College Football Playoff Choices: The Most Popular Four Get Picked

Oh boy, the College Football crazies are going to be doing them some arguing today (Sunday).

The College Football Playoff committee announced the four teams that will be competing for the National Championship.

None of those four teams will come out of the Big 12.

Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State will play a game January 1st in different locations to determine who will get a shot at the title a week later.

The surprise is Ohio State, 6th in the playoff rankings and most polls going into Championship Weekend, the Buckeyes leapfrogged both TCU and Baylor, who were ranked above them.

Playoff Committee chair Jeff Long cited a few reasons for this; among them Co-Champs in the Big 12 and Ohio States domination of a probably overrated Wisconsin in the Big 10 title game. Long was adamant that it was about what Ohio State did this week, not about what TCU or Baylor did.

We'd argue Kansas State would beat Wisconsin.

Long spoke at length about "Strength of Schedule", though we'd prefer to call it "Higher Publicity" or "Larger Traditions"...but we aren't on the committee.

The state of Texas is likely to get a bit angry about this and they've got a good argument. In OUR opinion, Ohio State winning "Big 10" games is not the same as TCU or Baylor winning "Big 12" games.

The Big 10 is much better known and represented, but the football...outside the Buckeyes, was abysmal or any other overrated adjective you can think of.



In the long run, no, it really doesn't matter what we think. College Football has never been a game that settled arguments on the field and is not set up to determine a true best team.

It's never been.

College Football is and always has been a popularity contest. No, this season did not provide anything clear cut. There were no real dominant teams. Very little separated them.

But in this scenario, Ohio State losing to a horrible Virginia Tech team meant nothing. And the Big 12 was penalized for not having a conference title game. Long admitted as much.

Anyway, enough ranting on our part.

Here's your semi-final matchups:

Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Florida State....

Good luck fans, you have the 4 most popular teams in all the land to cheer for. May the best....or most popular team win.

"Automatic" Aquayo Saves Florida State's Season.

FSU's Roberto Aquayo's Game Winner

Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo is known in Tallahassee as "Automatic Aquayo".


He had to be on a rainy afternoon at Doak Campbell Stadium kicking his first game - winning field goal of his career.  A 26 yard field goal that sailed through the uprights and saved the Seminoles defeating Boston College 20-17.



“To win a game, I’d never felt that feeling,” Aguayo said.

So the undefeated season remains intact.  The winning streak has reached 27 games but with the three point win over a pretty good Boston College team the game control wasn't there.

You got to have that to impress the College Football Playoff committee.

We're undefeated." Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said.  "We finish every game. Everybody else in the country has not finished at least one game. We've finished every one of them. Isn't that the object?"

Yes it is however game control seems to carry more weight that just winning it.

College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long said on Tuesday night: "It's more of, the committee watches the games and then we discuss the game and we talk about whether the game was a back-and-forth contest, whether someone assumes control in the game early and keeps it throughout, (or) whether they assumed (control) in the second quarter or the third quarter or the fourth quarter and controlled it to the end."

If game control is your metric of where teams should be ranked than Florida State slipped again.

Saturday's opposing head coach, Steve Addazio sides with his conference rival.

"The object is to win football games and find a way to win and they have obviously
done an unbelievably great job of doing that, that’s what I really look at." Addazio said. "They play in a Power 5 conference, I think one of the better Power 5 conferences, and week in and week out they find a way to win."

"We were downgraded every time we blew someone out last year, so think of the irony of that." Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston said.  "If we win the game close, we're bad, when we blow someone out, we're bad."

“Florida State is the number one team in the country." Addazio said.

The bottom line is all Florida State has to do is finish in the Top four of the CFB Playoff poll and they are in.

You would think though that the only undefeated team in major college football would be the number one seed, conference affiliation be damned.

Florida and Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game remain on Florida State's schedule and both games will be difficult to control from the kickoff on.

Judging from the Seminoles past performance close games are the norm.

No Surprise: John L. Smith out at Arkansas

Well, this didn't take very long and really, it is almost stating the obvious, but Arkansas officially cut ties with "interim" head coach John L. Smith Saturday morning.

The move comes on the heels of the Razorbacks last game, a 20-13 loss on Friday to LSU. That loss left Arkansas a team ranked 8th in most preseason polls with a 4-8 record in 2012.

Read the University's Press Release RIGHT HERE

You'll recall Smith was a sort-of last second replacement for the disgraced Bobby Petrino who was let go much earlier in the year after a scandal involving a female member of his staff.

Smith, who is deeply in debt, was coaching at Weber State for all of 9 months when the scandal broke and bailed out on the Utah school to help out Athletic Director Jeff Long at Arkansas.

What Smith's future is in the coaching world at this point...is anybody's guess. Who will step in at Arkansas? Well, it won't be Jon Gruden despite the alleged huge contract Arkansas is rumored to have offered him. But the Razorbacks do have options. We would not be surprised to see a Sonny Dykes from La. Tech or Kliff Kingsbury, the primary assistant at Texas A&M get the opportunity here.

John L Smith... Commence Punch Lines Now...

It was the day that the new Arkansas head coach was supposed to win the press conference...

By all appearances, he didn't. John L. Smith was comedic, sad, and blamed his wife for returning to Fayetteville after all...

Here's some of the presser...
((HT: TodaysTHV.com Little Rock))


Now, it's all on AD Jeff Long...

If he just doesn't like all of his staff and just wants to jettison them all after this season, then John L. wasn't a bad idea.

If he wants to bring Petrino back after one season of John L.'s caretaking and keep the staff in tact in the process, then all the tears in the world that Long shed last week meant nothing- and was one of the best acting jobs in recent history...

Here's John L.'s agreement to be back...

Here's some more reaction from KFSM-TV and 5NewsOnline.com


What's your best John L. Smith joke so far...???

BREAKING: John L Smith To Arkansas... No, Really...

Everyone is kvetching about a possible 5PM EDT press conference in the land of the Razorback (or is it "land of the Razorbacks...?")

Sources close to OSG and the situation in Fayetteville and Little Rock are saying that Arkansas AD Jeff Long has made his choice to take over for Robert Petrino, Esq.

And it's John L Smith according to the Associated Press...???

AD Long is looking for a splash, and while bringing in currently-ostracized New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton isn't working out to his timetable, bringing in a guy like Smith to work on, what a lot of people thought would be a contender for the Ess-E-Cee Western Division title is interesting.

The HQ will be interested in seeing how he does in a pressure-cooker more high-powered than Louisville.

More when know more...

The HQ just remembers this from his tenure in Lansing in 2005
((HT: ABC Sports/youtube))


Petrino replaces John L at Luh-vul, so them's irony now...
So much for the "John L Era" at Weber State since he was the head coach there...

Wonder what the buyout in Ogden was...??? He was head coach at his ALMA MATER for three-and-a-half months, and according to Al.com's Kevin Scarbinsky, had only completed his staff three weeks ago.

While he has familiarity with working on the staff as the special teams coordinator, John L. also knows the deal is for 10 months...

Here's early discussion with Ryan, Hot Rod, and Joe Schad...
((HT: ESPN))


1700 UPDATE: Smith is signing a one-year, $850,000 deal. Prevailing thoughts are that Weber didn't have a proper buyout, Smith hadn't signed his deal, or John L had some kind of an out for certain schools where Weber is screwed...

Jeff Long's Notes Are Out...

And it appears that he's quite skeptical over the idea that former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino said that he and Jessica Dorrell "decided to be friends" in February...

Here are Long's notes, thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests and KFSM/5NewsOnline.com

Here are the personnel files of Petrino and Dorrell for good measure, thanks to our friends at KFSM again...

Chancellor G. David Gearhart says in an interview that he was surprised by all of the Petrino stuff...

Sean Payton Coaching Arkansas? Not That Far Fetched

The rumor mill has been swirling all over Arkansas in the SEC as to who will be the next head coach at Arkansas.

OSG Sources close to the situation say Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long is going the interim route for the 2012.

Smart decision, now who will that interim be.

It would seem that Arkansas assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Tim Horton should Long decide to hire from within is the favorite.

If Long doesn't and goes outside the program, it wouldn't surprise me if suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton gets a call.

Before you dismiss this think about it. Payton can't do anything right now football wise in the NFL and can't have contact with his team, the Saints, for a year.

By all accounts Payton is a football lifer, it's in his blood so how will he spend his time filling the void.

Arkansas fired its head football coach, Bobby Petrino, in the middle of spring football, the timing was awful.

The two parties might be very attracted to each other.

Can Payton coach Arkansas still under contract with the Saints?

The answer is maybe. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Mike Florio at profootballtalk.com that Payton's suspension would not prevent him from taking the Arkansas job.

The language in Payton's contract with the Saints might however Saints owner Tom Benson may not have a problem with Payton keeping his coaching skills sharp in Fayetteville, Arkansas for a season. The SEC is arguably second to the NFL as far as the level of football on the field.

Jeff Long has proven if he zero's in on a candidate to fill a coaching position he will get it done. Two examples, the way Long hired Bobby Petrino in 2007 and the hiring of Mike Anderson for the men's basketball team.

Anderson left a Final Four quality team at Missouri to rebuild the Arkansas men's basketball program. The Razorback fans wanted Anderson back and Jeff Long made it happen.

That's why I don't think an arrangement with Sean Payton is as far out there as you might think. Jeff Long needs to fill the head football coach position on an interim basis. Sean Payton needs something to do to kill time while serving a suspension and a way to not be tempted to contact Joe Vitt, the Saints interim head coach, and Drew Brees.

This seems like a great idea.

Report: Garrick McGee will end up back in Arkansas

((ht: footballscoop.com))

It appears the choice is somewhat inevitable. And no, we don't believe the Phil Fulmer to Arkansas rumor has any weight whatsoever.

Haha...we made a weight joke...

The coaching news report site FootballScoop.com is reporting that current UAB head coach Garrick McGee will take over the floundering Arkansas Razorback football program next week.

The move has been foreshadowed a bit when Arkansas AD Jeff Long announced he would name his new coach no later than Tuesday of next week. For what its worth, UAB's Spring Game is Saturday.

And in case you are wondering, McGee was disgraced former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino's offensive coordinator before taking the UAB job back in December.

Read the FootballScoop.com story RIGHT HERE

For continuity sake, this probably isn't a bad hire. But we believe that Arkansas could have done better by sticking with an interim coach this year and then having the "Pick of the Litter" next season.

Sure, we know that they may not find a better coach, but consider that McGee, while highly regarded was only able to score the UAB job as opposed to some of the higher profile jobs that came available during this years carousel.

That isn't to say he won't be successful, he may. But his 1st job running a college team is going to be a "High" profile job with a team expected to challenge the SEC's elite. He may turn out to be every bit as good as Les Miles and Nick Saban and even the Chizik, but for a school yearning to be considered elite, he may or may not be the answer.

Our thoughts and prayers to the folks at UAB who look like they are going to have to find another head coach too.

Everytime the story of Bobby Petrino pops up, we think of this...from back in 2007. How short the memories...

Dorrell Settles For $14K

((HT: TodaysTHV.com))

Arkansas AD Jeff Long released a statement about now-former Arkansas employee Jessica Dorell:

"While Ms. Dorrell had a legitimate right to apply for and accept a position within the football program, the circumstances surrounding the former coach's decision to hire her compromised her ability to be effective in such a position. She and I believe she should have the opportunity to move on."

Dorrell has, apparently, agreed she would not try and sell and/or profit from her time that she was that employed by the University of Arkansas. Long admits that as a result of the "resolution of all matters between the parties" that Dorrell is leaving her job with a $14,000 settlement...

Nothing more...

Here's some interesting surveillance video that gives you another look at the Petrino incident after the accident. Dorrell's new black Acura can be seen in the upper-left corner of the screen.

Look for a white Jeep entering the far parking lot and, then, take a left into the lot and stop.

Then, you see Dorrell's black Acura pull forward, stop again before pulling out of the parking lot and exiting the frame in the top right-hand side. This happens at, around, the 2:45 mark...
((HT: 5Newsonline.com))


The HQ still enjoys the irony of the video coming from April Fool's Day...

And now we ask the obvious question: Was it all worth it to you...???

Text Messages Released Between U of Arkansas And Petrino

It's not the juicy stuff between Petrino and Jessica Dorrell but still a good read. The University of Arkansas released text messages of conversations between U of A athletic officials and Bobby Petrino.

Among those texts are conversations between Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long and Petrino over the hiring of Dorrell.

Here's a text conversation between Long and Petrino from March 17th, 2012.

Long: "Sorry, missed this, did she accept."

Petrino: "The background check did not come through she said she wanted the job? Hopefully the offer letter is ready by Monday?

Long: Ok congrats she will do a good job no doubt."

Click on the link below to read the texts released by Arkansas.
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/katv/s_rnews/petrinotexts.pdf

Here's a report from KLRT-TV Little Rock, AR.

Report: Petrino is out at Arkansas (UPDATED with Long Presser and Response)

Bobby Petrino

((ht: joeschad/espn))

It appears the Bobby Petrino era is coming to an end in Arkansas.

According to ESPN's Joe Schad, the beleagured coach has been told he is going to be relieved of his duties as of tonight at the University of Arkansas.

Razorback Athletic Director Jeff Long is holding a press conference at 7:15 central time (8:15 eastern) to talk about the decision and where the program goes from here.

Petrino's tale is a sordid one that has developed over the past 10 days. You can read the OSG Sports archive for more background.

We will have details on the press conference and the goings on in Fayetteville as the night progresses, please check back often.

2015 UPDATE: Jeff Long, Arkansas AD, held a press conference at Bud Walton Arena to discuss...

CFT is relaying the idea that Petrino refused to accept penalties in order to keep his employ... Clay Henry of Hawgs Illustrated first broke that idea.

Petrino was fired with cause and after the discovery that he "knowingly deceived and acted inappropriately in Dorrell hiring process" according to Schad through his Twitter feed...

At the presser, Long admitted: "I have spoken with key individuals involved in the accident... my review lead to several concerns..."

Petrino's relationship was unfair and undisclosed to the school, there were 159 applicants for Dorell's job without disclosing a conflict of interest (3 of whom were interviewed), he gave a large sum of cash (close to $20,000) to Dorrell, but that was not disclosed to Long. Petrino abused his authority and exhibited a pattern of misleading behavior before and after the motorcycle accident.

Taver Johnson is coaching the team through spring practice.

An emotional Long, really, had no choice in the matter since this was one of the most troubled years off the field in college football history with the incidents at Ohio State, Florida, Oregon, Tennessee (for basketball), and Penn State. Petrino violated the Sexual Harassment policy on campus and brought in Dorrell "inappropriately" to her new job on campus.

Schad relays that Petrino violated his morals clause in the Dorrell hiring. And Dorrell's hiring opens itself up to potential lawsuits down the line- whether it would have been for cause, harassment, or any other angle that could raise it's head on campus. Long had an amazing amount of pressure on him with a split fan/booster base and the construction of the new football facility, and he still does.

Petrino is supposed to send out his own statement after the end of the presser at Bud Walton Arena.

And, for the record, here's Gus Malzahn's MOU from Arkansas State...
The figure is $700,000... to answer your question...

Long was asked about Dorrell's status and dismissed any update on her status as a personnel matter. He said there was no negotation with Petrino to keep his job and Petrino expressed some amount of remorse.

His decision didn't happen on Petrino and his future until today...

Long was asked about Petrino and Dorrell and the length of their relationship: "It had been a significant period of time."

When asked if Long thought Petrino was bigger than the program, Long answered "yes."

2300 UPDATE: Petrino issued a response to multiple media outlets...
Here's some of the greatest hits...

I’m sure you heard (athletic director) Jeff Long’s reasons for termination. There was a lot of information shared. Given the decision that has been made, this is not the place to debate Jeff’s view of what happened. In the end, I put him in the position of having to sort through my mistakes and that is my fault.

I wish that I had been given the opportunity to meet with the players and staff prior to this evening’s press conference and hope that I will be given the opportunity to give my apologies and say my goodbyes in person.

The HQ would love to know what Petrino's view of what happened actually is, and, unlike the departure from Atlanta, he actually wanted to meet with his players...???

Who knew he turned into a loving, caring individual...???

Here's some of the Long presser...
((HT: TodaysTHV.com/KTHV))


And some of the presser as well from KFSM-TV
((HT: 5newsonline.com))

Petrino's police escort reports on incident: Interesting but not overly relevant

((ht: arkansas360.com))

Interesting. And it may, at least for now shoot down the rumors of a hush conspiracy surrounding Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino's motorcycle accident and his blonde passenger Jessica Dorrell.

The Arkansas State Police released a report today from Captain Lance King, Petrino's escort during football season regarding the call he received and his version of the events surrounding Sunday's crash.

In it, King states that he didn't meet up with Petrino and Dorrell until after the accident and they had been transported to a lot near Fayetteville. He also mentions speaking to Dorrell, but didn't know who she was. She described what happened and helped Petrino into King's car and King transported the coach to an area hospital.

It's a lengthy report you can check out on Arkansas 360.com RIGHT HERE

To summarize for you; essentially the report exonerates King from any "So-called" conspiracy theories. But...it doesn't explain Petrino's rationale for lying about Dorrell's participation in all of this. It also doesn't get into the part which ultimately will get Petrino in trouble and that is the hiring of Dorrell on his football staff and his admission that she is and/or was his mistress.

We are reasonably sure that Razorback A.D Jeff Long will not fire Petrino over this. Though he arguably could. We've stated before and we will state again, it isn't the accident that is the overriding issue here, its Dorrell and Petrino's admitting that (a) he had an affair with her and (b) she got hired fairly recently on his staff.

We nor does anyone else believe for a minute that Petrino ended his affair with her...then hired her on his staff. And that friends is morally poor and maybe not illegal, but highly unethical.

The bet here is that Petrino will sit out the 1st two games of the 2012 season. And no the issue won't go away, you can bet the farm that every recruiter in the SEC will use Petrino's lack of "Truthiness" against him while on the recruiting trail.

Petrino coverup gets deeper (UPDATED With Toonage) and 911 call

((ht: arkansasmatters.com))

Bobby Petrino

Haha! The botched coverup of Bobby Petrino's motorcycle accident and mistress continues to deepen.

A report today by KARK-TV says that contrary to Petrino's original story, the 1st person called to the scene of his "accident" was State Police Captain Lance King...who, just so-happens to be Petrino's escort to and from games.

And if you read closely, it appears King may have actually driven Petrino's mistress, 25-year-old Jessica Dorrell from the scene to her car...before taking "Coach" to the hospital. That is emphasized in the part saying that "an officer arriving on the scene, found nobody there". Oh, and we might add, it definitely wasn't Petrino who called 911.

The KARK-TV story is RIGHT HERE

Your 911 call from wholehogsports.com RIGHT HERE

This just keeps getting worse. Or better if you are like many outside the state of Arkansas who have little, if any love for Petrino.

The impression that one gets here is he (Petrino) knew full well what might happen if Dorrell was discovered and he tried the only way he knew how...to cover it up.

In anyplace outside the SEC, the sequence of events, and more importantly, the lame attempt at a cover-up would get him fired.

We think Arkansas A.D Jeff Long will try to draw his "Investigation" out as long as he can, which given the unfolding events, may not take very long. Long, we believe will suspend Petrino, for 2 games and try to move on.

But the damage is now done. The accident is almost secondary here. It's more about the lies. The lie Petrino made about his apparent mistress and the attempt at covering it up. And then the appearance that he found her a job on his "Staff".

Yeah, we said it.

This is just a quckly falling house of cards. Petrino is quickly losing any credibility that he has with potential recruits. Think about it. What family is going to trust their child to him? How can they believe anything the man says?

Short of a TV News video story, we can think of nothing else more appropriate here:



PM UPDATE: Chris Vernon has already broken out in song over the story...

Here's KFSM's report on the Arkansas State Patrol wanting to discuss the matter with Captain King...