Julian Vandervelde to Appear on ESPN College Game Day

A production crew was in Iowa City parts of the last week shooting a feature for the popular Saturday morning ESPN College Game Day on Julian Vandervelde. Vandervelde, a starting offensive lineman on the Iowa Football team, also is known for his singing talents. As a freshman he took part of a talent show put on by the Alamo Bowl, and his performance brought his own team members as well as that of the opposing Texas Longhorns to their feet. This past spring he also provided musical entertainment when the President of the United States made an appearance on the University of Iowa campus.

Vandervelde's segment is scheduled to appear around 10am.

UPDATE: THE CURRENT SCHEDULE HAS JULIAN TO APPEAR AROUND 9:30am

College Football Week 8

Bobby Bowden, you OLD dog, you......With a come from behind win against the Tar Heels the heat on Bowden has quieted down, but only for a week.....Congratulations Ball State Head Coach, Stan Parrish on winning your first game as a head coach since 1986. He hasn't been a head coach every year, but the losing streak was ended at 34......Much has been made about the mediocrity of the Big Ten, but take a look at the schedule Texas has played. Their non-conference slate included wins over Louisiana-Monroe, UTEP and Wyoming with an upcoming battle with Central Florida. NONE of those teams are from BCS conferences. Iowa is on track to play the top five Big Ten teams on the road as well as take on an opponent from the Big 12 (Iowa State) with a home game against Arizona. The national media can criticize the Big Ten all they want, but that is based on the success of the past years, as is the respect Texas is receiving. Remember in Colt McCoy's freshman season, his 9-3 team went down to the final drive with a 6-6 Iowa team in their home state. If you want to look at the past, take that into consideration......I am continuing to lobby for a BCS Buster Saturday. The idea of a playoff has taken a backseat to the current bowl structure. I, too am in favor of the bowl lineup, but there is no reason to implement a system to place the appropriate teams in the correct bowls. A criticism of TCU and Boise State is their lack of strength of schedule. "Those teams could not compete on a weekly basis with the BCS conferences," is the argument. If so, pair them up on either Thanksgiving weekend or the following Saturday. As is the case in basketball with Bracket Buster weekend, college football could pair the appropriate teams from the WAC, Mountain West, MAC and Sun Belt. A year ago Boise State could've played Ball State and this year the pairing could be against TCU.

College Football Week 14

The Big Ten may have 11, but it's not as screwed up as the Big 12--I'm looking for some one's take on the Big 12 South. What did Texas do to lose the right to play for the championship? Their only loss is at Lubbock on a last second play to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are also tied for the league lead, but lost badly at Norman. Oklahoma's one loss is to Texas, by ten points on a neutral field. The argument for the BCS is that the regular season is the playoff. Then Texas beat Oklahoma and the Longhorns should be on their way to play for Missouri and beat them for a second time this year. Sure, I'd rather see Oklahoma play for the conference and national title, but Texas has earned the right more than the Sooners.

Georgia drops the ball--Not only have the Bulldogs underachieved against the top teams of the conference, and now state, but the Georgia Radio Network may have had the biggest disappointment of the day. On a day that found in-state rival Georgia Tech win for the first time in seven years over the Bulldogs, but it was disappointing to hear (or not hear) the in-game ceremony for former Georgia radio announcer of 43 years, Larry Munson. At the end of the first quarter Munson was brought to the field to be honored with a video tribute in front of the sell-out crowd. However for those of us listening to the network that so many had enjoyed his calls, we were treated to the usual three minutes of commercials. What made Munson famous were his calls on the radio, and for the network that he worked for not to listen in and sell-out to advertisers was uncalled for.

Big Ten, not Penn State thanks Oregon--Oregon's win in the Civil War over in-state rival Oregon State will most likely send the Southern California Trojans to play in the Rose Bowl for the fourth consecutive year. Had the Beavers won, they would've received the invite to play Penn State and USC had gone to another BCS bowl game. Penn State would've been heavily favored over Oregon State in a re-match the Nittany Lions won by 31 in week 2. But it will be a home game for the Trojans and look for another USC win over the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl.

Faster, Stronger, Bigger Ducks--Did anyone else think it was a men versus boys match-up between Oregon and Oregon State. The Ducks were faster, stronger and bigger than the conference leading Beavers. Oregon State looked more like the team we've seen over the last five years than the team that beat Southern Cal.

Bowl Predictions--My bowl predictions with one week to go. Look for the Big Ten to lock their teams in this week.

Rose Bowl--Penn State v USC
Fiesta Bowl--Ohio State v Texas
Capital One Bowl--Iowa v Georgia
Outback Bowl--Michigan State v South Carolina
Alamo Bowl--Northwestern v Missouri
Champs Sports Bowl--Minnesota v North Carolina
Insight Bowl--Wisconsin v Kansas

The Capital One is very interested in bringing the Hawkeyes back to Orlando. The match-up with Georgia would showcase two of the best running backs in college football. Shonn Greene of Iowa and Knowshon Moreno of Georgia. The Outback is another possibility for the Hawkeyes and look for LSU to be the opponent if Iowa lands here. South Carolina also has a large fan following, but it wouldn't be necessary if Iowa is invited to Tampa. LSU has a bigger name and will be a good draw for ESPN.

Finally, I'm watching the Bears and the Vikings while writing this up. It sure is nice to see the retro uniforms of Minnesota. Except for them playing indoors, these unis are reminiscent of the Bud Grant, Purple People Eaters era of the 70s and 80s. Or where have you gone Tommy Kramer?

Sittin' in the Principal's Office

Alright, not the best shots, but you are looking at Kinnick Stadium on the Thursday prior to the #3 Penn State Nittany Lion's Saturday arrival. Musco Lighting was busy preparing its lights for the national television broadcast.
It doesn't seem long ago that Musco first lit up Kinnick Stadium, but it was over 23 years ago they were brought in for the Michigan - Iowa game. That day (October 19, 1985) the #1 Hawkeyes faced the #2 Wolverines. Today, a game of that magnitude would attract a national prime time audience with ESPN's GameDay. However that wasn't the case then. The game began at 2:30 with CBS showing the game to a split-national audience. Auburn and Georgia Tech was the other game. But one thing hasn't changed, Brent Musberger called that game as he still calls the most prolific games today. However Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul McGuire and Stacey Dales will call the game for ABC Saturday.

Tim Tebow for Heisman
I'm not sure he deserves it this year. There are many other good candidates. Colt McCoy (Texas), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech) are on most voter's lists, and for good reason. Each have led their teams to remarkable seasons, but the returning Heisman winner has received little attention and may not win it again this year. However this article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/sports/ncaafootball/31florida.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin brings to light the life of a college quarterback. Being a video coordinator, there are few who realize how important video is to a football coaching staff and team members. Tebow here shows the commitment needed to excel at the highest level.

Thanks for Playing
Five openings have occurred in Division I (FBS) College Football. The latest is Ron Prince at Kansas State. I don't have first-hand knowledge of what led to his dismissal, but it is extremely difficult to understand how someone could lose thier position after 2 1/2 years on the job. A new coach's first year is to understand his personnel and recruit players to fit his system Typically the coach takes over with a late jump in the recruiting process. In the coach's second year, the system begins to take place, but often they are doing it with young inexperienced student-athletes. In year three, positive signs should take place, however the coach still doesn't have many experienced players that he recruited. Prince made a commitment to the players and their families to be there until they completed their time at Kansas State. However the athletic director decided it was time to move in a different direction.
I don't feel it is right for any coach to leave for a better job after the same amount of time on the job, but it is worse for the University to rid themselves of a coach after the same period of time. I don't know all the circumstances, but how long will this AD give the next coach to succeed?

Obama for Playoff?
On the eve of the '08 Election, Barack O'Bama explained to ESPN's Chris Berman that he would like to see a college football playoff in college football. The next day prominent coaches like Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll came out in support of a play-off system. Let's forget about John McCain's plea for eliminating substance performing drugs. We wouldn't want to talk about something that isn't good for the body, rather center our focus on a seemingly trivial play-off system.
What i propose is the following. Start the season a week earlier and ensure it is over the Saturday prior to T'Giving. Thanksgiving weekend is Conference Champion Saturday. Each conference will play their title game or determine the champion in their pre-determined way. After those games, seed the conference champions into a 8-team play-off to begin play the first Saturday of December. The following Saturday would be the semi-finals with the title game played the Saturday after January 1. Those teams that don't qualify for the play-offs would then be sent to their conference designated bowl game. This would allow fans and staffs to adequately prepare travel arrangements. If the season were to end today your playoff would look like the following:
#1 Alabama vs #8 Boise State
#4 USC vs #5 West Virginia
#3 Penn State vs #6 Georgia Tech
#2 Texas Tech vs #7 Utah
The conference season remains important. You must win your conference to advance to the field of 8. Many notable top ten teams are absent. Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, are among the list. However now it is important to win every conference game, no matter when it occurs.

College Football Week 10

After an exciting weekend of Big Ten Football, the ladies of Minnesota will present the wrap-up of week 10.
Can anyone remember a Saturday of Big Ten Football that found every game settled in the last minute of play? First, an Adam Weber throw was intercepted by Northwestern and returned for a touchdown to break a 17-17 tie. The Gophers, instead of playing for overtime, threw over the middle and endured a devastating defeat. Then Michigan State came back from 11 down in the fourth quarter to kick a 45 yd field goal with :12 to play. A couple of mental breakdowns from the Wisconsin coaching staff contributed to the defeat. Purdue brings the hook 'n ladder from the back pages of the playbook to defeat Michigan with :27 to play. The win for the Boilermakers sent the Wolverines to the bowl sideline for the first time in 33 years. And finally, a Matt Eller field goal, broke a 24-24 tie with Iowa with :30 to play followed by an Ricky Stanzi intercepted pass. Although the conference is mediocre, that doesn't mean it doesn't have exciting finishes.
Exciting finishes were found elsewhere around the country. Pittsburgh took four overtimes to beat Notre Dame in South Bend. BYU defeated Colorado State 45-42 in a back and forth game that whoever scored last, won the game. And in a game that lived up to the hype, Texas Tech defeated the #1 Texas Longhorns on a touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree that left :01 on the clock.
And finally, on the eve of Election Day I just witnessed the interviews of Barack Obama and John McCain. When asked what sports issue they would change Obama wants a playoff while McCain would eliminate performance enhancing drugs. Based on that alone, I could not vote for Obama.

College Football Week 9

As you may have read, the Iowa Hawkeyes had the week off which allowed me to watch some football. However we took in a FCS game involving schools who do not offer scholarships, Drake and Davidson.
The ladies who grace this page belong to Washington State. We must honor them as it takes much to cheer on a team that holds try outs for the quarterback position. Typically a team who has lost any chance at post-season play looks forward to the last game of the season. But the Cougars' last game is at Hawaii. Win or lose, who wouldn't be looking forward to that. Let's hope these ladies get to make the trip.

Big Ten Scary Possibility I--Penn State (9-0) looks at the possibility of going undefeated and not play for the national championship. Alabama and Texas are ranked ahead of the Nittany Lions. If each team continue to win, they will earn their spot in the BCS Title Game. This wouldn't be the first time the Nittany Lions will have been subbed a chance to play for the title. 1993 was the most recent time as Penn State defeated Oregon in the Rose Bowl. As long as Penn State win out (at Iowa, vs Indiana, vs Michigan State), odds are Texas or Alabama losing at least one game. Having talked with some at State College today, they feel confident in winning their next three.

Big Ten Scary Possibility II--If Penn State loses one of their next three games, and Minnesota wins out (vs NWestern, vs Michigan, at Wisconsin, vs Iowa), the Gophers would get the automatic bid to the Rose Bowl. Penn State and Minnesota do not play each other this season, and it comes down to the Big Ten tiebreaker sending the Gophers to Pasadena.

Big 12 Rugged Schedule--Texas continues a brutal stretch this week travelling to Lubbock and face #7 Texas Tech. Tech recently scored 63 at Kansas. This battle may be the first to 50 wins. Tech is in the middle of their own rugged schedule. Last week at Lawrence, KS, this week Texas, next week Oklahoma State, followed by a trip to Norman, Oklahoma.

College Football Week 7

The adjacent pictures tells it all from Ann Arbor. Rich Rodriguez may be able to get the storied Michigan football program back to national prominence, but it is suffering some very low times. For the first time in 25 attempts a Mid American Conference school has beaten the Michigan Wolverines. Toledo pulled off what many would consider an upset when a Michigan Field Goal went wide left with four seconds to play. It is hard to say when the next victory will come for the Maize and Blue. They have yet to face Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State and Minnesota. Yes, Minnesota. There are no easy teams left on the Michigan schedule. They must go 4-2 to be bowl eligible and keep their consecutive bowl streak of 33 alive.

The National Title should be decided between representatives of teams in the Big 12 and SEC. Each have had schools hold the #1 spot in the polls and the top tens have been dominated by schools from these conferences. Texas is the current holder of the top spot and with wins over their next three opponents will solidify their spot. It begins this week with Missouri, followed by Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Those three teams have a combined one loss among them. That loss came this past week when Missouri fell to Okie State.

Who is the worst football team in Division I? While Syracuse has been losing, the Orange has had least made games competitive. They held a lead in the fourth quarter against Pitt two weeks ago, and lost 17-6 at West Virginia this past Saturday? There are many contenders such as Washington and I saw first hand how poor Indiana can be. But my vote goes to Washington State. They gave up 66 points to Oregon State over the weekend and 42 of those came in the second half. It has gotten so bad for Wazzu that current students have been asked to audition for the role of scout team QB. Whoever played that role this previous week may look to be a starter soon, that is if they prepared the defense for what 66 points would look like.

Goodbye Tommy Bowden. Too bad you couldn't schedule your father more.