Tune in tonight to another Live In The Bleachers podcast where I will have three guests along with our regular Jeff Brancolini and his Bologna Chopshop, to preview the Pac 10. Jeff tells me he is going to rank the teams in the Pac 10 based on their mascots.

Lisa Horne is a contracted writer for Fox Sports in L.A. and is an expert on west coast football. She also writes for the Bleacher Report and will be joining me around 9:20pm EST. Lisa will become the first female guest on ITB.

Later in the show, around 9:35pm EST, Andy Botros from Gutty Little Bruins a UCLA blog will be my guest. At 9:50pm EST, I will either be joined by California Bears writer Avinash Kunnath. Avinash writes for the blog Bears Necessity.

If you can’t make the live podcast, don’t worry. I will still post the file on the site and all of your feedburner and iTunes subscriptions will still get the In The Bleachers Podcast. By doing the show live, we hope to get some listener interaction via the chat room or even if you want to call in.

Once again we will be using Talkshoe to do the live podcast. If you plan on being there, sign up for a username so I know who you are when you are in the chat room. It only takes a few seconds and it is free! The information for tonight’s live podcast is below:

In The Bleachers Live Podcast Link
When: 9:00 EST
Phone Number to Call In: (724) 444-7444
Talkcast ID: 81065

Ever since February 7, 2008, there has been a race on to get the jump start on the 2009 recruiting season which will culminate on the 2009 version of LOI Day. As of this moment Texas as 19 verbal commitments and USC has 15, and the 2008 season hasn’t even started.

Many people who follow recruiting know that there is a good possibility that a few of those commits will go back on their word and choose another school by the time the LOI is signed and faxed. This causes a lot of heartache and anger in coaching staffs across the nation because just when they think they have their class just the way they want it; their 5-star athlete jump ship for another school in their conference.

With that being said, it seems that year after year there is more of a calling for an early signing period in college football just like in college basketball. When you quickly glance at the subject, it sounds great on paper. Especially for coaches since they can lock up players and have their class figured out, but for high school kids, it can be a huge gamble.

First remember that nothing in recruiting is biding, not the verbal offer, verbal agreement, or even written offer letter until LOI Day. There are ways for schools to get out giving an athlete a scholarship even after they sent a written offer letter to the kid. There is fine print in there that states that the school can pull the offer if it sees a dip in the kids production on the field. Well that right there covers a broad spectrum.

If you read recruiting publications like Rivals.com or Scout.com you are most notably reading about visits, whether they be official or unofficial, by kids to numerous schools. Most of the time you will hear the phrase “I felt comfortable there,” or “I felt really good about the coaching staff.” These are 17/18 year old kids who are going to be leaving home for the first time in their lives, a good part of their choice is to go to a school where they feel they will play and that they feel at home for the next 3 to 5 years of their lives.

Insert an early signing period in December. Now look back at the 2007 season and look at that month and the amount of coaching changes that happen during that month. How is it fair to a kid who just recently signed a binding contract to attend your school to play for a coach who just got fired, or better yet, jumped ship for another school?

Imagine the impact it would’ve had at a school like Michigan. The style of offense under Lloyd Carr is completely different than what will be run under Rich Rod. But under that binding contract, the recruit, if he chose to transfer, would be required to sit out a year. Where as a coach can hop from job to job without sitting out any time. Most of the time they don’t even honor the contract they signed at a school, because if they want out, they can find a way out.

You are probably saying, well the NCAA could rule and allow waivers. The NCAA moves at a snails pace most of the time. Look at what has been going on with the Reggie Bush/USC investigation. Also, each year you hear about a recruit’s eligibility in question because the NCAA has not passed them through the Clearinghouse. I for one do not trust the NCAA in this matter to rule swiftly and justly.

There is so much pressure right now on these 17 and 18 year old kids. This decision for college is probably the biggest one they have made in their lives to date, and maybe one of the most important decisions they will make in their lives. Coaches continually pressure them to verbally commit, without a full commitment on their part as I stated above.

I just hope the NCAA doesn’t listen to the little murmur that has been going around and keep the recruit schedule the way it is right now. By February the coaching staffs are 99% of the time set and there is no need for an early signing period. If a kid is set on a school he will honor that commitment and feel safe that he is making the right decision for his future.

Hey, this is Eric once again from the blog, Saturday Sound Offs. I’ll promise to get something more creative than “Top 10s” in the future, but…..

What are the most interesting QB battles going on in college football camps today?  We’ll try to examine what QB positions mean to the team as a whole, how important they are in the grand scheme of things, and whether or not there’s a certain amount of drama to the controversy.  Some honorable mentions:  North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Hawaii, Maryland, Kentucky, Southern Miss, Penn State, and Ohio. We’ll begin with #10:

10.  San Jose State-The Spartans have enough talent across the board to compete with the best of the best in WAC play.  But do they have a capable QB on the roster?  Respectable veteran and four-year starter Adam Tafralis is gone and graduated leaving a pretty sizeable hole to be filled.  The starting job has come down to four candidates:  Myles Eden, Kyle Reed, Sean Flynn, and Jordan LaSecla.  Eden was the backup last year and was decent enough in that role.  His passing skills aren’t the best, but he is more a runner and he does provide that dimension.  Kyle Reed was supposed to become the best option from day one, but he’s come down with a foot injury that has hindered his chances of becoming the starter.  He came from California and was a splashy transfer, but this injury has set his development in the offense back a little bit.  Sean Flynn was injured, another JUCO recruit who got stuck with some bad luck.  He figures to throw his hat into the ring as well.  Jordan LaSecla, believe it or not, is the leading returning passer, but is most likely the fourth guy on the depth chart.  The good news is with all of these QBs, odds are at least one will work out.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Kyle Reed (when healthy)

9.  Bowling Green-Huh?  They already have a QB:  Tyler Sheehan.  Correct, but the monkey wrench that is Andrew Beam became a factor this spring.  Beam is as JUCO transfer that definitely has all of the measurables with a big arm and accuracy to go along with it.  It’s not like Sheehan didn’t have an impressive season last year when he led Bowling Green to its 8-4 turnaround.  He made wise decisions, can make all of the throws, and was pretty much labeled as the leader of the team.  But Andrew Beam is a bigger passer with many of the same qualities.  If Sheehan doesn’t keep improving, Beam might see some time.  The potential is there for an upset.  Also, Nate Brown is the QB of the future and Greg Brandon likes him so much he’s basically looking for excuses to put him in.  Brown might be the backup if Beam sits out one year, provided he doesn’t take the job.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Tyler Sheehan

8.  South Carolina-Steve Spurrier’s air raids have been successful in a lot of places.  One place it hasn’t been is in Columbia, South Carolina.  This is his fourth year and he’s still searching for a viable option at the QB position.  Stephen Garcia was supposed to be the guy, but he had his run-in with the law a while back and probably won’t be the starter.  Garcia can run a little bit, but he’s a better passer and could potentially usurp the job from Chris Smelley who wasn’t flashy at all in his limited role last year.  He’s only a sophomore, but he can still develop as a legitimate passer in Spurrier’s offense.  Garcia is the guy that Gamecock fans would rather see, but Spurrier will do what is in the team’s best interest.  The experience that Smelley got starting a few games last year will probably do him some good.  Tommy Beecher is a guy to keep an eye on as well if he can surprise the coaches before the opener on August 28th.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Chris Smelley

7.  USC-Probably no school has gotten this much hype as they try to settle the QB situation.  Mark Sanchez was the hotshot recruit of a few seasons ago, but not many people expected Mitch Mustain to transfer all the way out to the country’s left coast, being from Arkansas.  I think Mustain surprised a lot of us when he decided to don the Cardinal and Gold instead of transferring to Gus Malzahn’s offense in Tulsa, but hey, what do I know, anyway?  Sanchez is the frontrunner, no question, but this QB battle will become more interesting down the road.  USC’s schedule is not loaded with cupcakes by any means; look at the thing!  The year opens up with Virginia and Ohio State and if you know anything about these two teams, they’re best known for their defense.  If Sanchez doesn’t deliver early on, there will be a sect of USC fans calling for Mustain to start.  We’ll see how Pete Carroll handles the situation, but it’s nothing if it’s not intriguing.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Mark Sanchez

6.  Tulsa-If there’s one thing that will keep the Golden Hurricane from being as productive as they were last year, it will be the absence of Paul Smith.  But, Todd Graham might have a diamond in the rough yet to be found.  Smith was always a serviceable passer until Malzahn morphed his “decentness” into a passer going nuclear and hope is that he will do the same for David Johnson who has patiently awaited his turn to become the starter.  He’s a senior, but Clark Harrell has more upside, especially for the future of the program, and Jacob Bower comes in from junior college.  Bower was busy backing up John Beck at BYU before transferring and now he’s coming in to Tulsa to win the job.  Word is, Bower might be ahead of the curve in his development as the top passer the program has to offer.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Jacob Bower

5.  Cincinnati-Again, the QB position will determine whether or not the Bearcats will be competing with West Virginia for the Big East crown or lost in the pack with the Pittsburghs and Louisvilles of the conference (ironically, both beat Cincy last year).  Ben Mauk was denied a sixth year of eligibility that could have put the Bearcats in that echelon with the Mountaineers, but Brian Kelly will have to move on and find a suitable replacement between veteran Dustin Grutza, Notre Dame transfer of Demetrius Jones, red shirt freshman and athletic Chazz Anderson, and perhaps Tony Pike.  Grutza is probably the starter heading into day one, but don’t count out the possibility of Jones wresting the job away from him.  Demetrius Jones is maybe a better fit for the spread offense.  Even though Kelly can plug just about any QB in his system, he is looking for somebody like a Dan LeFevour to run it.  Jones is the closest thing with the best combination of passing and running, but Chazz Anderson’s name has been thrown around.  Anderson might be the starter later in his career, but he probably won’t see any starting time.  There might be a few special packages for him right now, but it’s mainly a fight between Jones and Grutza.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Dustin Grutza

4.  Georgia Tech-Who will run Paul Johnson’s triple option offense?  Calvin Booker might.  He’s got the most experience and he’s sorta fast.  The Auburn transfer is the oldest player and while that’s something a lot of coaches are looking for, it might not be ideal for Johnson to develop this offense for the future with a senior at QB.  So, it comes down to sophomore Josh Nesbitt or red shirt freshman Bryce Dykes.  Dykes impressed the coaching staff with the handling of the offense this spring and it might just pay dividends.  He was a walk-on making this story even more special.  But, Nesbitt has the best mixture of youth, arm strength, and speed making him the frontrunner.  He’s the kind of athlete that Paul Johnson could build this archaic offense around.  And, I just want to get this in, but the offense will work at Georgia Tech.  Johnson has the freedom to recruit the kind of players that fit his scheme too, a luxury he didn’t have a lot of at Navy.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Josh Nesbitt

3.  Cal-Who will start for the Golden Bears this year?  It’s a good question and while most of these previously mentioned QB battles have three guys vying for the spot, Cal only has two.  But if nobody steps up, it could be the difference between the Holiday Bowl and another 6-6 collapse back to the Armed Forces Bowl.  The Golden Bears might not be good enough to reach the BCS, but if Nathan Longshore or Kevin Riley can step up and be the main man, it will elevate them to a level of play that they’re at least used to.  Longshore has been a major disappointment, ever since the 2006 regular season.  And sort of in 2005 when he couldn’t beat out Joe Ayoob.  But regardless, he’s now a senior and that should help his case, but he hasn’t been ultra-productive like he’s been expected to.  Outside of a brain cramp against Oregon State, Kevin Riley has pretty much done what he’s supposed to.  He’s a sophomore now and he has Longshore beat in the scrambling department.  Even though he’s the future, look for Longshore to start the majority of the games.  Even though whatever momentum he had to become the starter is waning, I think he’ll save his spot with a big regular season.

Shot in the Dark Starter-Nathan Longshore

2.  Michigan-All of the fuss created by the hiring of Rich Rodriguez has led many to say his offense is “ill-suited” to his players and that he’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, yada, yada, yada.  That discussion is the most overrated thing I’ve ever seen.  It’s not like Michigan is at a loss for talent and if you saw the Capital One Bowl, those players who were immersed in Lloyd Carr’s pre-1980’s offense, seemed to do just fine out of the shotgun.  Seesh (I should probably note to you that I’m a Michigan fan).  But regardless, there is a legitimate concern at QB.  Ryan Mallett transferring, despite Rodriguez’s attempts to convince him to stay, opened the door for Tyrelle Pryor–wait, no.  He decided not to come to Michigan anyway.  So, the count is 0-2 for Rodriguez with QBs and he’s hoping not to strike out.  It’s a four-man race with Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan being the main players.  Threet is coming in from Georgia Tech and he seems to have the best handle on the offense.  Sheridan has been making strides, but he probably doesn’t have the skill necessary to start at this level.  David Cone hasn’t been mentioned much at all which surprised me, but I think he is as good as any QB on the Michigan roster.  Justin Feagin might see some special packages thrown his way, but there’s no chance he’ll be the main starting QB.  It won’t matter anyway because these guys will be keeping the seat warm for Shavodrick Beaver.

Shot in the Dark Guess-Steven Threet

1. North Texas-I’ll try not to hype this team as much as possible because they will be an average Sun Belt team this year when it’s all said and done, but you’d be lying if you said this offense isn’t one of the must fun to watch.  Okay, I guess you wouldn’t have to be since it’s really hard to find them on TV at all (I saw the team play once against UL Monroe on ESPN+), but that’s beside the point.  Todd Dodge came in and revamped this offense from day one, but he was plugging in Daniel Meager and Giovanni Vizza sporadically to see which one stood out the most.  In steps his son, Riley Dodge, who might or might not be the opening game starter.  Dodge comes in from Southlake Carroll where his dad used to coach, so let’s just say he’s “born into the system.”  He’ll have the experience playing in the offense necessary to take the job, but Meager and Vizza won’t just roll over.  These guys have experience at the college level and might learn from their repeated mistakes.  The reason this is the number one most interesting QB battle is the father-son thing.  I believe if Dodge wins the starting QB job, it won’t be because of nepotism; the guy is the real deal and one of the biggest recruits that North Texas has ever landed.  Just a forewarning to Sun Belt teams everywhere–Watch out for the Mean Green in two years or so.

Shot in the Dark Guess-Riley Dodge

Be sure to check out my blog, Saturday Sound Offs-The Blog for the College Football Junkie.

Download this week’s episode of the In The Bleachers Podcast to hear a comprehensive preview of the Big East for the coming season. Jeff Brancolini’s weekly Bologna Chopshop ranks the teams of the Big East by their famous alumni. You will be surprised who he picks at #1.

Also joining Brian on the show is Tyler Long, the Pitt football Community Leader at the Bleacher Report, Sean Keeley from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, and John Radcliff from the Mountainlair.

To listen to the episode you can download it here, or subscribe as laid out below.

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. You can also search for “In The Bleachers” on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.

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.

Tune in tonight to another Live In The Bleachers podcast where I will have three guests along with our regular Jeff Brancolini and his Bologna Chopshop, to preview the Big East.

Tyler Long is the Pitt football Community Leader at the Bleacher Report and will be joining me around 9:20pm EST.

Later in the show, around 9:35pm EST, Sean Keeley from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician a Syracuse blog will be my guest. Finally, if you have been a follower of the podcast you will know my final guest. At 9:50pm EST, John Radcliff from the Mountainlair will be joining me.

If you can’t make the live podcast, don’t worry. I will still post the file on the site and all of your feedburner and iTunes subscriptions will still get the In The Bleachers Podcast. By doing the show live, we hope to get some listener interaction via the chat room or even if you want to call in.

Once again we will be using Talkshoe to do the live podcast. If you plan on being there, sign up for a username so I know who you are when you are in the chat room. It only takes a few seconds and it is free! The information for tonight’s live podcast is below:

In The Bleachers Live Podcast Link
When: 9:00 EST
Phone Number to Call In: (724) 444-7444
Talkcast ID: 81065

The High School Spotlight is your source for info on some of the best prep players in the country and the always pressing question of where they will play their college ball. Aside from keeping you up to date on camps, combines, and commitments, I’ll occasionally sit down with some of these rising stars and talk to them about the recruiting process. This week I’m joined by Brent “The Train” Michaels, who I first told you about last month after he lit up the Under Armor Phoenix combine. Brent, who currently holds offers from Army and Air Force, boasts 4.4 speed and rushed for nearly 2000 yards last season. Here’s what he had to say about the recruiting process, his abilities, and what the future may hold.

1) You currently hold scholarship offers from Air Force and Army. How would you feel about attending and playing for a Service Academy, and has Navy been in contact with you also?

-I have no problem with attending Service Academy. No, I have not been in contact with Navy.

2) You have a fantastic highlight film, great measurables, and outstanding production. It seems a back like you would be getting more attention, especially from BCS conference programs. What do you think has kept more programs from offering?

-Definitely being from a small school. Lake Havasu High School (AZ) has never been shown the attention it deserves. I’m doing my best to contact every school I can think of to overcome this obsticle.

3) How has your recruitment changed after your Phoenix combine performance? Have more schools been contacting you? Do you feel like you are close to more offers?

-Actually, I saw little change in my recruitment after the combine.

4) You’ve put up record setting numbers as a running back, including an Arizona single game record for rushing yards. Are you being recruited primarily as a tailback, or are some schools looking at you at other positions?

-Mainly, I have been recruited as RB, but there have been some schools that have talked about some Defensive exposure.

5) Would you be willing to play for a non-BCS conference or FCS (I-AA) program if it meant being able to stay at running back as opposed to playing another position at a higher level?

-As long as I’m on the field it shouldn’t matter.

6) What do you think are the biggest strengths of your game? What areas do you think you need to improve upon?

-My strengths are: defenders bounce off me, strong, fast, team player, and good vision.

-Areas for improvement: getting lower when running the ball

7) What is your plan for the rest of the summer with regards to camps and/or visits? Are you looking to make a decision sometime soon, or are you going to wait until closer to National Singing Day to make your decision?

-I’m going to train my butt off. I plan to visit Colorado State University on July 26th. Around the National Singing Day sounds like a good time to make a decision.

The Big Ten takes a lot of criticism from the rest of the college football world, mainly because of Ohio State’s lack of success the past two years in the BCS Title game, but year after year it is a solid conference from top to bottom. Year after year you will find a Big Ten team fighting for a National Title. So what I have decided to do was to look at the conference as a whole during this decade.

First we know that the Big Ten is not the best with numbers, they are a conference of eleven, yet still call themselves’ the Big Ten. Also, they hand out conference titles to teams tied for first place, even if there is a tie breaker for head to head. Below is the conference standings since the year 2000, with the conference titles in parentheses.

1t. Ohio State 50-14 (2002, 2005, 2006, 2007)
1t. Michigan 50-14 (2000, 2003, 2004)
3. Iowa 38-26 (2002 & 2004)
4. Wisconsin 36-28
5. Purdue 35-29 (2000)
6. Penn State 32-32 (2005)
7. Northwestern 28-36 (2000)
8. Minnesota 24-40
9. Michigan State 22-42
10. Illinois 21-43 (2001)
11. Indiana 16-48

Just looking at those standings you can see why people refer to the Big Ten as the Big 2 and the Little 9. During this decade, only one year, (2001) did not have either Ohio State or Michigan with at least a share of the title. I like to look at the Big Ten in three tiers.

First you obviously have Ohio State and Michigan. The next tier has Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Penn State. Finally, Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan State, Illinois, and Indiana make up the third tier. One would argue that you could place Northwestern in the second tier, but that’s splitting hairs.

The one team that jumps out to me is Penn State. I know they had a rough start to the decade, but I did not expect to see them behind Purdue and Iowa. Nittany Lion fans believe (sometimes falsely) that they are in the same category as Michigan and Ohio State, but clearly they are not. The Big 2 are competing on a national level year in and year out. Yes, Penn State did finish #3 in the polls in 2005, but USC and/or Texas would have beaten them handily that year.

I was surprised to see Purdue with such a good conference record, mainly because I see them as a team who prey’s on the lower half and when it comes to play the stiffer competition, they fail. In the 8 years, the Boilermakers have only two seasons (05 & 07) where they finished with a sub .500 conference record.

Some other interesting statistics from this decade:

• Michigan has had at least 5 conference wins each season.
• Michigan State and Minnesota have had only one season over .500.
• There have been three teams with perfect conference records: 2002 Ohio State, 2002 Iowa, and 2006 Ohio State.
• The Buckeyes are 22-1 in the last 3 seasons.
• In 2001 & 2007 combined, Illinois is 13-3, the rest of the years combined they are 8-40.
• Indiana had one season at .500 (2001), the rest of the time the Hoosiers were below .500.
• Although ranked 4th since 2000, the Badgers have not won a conference title since 1999.
• Northwestern has more winning seasons in the Big Ten than Penn State.
• Three times this decade a team has failed to win a conference game: 2003 Illinois, 2005 Illinois, and 2007 Minnesota.

With Michigan rebuilding this season they might take a step back behind Ohio State, but they have a long way to go before they fall into that second tier. Wisconsin has a strong core back as well as Penn State, and you can never count out Iowa. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see that at the end of this decade, we will still be talking about the Big 2 and the Little 9 in the Big Ten conference.

The Heisman Pundit joined me to discuss everything and anything related to the Heisman Trophy. We talk about what it takes to be a Heisman Candidate, which schools have the best shot of having a Heisman Winner, and look ahead to the 2008 season and predict who could be at this year’s ceremony.

Also you will find the second installment of the Bologna Chopshop where Jeff Brancolini ties together past Heisman winners to predict this year’s winner. He calls it the “circle of continuity”.

To listen to the episode you can download it here, or subscribe as laid out below.

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. You can also search for “In The Bleachers” on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.

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.

Tune in tonight to another Live In The Bleachers podcast where my guest will be the Heisman Pundit. HP will be coming on to discuss the 2008 Heisman hopefuls, what it takes to be a Heisman hopeful, along with answering a few other questions that I have and that you might have.

If you can’t make the live podcast, don’t worry. I will still post the file on the site and all of your feedburner and iTunes subscriptions will still get the In The Bleachers Podcast. By doing the show live, we hope to get some listener interaction via the chat room or even if you want to call in.

Once again we will be using Talkshoe to do the live podcast. If you plan on being there, sign up for a username so I know who you are when you are in the chat room. It only takes a few seconds and it is free! The information for tonight’s live podcast is below:

In The Bleachers Live Podcast Link
When: 9:00 EST
Phone Number to Call In: (724) 444-7444
Talkcast ID: 81065

We are a little over a week into summer, the 4th of July is at the end of the week, and now is a great time to go to the beach. But for college football fans, July is a horrible month. Unless your team shows up in the police blotter, or gets a verbal commitment from an upcoming senior, this month is a slow crawl towards the start of fall camp.

Johnson wants to make it 6 years of bowling

If it isn’t already in your RSS Feeds, July is a great month to head over to Saturday Soundoffs. Eric, who has joined the ITB staff, has started his two-a-days which are excellent. Yesterday he took a look at Colorado State and North Dakota State.

Former Navy coach and new Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson has his hands full this year with the Yellow Jackets. Johnson will be installing a new offense, but is stuck with the talent left from Chan Gailey. Under Johnson, Navy went to five straight bowl games, but it looks as if his personal run will end this year…or will it.

As Adam and I talked about in the last episode of the In The Bleachers Podcast, we both think that BYU has a chance to crash the BCS Bowl party this year. The Mountain West Conference Connection has found some predictions that has said that BYU or Utah could end up in the top 5. BYU with their schedule and number of returning starters could finish in the top 5 after winning every game this year, but I think Utah has a little shot of finishing in the top 25, but will not finish in the top 5.

JayPa’s bocce outfit

USC is quickly piling up the blue chip recruits once again this year, and with the ongoing Reggie Bush investigation, there are plenty of rumors of possible violations by the Trojans. Over at the Barking Carnival TaylorTRoom looks at the history of college football recruiting cheating which he breaks into four parts.

Recruiting and Happy Valley are not mixing right now. If you are like me and a member of BWI’s Lions’ Den, you probably have noticed that there have been a lot of bickering and fighting over losing recruits to Rutgers and Pitt in the past few weeks. There is one person that is still the #1 lightning rod for the fans to pick on, Jay Paterno. Jay has been spending a lot of time blogging for Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and word has gotten out that he played in a celebrity bocce tournament. Maybe if the younger Paterno spent more time on the recruiting trail or developing quarterbacks than playing with balls, he wouldn’t get such grief.

Kate doesn’t need coffee to make her hot

July also brings out my favorite…the preseason football polls. I have no problem with people voicing their opinions on who they think are the top 25 teams, but there should be no “official” polls till after the 3rd or 4th week of the season. On the Bleacher Report John Lynch takes a stab at his Top 25 preseason poll. As you can tell by some of the comments, they are not too happy who he has in it. My favorite argument is how certain fans always think their team(s) is overlooked or disrespected. Calm down people, let them play a game first before you flip out.

It has been a rainy end of June here in Pittsburgh, but it is nothing compared to what is going on in the Midwest. Head over to Mizzourah and find out how you can help people who have been victimized by the floods.

Finally, the Heisman Pundit is back with an improved, updated, new-looking site. He’s great as always, and I have an email in to him to come on the In The Bleachers Podcast (hopefully Wednesday) to talk about the Heisman hopefuls for 2008. While we are waiting check out his new article asking; Is it really that important to have a quarterback who is an elite NFL-prospect in your program?