College Football Confidential

Staff stability: the key to consistency

Football coaches frequently cite staff stability as a key in building long-term success at major-college programs. As we put the wraps on the 2007 college football season, here’s a little chart that reinforces that premise. In the decade of the ‘Aughts’ (2000-2007), nine programs have won 10 or more games at least five times. Among those nine schools, seven have had their current head coach in place for at least seven consecutive seasons (Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, USC, Georgia, Ohio State and TCU). The only exceptions, LSU and Boise State, have been long-term winners under multiple coaches for more than a decade. Although assistants come and go, stability in college football is measured by how long the head football coach remains in power at his school. By and large, that is the secret to the success of the schools that have posted the most 10-win seasons from 2000-2007. In that eight-year stretch, these schools have earned at least a share of seven national championships. A school-by-school breakdown, with 10-win seasons and national titles won in the past eight years: Texas (7 seasons with 10 wins, 1 national title) Oklahoma (7 seasons with 10 wins, 1 national title) USC (6 seasons with 10 wins, 2 national titles) Virginia Tech (6 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) Boise State (6 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) LSU (5 seasons with 10 wins, 2 national titles) Ohio State (5 seasons with 10 wins, 1 national title) TCU (5 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) Georgia (5 seasons with 10 wins, no national titles) _ Jimmy Burch

Leach's true calling: NCAA football czar

There are days, like today, when Texas Tech coach Mike Leach seems to be in the wrong job. That doesn't mean he is falling short in his current duties. Far from it. Leach did a fine job this season of maximizing the available talent and getting the Red Raiders (8-4) into a Jan. 1 bowl.

But his forward-thinking approach to solving the annual BCS mess in college football is refreshing. Leach, a longtime playoff proponent, would be an ideal fit as the NCAA Football Czar -- the man in charge of cleaning up this BCS foolishness and getting a meaningful playoff system started. Like, tomorrow. With 64 teams, modeled after the Texas HS playoff system.

Leach says college football needs to go straight to a playoff system, rather than dabble with the "plus-one" model that college administrators mention as the next step needed to clear up the BCS' annual trainwreck the day its final standings are released that pair the top two teams in the BCS title game.

During this week's Big 12 coaches conference call, Leach called the plus-one proposal "a complete waste of time" and, once again, outlined how he would improve the current system. Short version: Trim the regular-season to 10 games, then give everyone a week off and seed the best 64 teams. Play it off from there. Those who drop out along the way can fill bowl slots. The two left standing in the title game will have earned their spot and will play their 16th games -- just like HS teams in Texas -- in the BCS title game.

Can such a system work? Sure. Why does Leach think so?

"Just the fact that it works at every other level of football," Leach said. "It works in high school, it works in Division 3, it works in Division 2,it works in Division 1-AA and it works in the NFL. To me, it's obvious."

Agreed. It's time to make Leach the NCAA Football Czar and give him total autonomy in solving the BCS'  annual mess. He's certainly the man with the plan that would appease the masses and get the best college football teams on the field in the season's biggest game.

-- Jimmy Burch

 

Backyard bawl for West Virginia?

The Backyard Brawl could be turning into a Backyard bawl for West Virginia.

The Mountaineers lost quarterback Patrick White to a broken hand midway through the second quarter.

Reserve QB Jarret Brown will need to rally West Virginia, which trails Pitt 10-7 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Ohio State wins ... what it means

Ohio State 14, Michigan 3 means that the Buckeyes are (once again) Big Ten Conference champions. A week after being upset by Illinois and losing its No. 1 ranking, Ohio State bounced back with a dominant victory in Ann Arbor.

The outcome means:

1. The Buckeyes are assured of (at least) a Rose Bowl bid.

2. The Big Ten will get only one team in the Bowl Championship Series. None of the other Big Ten teams are likely to qualify for an at-large bid (No. 14 ranking or higher in the final BCS standings).

3. BCS rules allow only two teams from each of the six BCS conferences. The four at-large teams must come from four of the six BCS conferences. The BCS conference commissioners will meet next week to discuss contingency plans. There are no BCS rules regarding how to resolve the possibility of not enough BCS at-large teams. In addition to the Big Ten, the ACC and the Big East might not have a team qualify for an at-large bid under BCS rules.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Aloha means BCS?

In a game that ended at about 1:45 a.m. CST Saturday, Hawaii kept its record perfect and its BCS hopes alive with a 38-26 Western Athletic Conference victory at Nevada. The Warriors have home games remaining with Boise State and Washington.

Hawaii is No.16 in the Bowl Championship Series standings and needs to get to No. 12 in the final standings to automatically qualify for a BCS bowl invitation.

When the human polls come out Sunday, it will be interesting to see how the voters react to Hawaii's narrow victory. It was the third WAC road game where the Warriors needed late-game heroics to win. On the flip side, Hawaii won the game despite being without its signature player.

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, who suffered a concussion in the Warriors' previous game, was in for just two plays. He completed both passes he attempted before giving way to backup Tyler Graunke. Brennan remains tied with BYU's Ty Detmer for the most career touchdown passes (121) in Divsion I-A history.

Graunke was 33 of 46 for 358 yards and two TDs. He also ran for a touchdown. On the Warriors' drive that led to Dan Kelly's game-winning 45 yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining, Graunke completed seven passes for 61 yards.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Oregon goes down

The final from Tucson Thursday night: Arizona 34, No. 2 Oregon 24 in a game that ended at 11:53. That noise you might have heard as you were trying to get to sleep was the cheering in Lawrence, Norman, Columbia and Morgantown.

The Ducks became the fifth No. 2 team to lose since Oct. 6 (and all five lost to unranked teams). Oregon's loss came five days after top-ranked Ohio State lost to unranked Illinois.

Oregon's loss means that there's a spot open in the top two of the Bowl Championship Series standings. The opportunity is there for No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Missouri and No. 6 West Virginia. But before any of those teams start making reservations for New Orleans, there are games to be played Saturday.

No. 1 LSU is at Ole Miss. No. 3 Kansas plays Iowa State. No. 4 Oklahoma is at Texas Tech. No. 5 Missouri is at Kansas State. No. 6 West Virginia is at No. 21 Cincinnati. That's four road games. That's four unranked opponents.

Here's the late-night prediction: One of those teams is going to get caught peeking at the future and will suffer the same upset fate as Oregon.

-- Wendell Barnhouse

Time to Duck ... again

I got home from my son's basketball practice about 9:25 p.m. and flipped on the Mitsubishi and tuned in to ESPN. After a commercial, the Oregon-Arizona game resumed and the score was flashed ... Arizona 31, Oregon 11 late in the second quarter.

Heisman Trophy leading candidate Dennis Dixon is done for the night with a knee injury. If the score holds up, the national championship game opens up for the Big 12 -- Kansas, Oklahoma or Missouri.

Strange? Yeah. But it's not that big a surprise. For Oregon, this was a trap game. No. 2 ranking, road game, Thursday night national telecast, facing a team on a roll celebrating Senior Night.

Check back after the game for an assessment of what an Oregon loss means.

-- Wendell Barnhouse