ESPN will annouce tomorrow that they have inked a new media deal with the Big East. Tune into ESPN360 for the press conference on Tuesday at noon EST.

Ryan Moore was already sporting a two game suspension by head coach Larry Coker for his actions earlier in the year. You would think that he would watch his behavior but that was not the case, as he was in an altercation early Saturday.

According to the Miami Herald, Moore allegedly was involved in an altercation with a woman at about 2 a.m. Saturday at an on-campus pub. Coker said that Moore’s status will be on a day to day basis.

With the 2006 season only a few days away the ITB podcast staff got together and did our best to make predictions for the upcoming year. Check out this podcast to see who we pick to win each BCS Conference, the Heisman, and the National Title. If you have a question to be answered on the podcast email us at inthebleachers@gmail.com. Enjoy this week’s podcast.

Updating a story from last week, the September 18th game between Michigan State and Pitt has been moved back to Noon ET. The game, originally scheduled for a 3:30 kickoff, needed to be moved to avoid a parking conflict with the Pittsburgh Pirates and a bobblehead promotion they are having at neighboring PNC Park. The Panthers, who play at Heinz Field, needed to be finished with their game two hours before the start of the Pirates game in order to handle the parking situation as the two stadiums share parking lots.

ABC, who had been scheduled to televise the game, will show the game in some markets along with ESPN2 in other parts of the country.

As if Ron Zook did not have any other issues to worry about after a 2-9 season where they failed to win a game in the Big Ten, he received more bad news this week. Zook learned that two of his prized recruits had to be pulled out of preseason practice because their paperwork was not completed for the NCAA Clearinghouse. This blogger states that the two players are recent Maryland transfer Melvin Alaeze and Jerry Brown, both of which are defensive ends.

Alaeze was said to be having a good fall camp where he could have competed for some playing time this fall. I am not sure if it is solely the NCAA, the High School, or the colleges but something has to be done to speed up this Clearinghouse process. Too many times we are hearing that kids have to be pulled from practice whether it be spring or fall because they did not meet the Clearinghouse. This should all be settled before high school graduation.

Nevada’s head coach Chris Ault has been using a new offensive scheme where the quarterback lines up a yard or two behind the center, with one or two running backs behind the QB. He likes to call this formation, the pistol. Some coaches such as San Jose State coach Dick Tomey said the pistol is essentially the old single-wing that teams ran in leather-helmet days.

This pistol formation has become the new craze among high school and some smaller colleges. Ault has received around 85 phone calls from interested coaches asking about how he uses this new formation. Before Nevada moved into the Mountain West they relied on mainly a passing attack, but this formation allows the same benefits the shotgun does in the passing game and iit makes the running game more of a threat. Last year the Nevada Wolfpack finished 9-3 and claimed a share of the WAC title.

The Preseason AFCA Division II Coaches Poll was release a day ago. Defending champion Grand Valley State is ranked #1 receiving all of the 28 first place votes, the rest of the poll is as follows:

Rank School
1 Grand Valley State (28)
2 Northwest Missouri State
3 North Alabama
4 North Dakota
4 Saginaw Valley State
6 Valdosta State
7 Bloomsburg
8 Pittsburg State
9 Albany State
10 Carson-Newman
11 West Texas A&M
12 Nebraska-Omaha
13 Southeastern Oklahoma
14 Presbyterian
15 South Dakota
16 Shepherd
17 Washburn
18 East Stroudsburg
19 Winona State
20 Tuskegee
20 California (Pa.)
22 C.W. Post
23 Ashland
24 Northwood
25 Tarleton State

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: North Carolina Central 95, West Chester 85, Delta State 83, Central Missouri State 58, Nebraska-Kearney 48, Fayetteville State 41, Edinboro 40, Fort Lewis 39, Bowie State 37, Texas A&M-Commerce 33, Missouri Western State 30, St. Cloud State 27, Texas A&M-Kingsville 22, Angelo State 20, Arkansas Tech 18, Catawba 18, Southern Connecticut 15, Concordia-St. Paul 14, Tiffin 13, Central Washington 12, Minnesota-Duluth 11, West Georgia 6, Virginia State 5, Kentucky State 4, Colorado School of Mines 3, Fort Valley State 2, Michigan Tech 2, Missouri-Rolla 2, St. Joseph’s 1

Fred Rouse

The last we heard former prep All American WR Fred Rouse was being arrested along with fellow Florida State alumness AJ Nicholson for robbing another players’ apartment. They were accused of stealing property valued at more than $1,700. Rouse has learned from that incident and hopes to revive his playing career in a new location. The Tallahassee Democrat is reporting that Rouse has enrolled with the UTEP Miners. Rouse will have to sit out the remainder of this season but will come into the 2007 season as a redshirt sophomore.

After a one season trial run through last year, the Bowl Championship Series has agreed to extend their deal with the Harris Poll through the 2010 bowl season.

The Harris Poll began last year as a replacement for the Associated Press top 25 poll as a replacement in the human part of the BCS formula. The AP, which is a media poll, had not sanctioned it’s use in determining the national championship game and three other major bowl games.

The Harris Poll is a mix of former players, coaches, administrators, and some media that make up one of two polls that equal half the BCS picture, the USA Today Coaches Poll makes up the other one.

None of the computer elements will change this season.

Be the ball

I can hear it already, thousands of Terp fans in unison going “Na na na na na na…be the ball.” The University of Maryland annouced today that they have sold the naming rights of the field at Byrd Stadium to Chevy Chase Bank for $20 million. There are so many jokes that come to my mind after reading this. Will the turtle’s head be replaced by Chevy’s head? Or will Marty Moose be the new team mascot?

This is the first time a University has sold the naming rights to a field. As you recall, the Louisville Cardnails stadium is sponsored by Papa Johns. The money Maryland gets from this sponsorship will go towards expanding Byrd Stadium.