is simply unreal, at DIII or any level.
Bonus points for the Purple Raiders, too, for exacting some revenge on Whitewater. The Warhawks dethroned Mount Union in 2007. Of course, that 2007 Whitewater win was revenge for 2005 and 2006 when Mount Union beat the Warhawks in the title game.
In this version, Mount Union jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter -- quarterback Greg Micheli connected on two long TD passes early and Nate Kmic pounded one in from two yards out.
The Big 12 has used a North Division-South Division format and played a football championship game since 1996. In 10 of the 12 previous editions of the Big 12 Championship, one of the two teams involved has been ranked in the top five of the Associated Press poll that preceded the game.
In those 10 instances, the top-five team is only 5-5, and there have been a couple notable upsets.
In 1996, an unranked Texas team took down second-ranked Nebraska 37-27 in St. Louis.
In 1998, it was tenth-ranked Texas A&M shocking second-ranked Kansas State 36-33 in double-overtime.
2001 saw Colorado, rated ninth, edging third-ranked Texas 39-37. Then, most notably perhaps, Kansas State blew out top-ranked Oklahoma 35-7 in 2003.
Last year, Missouri fell out of the top spot in the polls after a blowout loss to ninth-ranked Oklahoma.
Can Missouri return the favor this year, and knock Oklahoma out of a spot in the BCS title game?
I'm all for following the rules but this is one of dozens of stupid rules in the NCAA books and I'm happy to see USC carry the flag if you will, in boldly disobeying one of the more ridiculous legislated items out there.
Of course, there's good reason to ask. On Saturday, the Volunteers lost to Wyoming, which is -- sorry, Cowboys fans -- one of college football's worst teams this season. It was a paycheck game, and Homecoming in Neyland Stadium.
Among other things, Tennessee's struggle against the 'Pokes guarantees the Vols will have a losing record in 2008, and that Phillip Fulmer's final game as head coach will be in November rather than December or January. And considering their 3-7 overall record, with two conference games remaining, the pain might not be over yet.
RockyTopTalk dug into the record books and identified three Vol squads that could vie for the dubious distinction of being the worst ever to wear Tennessee orange. Those three squads:
The 2005 Vols, which finished with a losing overall record at 5-6, also deserve mention. They were the first team under Phillip Fulmer to miss a bowl game. Despite an upset victory at No. 3 LSU, which in many ways saved the season, they lost to Vanderbilt, which Fulmer infamously described as "hitting rock bottom." But in retrospect, Phil was getting ahead of himself. Rock bottom was three years into the future -- that cool Saturday evening when Wyoming left Rocky Top with both a paycheck and a victory.
The '08 Volunteers will, if they're lucky, only tie Johnny Majors' 1977 team which also lost seven games. But considering both Vanderbilt and Kentucky are much better teams than Wyoming -- both own winning overall records late in the season -- Tennessee could find themselves 3-9 for the first time since the pre-General Neyland days.
It'd be a sad epitaph for Fulmer's great career on Rocky Top. The '08 Vols still have something to play for: Phillip Fulmer's legacy.
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? Michigan had the nation's longest streak of consecutive bowl games at 33. Now, though, it's come to an end. Bizarro Purdue vanished today, as the Boilermakers returned to form by scoring 48 points and still needing a last-minute touchdown to win. The victory is just Purdue's third of the season, though their bowl hopes are still theoretically alive.
Michigan's, though, are dead. The loss was their seventh of the season, thus guaranteeing there's no bowl for the Wolverines this season. It'll be their first year home for the holidays since 1975.
I mean, think about that. 1975. The Ford administration. Leisure suits. Plaid golf pants. The first year of Saturday Night Live. Cars about the size of battleships.
Rich Rodriguez was twelve years old in 1975. Joe Paterno had only been coaching Penn State for nine years in 1975.
There's always a certain amount of schadenfreude when one of the traditional powers finally gets their comeuppance, but please, a moment of silence for one of the more impressive accomplishments in college football history.
While I'm sure there are plenty of maize-and-blue clad partisans who want to park a U-Haul outside RichRod's house, they shouldn't miss the signs of hope.
With the commercial for The Express playing as I type this, I feel a little bad that I'm even typing this. The story of Ernie Davis is a great one, and quite honestly a movie should have been made about him a long time ago. The problem isn't with Ernie Davis or Syracuse or any of the actors. The problem is that the makers of the movie needed to express the racial hatred that Davis confronted his Heisman year. Unfortunately, to do that they had to tell a lie.
A movie about the first African-American to win college football's Heisman Trophy includes a dramatic scene from Morgantown, WV where fans hurl garbage and racial epithets at the player and his Syracuse teammates. However, the ugly incident did not happen, according to players on both sides.
In fact, Syracuse and West Virginia didn't play in Morgantown that year. Maybe the thinking was that West Virginia is one of the least populated states in the country, and if you have to play off a stereotype of a group of people, might as well be West Virginians. Because there are a lot of stereotypes about West Virginia and Mountaineer fans. Right? Who wouldn't believe it?
A review in the show business publication "Variety" says the movie's "most electrifying sequences portray Schwartzwalder's unbeaten 1959 Syracuse U. team playing West Virginia and Texas -- not exactly two bastions of racial tolerance -- with a level of racist vitriol pouring out of the stands that is a topical reminder of America's racial heart of darkness."
Well, when you make a movie about a man that had to fight through stereotypes and racism, you ought to at least be factually correct about it. Otherwise you run the risk of lessening the impact of the Ernie Davis story. That would be and is a real shame. Because I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since I heard about it. But being a West Virginian and a Mountaineer fan, I find myself less and less interested in seeing the movie as time passes. Thanks a lot Mr. Producer man.
The Bear died in 1982, and ever since Alabama's been yearning for a sustained national presence. Sure there was that national championship victory over Miami, but overall the program's been plagued by inconsistency, scandal, sanction and the rise of the SEC.
A victory today over Georgia would perhaps put Alabama over the hump.
Then again, they were supposedly experiencing a renaissance just a few short years ago, opening 9-0 in 2005 before finishing at 10-2. Coach Mike Shula was gone the very next year. Nick Saban and his $32 million contract have been brought in to finally turn things around.
This afternoon, Larry Munson, the legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, has announced his retirement. It will be effective immediately and ends a 42 year career in the booth for Georgia.
I don't care who you are or who you cheer for, if this doesn't stir a little emotion or nostalgia in you, you're just not a football fan. You can turn in your foam finger and replica jersey at the front desk on your way out.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
No. 1 ranked USC takes on Ohio State (ranked 5th) this Saturday. This is the first meeting between these two juggernauts in 18 years. In this video we visit a USC pep rally and hear from high-profile Trojans, such as former NFL stars Marcus Allen, Curtis Conway and Daylen McCutcheon. Find out what gold medal-winning Olympic swimmers Larsen Jensen and Erik Vendt have to say to the Buckeyes, and former track star Quincy Watts says he expects a blowout. Oh ... and do you know how to do the "Sanchez Dance"? Find out here.
Joe Paterno and Nittany Lions cold slammed Coastal Carolina today, 66-10. Impressive, no? Of substantial more interest than beating up on UNCW's sister-in-law is the fact that JoePa is now tied with Bobby Bowden for most career wins all time by a college football coach/corpse.
What does this all mean for us, the college football fans? Well, for starters, Florida State doesn't play this week. That means that both coaches will keep walking into Saturday knowing they could not only lose a game, but lose a historical milestone.
Unfortunately for Bobby, he's already one game down on 2008 (he gets it back later, obviously, but daggumit, he ain't winnin' now) and it might as well be two since I've got Wake Forest taking down the 'Noles, and clearly, my opinion is good enough to mark something down for an "L".
For the 10th time in the last 16 years, the Mount Union football team captured the DIII national championship, beating Wisconsin-Whitewater 31-26 on Saturday.
The Big 12 has used a North Division-South Division format and played a football championship game since 1996. In 10 of the 12 previous editions of the Big 12 Championship, one of the two teams involved has been ranked in the top five of the Associated Press poll that preceded the game.
We've 
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? Michigan had the nation's longest streak of consecutive bowl games at 33. Now, though, it's come to an end. Bizarro Purdue vanished today, as the Boilermakers returned to form by scoring 48 points and still needing a last-minute touchdown to win. The victory is just Purdue's third of the season, though their bowl hopes are still theoretically alive.
With the commercial for 
The Bear died in 1982, and ever since Alabama's been yearning for a sustained national presence. Sure there was that national championship victory over Miami, but overall the program's been plagued by inconsistency, scandal, sanction and the rise of the SEC.
This afternoon, Larry Munson, the legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, has 
