Neill Woelk, Boulder Daily Camera: Recruiting rankings. There's nothing more meaningless in
this world. Example: Utah, which just finished
No. 2, did not have a recruiting class ranked higher than No. 55 in the
last five years. Three teams the Utes beat — Michigan, Alabama and
Oregon State — all had higher-ranked classes than Utah every year.
Ron Morris, Columbia State: An interview with the back judge for the Bowl Championship Series title game. When he's not throwing flags, he's selling insurance.
Courtney Ratkowiak, Michigan Daily: Rich Rod is looking for a few good men. For the third time in 11 months, the Michigan coach is holding tryouts for students interested in playing for the Wolverines.
Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: Brigham Young's Bronco Mendenhall would like to see players who transfer while they are on two-year church missions sit out an additional year.
College Football News: The 100 best returning players of 2009.
Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: An early look at the top five teams of 2009.
Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: Division I football conference commissioners voted down a proposal by the American Football Coaches Association for an early signing period in mid-December. "It wasn't that close a vote," SEC associate commissioner Greg Sankey said. "I would say for now (an early signing period) is done." (No link available.)
Razor Bloggers: Our man John L. Smith is back in the game! He has been named special teams coordinator at Arkansas.
Drew Edwards, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Tennessee has dropped its commitment to Dwayne Hunter, a defensive back from Middletown, Ohio. He is facing a felonious assault charge in the BB gun shooting of another teenager who was struck twice in the head. Plus, Tennessee will charge $5 for general admission to its spring game.
Lya Wodraska, Salt Lake Tribune: Kyle Whittingham's new contract calls for a remodeling of the Utah football offices and other facilities upgrades.
Don WIlliams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Talks for a Texas Tech-Oklahoma State game in the Dallas Metroplex have broken off. Red Raider officials are now exploring other options, including the possibility of playing Baylor at the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington.
Eric Lacy, Detroit News: Michigan State's scheduled Nov. 7 game against Western Michigan at Ford Field in Detroit will instead be played at Spartan Stadium.
Jonathan Okanes, Bear Talk: Cal has moved its 2009 game at Washington from Oct. 10 to Dec. 5. That gives the Bears at least one bye, and it comes near the halfway point of the season. This means California will not end the season with the Big Game against Stanford for the second year in a row.
Tommy Deas, Tuscaloosa News: Alabama's ace recruiter, outside linebackers coach Lance Thompson, has accepted a job at Tennessee. His is expected to double his salary, which was $225,000.
Adam Maya, Orange County Register: Pete Carroll was off the mark with his criticism of Mark Sanchez, who decided to leave a year early and enter the NFL draft.
Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times: Carl Smith, who was named last week as Steve Sarkisian's replacement on USC's staff, might be on the move. He interviewed this week with the Cleveland Browns.
Rachel Bachman, Oregonian: Oregon State and Oregon have moved the Civil War game in Eugene to Dec. 3, a Thursday night.
USC: USC had moved its home game against Arizona to Dec. 5 so it can be shown live nationally on ABC.
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