Every year, Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) releases “report cards” where they judge college minority hiring practices. This year is no different than every other year in the fact that they were disappointed, overall. There were a few high points – both Miami (OH) and New Mexico State got straight As in the five graded categories. What were these categories?

Communication between the BCA and the school
Ratio of minorities interviewed for positions
Length of search for candidates when positions open
Percentage of minorities on search committees
School’s adherence to affirmative action policies

Ok, I may be unpopular for saying this, but I don’t think it’s …read more

We already talked about a handful of college coaches who are stepping down or being fired at the end of the 2009 season. Looks like these coaches are getting some company. I’m sure this is just the beginning, especially with schools like Notre Dame questioning whether a mediocre season is good enough.
One of the new coaches leaving is doing so under his own power. San Jose State will say goodbye to Dick Tomey, who announced that he’ll be retiring following the school’s game against Louisiana Tech in early December. Tomey is 71 years old and has been head coach for …read more

It doesn’t surprise me that police are now saying that the Connecticut stabbing and subsequent death of football player Jasper Howard was about a woman. I think most crimes come back to one of three things: drugs, money, or girls.
Police have charged 21-year-old John Lomax III with the murder of Howard, which took place on October 18. Johnny Hood, also 21, has also been charged, and he reported that he got into an argument with some other Connecticut players because they were “disrespecting” one of the girls at the dance. Says Hood’s friend Hakim Muhammad,
“Johnny was telling the guy, ‘That’s …read more

I don’t like it when colleges are fired or step down in the middle of a season, barring health problems or scandals that are really distracting the team. Even with the most horrible season, I think it’s jolting to a team for a school to fire someone, and if a coach steps down mid-season, it says to me “I’m not committed and don’t believe in this team.”
Early this season, Western Illinois’ Don Patterson stepped down. I can’t fault him for the decision, as he’s battled tonsillar cancer in the past and is still feeling the effects, despite being cancer-free as …read more

Hey college football fans, now you have a chance to see your favorite teams play for the conference championship. Three lucky fans will win a trip to one of the SEC, BIG 12, ACC championship games, courtesy of Dr Pepper!
The game package includes round trip airfare for two, three nights lodging, commemorative gifts, admission to a pre-game party, and two tickets to the Championship Game. Even if you don’t win the big prize, you could win a year’s supply of Dr Pepper, a $50 Gift card to ESPNShop.com or UltimateCollegeFan.com, and more.
Plus as an added bonus, one lucky EveryJoe reader …read more

One of the best games of this past weekend was the #3 Alabama – #9 LSU game for the SEC West title. Whoever won the game would go onto the SEC title game at the end of the season, so it was a big deal for both teams…and both teams fought hard for the win. In the end, though, Alabama came out on top, propelled to the win through the efforts of Julio Jones.
The question remains, though – does Alabama deserve a rematch with Florida? There’s no question that team deserves the SEC West title. LSU is the only other …read more

For the past several years, conferences like the SEC, Big 12, and Pac-10 have been complaining that the Big Ten is overrated. I’m a Big Ten fan, but I can’t say that I disagree. After a 9 – 0 start, Iowa rose out of the ashes of the Big Ten this year, and we all held the hope that this would be the team to challenge Florida or Texas or another awesome team for the National Championship.
It doesn’t look like that will be the case. Today, Iowa fell, but not to Penn State (no, they beat them gloriously – sigh …read more

The fate of Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes had been up in the air for some time before coach Urban Meyer announced that he’d be suspending the player for the first half of the Vandy game next week. Although no penalty was called during the game, Spikes clearly stuck his hand into the face mask of Washaun Ealey of the Georgia Bulldogs last week.
Here’s the video, in case you haven’t seen it:
The SEC agreed to this punishment, but football fans everywhere have been grumbling that the punishment wasn’t harsh enough. So, Spikes decided to take matters into his own hands. After …read more

With over 100 teams in major college football, I can’t follow them all. That’s why most of the posts you’ll read here deal with teams from BCS conferences or teams in the top 25.
But today, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate The Temple Owls. They had a rough start at the beginning of the season, losing to Villanova and Penn State, but since then, they’ve won six games in a row, keeping them undefeated in the MAC.
That means that Temple is bowl-eligible for the first time since 1990. That’s a long time to suck. Their next four games …read more

Right now, everyone’s so intensely involved in the season that the problems with the BCS system are taking a backseat. That’s bound to change as we approach the end of the season, though, and Bowl Championship Series officials are considering hiring someone to defend the non-playoff post-season full-time. Right now, these responsibilities belong to the BCS coordinator, a job that rotates between the commissions of the BCS conferences.
The job won’t be an easy one, and some are opposed to any one person being in such a position full-time. Says former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese,
“I don’t think anybody should serve …read more