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Boise State president Bob Kustra was beating the conference expansion drums again last week, publicly re-confirming his hope that the Broncos can leave the WAC and join the Mountain West Conference.

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret Morning News looks at Boise State and says not so fast my friends. After all, conference expansion is all about TV markets.

Conference expansion is driven by television. It’s not fair and I would argue that it’s not right but it’s a fact.

The SEC expanded to 12 teams and signed a separate TV contract with CBS. The Big Eight became the Big 12 so that it could add all those TV sets in Texas and demand a whole lot more money from various TV networks which it did.

…

In terms of television, Boise has very little to bring to the table. It’s the No. 119 TV market (measured by number of homes). It’s only 29 percent the size of the Salt Lake TV market. Of the current nine teams in the MWC, only Wyoming has fewer TV households.

Ouch. I can’t vouch for Pierce’s research on TV markets, but… last time I checked… well, let’s just say Boise is not in the top 20. Agreed?

The MWC is already bought & tied into a television agreement with CSTV through 2013 (aka the “.mtn”). Any deal before that 2013 expiration would either have to cut the new team out of the revenue completely as an “introductory period”, or the nine Mountain West members would have to agree to cutting the revenues they are receiving so as to share with their new stable mate.

I wouldn’t hold my breath, Boise State.

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Sure… football players get in to a little trouble with the law now and then, but are they upholding their school’s tradition of getting tasered the way Florida State linebacker Geno Hayes was last night? I don’t think so.

An altercation with police took place at a bar on College Ave. in Tallahassee, where Geno Hayes and Joe Surratt were arrested.

Police had to use a taser on Hayes in order to subdue him. Surratt attempted to intervene, and was told to remove himsef from the situation. He would not and continued the altercation with TPD.

While details are sketchy, Hayes was asked to leave a bar at 1:45a and tried to re-enter. Security barred him from returning and a scuffle ensued. Surratt attempted to come to Hayes’ aid, and both players were subdued by TPD. There have been rumors that Hayes was fighting an entire “circle” of guys who were trying to keep him from re-entering the bar.

While Surratt didn’t bow up enough to get the juice, Hayes becomes the second FSU linebacker to be tasered in the past couple years. (LB AJ Nicholson got the juice from the Tallahassee PD in June 2005.)

Surratt’s will be charged with disorderly conduct, battery on an officer, and resisting an officer without violence. Hayes will be charged with assault, resisting without violence, and disturbing the peace.

Both players have been suspended by Florida State pending further investigation.

No word yet as to their future with the Seminole football team, but it does appear that Hayes is being charged with misdemeanor offenses. Per the FSU athletic policy, misdemeanors are generally handled by the Seminole coaching staff, with approval from the Director of Athletics.

It appears that Surratt is being charged with at least one felony offense - battery on a law enforecement officer (Florida statute 784.07(2)(B)), so his days at FSU are probably over.

Odd that Hayes would get the misdemeanor, and yet was tasered? I know he’s built like a bulldog, but just seems a little… inconsistent, unless he went after an officer because of Hayes being tasered. ((Pure speculation on my part))

Reports from Tallahassee have the Seminoles considering doing away with the flaming spear, instead opting to give Chief Osceola a taser which he would fire at midfield during pregame.

UPDATE

The Orlando Sentinel blog has the Tallahassee Police Department’s incident report from the arrest.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE INCIDENT ACCORDING TO THE TALLAHASSEE POLICE DEPARTMENT:

“This morning, at approximately 1:45AM, officers from the Tallahassee Police Department were conducting a directed patrol in an effort to detect possible underage drinking at 459 West College Avenue (Potbelly’s).

The officers were across the street from Potbelly’s, when they observed a black male, not wearing a shirt, screaming profanities and waving his hands wildly. The black male was later identified as Eugene “Geno” Hayes.

Hayes appeared to be attempting to enter the establishment while other males attempted to restrain him. Officers Michael Malafronte and Michael Petroczky walked across the street in an attempt to determine why Hayes was so upset. An employee of Potbelly’s explained that Hayes was involved in an altercation inside the bar and that Hayes’ friends were attempting to escort him home.

Officer Malafronte made contact with Hayes in an effort to calm him down and regain order. Officer Malafronte was wearing a department approved vest carrier with the word “POLICE” printed on the front in 3″ letters. Officer Malafronte asked Hayes to calm down and Hayes reportedly responded with profane language and became aggressive toward the officer.

Hayes was again restrained by his friends, but he continually attempted to defeat their efforts. Officer Malafronte explained to Hayes that he would be subject to arrest if he did not leave. Hayes eventually broke free from his friends and began running toward Officer Malafronte. Hayes’ fists were clinched as he ran toward Officer Malafronte yelling, “I’m going to get your (expletive deleted)” Officer Malafronte pointed his Taser at Hayes in an attempt to stop Hayes’ aggressive action.

Hayes was again pulled away by his friends, Officer Malafronte explained that Hayes was now going to be arrested due to his hostile actions. Officer Petroczky was standing next to Officer Malafronte during the above events and attempted to escort Hayes away from the crowd and arrest him.

Hayes reportedly tensed and attempted to pull away and defeat the arrest. Officer Petroczky took Hayes to the ground and attempted to handcuff Hayes, but Hayes began to resist and attempted to stand up. Officer Malafronte observed the resistance and deployed his Taser to gain compliance.

Officer Petroczky attempted to handcuff Hayes when Joseph Surratt, who was part of the group with Hayes, ran towards Officer Petroczky.

Surratt was told several times to “Back up” because the officers believed Surratt would interfere with the arrest. Surratt did not comply and Officer Petroczky shoved Surratt back, causing Surratt to fall. Officer Petroczky attempted to arrest Surratt and was struck by Surratt during the arrest.

Eventually, both Hayes and Surratt were arrested. Officer Petroczky received a cut inside his lower lip as a result of Surratt’s resistance, but no other injures were reported.”

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The Blue-Gray Sky points out the fallacy of Notre Dame’s latest marketing plan - having Addidas pass out rally towels ahead of this week’s Michigan State game.

Adidas is giving out 75,000 white towels on Saturday for Charlie Weis’ charity, Hannah & Friends, and the official Notre Dame Web site, UND.com.

The towels, given out on a first-come, first-serve basis, will read “Tradition Never Graduates — Notre Dame Football.”

So… Irish fans are going to be wearing the green team shirt and waving white rally towels, against a team who’s cheer is “Go Green! Go White!”???

Of course, the way the Irish are playing… maybe the Irish fans are ready to cheer for the Spartans??

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FSU backup Xavier Lee — a former Mr. Football in Florida as a high school senior — isn’t complaining about his role for the Seminoles this season, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an opinion. Lee is letting his father do the talking, and… boy is he ever.

“I don’t have nothing against Drew Weatherford,” Willie Lee said this week, speaking about FSU’s starting quarterback. “He’s a great kid — he’s just been given more of an opportunity than Xavier has been given.

“I don’t understand what’s going on.”

…

His dad described him as “very, very sad,” after the UAB game.

“He’s just waiting,” Willie Lee said. “He knows he can do it, but he’s not worried about it for some reason.”

Lee’s father says that he had convinced XL to transfer to Bethune-Cookman during the offseason, where the elder Lee had played, but two hours with new Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher convinced the Lees that XL would have a role in the FSU offense this season.

FSU coach Bobby Bowden says that he understands the elder Lee’s concerns.

When Bowden was told Tuesday of Willie Lee’s frustrations, the coach said, “Any parent would [complain]. Parents would naturally do it. But they’re not up here watching practice every day and seeing what the coaches see. You can’t blame the parents.”

But, after the Seminoles lackluster performance against Colorado, OC Jimbo Fisher indicated that things may be changing in the FSU lineup.

“That’s the most inept ridiculous demonstration of football I’ve been around in my life,” the offensive coordinator said. “If I’m an offensive player, I’m embarrassed to say I’m a part of this. We are going to find a way to fix it. We’re going to find 11 guys who want to do it. So starting Tuesday, when we get back, I promise you …”

Fisher’s mood was getting angrier. His voice was getting louder. For weeks he has given his offense some rope, citing its youth and preaching patience.

Now he was ready to hang his players.

“We’re going to find out who wants to play football next week,” he said. “Everything’s always open. The best players … if they ain’t performing, we’ll find somebody who does. We’re going to find 11 football players who actually want to play, I promise you.”

So does that meet Xavier Lee might get another shot at starting for the Seminoles?

“The quarterback gets all the glory and all the blame, just like the coaches do,” Fisher said. “It’s all part of it and it all starts with him and works its way down. I mean it is everybody.”

In an interview posted on Monday, Fisher indicated to Warchant that Lee was getting the bulk of the snaps not going to Weatherford, although he did not want to tip his hand as to how Lee might be utilized going forward.

I feel for Xavier Lee, I really do. He set just about every QB record in the state of Florida while in high school, yet he has rarely seen anything beyond mop up duty while at Florida State. When he was given the chance to start, he was really, really solid. And the rest of the time, well, he’s just been riding the pine.

While I wouldn’t fault XL for leaving the Noles, as a redshirt junior, he really has very little opportunity left to make an impact elsewhere. So, for better or worse, Lee’s future is in the hands of Fisher, Bowden, Weatherford and… to some degree, Lee himself.

XL is not beating out Weatherford in practice, by all accounts, so there’s really no legitimate argument as to why he should see the field ahead of Weatherford as the “starter”, per se. But there’s no reason that FSU shouldn’t give Lee a 10-15 play package that utilizes his extraordinary talents as a game-changer… a la the way in which Meyer used Tebow’s unique talents to compliment Chris Leak last season at Florida.

It’s time to see XL on the field more, dadgummit.

Hat Tip: Fanblogs own Gatorhippy

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Things are looking pretty bleak for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. Let’s go through the list:

Notre Dame is ranked #119 in rushing. (Dead last in college football)

Notre Dame is ranked #119 in total offense. (Dead last in college football)

Notre Dame is ranked #119 in scoring offense. (Dead last in college football)

Notre Dame is ranked #115 in passing offense. (Fourth worst in college football)

Notre Dame is ranked #119 in sacks allowed. (Dead last in college football)

Notre Dame has lost its last five games by more than 20 points each game.

If Coach Weis, as I will remind you, said this is not a rebuilding year. So… what is it exactly? Has Ty’s talent graduated?

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Isn’t there an old saying… “It’s better for everyone to think that you’re an idiot than to open your mouth and prove them right”?

Someone should impart that on Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden, who gave a long distance slap to Lloyd Carr and the Michigan Wolverines following CU’s lackluster performance against Furman.

Furman recovered two onside kicks, passed for more yards (384-377), held the Tigers to just 60 yards rushing and recorded five sacks.

Bowden was a little perturbed at the questioning of a 28-point win and spun it back at the Wolverines.

“We won. That’s not something Lloyd Carr can say,” Bowden said to reporters after the game.

Ah, yes. The old deflect & duck defense. Classy, classy, classy.

At least the Detroit Free Press had the stones to retort.

Guess all those Peach Bowl appearances have gone to Clemson coach Tommy Bowden’s head.

Hat Tip: Senator Blutarsky

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From the message board meltdown in progress at Bruins Nation, it’s the Fire Karl Dorrell Drinking game!

Use whatever beverage you like, but please stay away from the kool-aid.

Take a drink anytime any of the following happens:
* Dorrell appears on screen and he’s not doing sh_t (drink twice if he has anything stuffed down his pants).
* You shake your head in dismay, bury your head in your hands or yell at the screen because of the game.
* Our opponent breaks off a 30+ yard play against Walker’s impregnable defense.
* Run-Run-Pass successfully ends in a three and out. Try not to cry.
* One of our tailbacks slams into a clusterf_ck of linemen for no gain.
* If you happen to be watching GameDay and Corso and Herbstreit pick against us, take a shot.
* We kick a field goal.
* You see a shirt or sign critical of Dorrell in the broadcast.
* An announcer mentions “the hotseat.”

Finish what you have in front of you if:
* Dorrell is shown literally turning a corner.
* Karl Dorrell says we have to “execute better” or makes some other inane comment going into the locker at half.
* You start thinking Dorrell might not be that bad after all. You should know better by now.

It’s a long season, Bruin fans. Better pace yourselves.

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It is three weeks into the seasons so let’s take an early look at this year’s prospective BCS Busters.

In alphabetical order by conference, here are the three undefeated non-BCS teams.

C-USA: Tulsa
While a win against UL-Monroe is not unexpected, a win against BYU is a little more surprising. One thing is certain, with Oklahoma up next week we will see shortly how good this team really is.

MWC: Air Force
Two conference games under their belt and they have defeated two of the MWC preseason top three, in Utah and TCU. They visit the third, BYU, next week and have a chance to earn a decided upper hand in the conference race. The conference might end up coming down to the October 20th match up with Wyoming. With only Army, Navy and Notre Dame as non conference games they may not get much more opportunity to prove themselves.

WAC: Hawaii
With impressive wins over unimpressive teams Hawaii is the only ranked non BCS team, mostly from a preseason buzz. Boise State and Fresno State still will challenge then for the conference title, and the finally with Washington may be their biggest test of the season.

One Loss to a ranked or undefeated opponent:
C-USA:
UCF with a three point loss to #5 Texas UCF had South Florida and some top conference teams to prove the competitiveness with Texas was not a fluke.

Houston gave undefeated Oregon their most competitive game yet this year. Better than Michigan or Fresno State. The October 6th trip to Alabama will be their next test.

MAC:
Ohio’s loss to Virginia Tech sets up next week’s game at Wyoming. Although Wyoming won’t make this list I have them on the bubble.

All of a sudden Kent State’s loss to Kentucky is not looking so bad. A good showing at the October 13th game at Ohio State might get them into a BCS Bowl.

Sun Belt (The only 1-A conference with no feed at fanblogs):
Arkansas State’s 6 point loss to Texas sets up next week’s game at Tennessee as a measuring stick for this Sun Belt hopeful.

(Two mentions of Texas in this article and a mediocre game against TCU might make one suspect maybe Texas isn’t as good as some think they are.)

Where are they?
BYU, TCU, Boise State and Fresno State were supposed to be here. These teams have been knocked out by the teams above or the BCS teams they have played or both. Any given Saturday any team might win. Just look at Utah.

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Week three college football polls for the 2007 season through September 16, 2007.

Associated Press College Football Top 25 Poll
1. USC (46) 2-0 1,605
2. LSU (19) 3-0 1,577
3. Florida 3-0 1,437
4. Oklahoma 3-0 1,434
5. West Virginia 3-0 1,388
6. California 3-0 1,232
7. Texas 3-0 1,169
8. Ohio State 3-0 1,142
9. Wisconsin 3-0 1,111
10. Penn State 3-0 1,041
11. Rutgers 3-0 956
12. South Carolina 3-0 814
13. Oregon 3-0 810
14. Boston College 3-0 792
15. Clemson 3-0 615
16. Alabama 3-0 516
17. Virginia Tech 2-1 458
18. Louisville 2-1 367
19. Hawaii 3-0 343
20. Texas A&M 3-0 342
21. Kentucky 3-0 338
22. Georgia 2-1 333
23. South Florida 2-0 285
24. Nebraska 2-1 277
25. Missouri 3-0 228
Others Receiving Votes
Arkansas 179, Georgia Tech 128, Arizona State 69, Cincinnati 53, UCLA 41, Texas Tech 16, Air Force 8, Purdue 6, Appalachian State 5, Florida State 5, Washington 2, Tulsa 1, Kansas 1, Michigan State 1.
Dropped From Rankings
UCLA 11, Georgia Tech 15, Arkansas 16, Tennessee 22.

USA Today College Football Coaches Poll
1. USC (44) 2-0 1,478
2. LSU (8) 3-0 1,438
3. Florida (7) 3-0 1,368
4. Oklahoma (1) 3-0 1,308
5. West Virginia 3-0 1,244
6. Texas 3-0 1,103
7. Wisconsin 3-0 1,098
8. California 3-0 1,093
9. Ohio State 3-0 1,062
10. Penn State 3-0 942
11. Rutgers 3-0 863
12. Boston College 3-0 754
13. Oregon 3-0 702
14. Clemson 3-0 595
14. South Carolina 3-0 595
16. Texas A&M 3-0 530
17. Virginia Tech 2-1 485
18. Hawaii 3-0 404
19. Louisville 2-1 383
20. Alabama 3-0 345
21. Georgia 2-1 271
22. Nebraska 2-1 228
23. Kentucky 3-0 168
24. South Florida 2-0 165
25. Missouri 3-0 145
Others Receiving Votes
Arkansas 143, Georgia Tech 143, Texas Tech 142, UCLA 122, Arizona State 67, Purdue 40, MICHIGANST 21, Cincinnati 20, Boise State 14, Florida State 7, Air Force 6, Tennessee 4, Washington 4.
Dropped From Rankings
UCLA 11, Georgia Tech 15, Arkansas 16, Tennessee 24.

Master Coaches Poll
1. Southern Cal (tie)
1. LSU (tie)
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. California
7. Wisconsin
8. Penn State (tie)
8. Ohio State (tie)
10. Oregon
11. Texas
12. Boston College
13. Rutgers
14. Clemson
15. South Carolina
16. Alabama
17. Virginia Tech
18. Texas A&M
19. Georgia
20. Arkansas
21. Hawaii
22. Louisville
23. Georgia Tech
24. South Florida
25. Nebraska
Other teams receiving votes … Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan State, Arizona State, Texas Tech, UCLA, Florida State, Cincinnati, Purdue, and Washington

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The UCLA Bruins fans are in full-on meltdown mode. And - while we’ve seen this before - it looks like everyone is jumping from the coach Karl Dorrell ship following a brutally embarrassing 44-6 whipping at the hands of unranked, winless Utah.

UCLA entered the game ranked #11 in the nation. The leave the game with fans looking ahead to basketball season.

The Bruins failed to score a touchdown for the first time in four years and were outscored 30-0 in the second half. Utah entered the game winless with losses to Oregon State and Air Force.

Utah running back Darrell said the Bruins were overrated. It might have been an understatement.

“That last touchdown drive they came out on the field and they were whining and crying. And we just kept driving the ball down the field. They lost their composure. They had to be thinking they were going to win the game going in. That’s the wrong thing to think about us. . . . That’s an overrated team.”

Meanwhile, over at Bruins Nation, the house is burning.

Is this program one iota better than it was on the day it got punked at Colorado in Dorrell’s very first game?

After all the coaching changes, after all the recruiting of Dorrell’s guys, after all the improvement in strength and conditioning, after the entire underbelly got fixed (that’s a f***ing huge LOL!!!) … is UCLA one bit better than it was that sad day in Boulder?

And more from Bruins Nation.

I don’t think there is any doubt as bad as the losses against Fresno State, Wyoming, Arizona (05), 19-66, Washington, Notre Dame, and Florida State, this is the WORST LOSS in the history of Dorrell era and possibly one of the WORST FIVE LOSESS in the history of UCLA football.

Seriously though?

Are any of us who have been around this Nation really all that surprised?

How many more Saturdays do I have to feel sick in my stomach every time I watch a UCLA football game?

How many more Saturdays do I have to watch our opponent’s football team look like the one that is always more inspired, fired up, and focused when taking on my alma mater’s program?

Just how many more Saturdays we are going to have to put up with a total CLOWN making a mockery out of our beloved football program?

How many more Saturdays will Dan Guerrerro allow this worthless CLOWN to sully the proud tradition of our alma mater’s football program as the laughing stock of college football.

One silver lining to the latest Dorrellian special: we didn’t have to wait till the end of the season (like we did in 2005) to be humiliated and exposed as a worthless paper tiger.

And it’s not just Bruins Nation, the entire city of LA is burning. Chris Dufresne, of the LA Times, has this:

What if limp-along Utah, playing with its backup quarterback, backup running back, backup receiver, backup guard and probably its backup equipment man, didn’t care that UCLA was ranked No. 11 and had 20 starters back from the team that beat USC last season?

What if?

Shoot, it all came to pass, run and tackle, sure as UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell walked off the field escorted by two police officers into the early sunset of a soured season.

It will be remembered by Bruins fans as the Wipeout at Wasatch.

Rice-Eccles Stadium can now boast of hosting the opening ceremony for the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2007 closing ceremony for UCLA.

The LA Daily News attempts to determine which UCLA loss has been the most embarrassing during the Karl Dorrell years, and then just gives up.

Even the players don’t know how to sum up the feeling.

“This is the most sickening feeling I’ve ever had as a college football player, to tell you the truth,” UCLA fifth-year senior defensive end Bruce Davis said. “We got the fans running out there, dancing on the field. We can hear (Utah celebrating) next door.

…

“It can’t get worse than this,” Bruins cornerback Trey Brown said. “It’s one thing to go out there and fight, but it’s another to kick your (butt) kicked up and down the field.”

So… to sum up… no one that follows UCLA is happy.

If Dorrell has any sense of dignity and self respect left he would resign and let this charade end this week.

GO BRUINS.

PS: DeWayne Walker is a farce. He is an overhyped clown. So stop the nonsense of him taking over as an interim coach before you think about typing it. The entire KD staff is a sick charade.

Wow.

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