Archive for January, 2017

B/R CFB 150: Top 18 Specialists and Returners

Posted by Bleacher Report College Football Staff on January 20 2017 Add Comments
Bleacher Report's CFB 150 is an annual ranking of the best players in college football, regardless of NFL potential. Authors David Kenyon, Brian Pedersen and Barrett Sallee have studied, ranked and graded the top athletes in the country, narrowed that list down and sorted by position. Today, Kenyon presents the top six kickers, punters and returners. Other CFB 150 Positions Quarterbacks Cornerbacks Safeties Tight Ends Linebackers Running Backs Offensive Linemen Place-kickers are the easiest to judge. While process matters, the end result is what's ...

NCAA Bans Offseason Out-of-State Practices: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

Posted by Mike Chiari on January 20 2017 Add Comments
The NCAA voted to ban offseason college football practices that are out of state Friday.  According to Dan Wolken of USA Today, 58 of 80 votes at the autonomy session were in favor of banning off-campus practices during the vacation period after championship season. Per ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman, all five conferences that voted were in favor of the ban. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel was among those who were against the ban, and he voiced his opinion at the meeting, ...

Alabama’s Push Toward No. 1 Class Begins with Monster Visit Weekend

Posted by Sanjay Kirpalani on January 20 2017 Add Comments
With less than two weeks remaining until national signing day, it’s not surprising to see Alabama as the program that holds the inside track to finish with the No. 1 class in the 2017 recruiting haul.The Crimson Tide sit comfortably atop the Scout.com team rankings, and they will aim to put the finishing touches on a loaded class this weekend when they host a talented group of visitors on campus. According to 247Sports, six commitments from ...

Adam Kramer’s College Football Notebook: Complete 2017 Offseason Preview

Posted by Adam Kramer on January 19 2017 Add Comments
It comes quickly, doesn’t it? The end doesn’t just slosh along. It sneaks up on us as we’re fully immersed in those final, tense moments. Then, suddenly, it appears. And so here we are, smack-dab at the beginning of those dreaded words: college football offseason. Truth is, the term “offseason” no longer seems appropriate for a sport that has calendar-ized itself rather brilliantly. There is always recruiting for those who live and breathe such things—and many of ...

Mike Leach Criticizes State of Offenses in SEC

Posted by Adam Wells on January 19 2017 Add Comments
The SEC has been regarded as the best football conference in the country for the past decade, though last season, it did show cracks in the foundation, even as Alabama was one second away from winning its fifth national title since 2009. It's a conference built primarily on dominant defenses, like Alabama, LSU and Florida, with vanilla offenses that do just enough to not lose games.  Washington State head coach Mike Leach, who spent two seasons as ...

Luke Del Rio Injury: Updates on Florida QB’s Recovery from Shoulder Surgery

Posted by Joe Pantorno on January 19 2017 Add Comments
University of Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio suffered a shoulder injury that held him out of the Gators' final five games of the year. Continue for updates. Latest on Del Rio's Status Thursday, Jan. 19 On Thursday, the school announced Del Rio had successful shoulder surgery and will miss spring camp, according to Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel. Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun confirmed Thompson's reports. It was an inconsistent and injury-riddled sophomore season for Del Rio, who passed for 1,358 ...

Charlie Strong Says He ‘Let Down’ African-American Coaches After Texas Firing

Posted by Adam Wells on January 19 2017 Add Comments
Charlie Strong's tenure as head football coach at the University of Texas was a letdown, leading to his firing after the 2016 season.  Beyond his own disappointment with posting three straight losing seasons with the Longhorns, Strong told Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports another reason he was unhappy with his performance. "When you’re the first minority coach at a major university like that, you feel like there’s so many people counting on you," he said. "I got ...

Ranking the Most Unforgivable Losses in the 2016-17 College Basketball Season

Posted by Jake Curtis on January 19 2017 Add Comments
Every loss is disappointing, but some defeats are more difficult to accept than others. Occasionally, there are losses that just gnaw at players, coaches and fans for the rest of the season, sometimes longer. Fans can't forgive their team, and players and coaches can't forgive themselves for failing to win a particular game. There are different types of unforgivable losses in college basketball. Losing to a clearly inferior team often can be deemed unforgivable. But other ...

Why the Idea of Perfection Is Folly in the College Football Playoff Era

Posted by Christopher Walsh on January 19 2017 Add Comments
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — He was at the pinnacle of his career. Dabo Swinney, the self-described former "crawl-on" as a player, was on top of the college football world, having won Clemson's first national championship since 1981. But even during his moment of triumph, the head coach knew that while the accomplishment was life-changing, the moment would be fleeting. "You never arrive," Swinney said during Clemson's press conference the morning after defeating Alabama 35-31 in Tampa, Florida. "You're always ...

B/R CFB 150: Top 25 Offensive Linemen

Posted by Bleacher Report College Football Staff on January 19 2017 Add Comments
Bleacher Report's CFB 150 is an annual ranking of the game's best players, regardless of NFL potential. Authors David Kenyon, Brian Pedersen and Barrett Sallee have studied, ranked and graded the top athletes in the country, narrowed that list and sorted by position. Here, Pedersen presents the top 25 offensive linemen. Other CFB 150 Positions Quarterbacks Cornerbacks Safeties Tight Ends Linebackers Running Backs Players in this group deserve praise as much as anyone in college football. The problem is, we usually only hear their ...