The Oklahoma Sooners never back down from a challenge. According to college football expert and ESPN Insider Phil Steele, the Sooners will play the second-toughest schedule in the nation this season. Only the Florida Gators have a tougher road. Oklahoma will face four ranked teams in 2013—No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 15 Texas and No. 20 TCU. Only one of those four games will be at home. With a new starting quarterback and the ...

Notre Dame has lost its biggest 2014 college football recruit, 4-star running back Elijah Hood.  Tom Loy of 247Sports' BlueGoldIllustrated tweeted the news and a link to his story, which is VIP:  In the report, Loy cited sources that said the distance from home was a "major factor" in the decision to decommit from Notre Dame for Hood.  Hood is from Charlotte, N.C., and plays for Charlotte Catholic High School. Per Loy's report, North Carolina "may" be the new ...

The Auburn Tigers have to put forth a string of fine performances during the month of September if they hope to make a statement during the 2013 campaign. With a number of key contests, including bouts against SEC powerhouses Mississippi State and LSU, Auburn will have to be dialed in and focused on delivering promising football early on.   September 7 vs. Arkansas State No doubt, one would expect Auburn to take care of business against Arkansas State ...

This 2013 season is the biggest of David Ash's career as quarterback of the Texas Longhorns. With the standard set at winning the Big 12, will he more closely resemble flop Garrett Gilbert or hero Colt McCoy? From a physical standpoint, Ash is certainly closer to a Gilbert look-alike. With each at around 6'3" and 220 pounds the two are nearly identical in size. Each also possesses a big right arm with which they love to stretch ...

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez told USA Today on Monday that no one in his athletic department has told him they were sorry to see head football coach Bret Bielema leave for Arkansas. Alvarez actually seems relieved that a coaching change was made.  "I've got to tell you," said athletics director and longtime Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who groomed Bielema to be his replacement, "and I'm not saying this negatively because Bret did a good job for us, ...

After an offseason spent battling Brandon Wilds for the starting job in South Carolina's backfield, sophomore Mike Davis has officially earned the nod for Week 1 against UNC. Josh Kendall of The State tweeted the news on Tuesday afternoon: Davis and fellow sophomore Wilds were listed as co-starters on the Gamecocks' preseason depth chart, and both will still see time in the backfield. But this decree is a sign that Steve Spurrier knows who his main guy is, ...

When the college basketball season begins next season, the gold standard of young coaches will no longer be around. That’s because Brad Stevens won’t be calmly pacing the sidelines at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the Butler Bulldogs. Instead, the 36-year-old Stevens will be leading the Boston Celtics and devising ways to stop LeBron James and Kevin Durant. While Stevens was regarded as the best young coach in college basketball, he certainly wasn’t the only talented coach. There are ...

"You're afraid of making mistakes. Don't be. Mistakes can be profited by. Man, when I was young I shoved my ignorance in people's faces. They beat me with sticks. By the time I was forty my blunt instrument had been honed to a fine cutting point for me. If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you'll never learn."         –Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 Bo Wallace led the nation with 17 interceptions last ...

Arguments over conference strength always seem to hold more sway in college football than college basketball because it is a factor in the computer formula that determines a national champion. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t important on the hardwood. The 2013-14 season brings some changes for the traditional leagues, and fans will be in for a treat when powerhouses like Syracuse and Duke battle for ACC supremacy and upstarts like Creighton and Xavier test their ...

The biggest question facing the 2013 Georgia Bulldogs is the effectiveness of a rebuilt defense that will be without linebackers Jarvis Jones and Alec Ogletree, defensive lineman John Jenkins, safeties Shawn Williams and Bacarri Rambo and cornerback Sanders Commings. Head coach Mark Richt is filling those holes with a talented group of youngsters who have tremendous upside but lack experience.  There's a problem brewing, though, since a lot of those replacements in the secondary are banged up ...