Post-season moves and bowl games

Post-Season Moves

Congratulations to TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente. Today, he was introduced as the new head coach of the Memphis Tigers. Having worked with Justin, I can tell you that he’s a sharp, young football mind who’s on the fast track. He came to TCU through a connection with former quarterbacks coach Dick Winder (another great offensive mind). That should tell you all you need to know. Frankly, I’m surprised that TCU was able to hang onto him this long. Good luck to Justin.

Strange state in Arizona

What a weird situation yesterday at Arizona State? First, they offer June Jones the job and then later pull the offer because a few well-placed alums didn’t care for the choice. Do they know what they just did to their search effort? How does the AD feel? Hiring a head coach is hard enough without the perception that a program’s support base is divided and really doesn’t know what it wants. Who wants to walk into a situation like that? Good luck to the Sun Devils as they compete with several other programs for a coach while dealing with the “now you’re our guy, now you’re NOT” syndrome.

Cancelling Bowl Games

Forgive me for picking and choosing among the 35 bowl games on the docket, but let’s get real here. If you have 35 games, that means 70 teams go to post-season play. With only 120 FBS teams, that means 50 teams must stay home. Keeping in mind that I’m using the old-school “7 wins = Bowl Bid theory." Here are some others who should stay at home as well along with complete wipeouts:

• Marshall (6-6) – Thundering?? Really?
• Arizona State (6-6) – They don’t even have a head coach and just bungled a hiring. Study Hall should be the holiday destination for this program.
• Purdue (6-6) – Simmering, definitely not boiling.
• Iowa State (6-6) – Should the Oklahoma State win count as two? If so, then let the Pinstripe Bowl (George Steinbrenner is laughing somewhere) go on.
• Music City Bowl – CANCELLED due to lack of wins. Mississippi A&M and Wake Forest have 12 losses between them. Geez.
• Texas Bowl – CANCELLED – Coachless Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College faces Northwestern – they both have 6-shooters full of losses, too!
• Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl – CANCELLED. How about fight losses? UCLA has 7, Illinois has 6. This could be called the No Coach Bowl as both teams are looking.
• Vanderbilt (6-6) – OK, they were only 5 games worse in the win column than Alabama, which didn’t make it to the SEC Championship game, either.
• Gator Bowl – CANCELLED. Another Dirty Dozen Losses matchup in Jacksonville with losses equaling wins. Winner takes on the Jags.
• Pitt (6-6)—Thank goodness, it’s basketball season. Maybe Jamie Dixon can help ease the pain.

Kick ‘Em High!