Bruce Feldman, Senior writer on ESPN The Magazine, author of the book Meat Market, and college football expert talks with me for over a half an hour about recruiting and the other big topics in college football. Since Bruce was behind the scenes at Ole Miss doing his book, he has a lot of great stories about recruiting both from the team and recruit side. He answers my questions on what would shock a fan about recruiting, his top 5 recruiters, what it must be like to be Terrelle Pryor the #1 recruit in the land, and he weighs in on what Penn State should do with Joe Paterno. All that and much more in this edition of In The Bleachers which you can download here.

Remember, if you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedbuner but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. Enjoy this week’s episode of In The Bleachers and if you have any questions or comments to the show please email them to inthebleachers AT gmail DOT com.

Hey who’s this guy? Don’t act all surprised. I’ve been here before. Anyhow, Rutgers got the go ahead to move forward with plans to expand their football stadium to 56,000 seats. While this is good news for a growing program in a conference that is rebuilding much quicker than anyone expected. It also makes me think back to the summer of 2006, when Rutgers announced it would be cutting several hundred teaching jobs. And in doing so, several hundred courses.

According to The Star-Ledger, a newspaper in Newark, N.J., Rutgers will kill 750 jobs, through attritition, layoffs, and nonrenewal of contracts. Some 400 of the job cuts will affect part-time adjunct positions, but teaching assistants and unspecified other faculty and staff posts will also be eliminated. As a result, almost 800 courses will not be offered, raising the possibility that many students will not be able to graduate on time, even if they can afford to pay the sharply higher tuition and fees.

At least efforts are being made to put some money back into the educational side of things. But $12 million for teachers compared to the $72 million that will go into the stadium seems a bit skewed to me. And I don’t want to pick on Rutgers because I’m sure every school that would have to make these types of decisions would probably follow suit. It just points out that the business of college football is leaning more and more toward the business and farther away from the college. Just like everything else in our society, right?

Whether this is part of the talk of bringing Rutgers into the Big 10 that seemed to fade away after the 2006 season is still up in the air. That would certainly make sense. But with the Big Ten Network going over like a led balloon, the focus of conference expansion seems to be on hold for now until that issue can be resolved.  Hopefully for Rutgers, they aren’t putting all their eggs in one basket.

Last week I made nominations in for half of the College Football Blogger awards, and in this post I will add in a few more of my favorite blogs that deserve consideration for the 2007 College Football Blogger awards.

Best ACC Blog
The best blog covering an ACC team or the ACC in general.

I’ll admit, I don’t read many ACC blogs, but one that always catches my eye, and that I link a lot here is Tomahawk Nation. They are a Florida State blog that is always up on their news.

Best Big Ten Blog
The best blog covering a Big Ten team or the Big Ten in general.

This is probably the one category I read the most being a fan of the Big Ten and all. There is one blog is in my daily rotation, and it is because of the great writing. That blog is Black Shoe Diaries, a Penn State blog that isn’t afraid to tell it as it is.

Best Big East Blog
The best blog covering a Big East team, the Big East in general, or Notre Dame.

I hinted towards this blog in an earlier nomination, but I am going to give this nomination to a Syracuse blog. Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, is a quality read for any Big East fan.

Best SEC Blog
The best blog covering an SEC team or the SEC as a whole

Like the SEC conference itself, this one has a lot of competition. Holding with my edict that I will not nominate one blog more than once in this series of threads, I am going to nominate Rocky Top Talk for this award. Really, they do deserve it. Joel does a great job on the blog, it is just that sometimes he is overshadowed a bit.

Best Big Twelve Blog
The best blog covering a Big Twelve team or the Big Twelve in general.

My nomination for this award is a new blog to the blogosphere this year. Like their team, they came out of the wood work to finally live up to expectations and have a year that many experts thought they would have. Plus not only are the articles good to read, they are pretty darn funny too. My nomination goes to MizzouRAH.

Best Pac Ten Blog
The best blog covering a Pac Ten team or the Pac Ten in general.

I don’t have much to say about this nomination except that, if you haven’t been reading this site, you are really missing out. The nomination goes too…Bruins Nation

Best Non-BCS Blog
The best blog covering a team not from a BCS conference, a non-BCS conference, or non-BCS conference football in general.

It is a shame that this person decided to give up blogging on this site, but I have hopes that he might join the ITB crew in the future. Even though he is giving up blogging Navy, that doesn’t take away from what he did in 2007. Pitch Right is my nomination for this award.

A second great Non-BCS blog that will be continuing on in the future is another one that should be looked at for this award. Coming off their best season in history, it will be interesting to see how the fans at Hawaii feel going into the 2008 season. To follow more on Hawaii, check out this Hawaii Football Blog.

There are my next set of nominations. Hopefully I will get to finish the rest before the deadline.

In an attempt to network with the college football blogging community, and to fill up some much needed blog space; I have decided to take a crack at some of the nominations for the 2007 College Football Blogger Awards. The rules are simple and can be found here, and if you as a reader would like to nominate a blog (hint, hint, podcast), you can use the nifty gizmo which can be found here. One change from last year is that if you won a certain award in 2006, you cannot win that same award in 2007. I am also going to try and not nominate a blog more than once in the nomination threads that I will do.

Best MSM Blog
The best blog piloted by an Official Journalist, defined as someone employed by a newspaper company or a major website like SI.com or ESPN.com.

I figured this would be a good start as any to begin my nominations. I read a few college football writers, D.C Sports Bog, Stewart Mandel, and Mark Schlabach, but my favorite is Bruce Feldman. Yeah I know what you are thinking, I am just kissing up to him so he’ll come on the podcast. That isn’t the reason, Bruce is a great writer and he does it without the arrogance that many main stream media members possess. His analysis is insightful and he isn’t afraid to say what he feels is right, even though it might not be exactly what we as a fan wants to hear.

The Dr. Z Award
Cogent, interesting analysis. CRITERIA: Emphasis placed on statistical manipulation, well researched pieces that reveal something new, and/or solid argumentative pieces that function as the authoritative last word on a subject.

I was really surprised when this person didn’t win this award last year, but my nomination goes to SMQ. Hands down a great writer and analyst of statistics. He is definitely someone I read every day and try to emulate.

The Job Award
The blog that has suffered through its chosen team’s dismal season with the most dignity.

There are two blogs that come to my mind when I think of this one. The first one is Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician. As we all know the Syracuse Orange have been suffering through a drought the past few years and no one knows it more than that blog. They along with my other friend Jon Johnston at Corn Nation, both do it with dignity and honor. My nod for the nomination goes to Corn Nation by a hair because Nebraska, once a powerhouse, has fallen on some real hard times (this year’s Kansas game), and Jon has taken it with a grain of salt and was a man about it.

The Trev Alberts Quits To Do Construction Award
Comic relief; overall hilarity. CRITERIA: The funniest college football blog.

No one gets me laughing more than a post from Orson at EDSBS, but since he won last year he is ineligible this year. My nomination this year I know is a darkhorse, but that’s what these awards are for, to bring out some of the lesser known blogs to the forefront for their good work. Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks is a West Virginia site that has gotten increasingly funnier now that they can rip on Rich Rod. You have to check them out. They were the ones that brought to the forefront my nomination for funniest post of the year which you will see later in this post. BSPM is my nomination for funniest blog.

The Keith Jackson Circa 1995 Award
The blog with the most consistently expressive and excellent writing. CRITERIA: Mechanical competency, yes, but the ability to turn a devastatingly funny phrase or write something compelling is probably more important. This isn’t an award for copy editing; it’s an award for kickin’ prose.

If you listened to my last podcast, you will remember how Ben from BCS Busters recommended Dawg Sports as a place for great insight and debate. Well I finally got around to checking him out and he was exactly right. Great articles, and a great community fan base to debate with. Kyle really gets you thinking and they are my nomination for this award.

The Jenn Sterger’s Rack Award
The best photoshop or other counterfeit gag of the year.

A special thanks to Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks for finding this one. It is from a site called, Gump for Heisman, and the post is entitled “GUMP4HEISMAN EXCLUSIVE: Rich Rod’s REAL WVU Contract Demands”. If you read it and don’t laugh, then there is something wrong with you.

Best Multimedia Thing
The best audio thing, podcast, or web-video type thing of the year. Highlight clips not eligible.

Obviously on this award I would love to nominate In The Bleachers for our podcast, but since we cannot do that legally, I won’t. I listen to a few other podcasts and as many of my readers know, I am a huge Penn State fan. So for the most part I do listen to Penn State podcasts. Again this is one that flies a little under the radar, but it is definitely one that deserves consideration. Bill Contz was a member of the 1982 Penn State National Championship team, played a few years in the pros, and also was an analyst for the Steelers postgame show for a few years. He runs a podcast called “The LIONS Roar”, which is a weekly talkshoe podcast. He has had guest such as former Nittany Lion players and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. Unlike many other people close to the program, Bill is not afraid to point out the short comings of the Nittany Lions’ program. Bill is a great speaker and his points come across clear and concise. The LIONS Roar podcast is my nomination.

Best New Blog
The best new college football blog. CRITERIA: Must have launched sometime after last year’s national championship game. Transitioning to a new blog or affiliating with a network mid-stream doesn’t count.

This is a tough one because there are always great blogs popping up throughout the year. I have two blogs that started up this year in which I am torn on who to nominate and which one to put in the Best Big 12 blog category. After reading a bit more (actually flipping a coin), I am going to nominate the blog Barking Carnival. The Carnival is a conglomerate of writers that cover Texas Longhorn sports, and they do it really well. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly suggest that you do.

The Old Faithful Award
The best recurring feature of the year. CRITERIA: The feature should be posted weekly and be generally good and stuff. VOTING NOTES: Please leave a link to the most recent in the series; we’ll extrapolate from there.

This is another category in which I was surprised the person I am going to nominate did not win this award last year. If you read EDSBS, like I am sure you do, you will be well aware of the Fulmer Cup. It is a list that no fan wants his team to be on, but it is a great way to pass the offseason with a little banter. The Fulmer Cup from EDSBS is my nomination for this award.

The Brady Quinn Award
The prettiest blog. CRITERIA: An aesthetic appeal and usability. The best looking and most functional blog.

I hate the name of this award, mainly because of my great distaste of everything that is Quinn related. But anyway…this blog should also be noted for their good writing and newness to the blogosphere, but Saturday Sound Offs has a great layout which is pleasing to the eye. I really like how they used graphics (instead of text links) for the blogs that they link.

That is it for my nominations for now. I will contiune them in a post that will come out either later this week(end) or early next week before the nominations are closed. If there are any blogs that you would like me to take a better look at for the remaining awards, please leave them in the comment section.

Second only to the NFL Combine, the Senior Bowl is a great place for future NFLers’ and formerly college seniors to show off their skills in front of NFL scouts and coaches alike. The 2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, January 26, 2008, in Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium. You can watch the practices all week on the NFL Network and the game which will also be televised on the NFL Network on Saturday at 3pm EST. Below are the rosters for each team in a pdf format. In related news, Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm has pulled out of the Senior Bowl because of an ankle injury.

Rosters

North Roster

South Roster

Even though there aren’t any games, there is plenty of news in the college football world. First the East-West Shrine game happened over the weekend, not as prestigious as the Senior Bowl, but still a chance for college seniors to strut their stuff in front of NFL Scouts. It was Utah State’s Kevin Robinson who stole the show catching a touchdown pass and returning a punt for a score as the West beat the East 31-13. Houston’s Scout site has a list of players who stood out in the game. As I said the Senior Bowl will get a little bit more publicity, and I will have those rosters posted on ITB as soon as they are officially announced.

I hinted at it on Friday, but it looks more and more like Norm Chow will become the offensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins. Chow has an impressive resume’ of quarterbacks that he has worked with in his career. That list includes Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Philip Rivers, Jim McMahon and Steve Young. UCLA is hoping that this hire, teamed with head coach Rick Neuheisel will persuade some top notch offensive talent their way instead of heading over to their rival USC.

Putting the slap fight aside for a second, Rich Rodriguez has signed his contract with Michigan and it is reportedly worth $2.5 million a year. A buyout of $4 million is included in this contract which will decrease by $500,000 per year that Rodriguez coaches at Michigan.

Staying in Ann Arbor, the #1 recruit in the nation, Terrelle Pryor, was there visiting this weekend. If there is one thing I have noticed about Pryor is that he really knows how to play the media. In my opinion, I think it will come down to a Michigan and Ohio State battle for his services with teams like Penn State, Florida, and LSU on the outside looking in right now. For Michigan fans, Pryor did say his visit to the school “Was Cool”.

The nominations for the 2007 blogger awards have opened. Head over to Rocky Top Talk to read over how to go about nominating your favorite blogs.

Addison changed zip codes in 2007

The months of January and February are months of shuffling around in the college football world. It is a time where coaches are fired, others are hired, seniors say their last goodbyes in hopes of going pro, some underclassmen decide to test the NFL Draft waters, and finally it is a time for high school seniors to sign on the dotted line to where they will spend the next 3 to 5 years of their lives. There is a lot of information to keep track of, after doing a quick search around the blogosphere, I found some thing that should clear some of these questions up.

- The time came and went for underclassmen to decide if they were going to put the paperwork in for the NFL Draft or not. Our partner CSTV has a list of who has applied.

- Norm Chow went from the top of the world, being the Offensive Coordinator of the juggernaut offense at USC, to getting fired as the Tennessee Titans Offensive Coordinator in a matter of a few years. But before you start shedding tears for Norm, read this little piece from Bruins Nation which talks about the possibility of Mr. Chow going to UCLA to coach against his old team.

- A day after winning the National Championship, Bo Pellini began his duties as the head coach at Nebraska. During the 80’s and 90’s, the Cornhuskers were a proud program which put out top notch teams every year, but you would be surprised as the expectations the fans have for the 2008 season.

Marlon Lucky will be back with Nebraska in 2008

- All Jayhawks fans hope that they stay atop the Big 12 North and challenge for another title. As we all know this season they did not play the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech but next year they do. Over at Kansas It’s Business Time, they look at next year’s schedule and how it could play out for the Jayhawks.

- Keeping with this Big 12 theme I have going here, Big Head over at MizzouRAH talks a little recruiting for his Tigers and the proper way to bombard a recruit’s MySpace and Facebook page to get them to come to your school.

- If you happened to check out the list of underclassmen leaving, you will notice that there are a lot of running backs that will be filling up the 2008 NFL Draft class. Although, one name you will not find on that list is Nebraska’s Marlon Lucky.

- It has been a few years since his departure as head coach of Syracuse, but Paul Pasqualoni has potentially found a new job with the Miami Dolphins. Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician talks about how Coach P might make a better coordinator than a head coach.

- I was never a huge fan of the Texas Longhorns, but when Major Applewhite was there, I rooted for him. The Major showed a lot of heart and class while playing for the Longhorns. Last year he spent time at Alabama, but now all fans of Texas are rejoicing because he as agreed to take a job with the Longhorns. Long live The Major!

- If you haven’t already, check out the University of Hawaii Football Fan Blog because it is really well written and is updated more than daily. Tombo Ahi talks about the new hire of Greg McMackin as the head coach of the Warriors, along with some recruiting and other Hawaii news.

Just when I thought things were calming down on the Rich Rodriguez front, more allegations against him are popping up. Just to get you up to speed; a few weeks ago when Rodriguez took the Michigan job, his former employer, West Virginia, filed suit against him for the 4 million dollar buyout in his contract. The buyout clause requires Rodriguez to pay $4 million to WVU over a two-year period, with one-third of the total due 30 days after his employment’s termination. His resignation was effective Dec. 19. Rodriguez claims the suit is bogus because West Virginia “did not maintain their end of the contract by not fulfilling all of its terms”. Obviously the University denies these claims.

Well now news out of The Charleston Gazette suggests that not only is the University upset about the money, now they have come to realize that Rodriguez has either destroyed or took with him to Michigan all the files he has on the players for West Virginia.

According to multiple sources, several people in the Puskar Center reported seeing Rodriguez and at least one member of his inner circle, video coordinator Dusty Rutledge, in Rodriguez’s private office shredding paperwork on Dec. 18. That’s the day he returned to clean out his office after being introduced as the Michigan coach at a press conference in Ann Arbor the day before. At the time, those who say they witnessed it either did not know what was being destroyed or paid it little attention to it until the files were discovered missing more than two weeks later.

While the files in Rodriguez’s office held a wide range of information, those that were discovered missing from the weight room office were more specific. Those included every aspect of strength and conditioning progress made by players under former strength and conditioning coordinator Mike Barwis, who along with most of his immediate staff followed Rodriguez to Michigan after the Fiesta Bowl. Those files included the progression made by each player in every specific area, from bench-press totals to 40-yard dash times. The files even included pictures of the players at different points in their careers.

If this is true then Rich has a ton of explaining to do. Those records are West Virginia University property, it is like you or I quitting our job and taking with us all of the documentation that our company PAID us to do over the number of years we worked at the place. I use to think highly of Mr. Rodriguez and thought he was an upstanding coach, but now the truth is coming out. And to think he is doing this to his own alma mater. What does that tell you? He’d sell anyone out for a few extra bucks and to climb up the ladder. Michigan…are you sure this is the coach you want?? Are you sure this is the guy you want representing your University or when something better comes along, will he spurn you like he did his own state, his own school? What I do know is if I were Rich Rodriguez, I would not step foot in the State of West Virginia ever again.

Finally Brian climbs out of his cave to give his thoughts on the 2007-08 bowl season. Also in this show Brian interviews Ben from BCS Busters on his book called “The Grass Ain’t Blue In Georgia - The Story Behind the BCS Controversy”. Ben tells us all we want to know about the BCS and how it formed. It is a must listen for everyone who loves college football. If you haven’t downloaded us via iTunes click here to download this show.

Remember, if you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedbuner but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. Enjoy this week’s episode of In The Bleachers and if you have any questions or comments to the show please email them to inthebleachers AT gmail DOT com.

Whenever Rich Rodriquez became the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, it wasn’t a matter of if Ryan Mallett would transfer, but more a matter of when. A few schools were after his services, mainly UCLA and Arkansas but ITB has found out that Ryan Mallett has enrolled in Arkansas and we should expect an official announcement later in the week. Mallet visited Arkansas this past weekend, and with the Spring Semester starting soon, he wanted to get a jump on classes. He will have to sit out next season due to NCAA Transfer rules, but given that he still has a redshirt year to burn, it won’t be a big loss for him.

I think this is going to be a really good fit for Mallett and Arkansas. Bobby Petrino is going to move away from the running game, especially since Felix Jones and Darren McFadden are both reportedly going pro. By getting Mallett, who was ranked the #2 QB behind Jimmy Clausen in his recruiting class, Petrino has a solid arm to build his pass happy offense around, just like he did with Brian Brohm at Louisville. And I am sure Razorback fans are happy they only have to watch Casey Dick for one more year.