Les Miles leaves the “Honey Badger,” Tyrann Mathieu, in Baton Rouge during SEC Media Days. You know Les. He’s always doing something unorthodox. You know, like leaving his best player and Heisman candidate at home for reasons that defy understanding. Les said he brought players that showed “leadership ability” to media days. HB isn’t a leader?  I mean, the worst thing this guy does from what I can see is that he tweets a lot. Instead Les leaves him in Baton Rouge and that’s all anyone writes about. That’s called a distraction, Les.

Alabama’s Nick Saban proposes that Penn State tax ticket buyers and donate proceeds to victims of child abuse. I like Saban’s thinking, but not the execution. That’s unfair to ticket buyers. I’d rather see Penn State donate 5 percent of its athletic operating revenue for the next five fiscal years for the same purpose.

More on Penn State, Grambling, Jim Delany’s power grab and the House that RGIII Built after the jump.

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Les Miles probably went a bit too far with his recent comments about Gunner Kiel.

So Gunner Kiel, smartly, takes the high road on LSU head coach Les Miles’s recent comments.

You may remember that before Kiel committed and signed with Notre Dame, he was going to sign and enroll early at LSU. Well, Miles didn’t take too kindly to that and during a team rally before spring workouts and took a shot at Kiel: “We needed a quarterback in this class. There was a gentleman in Indiana that thought about coming to the Bayou State. He did not necessarily have the chest and the ability to lead a program.”

Wasn’t it just a few years ago that Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was ripping apart a local columnist after that writer criticized an OSU player (that’s the famous, “I’m A MAN! I’m 40!” speech), with Gundy basically telling the columnist to back off? Shouldn’t coaches be held to the same standard when it comes to talking about these kids? Miles obviously forgot that as he pandered to the LSU faithful, who cheered loudly after Miles said this.

Kiel, fortunately, took the higher road when asked about Miles’ remarks, saying he would just use it as fuel to become a better player. Good for him, because it’s just plain sad when an 18-year-old kid can outclass a grown man like Miles, who should really know better. You could put some of this on Kiel, but when the system is designed to allow kids to change their minds about their future on a daily basis, well, it’s hard to blame the kid for exercising that right.

I’ll say this – I think Kiel made the right call. Brian Kelly’s offense at Notre Dame is better suited for his skill set. And it’s not like LSU is hurting with Zach Metterberger. It just sounds like sour grapes on Miles’ part.

Other things I’m pondering as I try to determine why I was dumb enough to take Missouri in my NCAA bracket …

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New head coach Bill O'Brien has some things working against him in Happy Valley as he takes over for Joe Paterno.

In texas, where I live, the joke is that there are two kinds of athletics – football and spring football. That’s nearly as true in college football. And as programs around the country gear up for workouts, we tackled the spring practice questions that mean the most.

Spring practice question No. 1: Can Bill O’Brien get off on the right foot at Penn State?

Replacing any head coach is hard enough. Replacing a legend is nearly folly. Replacing a beloved, revered, figure like Joe Paterno is a job few would want to tackle. Replacing Joe Paterno amid his death and the Jerry Sandusky scandal – which led to Paterno’s firing and put a black eye on the entire athletic program – just seems like an opportunity doomed to fail.

These are the conditions under which Bill O’Brien will be starting his tenure at Penn State. When you’re a new coach, spring workouts is usually a time to get acquainted with your new players and install your new system. For O’Brien it’s that much and more. He’ll have to start courting the Penn State faithful from the first day. He’ll have to get his message out there without insulting those who are still loyal to Paterno, and there are plenty of them. The PR element of O’Brien’s early tenure shouldn’t be underestimated.

On the field, O’Brien must install the attack he ran at New England with a group of athletes who don’t seem suited to it. How much will O’Brien give on his philosophy to put his players in the best position to win?

No coach faces more questions entering spring workouts than O’Brien. Whether he gets off on the right foot with the Nittany Lions is going to come down to his people skills. And that’s almost as important as the on-field product right now.

What other Spring practice questions are out there? Find out after the jump

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It took nearly two months to finish off the college football hiring season, which leads me directly to the PigskinU.com 2012 FBS head coach hiring rankings..

I took the time after the final hiring of the offseason to rank all of the new head coaching hirings in FBS, from No. 27 to No. 1 (yes, there were 27 job changes after the 2011 season, which eclipses the totals in both 2011 and 2010. It’s been an insane offseason, to say the least.

First, let’s be clear – this is my opinion, and I base it on a number of factors, including the experience and reputation of the coach, the current state of the program, the perceived ability for the program to be competitive early and how the coach’s hire relates to the overall reputation of the program. In other words, did the school get it right?

Second, this is not a best to worst list of coaching hires. I would not say that hires that I have ranked toward the bottom of these rankings means they’re bad coaches. I feel like you have to show you’re a good coach to be a head coach somewhere. Rather, the coaches ranked near the bottom of this survey all have something working against them, such as taking over a bad program, their own lack of experience, issues they have no control of off the field, etc…

And, finally, this is not scientific. Much of it is how I feel about the hire in my gut. I don’t have a formula for determining if a head coach is the right head coach for that school, and neither does anyone else. At the end of the day, it comes down to your gut. And 27 athletic directors went with their guts this winter.

But some did better than others. We’ll start with the bottom of the rankings, Nos. 21-27. Continue Reading…

Don't expect any changes in the BCS format, even though all parties are talking.

Don’t expect any changes to the BCS, in spite of what you might have heard coming out of New Orleans earlier this week.

The athletic directors that make up the BCS met after Alabama beat LSU to talk about what the BCS will do moving forward. The goal, by summer, is to have a BCS format in place so it can negotiate with ESPN (or a new TV partner) for the next contract.

BCS president Bill Hancock told the media that there was a lively discussion and that all possibilities were out on the table. Even the conference commissioners in attendance hinted that things might change.

I’m not buying it.

At the end of the day the BCS thinks of one thing – the BCS. The BCS makes money for its all-inclusive members and is impervious to criticism about its format. It doesn’t care about anything else.

I read articles that talked about a “sea change.” Just from one meeting? Just because the commissioners say they’re more open to a playoff than ever before. Being open to it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

It all sounds like language to placate those who want to see a more open format. I’d love a 16-team playoff, like the one in FCS, but at this point I’d settle for the Plus-One format. At least its more fair.

But I don’t see it happening. I just don’t.

There is one thing to keep in mind, though. While the BCS isn’t losing money, it isn’t making as much money as it used to. The TV ratings for the Alabama-LSU game were the second-lowest in BCS title game history. The combined ratings for all of the BCS games were the lowest on record. Hey, BCS – that’s what you get for moving to cable.

Plus, we hear stories about schools losing money going to BCS games. That needs to change as well.

Cold, hard cash is probably the best way to induce a “sea change.” But when you’re shelling out $125 million per year to your members from TV rights fees, well you could argue that no changes are necessary.

And that’s why, at the end of the day, the BCS will still be the BCS and most of us will still complain about it.

Other things on my mind as I wonder if Nick Saban will get another statue in Tuscaloosa after winning a second national title for the Tide …

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Well, that debate is for another story. Tonight’s it’s about one of the most dominant defensive performances you’ll ever see in a big game. Tonight it’s about Alabama’s second national title in three years, Nick Saban’s third career national title and the SEC’s sixth national title in a row, though to be fair we knew the last one was going to happen either way

How dominant were the Crimson Tide defensively? Well, they recorded the first shutout in BCS national championship game history. They limited the Tigers to 92 total yards on offense. They held the Tigers to 5 first downs. They held the Tigers to 2-of-12 on third down conversions. LSU’s offense crossed midfield one time. Alabama had a plus-2 turnover ratio. The Tide made QB Jordan Jefferson look like a freshman.

Alabama obviously took what it learned from its 9-6 loss to Tigers, the 44 days of preparation and a letter-perfect game plan by Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and schooled the Tigers in what amount to a home game for LSU.

How dominant was it? Alabama looked like it was playing Mississippi State, not the No. 1 team in the land. Impressive. Most impressive.

Yes, there will be debate after this victory. But for now, let’s praise Alabama. Some may not have liked how they got to the national title game, as they didn’t even win their division in the SEC. But given a second crack at the Tigers, they cashed in.

But there were plenty of other storylines that came out of Monday’s game.

A.J. McCarron came of age. All season McCarron has done just enough to stay out of Trent Richardson’s way. But in this game it was apparent early that outgoing offensive coordinator Jim McElwain was going to put the game in the sophomore’s hands, and he delivered. The Crimson Tide used McCarron to put more pressure on LSU’s pass defense and it worked. McCarron played with confidence, efficiency and precision. About the only think you could fault McCarron for was third-down conversions. But going into next season Tide fans have to feel confident about his future.

Jeremy Shelley needs to start doing some leg presses. That’s the only thing standing in the way of Shelley making Cade Foster irrelevant. Shelley went off for the Tide, making five field goals – one of which was a career-long 44 yards. My concern was whether the Tide would convert points if they were unable to get inside the LSU 25. Well, they did. And some of those kicks looked like they would have been good from 50.

Will the real Jordan Jefferson please stand up? LSU QB Jordan Jefferson will be remembered as one thing by LSU fans – an enigma. You never knew which Jefferson would show up. Remember when he had that fantastic game against texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl last year? I thought it was a sign of things to come. But Jefferson never found the consistency needed to get LSU over the top. Now, Alabama’s defense was part of the issue. But great players make great plays in big games, and Jefferson didn’t. And the fact that LSU coach Les Miles didn’t pull the trigger on pulling Jefferson for Jarrett Lee shows his lack of confidence in that senior.

Alabama, the new national defensive factory. In just a short time Saban has turned Alabama into the place to go if you want to be a NFL-ready defender. This year’s unit led every major category in FBS and at least three of their players – DB Mark Barron, DB Dre Kirkpatrick (a junior who may go hardship) and LB Courtney Upshaw – will likely be first-round picks in April. Last year DT Marcell Dareus went in the first round. In 2010 MLB Rolando McClain, CB Kareem Jackson, DB Javier Arenas and DE Terrence Cody all went by the end of the second round.  It seems every year the Tide loses key players, but someone else just takes their place. That’s the signature of a great program.

Say goodbye to Kirby Smart, Tuscaloosa. For the schools that considered defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to fill their head coaching vacancy, they may be kicking themselves now. The Alabama defensive coordinator helped construct one of the most impressive defensive game plans in recent memory. He’ll be at Alabama again in 2012, but only because there aren’t any more jobs open. Next year, he’ll be the first coach mentioned for every opening in FBS. And he’ll surely take one.

My predictions? Well, I said that, based on the first game, that Saban might not trust Foster to kick field goals outside of 40 yards and that might compel him to go for it on fourth down. Well, Saban chose to trust Shelley instead and Shelley rewarded him with an MVP-worthy game. I said Jefferson had to play efficiently and without mistakes, while the Tide had to put the Tigers into second-and-long and third-and-long situations. Well, Jefferson wasn’t efficient and the Tide put LSU in so many horrible down and distances it was hard to keep track. I thought RB Trent Richardson would have to take over for Alabama to win. Well, not only did they not need Richardson, the Tide played like they didn’t need Richardson at all. It’s amazing they won the game despite minimizing their unquestioned best player, though he finally ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Oh, and my 20-14 LSU prediction? Whoops.

It feels almost ridiculous to put that amount of effort into previewing a game that has already happened. I don’t think it’s going to be a 9-6 affair again. I’m sure both Nick Saban and Les Miles, along with their staffs, will make a myriad of adjustments to combat what they were unable to do the first time around. Although, let’s be honest – does Alabama think it’s kickers have gotten any better in two months?

I also won’t bore you with my whining about how we as college football fans have been stuck with this rematch. Although, just to be honest, the fact that a team that didn’t even reach its conference title game is playing in this game is completely antithetical to the purpose of the BCS, if you ask me.

But here we are. LSU vs. Alabama. For all the Tostitos, as Brent Musberger said last year. Oh, wait, Allstate is the sponsor this year. So this is for all the Good Hands People? Doesn’t quite have the same ring.

So who wins this game? Well, to be fair, nothing much has changed since the last meeting. Both of their defenses are astoundingly good. Both of their offenses are solid, but certainly not spectacular. And both of their coaches are the top of their game.

But, as I watch the game tomorrow night, these are things I’ll be watching.

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The weekend started with this headline: Iowa State beats Oklahoma State. BCS chaos ensues.

They weren’t kidding. This was the most chaotic weekend of the season.

By the time the weekend was over, Oklahoma lost to Baylor, Oregon lost to Southern California and the path to an Alabama-LSU rematch was clear.

Alabama received the kind of help it needed to get back into the hunt. When the new BCS rankings come out Sunday night, the Crimson Tide will be No. 2. They’re also No. 2 in our poll.

After Oklahoma State lost on Friday night I think most people thought they were staring at an insane scenario with a wealth of one-loss teams vying for the right to play LSU.

Well, Oregon had a chance, but the Ducks squandered it against Southern Cal.

Oklahoma still had a chance, but they squandered it against Baylor.

But could there be more chaos?

LSU must play two more games to get to the BCS National Championship game. First, Arkansas comes to down, and don’t discount the Razorbacks. They’re playing fantastic football right now and could go right down to Baton Rouge and screw everything up. Alabama could still lose to Auburn. Don’t think so? It’s a rivalry game. Anything could happen.

But in the short term, Alabama certainly benefits the most from this largesse of upsets. And the Tide only has to win one more game to solidify its credentials as a BCS Championship game contender.

At the start of this month there seemed to be so many ways this could go, so many potential great matchups for January.

Who would have thought that 15 days after LSU beat Alabama we’d be talking about them playing again. Legitimately.

But, to paraphrase my favorite baseball manager, “Sometimes that’s how football go.”

And now the PigskinU Top 25 for Week 13.

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Well, it did in that the game shaped up the way most of us did – dominated by defense. These units could play, as a whole, for some teams in the NFL right now. I think these two coaches, Nick Saban and Les Miles, were heavily influenced by what that fact. Most of the time coaches will tell you that they’re not concerned with the other team and they’re out to execute their game plan. Well, I think in this case both coaches knew one bad play could undo the entire game and their play calling was influenced as a result. In this case, they might have been OVERLY concerned with what the other team was doing, and that doesn’t happen often.

We all knew that these two teams didn’t have stellar passing games, and that beared out. Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson of LSU, and A.J. McCarron of Alabama, struggled. They were hampered by conservative game plans and NFL-caliber secondaries.

And we knew it would be a close game. Did anyone really think this contest would be a blowout?

But I don’t believe we thought it would be dominated by the kicking game, either. Remember what I wrote earlier this week? If it’s the kicking game, LSU has the edge. That was certainly true.

LSU was 3-for-3 on field goals, thanks to the steady foot of Drew Alleman. Punter Brad Wing had a heck of a game. Yes, he had the one shank. But that 72-yard punt was perfectly timed, if aided by the fact that Alabama punt returner Marquis Maze couldn’t backpedal on that ankle. But the Tide should have known Wing, backed up in his own end zone, was going to try and outkick his coverage, right?

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It’s the biggest game of the 21^st Century (November 2011 edition). Alabama vs. LSU. Saturday night. The winner, most likely, wins the SEC West, beats whichever sacrificial lamb the SEC East puts up in the conference championship game and goes to the BCS National Championship game in New Orleans. The stakes are high, to say the least.

Every day this week PigskinU.com’s Just Sayin’ blog will get you ready for the game, exploring matchups and keys to the game. Today, it’s special teams.

We promote the bejeesus out of games these days, don’t we? From the 24-hour news cycle to the hundreds of legitimate sports site that cover games, we’re besieged with information, opinion and vitriol until kickoff. And, most of the type, the game doesn’t live up to the hype.

It’s been that way this week with the LSU-Alabama game. It’s the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between SEC teams. It’s two of the top defenses in the country. Some have called it a de facto national semifinal game, with the winner, most likely, winning the SEC East, the SEC Championship game and earning a berth in the BCS National Championship game. CBSSports.com, whose parent network, CBS, is broadcasting the game, has had  a countdown clock on its Website all week, as if you needed to be reminded when the game was being played (Saturday at 8 p.m. EST, by the way, if you’re living under a rock).

Yeah, it’s big. But will it live up to all of this hype? That’s not something we can know until the game is over. But based on all of my research from this week – and you can read all of my matchup preview posts in the PigskinU.com archives – I think it will. I see three signs that lead me to that conclusion.

Defense. These teams are loaded defensively. I mean just flat-out stacked. LSU’s run defense is stingy. Alabama’s run defense nearly refuses to give up anything at just 44 yards per game, the best rushing yardage average in the nation. I’d be a bit worried about LSU’s pass defense, but Alabama’s not going to throw this game into quarterback A.J. McCarron’s hands unless it’s absolutely necessary. Plus, LSU rushes the passer well and gets good penetration at the point of attack. You have a prolific turnover machine in LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and a prolific tackle for loss machine in Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw. They’re also in the Top 20 nationally in points allowed. I don’t see both of these offense scoring more than 20 points on Saturday. That keeps this a close game with fourth-quarter drama.

Legacies. Nick Saban is already a rare college coach, one that has won national titles at two schools.  By winning Saturday, Alabama could put Saban on the path to another title that would put him on the list of Alabama coaches with multiple national championships (Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant). Saban could, with another national title, justify the statue already erected in his honor at Bryant-Denny Stadium. LSU coach Les Miles, meanwhile, is seeking his second national title. If he and the Tigers were able to do it, that would better the one title Saban won at LSU and make Miles the only LSU coach to win two. In other words, it would make him LSU’s greatest head coach. My point is this – the loser of this game probably doesn’t go to the BCS National Championship game. They both know what they’re coaching for.

Ball Protection. There won’t be many turnovers in this game, despite the fact that both teams are good at forcing them. Both offenses are committed to ball control, Alabama a bit more than LSU because of Trent Richardson. But they both run the ball well enough to move the chains and keep possession. Second, they’ll take punts and field position over risky fourth-down plays in that no-man’s land between midfield and the opponent’s 35. Neither Saban nor Miles will authorize a gamble like that until it’s necessary. Points will be too precious. Those two factors will neutralize some of the playmaking ability on the defensive side for both teams. I’m not saying there won’t be a turnover or two, especially when the close score requires risks be taken. It just won’t be an ugly game. The quality of the two teams dictates a cautious approach that will help both offenses keep possession and avoid mistakes, keeping scoring down and close.

So who wins? Well, I did promise a prediction, didn’t I. I’ve gone back and forth all week, but it’s hard to go against Alabama at home. I’ll take the Tide, 22-19. Expect several field goals and one pivotal special teams play that will either yield a score or lead to a score for the Tide.