The Big House will be getting a face-lift as luxury boxes and more seats are going to be added to the already mammoth stadium. The $226 million dollar project that is slated to be done in 2010 will increase the capacity by 750 to 108,251. There will be 83 indoor seats and 3200 outdoor club seats added along with increasing the width of the seats and the aisles. Personally I think this is a great move for Michigan. I had the opportunity to go see a game at Michigan Stadium last year and it was the most uncomfortable place I have ever watched a sporting event. The seats were so small that people had to turn sideways so that you were not right up against the person next to you.

The Minnesota House-Senate conferees agreed late Friday to help finance a on-campus football stadium for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. According to the Star Tribune, the state would make 25 annual payments of $10.25 million each beginning in 2007 to help cover the university’s debt service on a 50,000-seat open-air stadium costing an estimated $248 million. The new 50,000 seat stadium will be named TCF Bank Stadium and it will open in time for the 2009 College Football Season.

Jim Tressel is on the verge of inking a deal that will theoretically keep him in Columbus until Jan 2013. The deal will be retroactive to Feb 1, 2006 will pay Tressel a base salary of $1.9 million this year with a $600,000 signing bonus. In the Buckeye’s 5 seasons under Tressel they have shared two Big Ten titles, won the 2002 National Title, 4-1 in Bowl Games, 50-14 overall, and most importantly (at least to Buckeye Fans) 4-1 against their rival Michigan.

Well the anti-fun police strike again, the matchup between Florida and Georgia that was previously known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (and has since the 50’s), will no longer go by that name. Chalk this up as another stupid decision to the likes of when the NCAA officials that decided that native american and other ethnic nicknames were no longer allowed. Yet nothing has happened to Florida State or the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, but that is another arguement for another day.

Two students have died in the past two years tailgating for this game, one of which was underage. Maybe the universities or local police should enforce the drinking laws or arrest people for being disorderly. Does the SEC realize that drinking at tailgates not called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party occurs? Can they get it through their heads that people will still call the game this even though they do not want it to be known by this? I have an idea maybe the SEC can get a sponsor for the game. I can hear it now Dr Pepper Presents World’s Largest Outdoor Soda Party. You heard it here first folks!

A top rated lineman from Catawissa, Pennsylvania, Josh Marks, stated today that he is going to announce where he will attend college on Friday. Marks is a 6 foot 5 inch tackle plays for Single A Southern Columbia. He has narrowed his choices down to Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Temple, and Rutgers. But it is believed by many that come Friday the Nittany Lions will be his final choice.

Staying on the topic of Penn State, the Nittany Lions feel pretty confident that they could land another big lineman from the Keystone State. Stefen Wisniewski’s father and uncle were both standout linemen for the Lions and Stefen could be following in their footsteps. As of the spring Wisniewski named Penn State the leader but North Carolina is right on their tail. The other schools he is considering are Boston College and Michigan. Having the family ties to Happy Valley that Wisniewski does and the proximity to home, I would be surprised if he was not wearing Blue and White come the 2007 season.

How do you go about replacing a guy with a 36-1 career record as a starter, 2 national titles, 99 touchdown passes, and over 10,000 yds passing? That is the question that Pete Carroll was hoping to answer this spring, but injuries and off the field allegations have prolonged the answer till the fall. Matt Leinart was in a tough position replacing Carson Palmer but whoever plays this year will have even bigger shoes to fill.

Coming into spring ball it was a two horse race between Louisana native Josh David Booty and California native Mark Sanchez. Both were as highly rated as can be coming out of high school, but Booty had a two year edge in experience, and when I say experience I mean clipboard holding. So let’s just say that Booty had the lead by a cheek.

In the beginning stages of spring practice Booty suffered a herinated disk in his back. Most think that this will not require any surgery but any back problem can be a lingering one for a quarterback with all the torquing in the throwing motion. That injury sidelined Booty for almost all of spring practice. So that was Sanchez’s chance to shine, and he made the best of his opportunity. The USC coaches said that he had a solid spring and picked up the offense much quicker than they expected. Sanchez ending the spring going 13 for 21 with 146 yds and a touchdown in the Trojan’s spring game.
So it is his job to lose right?

Wrong, on April 26 Mark Sanchez was arrested and charged with sexual assult. He has a court date set for May 17th but until then the university has put him on interim suspension. If Sanchez does not take finals his eligiblity for the 2006 season could be in jeopardy so would that make Booty the
starter again? Booty will most likely be ready to go by fall practice but who knows how long the back will hold up. But whether it be Booty, Sanchez, or even Michael McDonald, their minds can rest a little knowing they are throwing to two All-American WR in Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett. This fall should be an interesting one for the USC fans and might include a little more uncertainty than first expected but that is part of the fun, right?

One of the more interesting developments occuring this offseason is that the NCAA agreed to allow college football teams to move away from the traditional eleven-game schedule and into a twelve-game slate.  Many fans harbored dreams of adding an attractive powerhouse team to the schedule.  Perhaps a home game against Ohio State or Southern Cal?  Yeah, right.  In the end, as usual, money won out and most teams added a DI-AA team to their schedule to give themselves another home game and the money that comes with it.

Particularly hard-hit by this amendment was the Big East.  With just 8-teams, the Big East is the smallest of the BCS conferences.  With each conference team only guaranteed an alternating 3 or 4 home games each season, athletic departments have to work long hours in order to find enough opponents to fill their home schedules and bankroll their programs.  With the added opportunity of the NCAA adding a twelfth game, came the added burden of finding yet another game to schedule.  And, on top of that, some of the Big East’s teams actually lost contracted future opponents to larger programs that are capable of providing much larger payouts.  The desire for additional home games combined with opponent poaching (for lack of better terms) is the reason why the Big East, and other conferences, are playing opponents such as Eastern Washington (@ WVU on Sept. 9th), Middle Tennessee State (@ Louisville on Oct. 7th), and Howard (@ Rutgers on Sept. 23rd).

So, in my neverending quest to assist the Big East, I have come up with a partial solution to their problems.  Also, I have been hearing some buzz about this from my many, many hours of perusing teams’ messageboards. 

So, here goes:  the Big East should form a scheduling alliance with Navy and Army.  It would work very simply.  Each season Navy would play four Big East teams (two home/two road), while Army would play the other four Big East teams.  The following season, Army and Navy would switch over and play the other Big East teams, so that every two years, each Big East team would play Army and Navy once apiece.  And, after four years, each Big East team would play Army and Navy twice–once at home and once on the road. 

This arrangement adds one “permanent” game to the schedule of each of the Big East’s teams and gives Army and Navy two guaranteed home games per season and two regionally-sensible road games.  Each Big East team would now have four permanent home games each year, with either four conference games or three conference games plus the addtional Army/Navy game.  In exchange, the Big East could allow Army and Navy to become a limited partner in its lower-tiered bowl agreements. 

A marriage between the Big East and Army and Navy makes so much sense, there is probably no way that it could ever happen.

For those who don’t know, the In The Bleachers staff puts out a weekly podcast during the college football season that will analyze the previous week’s action and preview the games for the upcoming week. For details on the podcast and the new blog please download the 2 minute commerical here

The 2006 inductees to the College Football Hall of Fame have been announced. This class is lead by coaches Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno who are #1 and #2 respectively in Division I wins. Unlike Bowden, Paterno has spent his entire career at Penn State (1966-present). Bowden started at Samford, continued to West Virginia, and in 1976 became the coach of Florida State.

Other inductees include Heisman Trophy Winners Charlie Ward (Fla. St) and Mike Rozier (Neb.). They will be accompanied by Bobby Anderson (Col), Bennie Blades (Miami), Carl Eller (Minn), Thomas Everett (Baylor), Chad Hennings (Air Force), Chip Kell (Tenn), Mike Phipps (Purdue), Jeff Siemon (Stanford), and Bruce Smith (Va Tech). The 49th class will be inducted at an Awards Dinner on December 5, 2006 and officially enshrined at the Hall of Fame in South Bend during the summer ceremonies in 2007.

It is never too early to speculate which teams will get the eight magic tickets to college football’s ultimate party, the Bowl Championship Series. As you recall, the six big conferences get one automatic berth and there are two at-large ones. Really, only one if Notre Dame qualifies.
So, without further ado, here are my eight picks in order of ease of getting the slot, not on winning the title.

1. NOTRE DAME- The Irish must win nine and be highly ranked in order to qualify, but they will. They only have three games on their pre-season slate that may spell trouble, Penn State and Michigan at home, along with Southern Cal in Los Angeles. The Penn State game is big for both teams, if Notre Dame rolls, watch out, they are headed for a huge season.

I think USC trips them up and Michigan gives them a hard time, but that’s it unless they struggle against a pass happy team that is more complete then Air Force.

2. TEXAS- The defending National Champions are poised to romp through the Big 12 again. While the Big 12 looks stronger on paper, Texas is still head and shoulders above anyone else. They also have the luxury of having their biggest game be out of conference, hosting Ohio State on September 9th. Remember, they only have to win their division to get to the Big 12 title game. Yes, Oklahoma and Nebraska are better, but not in Texas country yet. They travel to Lubbock for Texas Tech and host bitter rival Texas A&M.

Even if they lose the title game, that would be the only loss and a BCS wild card would be theirs.

3. USC- The Trojans road to the Rose Bowl is easier because of their conference. The adjustment from Carson Palmer to Matt Leinart seemed to work okay, and as long as the offensive line holds strong, the new USC backfield will shine. Nebraska, Cal, Notre Dame come calling to Los Angeles this fall, and UCLA seems to be a bit intimidated by the Trojan mystique now. Arkansas is their toughest road date and of course that is non-conference. Even if the Bruins upset ‘SC, that should be their only loss and gets hem a trip to Pasadena and potentially a rematch with the Longhorns in Glendale.

4. WEST VIRGINIA- They showed last January what happens when you take a Big East team for granted in a major bowl game by upsetting the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl in Atlanta. The road to BCS glory seems to favor the Mountaineers again as they play no eye catching teams in non-conference leading to the potentially undrperforming in conference schedule. Louisville and Pitt are road games in November and a split here is essential. However, the jury is still out on this conference as a whole and while Louisville, UConn and Southern Florida are on the rise, they should not be at WVU’s level yet. A good team in an emerging conference.

5. FLORIDA STATE- Picking an ACC champion is never an easy task, but for all the wrong reasons. In order to strengthen them selves as a national football powerhouse, they have weakened it instead. They have two trouble games, Miami to open and Florida to close. Florida is out of conference, so a loss to Miami and a run of the table assures them a spot in the ACC title game at the Gator Bowl, and while there are some pests in the ACC, no one else can sting on a consistent basis. FSU controls their own fate.

6. OHIO STATE- Picking a Big Ten champ is never easy, but OSU is the only realistic choice here. The conference now has a major disadvantage because it is a tough conference and it does not host a playoff game. As usual, Michigan plays the role of lead spoiler and Penn State is going upward with a yet to be determined 4th team to complete the package.

A loss to Texas does not matter, but they must beat Penn State and Michigan at home to win. Someone will beat the Buckeyes in conference and a two loss conference record with a loss to either the Nittnay Lions or the Wolverines gets them a trip to Orlando, not Pasadena.

7. FLORIDA- If you thought the Big 10 was hard, then the SEC is a nightmare. If anyone comes out of that pressure cooker unbeaten, then they have won the national title. It’s not happening this year. The Gators, along with Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee are capable of winning the whole enchilada. Florida and Auburn were perhaps the two most underrated programs in the country last year, and in year two of Florida’s Urban Renewal plan, they looked
much better to close then they opened.

All bets are off if they lose to Tennessee in Knoxville.

8. LSU- If Florida should falter in either Tennessee or in Atlanta to close the year, the LSU tigers are poised to grab the automatic SEC spot. No Katrina worries this year, just a road schedule from hell. SEC road dates with Auburn, Tennessee, and Florida. Auburn is a must win. The conference is just too good.

With a playoff in three conferences, getting to the BCS will be easier for Nebraska, Oklahoma, Georgia, Auburn, Boston College, and Miami. They are, however, less then locks.
In my opinion, two teams have the best shot of getting to the bowls undefeated, Texas and West Virginia. While I would not take WVU as the second best team in the country, a Sugar/Orange Bowl win would clearly justify their BCS +1 berth and set them up for a title shot.