NCAA 2009

[katmai]

Ahh, to suffer the long heartbreak, to see teams win 4 games year after year, to KNOW that the first drive will end in 2 plays with the QB throwing a pick-six...and to get even a tiny little bit of something back.

THAT is why I am a fan.

You're a masochist, got it.

[PDH]

You're a masochist, got it.

I am the anti-Tim.

[Ed Anger]

if you want to know ehat your favorite student-athlete is getting for going to a bowl:

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/64318

The Hawaii bowl players are getting screwed over.

[PDH]

I want a sony gift suite! 

[CountDeMoney]

The Hawaii bowl players are getting screwed over.

The Hawaii bowl players are getting Hawaii.  That's more than enough.

[sbr]

Not sure why the Anchorage paper was the first link to this but whateva'.

Su was named AP Player of the Year in addition to Defensive Player of the Year

http://www.adn.com/24hour/sports/story/1066054.html

NEW YORK - Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh bulled past the guys who play the glamour positions and proved you don't have to score touchdowns or toss passes to be the player of the year.

Spurred by a dominant performance against Texas in the Big 12 title game, Suh became the first defensive player voted The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Suh had already won two defensive player of the year awards - the Nagurski and Bednarik - and two for best lineman - the Lombardi and Outland. He also finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

"Just being recognized as player of the year is a huge accomplishment," Suh said in a recent phone interview from Lincoln, Neb.

He received 26 of a possible 59 votes from AP college football poll voters to edge Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, who received 20 votes.

Heisman winner Mark Ingram finished tied for third with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, each getting six votes. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow received one vote.

Since the AP started handing out a player of the year award in 1998, all the winners have been quarterbacks or running backs.

"It's a great choice," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. " I give (the voters) a lot of credit. I'm not taking anything away from Ingram or McCoy or any of the other guys. I just think at his position, you would be hard-pressed to say there's a better player than Suh. He's had a tremendous year."

It's the fourth time the AP award went to a player other than the Heisman winner and first since Iowa quarterback Brad Banks beat out USC's Carson Palmer in 2003.

Suh finished behind Ingram, Gerhart and McCoy in the Heisman voting, though he did receive more points than any fourth-place finisher in the 75-year history of the award.

Suh, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior, was already having an All-America-caliber season before the Cornhuskers played Texas on Dec. 5 at Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

He nearly led Nebraska to a stunning upset, with 12 tackles and 4 1/2 sacks. The Longhorns kicked a last-second field goal to escape with a 13-12 victory, but Suh was so utterly unblockable he earned a trip to New York as one of five finalists for the Heisman.

He finished the season with 12 sacks and was the pillar of the ninth-ranked defense in the country.

"I think I had a good year," he said. "I definitely got better in a couple of areas. I won't say I'm satisfied by any means, because we still have a big game left to play against Arizona in the Holiday Bowl."

He'll tell you he's still learning to play the game.

"I haven't played a perfect game yet so let's try and see if I can do that against Arizona," he said.

Suh got a relatively late start to football. Soccer and basketball were his thing growing up in Portland, Ore., the son of a Jamaican mother and father from Cameroon. His name means "House of Spears" in the language of the Ngema tribe.

But Suh literally outgrew soccer. His mother, Bernadette, was apprehensive about allowing her son to play football, but eventually gave her permission.

Ball carriers have been dealing with the repercussions of that decision ever since.

Suh went through some tough times in his first two seasons at Nebraska, being part of one of the worst defenses in school history in 2007. Then Pelini became the Huskers coach and Nebraska's defense began to turn around with Suh leading the charge.

Physically, Suh is everything an NFL team could want in a defensive linemen. Big, strong, quick and agile, he's projected to be one of the first players taken in April's draft.

Suh credits the coaching of Pelini and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini, Bo's brother, for his development.

"Mentally, being able to pick up on different reads and formations and what things can be run out of certain formations and tendencies of teams," Suh said.

Carl Pelini's first chance to coach Suh came with the player unable to play. It was spring practice of 2008 and Suh was recovering from surgery. Without ever putting on pads, Suh impressed his coach.

"I was coaching the other guys, and he was just watching," Pelini said. "He was shoulder to shoulder with me. He hadn't practiced a snap but he was a better football player coming out of that spring.

"He's a very cerebral guy. He wants to know why, and it's made him a great football player."

Academics always came before sports in Suh's home. That can happen when your mom is a teacher.

"They know coming from Third World countries that education is the key," he said.

The 22-year-old graduated last weekend with a degree in construction management engineering. He said he plans to take some postgraduate courses while he prepares for the NFL combine.

"The main focus is, now that I'm done with school, just worry about football and go from there," he said.

Suh seems set to go far.

[Valmy]

BYU 37 Oregon State 13

Can we make the Mountain West a BCS league already?

[sbr]

BYU 37 Oregon State 13

Can we make the Mountain West a BCS league already?

The Beav's had no desire to be in Vegas this year.  I heard an interview with Jaquizz Rogers, who said they had to get over missing out on the Rose Bowl, settle for where they ended up, and do their best. I knew they had no chance to win when that was their best player's attitude.  I would bet a paycheck that Alamba had the same attitude against Utah last year.  The key to the bowl games is who wants to be there, and who is bitter, or settling.

I don't mean to belittle BYU's ass kicking, they dominated the dojo tonight.

[PDH]

And that is why the Mountain West gets no respect. "They were playing a team that couldn't get up for the game."

Oh well, Wyoming won a bowl, as much as it pains me BYU played well and won.  The Mountain West again shows very well in bowl games.

[sbr]

And that is why the Mountain West gets no respect. "They were playing a team that couldn't get up for the game."

Oh well, Wyoming won a bowl, as much as it pains me BYU played well and won.  The Mountain West again shows very well in bowl games.

Unfortunately in a way, yes, but not every time, I only made two examples above.  I thought the OSU/BYU game would be very close, but I though the Beav's would win because they have a great coach who has NEVER lost a bowl game, not because of the conference BYU was from.  BYU was the higher ranked team going in.  You can't deny that there are times that certain teams couldn't care less about the bowl game they are in, and this year apparently the Beavs didn't want to be in Vegas and showed it.  Last year it was clear that Alabama never recovered from blowing the SEC Champion ship game and missing out on the NC game; that was not the same Alabama team in the Sugar Bowl that we saw all of last year.  Utah may have won the game no matter what 'Bama's attitude was, but to discount it, no matter how much it hurts the smaller conference's feeling is silly.

For the record I picked the Cowboys in my Yahoo! Pick 'Em pool.

[Ed Anger]

I saw on the TV that Nebraska was listed on the teams the Big Ten could try to get in expansion.

My reaction:

[Valmy]

The Big 10 wants to capture the lucrative Omaha market.

[Barrister]

Only article I can find mentions Notre Dame and Missouri (), and a throw-away line from Joe Paterno suggesting Rutgers, Pittsburgh or Syracuse.

http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2009-12-15/report-big-ten-expected-talk-expansion-12-teams

[Valmy]

Missouri ()

Well the Tigers have won six Big 12 championships in 13 years:

2008 Women's Soccer Tournament
2009 Women's Soccer Regular Season
2009 Basketball Tournament
1997 Women's Softball regular Season
1997 Women's Softball Tournament
2009 Women's Softball Tournament

They are truly an Athletic juggernaut...I mean sure Baylor has won 34 Conference titles over the same period but whatever right?

Missouri is by far the worst athletic department in the entire Big 12.  Nice addition there Big 10.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Missouri is by far the worst athletic department in the entire Big 12.  Nice addition there Big 10.

What about Iowa Sta...oh right they've won more too.   They should take Iowa State too though just in case. 

Whatever the Big 10 does, I hope it doesn't result in Boise getting into a BCS conference.