After transferring from the banana republic that is Arkansas football to the Shangri-La that is USC, it was expected that Mitch Mustain would seriously challenge to become the next quarterback at USC. NCAA rules forced him into a year on the practice squad where he appeared all but even with Mark Sanchez in the battle to replace John David Booty this year.

That's all changed. Sanchez was named the starter after the spring, but the gap was seemingly narrow between the competitors. Sanchez then dislocated his kneecap in a freak injury, creating the most golden of golden opportunities for Mustain to take the job and possibly never look back. Handed the world, Mustain appears to have balked, badly. Says longtime USC reporter Steve Bisheff, formerly of the Orange County Register:

[I]nstead of being aggressive and taking control, he seemed to back off, appearing tentative and unsure of himself. In the first of three scheduled preseason scrimmages at the Coliseum, Mustain was outplayed by Aaron Corp, the redshirt freshman who had been the star of the spring game. Some said it was because Corp was playing with the first-team offense for most of the scrimmage and that things would change in the second scrimmage.

Except that wasn't really the case. Most observers rated Mustain and Corp even in scrimmage No. 2, although some felt Corp had come out slightly ahead again.

Carroll hasn't said anything officially, but in practices this week, Corp, the more mobile of the two, has appeared with the first-team offense more often than Mustain. That is not a good sign for the Arkansas transfer.

Clearly. Sanchez has recovered remarkably fast and may be ready in time for the Virginia game, but he's now a marked man making it important for USC to determine his backup. Many observers at this point think USC may just settle for athletic but inexperienced redshirt freshman Corp. So much for Mustain's 8-0 record in SEC play!

With the expected arrival of No. 1 quarterback recruit Matt Barkley next year, things are looking bleak for Mustain if he can't even hold on to the No. 2 job. Heading to USC was a good choice for Mustain, away from a bad situation and onto a good and stable team. Unfortunately something appears to have gone horribly wrong in the process.

Ahhh, conspiracy theories. Their pattern is so simple: walk back from an unusual incident -- say, 9/11 or persistent arrests of South Carolina athletes -- and use loosely connected clues to piece together a crazy theory. One South Carolina administrator thinks he's onto something, and he's got the money quote of the week to prove it (emphasis mine).

In short, [Edward] Floyd believes some employees of the USC police force have a little too much orange in their blood.

"We have a guy investigating our athletes who has Tiger paws in his office," proclaimed Floyd in a not-so-subtle reference to Clemson, USC's bitter Palmetto State rival.

Floyd, a Florence surgeon who has donated millions of dollars to the USC athletic department and whose name graces the USC football administration building, did not identify the person he was referring to or his title or rank.

Ahhh, so it's Clemson's fault! Now I get it, that absolves the athletes of everything alleged against them. This wouldn't be a conspiracy without another piece of unsubstantiated evidence. Take it away, Mr. Floyd.

[T]here has been an attitude. . .there have been some allegations that I haven't totally (tracked) down of the police high-fiving when they catch an athlete," Floyd said.

Isn't that what happens in every police department, everywhere? Thin beer without actual, you know, proof. But hilarious.

Jarvis Jones. Name doesn't ring a bell for you? That's because the 6-7 offensive lineman has only been subbed in to play in seven games as a freshman. But by most accounts, he was likely to enjoy more playing time as a sophomore and had a promising career ahead of him at LSU.

Big fella, we hardly knew ye. Jones was dismissed by head coach Les Miles on Thursday for the usual "unspecified violation of team rules." Miles:

"The issues we had with Jarvis [Jones] were internal and ones that we dealt with within the framework of our team," Miles said in a news release. "However, we just felt like it was time to go in a different direction. We wish him well in any of his future endeavors."

Hopefully, this isn't a case of double standards at work in the LSU football program, but at first glance it's hard to escape that impression. Football prodigy Ryan Perilloux was given umpteen chances to straighten out his act before Miles finally dismissed him from the team during the spring. Apparently if you don't make the highlight reel, your opportunities to screw up are limited at LSU.

I haven't played organized athletics in quite a while. Don't get me wrong, I'll still get together with friends to play basketball, football, or baseball once in a while, but the last team I belonged to was in high school. I remember playing football back then, and every Friday before a game we would basically have a walk-through of Saturday's game-plan.

At the end of every Friday practice, before the team would "break it down" our coach would give us a little speech about that week's game. When he came to the end of this weekly speech, he would always tell us the same thing.

"Boys, no sex tonight."

Now what in the hell kind of thing is that to tell a 16-year old kid who is going to a party that night? Why the hell am I going to the party if I'm not allowed to have sex? Still, it's an axiom that has existed in sports for quite a while. In the movie Rocky, Rocky's trainer Mickey tells him not to have sex with ADRIAN(!!!) before his fight because "women weaken legs."

Since Mickey said it, the entire world believed it. I mean, you try looking into those eyes of his and not melting. It's impossible not to believe him. Well, unless you're a cold-hearted scientist or a doctor who refuses to believe things without actual proof.

I'd like to introduce you to the newest American hero, University of Kansas team physician Sean Cupp. Cupp believes he can prove what I spent many a Friday afternoon trying to convince my football coach was a bunch of bull.

In an embarrassingly predictable move, Kansas announced a raise and extension for head coach Mark Mangino today, locking the coach up through 2012 and upping his yearly salary to $2.3 milly.

Since this is Mark Mangino we're talking about, of course, Blogfrican bylaws stipulate that we must get the first fat joke in within word 70, and we're barely sneaking in under the deadline. TWO MILLION DOLLARS IS A LOT OF BACON LOL! Whew. Close one.

Of lesser concern, though, is the fact that Kansas is completely and totally investing in a coach with one (count 'em, one) season of great success against the Little Debbiest of cupcake schedules. Iowa inherits that mantle in 2008, and while their comically easy non-conf schedule includes "University of Twenty-Two Homeless People We Convinced To Stand In A Stadium For Two Hundred Minutes," they'll still find a way to screw up and go 7-5.

We digress. If Mangino is able to recreate any of his success from 2007, then $2.3 milly might be a bargain. At least until his agent finds out, of course. Then he'll just be another coach who's on the worst ethical side of the transaction, joining Kirk Ferentz and Dennis Erickson.

Oh, then next year he becomes just another coach. Gosh darn Mark Mangino and Gosh darn America!

/PG-13 Election'ed

The eternal question, isn't it? You know it's mostly going to be the same game, that it's going to have some infuriating bugs, that it is eventually going to break your spirit and leave you in the fetal position going "no, no, no." But... you're probably still going to buy it, junkie.

Well, if you can hold of the Fanhouse will be going full-force with a multi-party liveblog starting at 5 PM. Every Fanhouser that gets his sweaty paws on the game will be posting impressions of all sorts; if you couldn't resist, junkie, you can offer up your opinions as well. Interesting comments will be posted for general consumption.

For now, you can check Bill Abner's blog for advanced impressions. Abner's had the game for a couple weeks now and has been a busy man since. I've summarized Abner's posts on the home blog; Operation Sports also has an excellent "should you buy it" article that assembles the opinions of their message boarders with game in hand. The main points of all these things:

• there are major problems with roster editing, which could be a gamekilling bug for some
• gameplay is supposedly much more fun, though slanted heavily towards offense on default settings
• kick returns are stupidly easy
• EA is promising patches

The upshot: according to Operation Sports, "the reaction is cautiously positive."

Same as it ever was, eh?

Greg Schiano is a young, successful coach who's turned down offers from Miami and Michigan the past two years. Joe Paterno is a thousand years old and is widely rumored to be entering his final season as Penn State's head coach. Schiano was a Penn State defensive backs coach back before he came to prominence as Miami's defensive coordinator. Add it all up and...

Barring a last-minute power struggle or change of heart, the source indicated that this will be Paterno's last season in Happy Valley, and that Penn State would move quickly after Schiano at season's end.

That's an internet sportsmag called The Phanatic that covers the sports of Philadelphia and environs. Though few have heard of them, they seem to be a relatively up-and-up lot and do feature a couple hundred thousand hits on their site counter. Take or leave that as you please.

Penn State blogs naturally go "urk!?!" at mention of this since Schiano appears to be the only truly attractive option available to Penn State should this be Joe Paterno's last year of vaguely guiding actual Penn State head coach Tom Bradley, nominally the defensive coordinator.

Color this guy skeptical, since the Phanatic's article is explicitly couched in anonymity and vagueness. From appearances, coaching searches are always but always fiascoes. Even if the Phanatic's source is Graham Spanier himself, the situation will change a thousand times before a new Penn State coach is named.

Evidence? Last year during the Michigan coaching search a highly reliable tipster told me Michigan had come to an agreement with its new head coach: Greg Schiano.

University of Iowa police have issued arrest warrants for two former Hawkeye defensive backs in connection with an alleged sexual assault which took place on campus last October. Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield were both suspended by Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz on October 23.

Ferentz didn't explain at the time why Everson and Satterfield were suspended, but Internet rumors quickly centered on an incident much like what came to light when the warrants were announced yesterday. Both Satterfield and Everson are charged with second-degree sexual abuse. In Iowa, that means that the perpetrator displays a dangerous weapon in a threatening manner, or if the crime is aided by one or more persons. Satterfield is additionally charged with third-degree sexual abuse, which involves mental or physical incapacitation, physical helplessness, or a victim under the influence of a controlled substance.

Satterfield is denying his involvement. Everson has yet to comment. Ferentz isn't saying anything much, but he wants you to remember that Everson and Satterfield are both ex-Hawkeyes.

The Des Moines Register's Sean Keeler says this could be just the beginning of an ugly period in Hawkeye football history. It's hardly the beginning, from this fan's point of view, but Keeler says Ferentz himself could be in trouble.

There are two off seasons in college football. The one before spring games and the one after. The one before is bearable because at least there's news about recruiting and your teams big win in the BCS bowl is still fresh in your mind. For me anyway. The one after, however, is filled with long periods of boredom and sprinkles of athletes misbehaving.

And then there's stories of the Crimson Permanent Assurance corporate raiders otherwise known as BCS conferences raiding smaller conferences for their best teams. Only this time that story is in reverse as both Memphis and East Carolina are chomping at the bit to get into the Big East.

East Carolina desperately has wanted in to the Big East since the re-formatting a few years ago. They still want to find their way in. Even if just in football.

The Big East still won't bite. They don't have to. As much as it makes things difficult to schedule in football, even a provisional, part-time new member would likely upset the delicate balance with the basketball schools. Until the conference realizes it has to split, ECU has no chance

Memphis on the other hand, seems to be in top secret negotiations with the Big East. Even though Mike Tranghese has stated way too many times for me to count that it ain't gonna happen.

Ever since the Memphis Tigers got left behind in the Great Bum Rush to leave Conference USA-- also known as the Big East expansion in 2003-- Tiger fans have had one singular goal. To follow their old rivals from Louisville, and Cincinnati to the greener pastures of the Big East. And here's where it gets interesting. Sources have confirmed to FOX13 Sports that University of Memphis officials have been in serious talks with the Big East about joining the conference.

I tend to agree with Charles that there is no way that the Big East is going to move on any of this. East Carolina is a fine football program by Conference USA standards. But would they really bring anything to the table that doesn't already exist? The conference is already littered with programs that seem to be just on the threshold of breaking the top 25. What good would one more do? And if the Big East does split, is there anything else at East Carolina that is Big East worthy?

...I think. Does "snitching" imply veracity? I need a ruling from someone who watches more hip hop videos than I do.

St Bonaventure High School has a "recruiting coordinator" -- kind of odd for a high school to have, but whatever -- named Roger Sonsini. Or, rather, had. Sonsini had the ill fortune to say this in the aftermath of Darrell Scott's surprising decision to pick Colorado:

"Colorado came in on Friday and said and did something and offered something that Darrell and his mom couldn't pass up."

If this seems like a good way to lose your job, you win a prize:

Roger Sonsini, also an assistant coach at Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure High School, said he was terminated Friday but refused further comment.

Awww, you got fired. Now is the time to comment, comment like you're a guest on Jerry Springer. Comment like you're Maurice Clarett. Maybe the Scott family's retention of a lawyer who "who specializes in First Amendment law, defamation and civil litigation" has contributed to Sonsini's sudden reticence.