For the incoming class of freshman, if they have not already reported to school for summer sessions, they will be there within a week or two. In that time they will get acclimated with the rigors of being a student and being to work out with their new teammates. So if you’ve been busy getting your freshman ready for school…here is what you missed in the past week.

What we’ve been working on:

We once again went out and got you another quality guest for the podcast. ESPN’s Bruce Feldman joined us last week to talk SEC and Pac 10 football. The podcast is pretty USC heavy, but when you are annually one of the best teams in the country, who has won 7 straight Pac Ten titles, and have one of the hottest starting quarterback battles going on…well you are going to hear about it. For you SEC fans, Bruce has some interesting thoughts on the SEC West, which should be a fun race to watch this year.

Just so you don’t think we are going to rest on our past accomplishments, Adam and I have another great guest lined up for a podcast which will be ready for your listening pleasure tomorrow morning. We feel bad that we have neglected the Big XII, so tomorrow you will hear Adam and I, along with The Wiz from The Wiz of Odds, discuss the Big XII. On paper it looks as if both the North and South could go down to the wire again when deciding who will play in the Big XII Championship game. Also, we’ll pick his brain about some National News.

Adam has continued to countdown his list of Top 50 Best Non-BCS Players. In his latest installment, Bryan Anderson, a wide receiver from Central Michigan is his choice at #34. Something tells me that Anderson will have a pretty big effect on another player that has yet to be named on this list.

Navy only returns 23% of last year’s offensive yards with potentially NFL bound players Shun White and Eric Kettani gone. Adam sits down and talks with Bobby Doyle about the endless barrage of questions he and the other Navy slotbacks are getting on how they are going to replace 77% of last year’s offense which has now graduated.

For the second year in a row the Big East Conference looks to be wide open. A lot of experts think it is going to come down between Pittsburgh and Rutgers, but neither are very solid under center. Brian talks about which players have the leg up to win the quarterback battles at both schools.

What we’ve been reading:

On a sad note, yesterday was the 3 year anniversary of Randy Walkers passing. Over at Lake The Post they are asking for a moment of silence to remember his passing.

He will go down in history for the murder that he did did not commit, and will be forever known as Nordberg in the Naked Gun movies; but before all of that he was a Heisman Trophy winner. Prolate Spheroid rehashes OJ’s career at USC.

Bruce Feldman picks the top 10 toughest non-conference schedule. A few teams that I mentioned made the list. But one team you won’t find on that list, who is Phil Steele’s #1 surprise team, the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Adam has talked about reviving a countdown he started last year where he picked the Top 10 potential upsets of a FCS team over a FBS team. Double T Nation has an early preview of the Red Raiders game against the North Dakota State Fighting Sioux. I am fairly certain this game will not make Adam’s list.

The Georgia Bulldogs suffered a heartbreaking and somewhat surprising upset loss to their rival Georgia Tech last year. Paul Westerdawg of the Georgia Sports Blog gives his thoughts on how to defend Tech’s option.

The Quad continues their countdown from 120 to 1. Yesterday they previewed the Navy Midshipmen at number 64.

Annually one of the best offensive line units in the country resides in the state of Oklahoma. The Crimson and Cream Machine previews this year’s crop of linemen for the Sooners.

NCAA Football 2010 comes out for video game consoles on July 14th. Over the Pylon has a sneak peak of Ball State’s Scheumann Stadium and Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium.

When Coach Wannstedt first arrived at Pitt, he was pulling in one good recruiting class after another, but after only going to one bowl game in his tenure, he finds himself still chasing a 82 year old man who is stealing recruits out of his own back yard. Recently, Wannstedt and the Panthers got a commitment from TJ Clemmings, a defensive tackle from New Jersey. But according to Zags Blog and Clemmings he did not commit.

Finally, I leave you with a sign of the Apocalypse. Evan Berry the younger brother of Tennessee safety Eric Berry has verbally committed to the Vols. Did I mention that Evan was 13 years old?

# 34: WR Bryan Anderson, Central Michigan

The Verdict: At 6-foot-5, 213-pounds, Anderson represents one of the most consistent receivers in the entire country, with the senior having already compiled a resume that includes  226 career receptions and 21 career receiving touchdowns (both school records.) A two-time First Team All-MAC selection and a Freshman All American in 2006, Anderson is one of the most multi-faceted receivers in the college game today, with the uncanny ability to transition his game to fit the the needs of any situation on the field. He’s an obvious red zone threat who can be physical against defensive backs when called upon, but he’s also remarkably fluid for his size and shows tremendous precision in his routes despite being such a long strider. Anderson is a player who can both stretch the field and work the interior of zone coverages, making him an almost certain mismatch against whichever defensive personnel are assigned to cover him. A two-time academic All-Conference selection with a 3.31 GPA in biomedical sciences, Anderson’s high football IQ and obvious physical talents make him one of the sleeper non-BCS prospects to watch going into next year’s NFL draft.

Past Players: [#50: Navy LB Ross Pospisil] [#49: Fresno State RB Ryan Mathews] [#48: Wyoming DT John Fletcher] [#47: BSU WR Briggs Orsbon] [#46: EMU QB Andy Schmitt] [#45: Marshall TE Cody Slate] [#44: LA Tech WR/KR Philip Livas] [#43: CSU Gaurd Shelly Smith] [#42: Wyoming FS Chris Prosinski] [#41: SMU receiver Emmanual Sanders] [#40: UTEP QB Trevor Vittatoe] [#39: CMU DE/DT Frank Zombo] [#38: Nevada RB Vai Tuau] [#37: Marshall DE Albert McClellan] [#36: Boise State DE Ryan Winterswyk] [#35: ULM LB Cardia Jackson]

The Big East is one of two BCS conferences, where in my opinion, the race is so wide open that up to 4 teams could win the conference and find themselves playing in a BCS Bowl. However, two of those teams, Rutgers and Pittsburgh, have a little uncertainty as to who will be taking the snaps from under center this fall.

Pittsburgh Panthers:
Candidates: Bill Stull, Pat Bostick, & Tino Sunseri

I said this a few times last season, if the Pitt Panthers had a quarterback that was even average, they would have easily won the Big East. With the departure of LeSean McCoy, that need for their quarterback to produce became even greater.

Last year Bill Stull was the starter for the majority of the season, but his play was less than stellar throwing for 2300 yards but 9 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. So why not turn to Bostick? Well Bostick came in with a lot of fan fare, being ranked the #6 quarterback recruit in the 2007 class, but his lack of arm strength and mobility has kept him behind Stull. Bostick also has had trouble not turning the ball over; last year he throw 1 touchdown but had 4 interceptions.

The wild card in this scenario is redshirt freshman Tino Sunseri. Sunseri played locally at Pittsburgh Central Catholic and has a nice upside, but is he ready to be in the spotlight? This is a young qb that is solid in all aspects, will not make mistakes, but won’t exactly take the game on his shoulders and win games for you. This might be exactly the quarterback Pittsburgh needs for the future. I don’t expect Sunseri to win the starting job this fall, but if the Panthers begin a losing streak, the job might be given to him.

I feel that Stull will be the starter come the beginning of the season, however, one of the other two (Sunseri or Bostick) will get some reps.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights:
Candidates: Domenic Natale, Jabu Lovelace, D.C. Jefferson, & Tom Savage

Rutgers fans are really excited for true freshman Tom Savage, but they might have to wait another year for him to crack the starting lineup. Savage was at spring practice, but since he was still enrolled in High School, all he did was watch and attend film sessions. It will be very hard for any QB to unseat an upperclassman by just practicing in the fall.

Natale, a transfer from Michigan state battled Jefferson in spring practice, but neither were good enough to have head coach Greg Schiano come out and say that one was the starter. The other horse in this race, Lovelace, did not practice at all during the spring since he was healing from ankle surgery.

Schiano did state that Natale had the best spring and highlighted that since he did not turn the ball over in the spring game, he had a leg up over Jefferson who has a ton of athletic ability. With the uncertainty of Lovelace’s ankle, and the learning curve Savage needs to overcome, it could very well be Natale’s team to start the season.

Before you read this, make sure you check out the big announcement about future ITB podcasts. That’s right kids…ESPN’s Bruce Feldman is coming back for more!

#43: LG Shelly Smith, Colorado State

The Verdict: Colorado State is one of those teams which had an aggressive inside running attack last year, and despite the fact that it was the team’s first year in Steve Fairchild’s west coast system the Ram offensive line paved the way for a respectable 4.2 yard per carry average. Not only that, but leading rusher Gartrell Johnson ran for 1476 yards on 5.3 yards a carry, thanks in large part (literally) to 6-foot-4 guard Shelly Smith. Smith earned Second Team All-Conference honors a season ago, and since coming to Fort Collins has matured into one of the best interior linemen in the conference. Particularly athletic for his size, Smith shows outstanding ability to pull from his position, while also showing a knack for pancaking smaller (but quicker) defenders in open space. Along with center Tim Walter and right guard Andrian Martinez, Smith gives Colorado State arguably the best interior line combination of any Non-BCS team going into 2009.

Past Players: [#50: Navy LB Ross Pospisil] [#49: Fresno State RB Ryan Mathews] [#48: Wyoming DT John Fletcher] [#47: BSU WR Briggs Orsbon] [#46: EMU QB Andy Schmitt] [#45: Marshall TE Cody Slate] [#44: LA Tech WR/KR Philip Livas]

There has been a lot of talk lately about how with the BCS, college programs are looking to go the easier route with their out of conference scheduling. Some teams claim that their conference schedule is hard enough and they just want to have a few cupcakes on their schedule, while other claim they need the 7 or 8 home games a year to fund the rest of their sports. I did a quick glance and found a few schools that should be proud of their scheduling.

In the Pac 10, a move was made a few years ago, once the 12th game was added, to play 9 conference games. Therefore, that leaves only 3 games on the out of conference slate to fill in. Both USC and Oregon filled them up with some quality opponents.

The Trojans have their yearly tilt at the end of the year against Notre Dame, who many thing will be top 10 material this year. Including the Domers, the Trojans also travel to Columbus to play Ohio State. Their final OOC game is San Jose State, which is not a tough game for them, but after playing two (potential) top 10 teams, I can let this one slide.

Oregon opens up the season traveling to the blue turf at Boise State and has other out of conference games with Utah and Purdue. I have to give the Ducks credit because those are three quality schools. Purdue will be a bit down this year but the games at Boise State and against Utah are better than the majority of the teams that can schedule 4 OOC games.

If you listened to the Phil Steele interview we had on Monday, you’ll remember how he mentioned that BYU controls their own destiny when it comes to making the BCS Championship game. You heard it right, not just a BCS Bowl, but the BCS Championship game. They open the season versus Oklahoma, and have Florida State later in the year. Those are two quality programs to go along with an increasingly tougher Mountain West and you have a difficult schedule for the Cougars.

Sticking in the Non-BCS conference, the Bulldogs of Fresno State once again loaded up their out of conference scheduling. If you remember last year they played both Rutgers and Wisconsin in back to back weeks. This year they play Wisconsin, Cincinnati (defending Big East champions), and Illinois all on the road. I won’t get on them too much for scheduling UC Davis because of what they have to face in the other 3 games.

Remember last year when there was a big deal made about Georgia finally leaving the south to play an out of conference game against Arizona State? Well hold on to your hats, the Dawgs are going west again to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys. It should be interesting to see how the Dawgs can handle the Cowboys’ high scoring offense. Besides the Cowboys, Georgia has a return game against Arizona State at home and travels to play Georgia Tech in their yearly rivalry match. With those three games, I give them a free pass (much like with Fresno State) in playing Tennessee Tech.

Finally we come to the Hokies of Virginia Tech who are no strangers to scheduling tough out of conference opponents. A few years ago they opened up with USC in our Nation’s Capital, this year they have a neutral site game against Alabama. I am really looking forward to this game. Alabama will have some holes to fill but Nick Saban has had some great recruiting classes, and Virginia Tech is clamoring to be the favorite in the ACC. A win here by the Hokies would do wonders for the ACC’s image. The Hokies also have a home game against Nebraska, who many think is the favorite in the Big 12 North, and take a trip to play East Carolina who surprised them last year. I’m sure that loss to the Pirates last year will not be forgotten when that game comes around.

As college football fans we’d love to see more games and schedules like the ones I mentioned above. For the most part, a lot of these schedules are made 6 or 7 years in advance, and that’s plenty of time for teams that were once good to go south and stink. But having said that, you never know what games or teams will come up to bite you. Who thought last year that East Carolina would beat both West Virginia and Virginia Tech? Just because it doesn’t look good on paper, does not mean it won’t be a quality game.

Brian and I need to recharge this weekend before the big show with Phil Steele on Monday, but before we leave you with sweet dreams of PS numbers and Plus/Minus ratings we submit to you the latest installment of our countdown of the 50 best non-BCS conference players in the country. Enjoy!

#48: DT John Fletcher, Wyoming

The Verdict: Wyoming fans did not have a lot to hang their hats on last season. Yet lost behind a 4-8 record, an inept offense, and a truly egregious -22 turnover margin was the play of defensive tackle John Fletcher, who garnered second team All-Mountain West honors for the second consecutive season. While he saw a dropoff in his sack production from 2007 to 2008, he comes into his senior campaign with 17 total sacks and 23.5 career tackles for a loss. A versatile defensive lineman at 6-foot-6, 272 pounds, Fletcher has served as the cornerstone for Wyoming’s Top 40 ranked defenses each of the past two seasons, and uses his unique blend of size and strength to plug up gaps in the Pokes’ 3-4 defensive front. While he may not put up the gaudy statistics of TCU’s Jerry Hughes or BYU’s Jan Jorgenson, Fletcher’s inside presence gives Wyoming a chance to be competitive in the Mountain West going into 2009 and earns him the 48^th spot in our countdown.

Past Players:

#49: Fresno St. RB Ryan Mathews

#50: Navy LB Ross Pospisil

Ok, so it may be shameless self promotion on my part, but the early consensus is that it does. Some interesting thoughts in my latest at GoMids.com.

With the United States finding itself in arguably the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression, the value of a football scholarship has become much more than a luxury for hundreds of American families; it has become a necessity. Yet for a university like the Naval Academy, does the country’s economic downturn hold previously unforeseen recruiting benefits?
According to some it does, as both the prospect of a free college education and post graduate job security have attracted more high school football recruits to consider taking their skills to the likes of Army, Navy, and Air Force. Count Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo amongst those who say they have seen an upturn in interest for the three programs since the economy went south last year, as the second year headman recently testified to his belief that the poor economy had “opened up doors” for his own team in recruiting bigger, faster, and stronger athletes.

“I think the economy has helped us,” said Niumatalolo during a recent interview. “Before [the economy went south] there were people who would not even talk to us. There were some parents who would say ‘my son is not going to a military school’ but now they are like ‘hey this might not be a bad option.’ I think that has opened up other doors that in prior years were closed.”

While recruiting experts aren’t certain of the exact level of increased interest on the part of recruits in attending service academies, they do admit that Niumatalolo’s assessment stands to reason given the country’s current economic circumstances. Not only does the incentive of a free education make sense in winning parents over to the idea of sending their sons to a service academy, but the recruiting “sells” commonly associated with schools like Army and Navy take on increased significance given the prevailing job market for college graduates. This dynamic, say experts, gives schools like Army and Navy a “leg up” in recruiting forward thinking young men to the gridiron, as more recruits realize that a degree from similar academic institutions may not automatically assure them of immediate post graduate employment.

 I think it is a dynamic to keep an eye on over the next few years. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying a return to the days of Army and Navy notching up national titles is immanent - but may could see a rise in win totals for all three schools in the near future.

Somewhere between taking shots at Lane Kiffin and babbling excessively about Rich Ellerson during last week’s podcast, Brian and I forgot to mention the absurd amount of coaching changes that took place this offseason in the Mid American Conference. Never one to shy away from giving my opinion on all things related to the non-BCS conferences, here are some thoughts on the new MAC coaches for 2009.

Ball State

Out: Brady Hoke (Hired by San Diego State)

In: Stan Parrish (Former Ball State OC)

I think this is both a good long-term and short-term hire. Parrish is actually one of the best recruiters in the conference, and has a proven track record of attracting mid and low tier Big 10 prospects to come and play for the Cardinals (see: Nate Davis, Briggs Orsbon.) I think he was one of the most underrated coordinators in the entire FBS over the past several season, and should keep Ball State rolling offensively. The real challenge will be on the defensive side of the ball. Ball State should be fine considering the depth returning this year (seven returning starters), but with Hoke leaving you have to wonder if they will struggle down the road.

Bowling Green

Out: Gregg Brandon (Fired)

In: Dave Clausen (Former Tennessee OC)

Clausen was one of the very best head coaches in all of the FCS when he coached at Richmond (2004-2007) and brings with him experience as both a headman and a coordinator to the Falcon program. I know he did not have much success at Tennessee last year but to tell you the truth it is hard to go into an SEC school and transform an offense in one season, especially considering how ill-equipped the Vols were in terms of personnel. Bowling Green was a decent 6-6 last year and although I questioned the decision to fire Gregg Brandon, I think the move to Clausen is ultimately in the program’s best interest and should pay dividends immediately. 

Eastern Michigan

Out: Jeff Genyk (Fired)

In: Ron English (Former Louisville DC)

I actually thought Jeff Genyk was a decent coach and an underrated recruiter, but there is no disputing that his teams underperformed in Ypsilanti and after five years it was time for a change. English is a good short-term hire because he can help shore up the defense immediately, while he inherits a veteran and already strong EMU offense led by senior QB Andy Schmitt. I like English’s recruiting ties to Big 10 country, but ultimately I question whether or not he can sustain success at Eastern Michigan. Like Genyk coming into EMU a few years back, English has never been a HC before and despite success as a high profile coordinator will have to deal with the unique challenges of selling a very tough program to sell. Not exactly the most charismatic guy in the world, this hire may end up going south after one or two good seasons. 

Miami (OH)

Out: Shane Montgomery (Fired)

In: Mike Haywood (Former ND Offensive Assistant)

I don’t like this hire in the long-term or the short-term. Miami University is a program that is used to winning in the MAC but has very little going for them going into 2009. The offense was almost nonexistsant last year, while the defense loses its best players to graduation. Haywood is a smash mouth football coach with a great personality, but can he make this program competitive in a MAC conference which seems to be heading the way of the Big XII in terms of a formula for offensive success? He has had very limited coaching experience in the past and although he brings “name” recognition, you have to wonder if being associated with Charlie Weis really means as much as it used to for a high school recruit. I think this was a “wrong person, wrong time” hire for the program and a “wrong school, wrong situation” for Haywood.

Toledo

Out: Tom Amstutz (Resigned)

In: Tim Beckman (Former Oklahoma St. Defesnive Coordinator)

Amstutz may have been the butt of a number of fat and gambling jokes during his career at Toledo, but people forget that he was one of the best coaches ANYWHERE in the country between 2001-2005, winning two conference titles and four division titles during that time. That being said Tim Beckman is a good hire in the sense that he has experience scheming against spread offenses coming over from Oklahoma State, a skill that should serve him well against the MAC’s increasingly offensive and spread oriented style of play. Beckman also has great recruiting ties to Ohio thanks to his days as a position coach at Ohio State, and should be in a position to attract his fair share of talent to a Toledo program which has heard nothing but bad news as of late. While Amstutz was one of the MAC’s best coaches, I like this hire and think it was a great move by the school.

Thoughts?

As most of you already know, I’m a fan of the BCS, but do have one issue with the way the standings are calculated. I am not a fan of having the coaches, who have jobs directly relying on their performance and schools who profit heavily on making BCS Bowls, have a say in any BCS formula calculation. I’ve heard the arguments on how the coaches are the most qualified because they see the game at field level, but how many games other than their conference teams do they see on a regular weekly basis? I’m pretty sure it is very few.

Not only that, but the fact that getting an extra team from their conference can make their team and conference a lot of money which can get better facilities or a bigger recruiting budget is a little added bonus for the coaches to follow conference lines when voting. Then you have coaches who are fighting for a spot in the BCS title game, rank teams that are jockeying for the same spot, much lower than they should. In the grand scheme of the this poll, which is one-third of the formula, it might not be huge, but ethically and from a public relations it isn’t right.

So one would think that the BCS would try and either push out coaches who “take advantage of the system” or yet one better, publish the results from each coach, which they do one time a year at the end. That sounds grand doesn’t it? Well unfortunately for us, the fans, the BCS decided that they will no longer publish any of the detailed final votes starting in 2010!

The BCS has been taking a PR hit lately, with all of the controversy surrounding Utah’s undefeated season, and no share of the BCS title, along with the government wanting to force college football to ditch the BCS and go to a playoff. This would have been a great time for the BCS to legitimize itself but publishing all votes by the voters each week. Hold each person and coach accountable but here is what they said:

Revealing the ballots has caused some awkward situations for the coaches’ poll. Former Florida coaches Steve Spurrier (now at South Carolina) and Ron Zook (Illinois), for instance, took some heat last year when they ranked the Gators second behind Oklahoma in last year’s final regular-season poll.

Well too bad for Ron Zook and Steve Spurrier! Take their votes away! Of course when asked neither coached actually cared that their votes were published, but I’m sure they felt a little relief now that they know they won’t have to suffer the same ridicule if they do it again in 2010.

The Harris poll will continue to release its voters’ final ballots. Harris voters include former college football players, coaches, administrators and media members. So if the Harris has to do it, why not the Coaches? Sounds like a double standard to me!

If you listened to the podcast already, you know what I am about to tell you; the In The Bleachers Podcast on June 8th will be featuring the one, the only, Phil Steele. Adam and I already have some questions in the works to ask him during our 30 minute interview with him, but we are opening up the forum to you the readers to ask him questions.

So here is how it works, either send us an email to inthebleachers[AT]gmail.com with your question for Phil, or leave your question in the comment section of this post. By either emailing us or leaving a question in the comments section, you will be entered to win one of 5 copies of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview that In The Bleachers will be handing out. So tell your friends about this!

As a note to everyone, we feel that it is a great privlidge that Phil is willing to take time out of his busy schedule to talk to us. Any questions that are offensive, or ones we deemed that are in bad taste will not be asked and you will not be eligible for the prize. Now get those questions in!

While you are waiting for the podcast to come out, make sure you check out Phil’s blog that he started on his site