Via Deportes:

• Fear the T
• Auburn Appears to be Not Very Good This Year
• If I Could Change One Rule in College Football…
• Line of the Day
• Update: Unless You are a Tide Fan…

If you have surfed over from SI’s SI On Campus - Blog Index, please note that I have moved my sports content to PoliBlog: Deportes.

Thanks.

I have some thoughts (especially in light of Florida’s performance last night) on Saban’s Future at Deportes.

Update: While we are on the topic of college football, I also have some thoughts on Troy Smith/Vince Young comparisons.

One of the things that has been said about the coaching job at the University of Alabama in the national sports press during the job search is that one of that things that makes the job less desirable than it might otherwise be is the nature of some segments of the Tide’s fan base. Among those criticisms was that the coach and his family are not afforded sufficient privacy and that the fans can be overly personal in criticizing the coach.

So, Rich Rodriguez decides not to take the job and the callers to the Paul Finebaum radio show (a regional program that originates out of Birmingham), as well as Finebaum himself, start resorting to making fun of Rodriguez’s wife (including her hair) because they presume that she dissuaded her husband in terms of taking the job. That is simply uncalled for and hardly shows any class.

Further, it is not irrational for Rodriguez to decide that with a raise that staying put is a good move. Not only in WV home, but moving is a gigantic pain. Further, West Virgina is ranked 13th in the BCS, and Alabama isn’t ranked. Logically, which program has the better short-to-medium term prospects?

The ongoing assumption that the Alabama job is the job in college football continues to permeate Bamanation, despite the fact that it simply isn’t what it once was, and probably won’t be again, given the way college ball works these days. Yes, it is a place where it is possible to win a National Title, not to mention a storied program in a BCS conference, but college football has changed in the last decade and it is now possible to compete for the title (such as schools like West Virginia), as well as really good bowl berths from any number of schools (Rutgers and Boise State comes to mind).

Indeed, in some ways it makes more sense to stay with a good team in an easier conference than to take over a dysfunctional program in the hardest conference–especially if one is getting a raise to stay.

Thankfully, according to the Austin American-Statesman it was only a severe pinched nerve in neck.

That’s good news, as it could have been far worse.

Well, Texas’ season is now in the tank–and it may have all started with Colt McCoy’s injury in the K-State game (and loss) as McCoy missed the bulk of that game and hasn’t been up to speed in this one. He has thrown 3 INTs in this game after throwing all of 4 during the rest of the season. In that last drive with less than a minute to play it was clear that Colt did not have the arm strength that he normally has.

And now the young man had to be taken off the field immobilized on a backboard, which something you never want to see. He was moving, or so it seemed, so hopefully everything will be ok.

Losing to K-State meant that Texas was out of the national title hunt, but at least they still had a shot at winning the Big XII and therefore getting a solid BCS bid. There is no shame in not repeating as National Champs, especially when losing a player like Vince Young. But, gee whiz, to go on to be unable to compete for the league championship is a disappointment.

Unless Oklahoma State beats OU tomorrow, Texas will be relegated to a second-tier bowl game.

c’est la vie.

And while it is clear that Texas was outplayed today–especially in terms of our D’s inability to stop A&M’s run, I will say that Texas got jobbed on the pass interference call that negated a TD and led to an INT on the next play and on the review of the pass over the middle for a third down conversion that was reviewed and called an incompletion despite the fact that is was clear on the replay that the receiver’s hands were under the ball.

Via MSNBC: QB McCoy cleared to play against Texas A&M

Man, the stars had almost all aligned: Louisville lost, Auburn lost, Florida almost lost, and so I was looking forward to Texas moving up in the rankings. Instead, our red hot QB, Colt McCoy, gets hurt on the first drive of the game and we end up losing the game to K-State.

UGH.

Two missed FGs (made one of them, and we likely would have won) and a blocked PAT means we left 7 easy points on the field.

And on the Nebraska winning TD drive we had them pinned deep in their own territory and it was second and TWENTY and we gave them 15 yards and a 1st down on a stupid, stupid, stupid personal foul.

All I can say is: thank goodness for that forced fumble.

They just about gave me a stroke today.

Dan Steinberg of WaPo’s D.C. Sports Blog e-mails in his quest to get linked at a Texas (as in the University of) Blog.

I am always happy to oblige requests from WaPo (ok, this is the first one, ever), so here’s the post he wanted linked: My Attempt to Get Linked in Texas Blogs.

This may not qualify for what Dan’s after, since mine is a political blog that only ranges into sports as the whim hits. I suspect he found me because last year I was a voter in the Blog Poll, which, alas, I was not asked back to do this year (although it may be that I was supposed to re-up on my end, and simply failed to do so).

In regards to the interview in Dan’s post, I’m sorry, but our good friend from Oregon is going to have to get over himself. We’re Texas, and all that. Plus, I think that when your mascot is a duck, then your odds are long vis-a-vis a national championship. (And don’t get me started on the unis–what’s with making it look like all your players got run over by a truck?)

And while Texas’ shot at a repeat are slim, they do exist. At the moment I am hoping for a repeat as Big XII champs and a good bowl berth.

Too bad we don’t have at least the top four going at it with a plus-one format.

At any rate: Hook’em and I need to get back to work…