Coming off a 9-2 campaign, Texas Christian University accepted an invitation tonight to play in the Poinsettia Bowl. Who they play has yet to be decided.

TCU accpeted their invite to play December 19th at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, who also hosts the better known Holiday Bowl.

This will be the second Poinsettia Bowl, Navy took out Colorado State 51-30 in the first one last season.

KLTV, the ABC affiliate in Eastern Texas is reporting that University of Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik will become the head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones.  The report is attributed to comments made to the Des Moines Register by Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard.  Chizik reportedly landed in Ames this morning and will be announced as the new head man at a press conference this evening.

Chizik is a Florida graduate that has worked as an assistant at Auburn, Central Florida, and Middle Tennessee State prior to joining the Longhorns, who won the national championship in his first season in charge of the defense.  Chizik, 43, had never been a head coach before landing the Iowa State job.

As we told you last night, the AP is reporting that Michigan Sate has hired former Cincinnati Bearcat, Mark Dantonio, as their new head coach, replacing John L. Smith.

Dantonio comes to East Lansing after three yeas as the head guy in Cincy. He has a career record of 18-17, with his biggest win coming two weeks ago against undefeated Rutgers.

The deal is reportedly for five years and $1.1 million per season.

Dantonio was interviewed Saturday night and the MSU board approved the contract this morning.

Dantonio returns to Sparty, where he was the secondary coach from 1995-2000, then spent one year as the top assistant.

After a 6-6 season, The Tuscaloosa News is reporting that Mike Shula will be dismissed.

Shula, who was hired in May of 2003, was told late last night that he had been let go. In four seasons at Alabama, he compiled a 26-23 record.

Expectations were high for the Crimson Tide after a 10-2 mark and a trip to the Cotton Bowl, but things unraveled this season as they slid behind Arkansas, LSU, and Auburn in he standings, with the last straw coming after a 22-15 loss to Auburn.

Keeping with the topic of firing coaches this morning, the North Carolina State Wolfpack have decided to fire head coach Chuck Amato late Sunday. This comes as no surprise to anyone in the college football world because he has been on the hot seat all year. Amato’s record at N.C. State is 49-37, 25-31 in the ACC but he had a 3-9 record this year which included 7 straight losses. No successor has been named but there are heavy rumors that Bill Cowher will be pursued hard by the school.

Dirk Koetter started out the year on a shaky note by naming Sam Keller starting QB, then a few days later changing his mind and naming Rudy Carpenter starting QB. He took a little flack because it was actually the members of the team that went to Koetter and said how they thought Carpenter would be better suited to start. So Dirk’s season really depended on Rudy’s success. Keller ended up transferring to Nebraska.

Sunday Night Arizona State had enough of the Koetter regime and fired him after a 7-5 season and 6 years as the head man for the Sun Devils. Koetter went 40-33 in six seasons at ASU. There was no word on whether Koetter would coach the team in a bowl game.

Tom Dienhart of The Sporting News is reporting that Michigan State will name Mark Dantonio, the current head coach of Cincinnati, to replace John L. Smith as their head man.  Dantonio lead the Bearcats to a 7-5 record this season.  He became the head coach of Cincy three seasons ago after a successful stint as defensive coordinator at Ohio State.  He previously coached at Michigan State under Nick Saban. Miami Dolphins offensive cooridnator Charlie Baggett and Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Todd Grantham (who earlier in the day, according to one Browns’ fan site, had reportedly accepted the job at MSU) were reportedly among the other finalists for the position at Michigan State.

Elsewhere, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that the Iowa State Cyclones have narrowed their search to replace ousted head coach Dan McCarney.  Their shortlist is composed of former NFLer and San Diego University head coach Jim Harbaugh, Nebraska offensive coordinator Jay Norvell, and Central Michigan head coach Brian Kelly.  Various uncited sources are indicating that, when the dust settles, CMU’s Brian Kelly will get the nod tomorrow evening at a 6:00 PM press conference.  Kelly has been at Central Michigan for just three seasons, but has a distinguished record as a head coach, leading Grand Valley State University to back-to-back Division II Championships in 2002 and 2003.


1 Ohio State 1.000
2 USC .9460
3 Michigan .9216
4 Florida .8897
5 LSU .8106
6 Louisville .7618
7 Wisconsin .7096
8 Boise State .6744
9 Arkansas .6616
10 Notre Dame .6262
11 Auburn .6183
12 Oklahoma .5509
13 Rutgers .5500
14 Virginia Tech .4426
15 West Virginia .4014
16 Tennessee .3705



Rank
1 Ohio State (65) 12-0 1625
2 USC 10-1 1540
3 Michigan 11-1 1504
4 Florida 11-1 1441
5 LSU 10-2 1303
6 Louisville 10-1 1241
7 Wisconsin 11-1 1212
8 Arkansas 10-2 1095
8 Oklahoma 10-2 1095
10 Boise State 12-0 1044
11 Auburn 10-2 966
12 Notre Dame 10-2 906
12 Rutgers 10-1 906
14 Virginia Tech 10-2 775
15 West Virginia 9-2 667
16 Wake Forest 10-2 621
17 Texas 9-3 542
17 Tennessee 9-3 542
19 Nebraska 9-3 405
20 BYU 10-2 394
21 Cal 8-3 367
22 Texas A&M 9-3 318
23 Georgia Tech 9-3 210
24 Hawaii 10-2 174
25 BC 9-3 91

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Georgia 44; TCU 31; Oregon State 17; Penn State 4; South Florida 4; South Carolina 3; Maryland 3; Houston 1.
DROPPED OUT: No. 24 Clemson.



Rank
1 Ohio State (63) 12-0 1575
2 USC 10-1 1491
3 Michigan 11-1 1445
4 Florida 11-1 1405
5 LSU 10-2 1255
6 Wisconsin 11-1 1221
7 Louisville 10-1 1169
8 Arkansas 10-2 1042
9 Boise State 12-0 1018
10 Oklahoma 10-2 994
11 Auburn 10-2 985
12 Notre Dame 10-2 928
13 Rutgers 10-1 777
14 Virginia Tech 10-2 744
15 West Virginia 9-2 668
16 Wake Forest 10-2 607
17 Texas 9-3 596
18 Nebraska 9-3 523
19 Tennessee 9-3 434
20 Cal 8-3 343
21 BYU 10-2 339
22 Georgia Tech 9-3 259
23 Hawai'i 10-2 203
24 Texas A&M 9-3 202
25 BC 9-3 138

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: TCU 41; Houston 19; Oregon State 16; Georgia 15; Penn State 8; Maryland 7; Clemson 6; South Carolina 2.
DROPPED OUT: No. 24 Clemson.