SOX & Dawgs - Tidbits From the College Gridiron

Ah yes, the end of the regular season in college football is almost upon us and that means two things. One, teams find out their bowl assignments if eligible. Two, if you’re a head coach whose team didn’t quite perform up to expectations, you might be looking for a job right now.

Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron was one of the casualties as his squad went 3-9 and 0-8 in the SEC. It was the first time in 25 years that the Rebels didn’t win a game in the SEC. In his 3 years, he was 10-25.

Don’t worry though Ole Miss fans, the job has already been filled. Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt resigned from his post with the Razorbacks and was immediately offered and accepted the Ole Miss job. Nutt’s squad finished the season 8-4, which included an upset of then #1 LSU last weekend.

Nebraska interim AD Tom Osborne canned their head coach Bill Callahan after four seasons at the helm. Callahan was 27-22 in his four seasons, including 5-7 this year. His season ended with an embarrassing 65-51 loss to Colorado.

Dennis Franchione stepped down from his post at Texas A&M after a tumultuous five years. He finished 32-28 in his five years. The Aggies have already replaced him with Mike Sherman, the former coach of the Green Bay Packers. Sherman had been an assistant coach at A&M before heading to the Packers to be an assistant in 1996. He is currently an assistant coach with the Houston Texans. Sherman will finish out the season in Houston before heading to College Station.

We all know Lloyd Carr stepped down from Michigan a few weeks ago but here are some other coaches who have left or been fired.

  • Chan Gailey, Georgia Tech
  • Guy Morriss, Baylor
  • Sonny Lubick, Colorado State
  • Ted Roof, Duke
  • Joe Novak, Northern Illinois
  • Phil Bennett, SMU
  • Jeff Bower, Southern Miss
  • Bill Doba, Washington State

Bowl selection is starting and a few teams have already accepted invites.

Navy is heading to the Poinsetta Bowl in San Diego, Memphis is heading to the New Orleans Bowl, Southern Miss will be heading to the PapaJohns.com Bowl to face a team from the Big East, Houston will be staying home and playing in the Texas Bowl, my UConn Huskies accepted a bid yesterday to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl and South Florida is heading to the Brut Sun Bowl. Those are the teams that have already accepted bowl invites so far.

BCS Standings AP Top 25 USA Today Poll
1. Missouri 11-1 1. Missouri (45) 11-1 1,604 1. West Virginia (37) 10-1 1,467
2. West Virginia 10-1 2. West Virginia (20) 10-1 1,574 2. Missouri (17) 11-1 1,454
3. Ohio State 11-1 3. Ohio State 11-1 1,469 3. Ohio State (6) 11-1 1,383
4. Georgia 10-2 4. Georgia 10-2 1,354 4. Georgia 10-2 1,232
5. Kansas 11-1 5. LSU 10-2 1,269 5. Kansas 11-1 1,161
6. Virginia Tech 10-2 6. Virginia Tech 10-2 1,266 5. Virginia Tech 10-2 1,161
7. LSU 10-2 7. Kansas 11-1 1,217 7. LSU 10-2 1,134
8. USC 9-2 8. USC 9-2 1,212 8. Oklahoma 10-2 1,126
9. Oklahoma 10-2 9. Oklahoma 10-2 1,191 9. USC 9-2 1,073
10. Florida 9-3 10. Florida 9-3 1,029 10. Hawaii 11-0 958
11. Boston College 10-2 11. Hawaii 11-0 991 11. Florida 9-3 898
12. Hawaii 11-0 12. Boston College 10-2 909 12. Boston College 10-2 861
13. Arizona State 9-2 13. Arizona State 9-2 826 13. Arizona State 9-2 756
14. Tennessee 9-3 14. Tennessee 9-3 746 14. Illinois 9-3 674
15. Illinois 9-3 15. Illinois 9-3 719 15. Tennessee 9-3 654
16. Clemson 9-3 16. Clemson 9-3 553 16. Wisconsin 9-3 493
17. Oregon 8-3 17. Texas 9-3 435 17. Clemson 9-3 469
18. Wisconsin 9-3 18. Oregon 8-3 419 18. Texas 9-3 417
19. BYU 9-2 19. Wisconsin 9-3 398 19. Brigham Young 9-2 327
20. Texas 9-3 20. Cincinnati 9-3 343 20. Oregon 8-3 316
21. South Florida 9-3 21. Brigham Young 9-2 329 21. Auburn 8-4 271
22. Virginia 9-3 22. Virginia 9-3 288 21. Virginia 9-3 271
23. Cincinnati 9-3 23. Auburn 8-4 226 23. Boise State 10-2 247
24. Auburn 8-4 24. Boise State 10-2 197 24. Cincinnati 9-3 146
25. Boise State 10-2 25. South Florida 9-3 190 25. Arkansas 8-4 145
  Others Receiving Votes Others Receiving Votes
  Arkansas 138, Texas Tech 119, Connecticut 41, Michigan 19, Air Force 19, Kentucky 13, UCF 11, Oregon State 5, TROY 3, Tulsa 1, Wake Forest 1, Penn State 1. Texas Tech 116, South Florida 100, Connecticut 54, Air Force 31, Penn State 19, UCF 18, Michigan 17, Wake Forest 7, Rutgers 6, Mississippi State 4, Oklahoma State 4, Michigan State 3, TROY 3, Tulsa 2, Houston 2, Fresno State 1.
  Dropped From Rankings Dropped From Rankings
  Connecticut 20. Connecticut 21, Texas Tech 24.