NCAA Football FanHouse

The Mount Union Football Dynasty Rolls on, Grabs Another DIII Title

Chris Burke — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:27:00 EST

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.

Whitewater chipped back within 24-13 heading to the fourth, but a Jeff Donovan pick-six stretched Mount Union's lead back to 31-13. The Warhawks rallied to 31-26 in the final minute, but could not recover an onside kick at the end.

Mount Union completes the season with a 15-0 record -- no surprise there. The Purple Raiders lost one regular season game from 1995-2005. One.

So you can't debate the use of the word "Dynasty" here, despite the Whitewater win last year. That title game loss was merely a hiccup in what has become a dominant Purple Raiders' run.

The Mount Union Football Dynasty Rolls on, Grabs Another DIII Title originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Could Missouri Continue the Big 12 Championship Upset Tradition?

Bruce Ciskie — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:05:00 EST

Filed under: Missouri, Oklahoma, BCS, Big 12, NCAA FB History, General CFB Insanity

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?

Normally, I would just dismiss the Tigers and tell everyone to move on.

I don't think they can keep up defensively, and I don't think their offense is good enough to attack Oklahoma's defense like Texas did.

However, the history of upsets in this game gives me pause.

I am not one of these folks that thinks an upset is going to happen because one happened in a similar situation before. I do, however, find the poor record of highly-ranked teams in this game very interesting. The old theory about the game meaning more to the underdog does apply. No, Missouri doesn't have a shot at the national championship. However, the Tigers can get their school to a prestigious BCS bowl game while at the same time ruining Oklahoma's national championship dreams.

That does mean something.

Can it work again?

Well, Oklahoma has been on fire lately. I can't remember the last time a team racked up 60-plus points in four straight games, with two of them coming against high-quality opponents. Missouri's schedule doesn't really match up, and while the offense is hitting for 45 points per game (a touchdown and two-point conversion behind the OU machine), I don't think they can keep up.

Sam Bradford is hitting on all cylinders. His backs and receivers are in sync. The line has been blocking incredibly well. While OU's defense is a major question, they get the boost of confidence from the fact that the offense is good for six points pretty much every time they have the ball. It's always nice to think that way as a defense.

There are ways Missouri can win, but it involves concocting scenarios based on unpredictable factors such as turnovers and injuries. Perhaps Bradford can't work around his bad left hand and he has problems with the snaps. Maybe OU can't hold on to the ball.

All it takes is a couple bounces.

If anything weird does happen, remember where you were reminded of the history of upsets in this game. If Oklahoma is playing backups in the third quarter, well then we'll see the Schooner in Miami.

Could Missouri Continue the Big 12 Championship Upset Tradition? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USC Defies NCAA, Reclaims Tradition Wearing Home Uniforms Against Rival UCLA

Brian Grummell — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:48:00 EST

Filed under: UCLA, USC, Pac 10, NCAA FB History, General CFB Insanity

We've spoken about this before on FanHouse, but at long last the day has arrived -- USC has announced it will wear its home uniform on the road against rival UCLA on Saturday. UCLA will also, obviously, be in their home uniforms. Maddeningly, the beautiful interplay of rival colors with so much history behind it is an NCAA violation and USC will lose a timeout in each half as penalty for its disobedience.

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.

College football has always held a special place in my heart for its more relaxed sensibilities. Uniforms aren't so strictly regulated, players can be silly and write on their eye black, celebration and spontaneity isn't so heavily repressed. It's just a more fun and open atmosphere for athletic competition.

USC's decision will make for great television, as the color combinations are aesthetically pleasing. The mix of USC's vibrant cardinal and bright gold shows great against UCLA's "powder keg" blue and more traditional gold home uniforms. And it will also add an extra layer of excitement and energy to one of college football's premier rivalries. Hopefully UCLA reciprocates by burning a timeout here or there and then wears their home colors next year in the Coliseum.

USC Defies NCAA, Reclaims Tradition Wearing Home Uniforms Against Rival UCLA originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is This The Worst Tennessee Team Ever?

Ryan Ferguson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:07:00 EST

Filed under: Tennessee, SEC, Coaching, NCAA FB History

RockyTopTalk asks the question, "Is this really the worst team in Tennessee history?"

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:

1. 1962: 4-6-0
2. 1977: 4-7-0
3. 2008: 3-7-0 (so far)

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.

Is This The Worst Tennessee Team Ever? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rich Rodriguez Will Be Home for Christmas; Michigan's Bowl Streak Ends After 33 Years

Mark Hasty — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:04:00 EST

Filed under: Florida State, Michigan, Purdue, NCAA FB History, General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

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.

The Wolverines got in a point-scoring contest with Purdue and nearly pulled it off. They were able to match the Boilermakers touchdown for touchdown and might have gotten the job done if only they'd had more than 25 seconds to work with. It may be dark days right now but soon ... oh, who am I trying to kid? It's about time the Wolverines found themselves longing to go to the Motor City Bowl. 33 straight bowl games may be impressive, but it's totally unrealistic to think that such a streak should continue forever. And it's all the more galling for Michigan because Sparty will be going bowling for the holidays.

So, now that Michigan's streak is done, who has the longest bowl streak? Florida State, recipients of 26 consecutive post-season tickets. The Seminoles are already bowl-eligible and have the best record in the ACC, so don't count on two amazing bowl streaks to be broken this season.

Rich Rodriguez Will Be Home for Christmas; Michigan's Bowl Streak Ends After 33 Years originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Express Isn't Exactly a True Story

John Radcliff — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Syracuse, West Virginia, Big East, NCAA FB History

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.

Hat Tip: Sports By Brooks

The Express Isn't Exactly a True Story originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Today Alabama's Coming-Out Party?

Brian Grummell — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:15:00 EST

Filed under: Alabama, Georgia, SEC, NCAA FB History

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.

But, not so fast! as Lee Corso would say. Georgia's been on a major tear since about midway through last year and is experiencing a renaissance of their own. They've dominated most of the SEC competition since, and finally went on the road last week and throttled Arizona State. The 'Dawgs are looking dominant and this could be their year, as well.

Something has to give.

This game will be played "between the hedges" and by virtue of that alone you have to give Georgia the edge, but an Alabama victory would be a mild surprise and perhaps the launching point once and for all back to national prominence and consistency the 'Tide have been yearning for since 1982.

Is Today Alabama's Coming-Out Party? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georgia's Larry Munson Retires

Pete Holiday — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:45:00 EST

Filed under: Georgia, SEC, Fans, NCAA FB History

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.

It seems that Munson, who turns 86 this weekend, just doesn't have it in him any more. He stopped traveling to away games last season for health reasons and, although it wasn't expressly stated in the press release, I simply cannot imagine that anything short of physical inability would keep him out of the booth.

After all, does this call from the 1980 Georgia/Florida read like a man who could ever get tired of calling Georgia Football:

Buck back. Third down on the 8. In trouble. Got a block behind him. Going to throw on the run. Complete to the 25, to the 30. Lindsay Scott 35, 40. Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, 40. Run Lindsay! Twenty-five, 20, 15, 10, 5. Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Well, I don't believe it. 92 yards and Lindsay really got in a footrace, I broke my chair, I came right through a chair, a metal STEEL chair...Do you know what is gonna happen here tonight? And up at St. Simons, Jekyll Island, and all those places, where all those Dawg people have got those condominiums for four days...MAN, is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight!

Though this cliche will be oft-used in talking about Munson in the coming days, it truly is the end of an era.

Georgia's Larry Munson Retires originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USC's High-Profile Fans Are More Than Ready for Ohio State

Elie Seckbach — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:10:00 EST

Filed under: Ohio State, USC, Fans, NCAA FB History, Video, FanHouse TV

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.

Youtube link.

USC's High-Profile Fans Are More Than Ready for Ohio State originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joe-Pa, Bobby Bowden Begin Literal Duel to the Death for NCAA All Time Career Wins

Will Brinson — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:15:00 EST

Filed under: Florida State, Penn State, ACC, Big 10, NCAA FB History, Media Watch

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 Joe, he has to coach in ~~a conference that matters~~ the Big Ten.

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".

Florida State has three games -- Wake Forest, Florida and Virginia Tech -- that should be losses, although the third one depends on Frank Beamer being stubborn. The Seminoles have also been known to cough up a win or two to NC State in recent years, and Miami and Maryland won't be gimmes. I'd pencil them in for six or seven wins, although they could surprise, and I could be an idiot.

The Nittany Lions, already with a big freebie blowout under their belt, have what should be at minimum another seven coming, and that puts Paterno just ahead of Bowden heading into 2009, not counting potential bowl game outcomes.

The point of it all? This is going to happen every year until one of them gives up, or dies. My money's on Bowden simply outlasting Joe, or some sort of father-son mutiny situation unfolding.

Joe-Pa, Bobby Bowden Begin Literal Duel to the Death for NCAA All Time Career Wins originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #10: Hart vs. Harbaugh at Media Days

Mark Hasty — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Michigan, Stanford, Big 10, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

In honor of the opening of Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, we wrap up the ten weird Big Ten moments with a look at what has to be the only moment of excitement or interest in the history of that venerable tradition. It came last season, when Mike Hart was chosen as one of the players to represent the Michigan Wolverines to the media.

You might remember that last spring, former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who had just taken over at Stanford, commented in an interview that Michigan had a way of getting "borderline guys" into school. (For those of you not aware, Michigan is a very selective university. For those of you who are SEC fans, some universities have admissions standards.) Harbaugh was commenting about how Stanford (another highly selective school) had trouble attracting the very best athletes because a Stanford recruit needs qualifications beyond a good 40 time.

In context it's clear that Harbaugh was lamenting how great universities don't do their athletes any favors with the "jock majors" you find on almost every campus. It didn't really come across that way, however, and trust me, Mike Hart noticed.

Hart unloaded on Harbaugh:

"That's a guy I have no respect for. When you graduate from the
University of Michigan and you're going to talk about your school like
that, a great institution like that we have, to say we're not true
student athletes. It's coming from a guy who, I don't know, maybe
wants to coach here, and is mad he didn't get a job here. A guy like
that I have no respect for. It's funny to me, because we don't let
great student-athletes in, but he just accepted one of our transfers.
What kind of sense does that make? He obviously wants guys like us at
his school and he's mad he can't get them. It's nothing against
Stanford. I just have no respect for that guy. I don't know how you
can say that. He's not a Michigan man. I obviously wish he never
played here before."

Ouch. Hart was obviously upset at Harbaugh's implication that a football player's degree from Michigan wasn't a real Michigan degree. Harbaugh wasn't totally wrong about the value of the education some student athletes get (or don't get) but it was strange to see a person turn against his alma mater like that--and Harbaugh should've known that there are plenty of athletes at every school who actually are there for the education.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #10: Hart vs. Harbaugh at Media Days originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #9: Pink, It's Like Red But Not Quite

Mark Hasty — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:59:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa, Big 10, NCAA FB History, General CFB Insanity

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

If people know anything at all about Iowa football, they know two things. First, they know the punchline to the joke "If there's three Hawkeyes in a car, who's driving?" (They know that mostly because that joke is older than Joe Paterno.) Second, they know that the visitors' locker room at Kinnick Stadium is painted pink.

It has not always been thus, of course. Hayden Fry, once he'd earned a little political capital in Iowa City, ordered the visiting locker room swathed in pink. Fry claimed he remembered that pink had a calming effect on people, and that (wink wink, nudge nudge) was his sole motivation behind the curious color choice. Oh, sure, occasionally some opposing coach would get a little worked up about it, but really, that was just part of the psychological gamesmanship Fry was noted for.

See? Just for fun. But any joke fails once it's taken too far, and in 2005, that's what happened. Hayden may have spent his political capital to get the opponent's locker room redone, but then there was some actual capital involved, and, well, suddenly it wasn't so funny.

The university put pink everywhere in the locker room, applying it with the same sort of enthusiasm you'd associate with a three-year-old given a squeeze bottle of ketchup. Not just on the walls, but on the floors, in the showers, and places pink shouldn't be. The actual lockers themselves were pink. Even the urinals were pink, for cryin' out loud. (Something tells me you have to special-order a pink urinal, and boy, would I have loved to have been a fly on the wall when that invoice came through the plant.)

Critics pointed out (correctly) that there was something less than sporting about slathering a locker room with pink in this fashion, and they were no longer buying the "calming effect" argument. Two faculty members filed complaints, alleging that the use of a color culturally associated with women and homosexual men was the sort of conduct in which a university ought not engage.

That might be going too far, but what was once a funny bit of Big Ten lore is now played out, mostly because it has gone over the top. And anyway, the studies now say that mint green is the most calming color of all. So clearly it's time for a redo. Maybe the university can get an HGTV crew to pitch in.

Actually, maybe they'd better start with their own locker room first.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #9: Pink, It's Like Red But Not Quite originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #8: The Ugliest Trophies in All Sport

Mark Hasty — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:35:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Big 10, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

Illibuck. Paul Bunyan's Axe. The Little Brown Jug. Floyd of Rosedale. The Big Ten has some legendary rivalries, and those rivalries have some legendary trophies associated with them.

We're not here to talk about those, however. No, we're going to talk about those two things you see pictured above. One is a trophy affiliated with two natural rivals who, until very recently, didn't have a trophy to pass back and forth between them. The other commemorates a rivalry which came about because both teams involved needed a rival so their rivalry could be protected.

We'll start with the trophy on the right, the one that looks like it fell off the roof of a Ponderosa Steakhouse. That's the Heartland Trophy. It goes to the winner of the Iowa-Wisconsin game. Those two schools have been playing each other for decades but the trophy has only been around since 2004. Sure, it's not the stuff of legend, but the Hawkeye-Badger rivalry is as close as any. Wisconsin leads the all-time series, 41-40-2.

You don't want to know about that, though. You want to know about that thing on the left. That's what I'm here for.

Though it may look like something your grandmother would hang on the wall of her kitchen, it's actually the Land Grant Trophy, awarded to the winner of the annual Penn State-Michigan State game. When the Nits joined the conference in 1993, they needed some protected rivalries just like all the other schools in the conference had. Establishing one with Ohio State was a given, what with the Big 33 Classic and all, but they needed another rival.

Fortunately, Michigan State was in need of a second rival. Their annual game with Michigan was already protected, but there wasn't an obvious candidate for #2. Never mind that these two schools had only played each other ten times previously, and not at all in almost thirty years. They were made for each other.

The trophy's name commemorates the Morrill Land Grant Act, something you slept through in high school history class. It was a bill which used the sale of public land to establish schools of agriculture in every state. Penn State and Michigan State are both land-grant universities. So there. It isn't just a nutty, made-up rivalry designed to plug a hole in the Big Ten's scheduling scheme.

Man, that's one atrocious trophy, however.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #8: The Ugliest Trophies in All Sport originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #7: The Bowl Tie-In That Really Wasn't

Mark Hasty — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:55:00 EST

Filed under: Northwestern, Purdue, Big 10, MAC, NCAA FB History, Bowl Games

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

Let's not kid ourselves: The Motor City Bowl seriously stretches the concept that there's no such thing as a bad bowl bid. Sure, it gives the MAC a much-needed bowl slot, since that conference seems to have the most bowl-eligible teams left stranded at home in the post-season. But for the Big Ten team involved, the extra couple weeks of practice are probably more of an enticement than the actual thrill of going to Detroit in late December.

Then again, the Big Ten's actual involvement with the Motor City Bowl is mostly theoretical. While the conference has had a deal with the bowl since 2003, only twice has the league actually supplied a representative: Northwestern in 2003, and Purdue last year.

So far as I know, it was I who coined the term "MACrifice" in reference to the tendency of Big Ten teams to schedule non-conference games against the dregs of that conference. The Motor City Bowl, in essence, is the revenge of the baby-sat. It's one thing to rough up a mid-major also-ran in early September; it's something else entirely to face a pretty good MAC team at a neutral site in December when everybody knows you're only there because you had a hopelessly mediocre season. The MAC team has nothing to lose; the Big Ten team has nothing to win.

It's kind of humiliating, though, when your conference has a bowl tie-in which it can't fill more often than it can. To be fair, for the most part, the Big Ten's avoidance of Detroit has less to do with mediocrity than it does with the conference's record of getting two teams into the BCS. The Motor City slot would have to fall to an eighth eligible team, and there aren't many years when there will be that many Big Ten teams that are eligible.

To be fair, both of the games the Big Ten has been involved with have been pretty good by the standards of lower-echelon bowl games. Northwestern barely lost to Boston College (28-24) in 2003; last year's Purdue-Central Michigan game was every bit the outbreak of basketball on Astro-Turf you might have expected. And the tie-in makes sense not just geographically (it's easier to sell Detroit in December to someone who's already spending the month in, say, Fort Wayne) but politically. The Motor City Bowl is chaired by former Michigan State coach George Perles, a man who is still well-respected within the conference.

Still, what does it say when there's a bowl bid in your conference that every team secretly hopes it won't get?

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #7: The Bowl Tie-In That Really Wasn't originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #6: To the Heart, Tick-Tock, You Didn't Stop, 2001

Mark Hasty — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:42:00 EST

Filed under: Michigan, Michigan State, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

Another weird Big Ten moment, another mandated rule change to deal with the embarrassment. Today we turn to the 2001 Michigan-Michigan State game, played at Spartan Stadium. Please remember that.

The Wolverines were 6-1, ranked sixth, and lossless in the conference prior to this game. Sparty came in 4-2 with two bad losses already in Big Ten play. But rivalry games are rivalry games, and even though Michigan seemed to have all the advantages, Michigan State kept it close right up until the final play of the game.

On the game's penultimate play, which started with 17 seconds still showing on the clock, Jeff Smoker ran wildly for the sidelines but didn't quite make it. The Spartans, who were out of time outs, scurried back to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and take one last shot at the end zone. They snapped the ball with one second showing on the clock, spiked it ... and still had one second showing on the clock.

Michigan, of course, argued that the game should have ended. But did it?

No. The officials said the stadium clock was right and gave Sparty one more snap. Smoker hit T.J. Duckett in the end zone and Michigan State won, 26-24.

The controversy blew up immediately. Michigan claimed shenanigans on the part of Spartan Stadium officials. They also claimed that one of their defenders was held on the final play. Just for good measure, they also appealed to little-known Big Ten bylaw 142(a)(3), which states that Michigan and Ohio State may not lose conference games, except to each other, unless they really stink up the joint.

With a level of scrutiny usually reserved for the Zapruder film, fan analysis revealed that either (a) Michigan totally got jobbed, or (b) the Wolverines were lucky they were even in a position to complain, since the Spartans should have had a time out given back to them.

Subsequent to this game, the Big Ten decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea to have the home team provide the official timekeeper, and started designating one neutral official to the task. Likewise, after seeing all the mix-ups on the final Spartan series, the Big Ten started moving towards instant replay, which is now the norm in all of college football. You can blame/thank this game for that.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #6: To the Heart, Tick-Tock, You Didn't Stop, 2001 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:42:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten History #5: Iowa and Penn State Mean No Offense, 2004

Mark Hasty — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:43:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa Football, Penn State Football, Big 10, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

There's probably no more unlikely final point total for a football team than four. There's only one way to achieve that score, and that's with two safeties. The only less likely total is one, the winner's score in any forfeited game.

In October 2004 two teams with killer defenses and iffy offenses met in Happy Valley. The Iowa Hawkeyes were having a pretty good season; the Nittany Lions weren't. A botched snap on the first possession of the game led to a PSU safety, giving them their first lead in a Big Ten game all season. Iowa, behind QB Drew Tate, couldn't find the end zone all day; if not for two Kyle Schlicher field goals, they'd have gone scoreless. But Penn State couldn't even accomplish that much on offense. Quarterbacks Zack Mills and Michael Robinson combined for 96 yards and four interceptions, including a game-icing pick late in the fourth quarter. Nit rushers contributed an additional 66 yards, for a game total of 162 yards of offense. Iowa's numbers weren't much better.

For fans like me who love to watch great defense the game was a treat. But late in the game came one of the harshest on-the-field disses one coach has ever laid on another.

It happened late in the fourth quarter, when Penn State again had Iowa pinned so deep in its own territory that the Hawks were forced to punt out of the end zone. Kirk Ferentz elected to take a safety instead, making the score 6-4.

It's not unusual for a team to take an intentional safety if (a) they have a large lead, or (b) there isn't enough time for the other team to take the lead. You'll note that the intentional safety put Penn State a field goal away from winning the game. In effect, Ferentz was daring Joe Paterno to get within field goal range.

Penn State had twice been within the Iowa 10, but both times they gacked. First Robbie Gould missed a chip-shot field goal, then Antwan Allen picked off Michael Robinson at the 1. It seemed likely that a Penn State offense which hadn't done anything all day wouldn't do anything now, but the risk was huge.

Ferentz's gamble paid off. On Penn State's first play of the next series, Jovon Johnson intercepted Robinson and the game was over. The talk all over college football was about the unusual score ("Who was pitching?") but the real story of the game was found in the last few minutes. This game only looked boring from the outside.

Weird Moments in Big Ten History #5: Iowa and Penn State Mean No Offense, 2004 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rutgers Isn't Just The Cradle Of College Football Anymore

John Radcliff — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:10:00 EST

Filed under: Big East, Rutgers Football, NCAA FB History

Rutgers fans are very quick to remind you that their school hosted and won the first college football game. As well they should. It's an important distinction in this beautiful thing we call college football. The 1869 game between what is now Princeton and Rutgers was the first recorded instance of a football game being played between two universities.

Fast forward to 2008, and college football is a time honored tradition in this country. Actually, you don't have to go to 2008. Depending on who your root for, college and football have gone together like Rum and Coke for decades. Which brings me to my point. Workers discovered the remains of a tavern while clearing land around Rutgers Stadium.

While construction workers were excavating the future site of Rutgers University's new football stadium, they unearthed the remains of a tavern and artifacts that are dated back to the 18th-century. Thousands of ceramics, cutlery and bottles were found and said to have been from the Raritan Landing settlement. The tavern that excavators discovered is the legendary Rising Sun Tavern, which was the first building where academic classes were held.

That's right Rutgers students! The next time your parents question why you don't return their calls until the next day, just tell them you were out honoring a Rutgers tradition.....again! Man, classes being taught in a tavern is enough to make me want to go back to school!

Before I get too carried away, I in no way want to suggest that Rutgers students should use this post as an excuse for binge drinking. Or that Rutgers fans have more of a drinking problem than the rest of us. But if we're looking for that missing link between college students and alcohol, we may have just found the origin.

Rutgers Isn't Just The Cradle Of College Football Anymore originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #4: The Sexual Politics of Laundry, 1983

Mark Hasty — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:25:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa Football, Big 10, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in the history of Big Ten football.

Hayden Fry was, for the media, like having an Instant Money Quote button. The West Texan coach was always good for something lively and interesting with which to season an otherwise bland story. Fry's flamboyant, down-home verbiage was an especially welcome contrast to the usual tight-lippedness of Iowans and their public figures.

Big Ten Media Day 1983, however, was a slight exception.

On that day, a reporter asked Fry if he thought college football players should receive a salary in addition to their scholarships. Fry said yes, noting that times had changed since his playing days at Baylor in the late 1940s. Back then, he said, players got $15 a month just so they could do their laundry, though few players washed their own clothes. "That wasn't any big deal," said the coach, "because you could find a little dumplin' to do the wash and then take her out to eat."

Now, there are a lot of ways in which Waco and Iowa City are not alike. Iowa City is as progressive as people tend to think it won't be. Fry's comment may have been innocent, but it certainly wasn't taken that way.

The university's chapter of the Associated Professional and Faculty women wanted Fry censured by the university for his comments. No one objected to the notion that football players in the late 1940s had other people do their laundry in exchange for a nice meal out; I'm sure that happens on campus even now. But the reference to a woman as a "little dumplin'" was just a bit too much.

Things quickly heated up as word of the Media Day comments spread. Fry's "little dumplin'" remark even made it into the New York Times, back when that was still a big deal. It must be noted, however, that Hayden Fry was nobody's idea of a bigot or a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. This is the coach who, while he was at SMU, integrated the old Southwest Conference, after all. Once Fry understood that what he said had offended many people on campus, he apologized and the matter was dropped.

It's hard to imagine one of today's media-trained, focus-grouped CEO-style coaches ever saying anything like what Fry said. Today we might see the "little dumplin'" controversy as an early example of political correctness taken to the limits. Just imagine what sports talk radio would do with such a story now. It would be all you'd hear about for days and days. Back in 1983, however, "political correctness" was a fairly obscure concept, and the Fry incident's most lasting legacy may well be that it inspired a really funny episode of the great 1980s comic strip Bloom County. I couldn't find it online, but trust me, it was great.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #4: The Sexual Politics of Laundry, 1983 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #3: Don Morton as Coach Dracula, 1989

Mark Hasty — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:28:00 EST

Filed under: Wisconsin Football, Big 10, NCAA FB Coaching, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in the history of Big Ten football.

Of all the ephemera associated with college football, probably the worst is that dreadful institution, the coach's TV show. While I can hardly claim to have seen them all, the ones I have seen have been (a) pretty much all the same, and (b) terrible. The production values are just a notch above something you'd see on the public access channel. The game film is nothing but the highlights your local news showed the night of the game. The commentary from the coach is usually empty of any non-obvious content. And you just know they only pick the fat, juicy hanging curveballs for the "Ask the Coach" segment. The shows are just a way to generate some additional income for the coach, because as we all know, college football coaches at the ~~Division I-A~~ Football Bowl Subdivision level don't get paid very well.

So today we turn our attention to what might be the only interesting moment in the entire history of these wretched programs. It involves a coach who ... well, he made a rather curious decision about how to remind people that the season wasn't over yet.

The coach in question is Don Morton, remembered in Wisconsin as "the guy before Barry Alvarez." Morton coached the Badgers for three seasons, from 1987 through 1989. These were not great seasons for Wisconsin football. Morton had been quite successful in previous stops at North Dakota Sta.te and Tulsa. In fact, he'd never had a losing season.

Of course, there's a first time for everything.

Morton went 3-8 and 1-10 his first two years in Madison and, in the middle of a 1989 season which wasn't any better than 1987 and 1988 had been, Morton seemed like a dead man walking. To convince the remaining Wisconsin faithful that he hadn't packed it in and still had hopes that he could turn it around, Morton tried a little stunt on his TV show. He opened the program by emerging from a coffin and proclaiming, "I'm not dead yet!" It might have made for a great moment, if not for the fact that his (non-interim) predecessor Dave McClain had died on the job three and a half years earlier.

Morton might not have been dead, but his career at Wisconsin certainly was. After rattling off five straight losses to end the season (four of them blowouts), Morton was fired and you know how the next guy worked out for Wisconsin.

Don't feel too bad for Don Morton, however. North Dakota State brought him back as a fundraiser for a few years. He eventually left for the private sector, taking an executive job with a Fargo-based software company. That company eventually got bought out by Microsoft, and today Morton is the Site Leader of MSFT's Fargo campus. I'd call that landing on your feet.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #3: Don Morton as Coach Dracula, 1989 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #2: Faint, Faint For Old Notre Dame, 1953

Mark Hasty — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:03:00 EST

Filed under: Iowa Football, Notre Dame Football, Big 10, NCAA FB History

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

ABOVE: Touchdown Jesus wept. Or would have, if only Hesburgh Library had been built in 1953.

You're the coach of the #1 ranked football team in the nation. It's 1953, and your school doesn't accept bowl bids. You're trailing at home, 7-0 to an unranked team. It's just before halftime. You have the ball deep in their territory. The clock is running. You're out of time outs. What do you do? Do you (a) run a quick pitch towards the sidelines, (b) spike the ball, (c) take a knee and regroup at halftime, or (d) order your players to flop around like carp thrown on the riverbank, hoping the referee will call an injury time out so you can run one more play?

Now let's say it's late in that same game (very late) and you're now down 14-7. Again, no time outs. Would you dare try (d) again, assuming you got away with it the first time? Would you even suggest that more than one player fake an injury, just to be sure the refs have no choice but to stop the clock? You would? Well, you know what that makes you?

That makes you Frank Leahy, legendary Notre Dame coach and member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He pulled the fake-injury gambit not once but twice against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 1953 season.

Faking injuries wasn't unknown in college football then and probably still happens now. It's possible to fake an injury convincingly, if one exercises a little restraint. The Irish, however, faked their injuries with all the subtlety of Amy Winehouse applying eye makeup. In the words of Iowa broadcaster Bob Brooks, "Players went down like they were shot." Everybody knew what was happening, and why. The refs, however, were powerless. Faking injuries wasn't against the rules in 1953. (It was in 1954, largely as a result of this game.)

The Irish managed to salvage a 14-14 tie, preserving hopes that they would retain their #1 ranking. They failed. Outraged voters put them down to #2, while boosting the previously unranked Hawkeyes to #9. The Irish took it in the shorts in the national press, quickly being dubbed the "Fainting Irish."

Iowa coach Forest Evashevski, not exactly the shy, retiring type, was livid during and after the game, insisting that no matter what the scoreboard said, he was convinced his team won the game. He even modified the last lines of Grantland Rice's well-known poem "Alumnus Football" to fit the situation: When the one Great Scorer comes to write against our name/He writes not that we won or lost/But how we got gypped at Notre Dame. (Evashevski later apologized for these remarks.)

It's an amusing little footnote now, this "Fainting Irish" game, but the universal scorn that fell up Leahy and his team for their unsportsmanlike tactics may well have hastened his exit from South Bend. Leahy resigned abruptly in January 1954, first citing health reasons, then claiming he felt like he wasn't wanted any more at Notre Dame.

It's difficult to imagine why he may have felt that way.

Weird Moments in Big Ten Football History #2: Faint, Faint For Old Notre Dame, 1953 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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