Facing the facts

After much discussion, it was decided I don’t come from quite enough of an unbiased perspective to opine on Phil Fulmer’s ouster, which after much thought I pretty much agree with.

So we wound up going with the column I already had in the bag, which you can view here. I haven’t done a good job of linking to my columns lately.

And, also, they’ve created a tag for my columns, so if you want to read all of them (not sure why you would) or find some bad prediction I made and heckle me, you can go here.

And, of course, much more important matters than college football are afoot today (yes, they really do exist). Regardless of your affiliation or preference, get out and exercise your right to vote today.

The rest of the story

When looking at the national picture, one thing is clear.

The Big 12 is holding the rest of the college football world hostage.

Texas Tech’s win over Texas created some mass potential confusion, since they still have to play at Oklahoma and all.

So let’s say Oklahoma wins that game, as they should, but nobody else loses at all.

Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma will all be 7-1 in the conference, splitting wins against each other.

So who’s the division champ?

According to the conference rulebook, these are the tiebreaker rules:

Divisional Tiebreakers: The following procedure will determine the representative from each division in the event of a tie:

a. If two teams are tied, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative
b. If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 7 will be followed until a determination is made. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.

1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other
2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division
3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of fi nish (4, 5 and 6)
4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents;
5. The highest ranked team in the fi rst Bowl Championship Series Poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative
6. The team with the best overall winning percentage [excluding exempted games] shall be the representative
7. The representative will be chosen by draw.

If this scenario were to occur, the tiebreaker would come down to No. 5. Now, I’ve been saying for a while to friends when I realized this could occur that Oklahoma would probably be the highest ranked at that point, but after seeing the latest BCS standings I’m not so sure. So, basically, either Texas or Oklahoma would get the division in that scenario.

But what if Texas Tech loses twice? They get a very good Oklahoma State team at home this week, and given that they threw absolutely everything they had at Texas to win that game Saturday it wouldn’t shock me to see them lose. So if they lose twice, it would leave both Oklahoma and Texas at 7-1 (most likely). In that scenario, Texas would win the division by virtue of their win over Oklahoma.

But if Oklahoma happens to be higher-ranked in the BCS formula, you could see them in the title game without even winning the division.

Oh, Big 12. Why do you always screw with the BCS? (Years 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007 nod in agreement)

But here’s one thing we do know: Penn State won’t lose.

But here’s one thing we don’t know: If that will be enough.

Even if they are the only undefeated team, there’s a decent chance the computers could push Florida and Oklahoma/Texas in front of them into the title game. And if SEC/Big 12 chaos ensue, USC may even be able to find their way in.

Penn State is in a very precarious position right now.

They’ll basically need to obliterate Iowa, Indiana and Michigan State in unimaginable ways (and I wouldn’t put it past JoePa, he did beat Cincinnati 81-0 once and threw for a touchdown on the last play to beat Rutgers by 25 instead of 18). And even that might not be enough.

And here’s where I have an issue.

The Big Ten isn’t very good right now. That’s not a shocking statement. But it is a BCS conference, and Penn State can’t help that the league it elected to join 15 years ago took a nosedive in its second decade of membership. If they go undefeated, they’ve earned it. They won all the games on their schedule. Potential one-loss usurpers do not. Cry if you want, but that’s the system we currently have.

However, I kind of get the feeling that everything will wrap up neatly and we’ll get a nostalgia-filled Alabama vs. Penn State matchup in Miami.

Here are my other BCS picks:

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
Rose Bowl: USC vs. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Boise State

Monday night leftovers

No tomorrow’s notes today…today. Yesterday’s news wasn’t filled with many nuggets of information, just more reasons to opine for 650-750 words on one facet of why Auburn is 4-5. Make sure to check out tomorrow’s OA-News to see which area I picked.

Instead, you can feast on these leftovers from Sunday’s media pow-wow, which includes snippets from Tommy Tuberville, Kodi Burns, Tim Hawthorne and Jason Bosley. If your name isn’t Antoine “Hot” Carter or D’Antoine Hood and you play defense for the Auburn Tigers, you weren’t made available to the media because you are hurt. Seriously, check your calves. They might be sore.

Tuberville

On coaching when no SEC title is in sight:
You never have that problem. This is a game to them. They go out and try to play and they want to win games. Your No. 1 goal at the beginning of the season is to get to the championship game and have a chance to win, and if you don’t, then obviously you want to extend your season possibly into the bowl season.

We’re right on the verge of that right now. We’ve got to play better. We’re not a good enough team right now to play in a bowl. Obviously, we’re not consistent enough.

On Auburn’s struggles running the ball:
In the past, we’ve been able to run the ball eight 8-9 in the box. We’re just not physical enough. Our running backs, we’re not hitting the holes north and south. We’re running too much lateral. Just little things like that are hurting us. We don’t have the one guy at running back that we know we can call his number and they’re going to do the perfect thing, like we have in the past.

On Hood’s performance in his first career start:
D’Antoine did real good. I watched him the first four or five plays. They went after him and he held his own. I never looked at him again. We were working it around where he was in the boundary most of the time. They went after him and he did a good job, made a couple of good tipped balls, had a real good tackle on a run. He really did well. He was a bright spot.

Burns

Where his comfort level is at now:
I felt a lot more comfortable. This is the first came where I came out and felt really comfortable throwing the ball, sitting in the pocket and making plays with my feet. It’s really starting to come to me. It’s coming to me really quickly. Arkansas game, I started off slow. West Virginia—I picked it up in the first half. This game, I played the whole game pretty well. Those turnovers killed me. Each game is a progression.

Is there a sense of urgency?
There’s been an urgency all year. We definitely feel urgency. We have three games left. We’ve got to give it everything we’ve got. Who knows what can happen. We’re good enough to win all three and we’re bad enough to lose all three. It’s really up to the guys. If we want to win those games, we’ll go get it.

Hawthorne

What he saw from Mr. Burns
I saw a lot of maturity from Kodi just for the simple fact that he’s been through an offense like this and the quarterback situation and the firing of the offensive coordinator and everything. I think he showed a lot of character and just, pretty much, he had faith in all of us to make plays. Right there, alone, is a big plus from his side to us.

How much does Auburn need a win?
Just to give us that winning taste in our mouth. We’re on a four-game losing streak. It’s been a while since we’ve walked off that field knowing that we have a win in the win column. A win against anybody would just really get us back on the right track. Hopefully just propel us for the rest of the season. We got three games left and if we take care of business Saturday, that will give us great motivation for the remaining two.

Bosley

So do you buy what Tuberville is saying about the line not being physical enough?
I’ve always took pride in being physical here, and I feel like we have a very physical offensive line. When you have five or six on eight, that’s not good numbers, but we’ve done it before and we’ve done it some this year.

It’s just a matter of finding some consistency and being physical every play and not having little breakdowns here and there, and just playing more together.

How feisty can Mr. Burns get?
He seems real nice off the field and everything, but he’s intense and he’s real encouraging, so I think as long as he just keeps progressing…He got rid of the ball quick, he made some good reads. He struggled some, but everybody struggles. It’s a learning process for him.

Tommy Tuberville, the dean

Big day in the college football coaching world.

Longtime Toledo coach Tom Amstutz has agreed to step down as the Rockets’ head coach. Apparently a win at the Big House isn’t worth as much as it used to be.

And, apparently, I should be talking about another coach who was kicked to the curb—albeit agreed upon—this morning.

Former Tennessee beat writer, now ESPN.com’s SEC extraordinaire Chris Low reports that Tennessee coach Philip Fulmer has agreed with those who think he best move on to not return as the Volunteers’ head coach next season. An announcement is planned for Monday at 5 p.m. ET at Neyland Stadium.

Contracts aren’t as binding as they used to be and this firing may serve as the precedent for that. Fulmer signed a new seven-year contract just last summer. The deal was worth $2.4 million per year and the buyout will cost the university $6 million plus $3.55 million more for his assistants.

That’s the same amount of money it would cost to fire Tommy Tuberville, who now steps into two new roles following Fulmer’s dismissal. Tuberville is officially the dean of SEC coaches, with 10 years under his belt at the same school. He also moves into the hottest seat held by any SEC coach.

Fulmer and Tuberville share similar bodies of work in their times with their respective schools. Tuberville, though, has the edge on the past four years, which is pretty much all that matters in college football.

If Auburn does, in fact, want to part ways with Tuberville, it may not want to wait until the end of the season. Three big coaching jobs are already open (Washington, Clemson and Tennessee) and it’s safe to say those three schools aren’t waiting around until the end of the season to start their search. Theoretically, Auburn would be left with the fourth-best coach on the market, and would it really want that?

It’d probably pick Tuberville over the fourth-best available, if not the second-best. 

Farewell, sweet prince

In case you haven’t heard, Tennessee head coach and noted blog nemesis Phil Fulmer will not be back next season.

I’m in the process of scrapping my planned column for today and doing something on Phil, because there’s a lot to say about these developments.

I’ll post the scrapped column some time today or tomorrow.