At the end of the 2008 season, Auburn AD Jay Jacobs fired Tommy Tuberville and his staff following a 5-7 season.  Jacobs hired former Tuberville assistant Gene Chizik away from Iowa State and much head-scratching ensued on the Plains.  To fill the vacancy left by Chizik in Ames, ISU turned to former Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads who’d just been let go by the Tigers.

In January of 2010, Jacobs looked like a genius.  Chizik had a BCS championship ring and Cam Newton had a Heisman Trophy.  (Of course, the school also had to deal with all manner of scrutiny and accusations regarding Newton and the NCAA even changed a rule after the fact to close the so-called “Newton loophole.”)  But two years later, it’s fair to ask who really wound up making the better hire back in ’08: Auburn or Iowa State?

In two years in Ames, Chizik posted a 5-19 record, including an 0-8 Big XII record in 2008.  At Auburn, his teams have finished 8-5, 14-0 with Newton, 8-5, and now 1-4 to begin the 2012 campaign.  Tally it up and that’s a 36-33 mark over five-and-a-half seasons as a head coach.  Take out the Newton season and Chizik is just 22-33 overall, 17-14 at Auburn overall, and just 7-12 in the SEC.

Meanwhile, Rhoads took over a team that had gone 5-19 under Chizik and has reached two bowl games, finished with a winning record in his first season, and now has Iowa State at 4-1 this season following a 37-23 win at #15 TCU on Saturday… a win that ended the nation’s longest win streak at 12 games.  Rhoads also has upsets over #22 Texas in 2010, #19 Texas Tech in 2011, and a 37-31 shocker over then #2 Oklahoma State last November under his belt.  He’s currently 22-21 as the Cyclones’ head coach.

You won’t find Rhoads matching up well with Chizik in the recruiting rankings.  Currently, Auburn is #9 in terms of 2013 commitments while Iowa State is #60.  Last year, Auburn’s post-signing day rank was #10 in the nation.  Iowa State was #87.

But ISU’s coach appears to be a guy who can do more with less, while Chizik is a guy who’s looking increasingly like a guy who can do more… with Cam Newton.  Iowa State appears to be getting better.  Auburn appears to be getting worse.

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Offensive lineman Jake Campos from Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, has committed to Missouri.

Campos, who had scholarship offers from Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State, chose Missouri as much for the school as the football.

“I would really like to go on to the NFL,” Campos told the Des Moines Register, but I’m hoping to get my master’s degree in engineering. Hopefully I can do both.”

Campos, who’s the 12th prospect to commit to Missouri’s class of 2013, will be playing what’s regarded as the nation’s top conference in the SEC. Valley head coach Gary Swenson believes Campos will be able to adjust in college.

“He played his best games against the people we considered our best opponents,” Swenson said.

Ask a BCS title-winning coach what he’s most proud of regarding his team and he’ll likely tell you winning the dadgum BCS title.  But in the case of Nick Saban, he says he was most impressed by his team’s handling of its 9-6 overtime loss to LSU at home in the middle of the 2011 campaign.

Speaking at a benefit last night, Saban had this to say about his team’s focus:

“The thing that I was most proud of with this team was how they handled losing to LSU the first time.  We had a team meeting and we showed them all the plays and how the outcome of the game was completely controlled by what they did. . . . They were all convinced when they left the room that the better team really didn’t win the game.

As big as that game was made out to be, they very easily could have changed what they had committed themselves to accomplish and thought they didn’t have a chance to accomplish it. They never did that.” 

By continuing to move forward and focus on its own game — and with a little help from Iowa State’s win over Oklahoma State — Alabama wound up getting another shot at LSU in the Superdome back in January.  The result, a 21-0 Tide win and the school’s 40-11th national championship (at least according to UA’s media guide).

Justin Hamilton is trading three letters for three other letters: L-S-U for N-B-A.

The big man has announced that he will leave school at the end of the spring semester, bypass his senior season, and jump to the pros:


“I would like to thank my coaches, the administration and all the teachers that have helped me along the way.  They have all provided me with a great experience at LSU.  I will graduate next month and I am getting married this summer.  I am ready to take the next step in my life.  Again, I would like to thank everyone that has helped me along the way and especially the fans here at LSU.”


Hamilton began his career at Iowa State before transferring into Trent Johnson’s program.  His departure is a big one.  Hamilton played in all 33 Tiger games last year — starting 32 — and averaged 12.9 points, 7.2 reounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.

1. Kentucky 87 – Iowa State 71.  Career-high 24 points for Marquis Teague as Wildcats advance to Sweet 16.

2. Mark Story: “Cats showed strength against Iowa State in every area supposed to be a weakness.”

3. Will Face Indiana – chance at revenge against a Christian.

4. Wisconsin 60 – Vanderbilt 57.  Commodores led 57-56 with over two minutes to play and didn’t score again.

5. Offensive fouls plague Commodores. John Jenkins: “It’s definitely not as painful as last year, but it does hurt.”

6. Florida vs. Norfolk State.  Florida is the smaller team against the Spartans, just like Missouri was, and that has coach Billy Donovan concerned. But size may be Norfolk State’s only advantage.

7. Norfolk State’s victory on Friday had Florida coaches scrambling for tape. They’re also concerned about Kenny Boynton’s shooting slump.

8. What’s the future for Ole Miss and Andy Kennedy?  Uncertain.

9. Alabama basketball and the question of Tony Mitchell’s future. ”Even at full strength, the Tide had trouble sustaining success.”

10. Tennessee is hoping that its most consistent player - Jeronne Maymon – returns to action on Monday night.

11. As the search for a new head coach at Mississippi State gets underway, plenty of questions about their roster for next year.

12. South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw has spent the offseason studying game film of Drew Brees.

13. The quarterback race at Auburn?  It’s wide open.

14. Florida practiced for the first time in full pads on Saturday.

15. With spring practice getting underway at Georgia this week, here are five storylines to watch.

16. New Kentucky receivers coach Pat Washington says his crew starts with a clean slate.

17. Spring practice and spring games are becoming an increasing allure for recruits – just ask LSU.

18. Former Vol Eric Berry is still loyal to the Volunteers. Two other ex-Vols like what they see in Derek Dooley’s program.

Extras

19. The Big 12 was apparently ready to charge the SEC with illegally enticing Missouri to breach its contractual commitment to the Big 12 - but the lawsuit never came to pass. (Hat tip – Chuck Oliver.net

20. Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas on the conference’s new TV deal: “Let me remind you that college football is still a regional sport. Unless you have a big SEC game, it’s not going to rate that well.”

21. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive on re-negotiating the SEC TV contracts: “We feel adding Texas A&M and Missouri has strengthened us in lots of ways, but it certainly strengthened us in television.”

22. March Madness – the perfect time for players to go on strike?

24. Ten wide receivers to keep your eye on in college football this fall.

25. David Climer: “So which way will Manning turn — San Francisco, Denver or Tennessee?”

1. Florida 71 – Virginia 45.  Gators dominate despite shooting 4-for-23 from 3-point range.

2. Florida will get to know Kyle O’Quinn after Norfolk State upset Missouri on Friday. Rebounding is key for the Gators.

3. Creighton 58 – Alabama 57.  Last-second shot falls far short. Crimson Tide led by as many as 11 points in the second half.

4. Kevin Scarbinsky: “The last game was a snapshot of the en­tire season…”

5. Kentucky vs. Iowa State.  Cyclones love to shoot the three-pointers. Iowa State forward Royce White was almost a Wildcat. One reason he’s not – fear of flying.

6. Vanderbilt vs. Wisconsin.  In many ways, the Badgers are just a better version of the Harvard team that Vanderbilt just beat.

7. John Jenkins needs 17 more points to make Vanderbilt history.

8. With Rick Stansbury out at Mississippi State, the waiting game begins for recruits and current players.

9. Jeronne Maymon’s knee is still an issue - and his availability for Tennessee’s Monday night NIT game is still up in the air.

10. Arkansas offensive tackle Jason Peacock suspended following felony theft arrest.

11. First full-scale spring scrimmage for LSU today.

12. Vanderbilt’s Wesley Tate is back at running back for the Commodores.

13. Will Muschamp opened up Florida’s Friday practice to fans.

14. Friday’s pro day at Tennessee made Austin Johnson nervous.

15. Three recruiting experts give their early report cards on how SEC schools are recruiting the class of 2013.

Extra

16. David Cutcliffe on Peyton Manning’s Friday workout: “How far can he throw it? He can throw it far enough to beat people, let’s put it that way.”

Frank Haith was not exactly the first choice of Missouri fans when he took over the program from Mike Anderson.  Now he’s not the first — or even second choice — of the Big 12′s coaches for Coach of the Year honors.

Doing what Mizzou fans will tell you Anderson couldn’t do, Haith has led the Tigers to a 27-4 record, a Top 10 finish and the most wins in school history.  That was good enough to be named the Associated Press’ Big 12 Coach of the Year.

But the vote among Big 12 coaches?  Uh, no.  Earlier this week they split their Coach of the Year award between Bill Self of Kansas and Fred Hoiberg of Iowa State.  That’s quite a snub for a man who’s had to use just a seven-player rotation all season long.  You don’t think any of that had to do with lasting bitterness over Mizzou leaving the Big 12, do you?  Surely the Big 12 wouldn’t intentionally not give its award to a man who’ll be in another league next year, would it?

Oh, well.  See you in the SEC, Coach.

Going into the 2011 season, Alabama and LSU were projected — along with Oklahoma — to finish the year in the nation’s Top 3.  Alabama had more veterans.  LSU was young.  But both lived up to expectations.  Oklahoma?  Not so much.

In the end, Bama claimed the BCS crown and now Nick Saban has won the Bobby Bowden Coach of the Year Award as well.  But in this writer’s opinion, the award should have gone to Miles instead.

Before a few of you Tide fans start with your nonsensical “you hate Bama” rants, do a quick search of this site and you’ll find where I have on many occasions stated that Saban is flat-out the best coach in the country.  Football or basketball.  If I’m an AD, he’s the guy I offer millions upon millions of dollars.

But Miles’ body of work in 2011 was better than Saban’s.  Miles dealt with injuries, suspensions, off-field issues, a coordinator who had to switch roles with another coach a month before the season due to illness and more.  He faced a tougher schedule and he went into Tuscaloosa and beat Saban head-to-head on his home field.

In any other year, that would have been that.  But that’s where Saban got lucky… and a horseshoe fell on Miles’ head.  Oklahoma State was destined to meet the Tigers in the BCS title game until they lost in overtime at Iowa State.  Bama — thanks to Saban’s fine job of keeping his team focused post-LSU loss — got a second chance against LSU in the national title game.

We all saw the result.  It was not Miles’ best evening.

Still, from start to finish, Miles did a better job than Saban in 2012.  Saban’s team won the title belt and he gets another ring which is richly deserved.  But Miles did the best coaching job overall.  One bad night in a rematch game shouldn’t erase the ridiculously good job he did all season long.

Would the real Gene Chizik please stand up?  Is the guy who won five games in two years at Iowa State?  Is he the man who’s led Auburn to two 8-5 campaigns in three years?  Or is he multi-millionaire, top o’ the line coach who led the Tigers to their first national crown in decades?

That’s what many Auburn and SEC fans would like to know following last year’s post-Cam Newton season.  But Auburn AD Jay Jacobs isn’t reading too much into last season because he says he and Chizik knew early on what was coming:

“2010 was a magical year for us.  Back when I interviewed Gene in December ’08, we knew that 2011, as far as the number of players, was going to be challenging.  I couldn’t be more proud of how the guys played.  There was only one institution that played more freshmen than we did this past season.  I’m proud of how hard they worked and how they stayed to the task at hand and continued to build this foundation that’s going to take us back to an SEC championship.”

Sounds good.  And we believe it’s too soon for anyone to start writing Chizik off as a one-year wonder.  But…

For Jacobs to have known back in 2008 that the roster would be so full of holes in 2011, he would have to have foreseen some real problems coming with Chizik’s first two signing classes.  After all, 43% of the players from Auburn’s ’09 and ’10 classes aren’t at Auburn or never arrived.

For that reason — while we say it’s way too soon to panic on the Plains — we also aren’t buying Jacobs’ “we knew it was coming” message.

Mark McLeod, ESPN Radio

After Oklahoma State demolished Oklahoma 44-10 in the Dust Bowl, the Oklahoma State Sports Information Department wasted little time firing off an e-mail to many of us in the media campaigning for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game over the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Cowboys make the argument that they defeated five ranked teams (Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas, and Missouri) and that they have more wins over bowl-bound teams. They point out that they were on the road, while ‘Bama was at home when they lost.

I’ll provide the defense for Alabama.

The Oklahoma State Sports Information Department didn’t point out that the Cowboys got rolled by Iowa State- an unranked team. They didn’t mention that Iowa State isn’t going bowling. And they certainly didn’t mention that the Cyclones rank 99^th nationally in total defense.

How many years do we have to point out that the Big 12 is an over-hyped offensive, fall on your face defensive conference? I’ll make the same argument for Alabama that was in play before Florida faced Oklahoma in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.

They don’t play defense in the Big 12. They play a style more suited for the Arena Football League.

Sure, Texas and Oklahoma are usually strong defensively, but the rest of the league seemingly plays with colanders for helmets. Alabama played three of the top 10 teams ranked nationally in total defense and five of the top 21. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State faced five teams ranked 99^th or worse in total defense, including the Kansas Jayhawks, who ranked dead last at 120. The Cowboys have played just one team (Texas) ranked in the top 60 in total defense.

Want an exclamation point on this argument, defensively speaking?

Alabama has the top-ranked total defense in the country, while Oklahoma State ranks 107^th. This isn’t Cowboy down, it’s Cowboy down and out.

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Championship game Saturday turned to blowout Saturday in college football. It didn’t matter if you are an ardent supporter of the Pac-12, Conference USA, or SEC…it was big blowout. The Big-10 battle between Michigan State and Wisconsin provided the challenge of the day.

The first half was nothing more than a false sense of security for Georgia. Head coach Mark Richt and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo put the football in the arms of quarterback Aaron Murray, going off of their typical conservative script. The Georgia Dome was cranked with ‘Dawgs fans who smelled blood. But seriously folks, reality reared its’ ugly head when LSU stopped hitting the snooze button and answered the buzzer. The Tigers destruction of Georgia proved what we knew last spring. The Western Division would rule with an iron fist. The three best teams in the league were LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas. It was a reversal of the college baseball season last spring when Eastern Division powerhouses South Carolina, Florida, and Vanderbilt were the kings of the conference. What a conference.

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It’s a two-man race for the Heisman Trophy. I was stunned when the CFB talking heads reversed field with Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden as the man to beat after Alabama lost to LSU on November 5^th and Stanford lost to Oregon 53-30 on November 12^th.Weeden is a terrific quarterback and worthy of consideration, but give a stellar defense that he’s put up numbers against? One week later, Oklahoma State was knocked off by Iowa State 37-31 triple overtime and the Weeden for Heisman campaign was over.

The “men to beat” have been Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Alabama running back Trent Richardson all along. I don’t have a vote, but if I did, it Richardson would sit atop my ballot. Richardson scored nine of his 20 touchdowns against those five teams ranking in the top 21 in total defense. Weeden threw for just one touchdown against Texas. The competition does matter, folks.

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One guy that I’ll be sure to strongly consider on my 2012 Pre-Season All-Southeastern Conference Team Ballot will be LSU running back Kenny Hilliard. The 5’11, 240-pound freshman didn’t record a start for the Tigers this season, but has accumulated 320 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, while averaging 5.6 yards per carry. He caught just three passes for 13 yards, but turned one of those into six points. He’s a big back who runs strong with quickness and speed.  Opponents don’t seem to get a shot on him. Very impressive.

Mark McLeod is the host of “The Mark McLeod Show” and covers Gators football, recruiting, and baseball for ESPN Radio (Gainesville/Ocala). Mark is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter at @McLeodLive. E-mail Mark at mark@espngo1.com.