It's Monday, as the New Year nears!

Some will be working on Monday, December 30th, while others will be playing ...

Armed Forces Bowl:
Middle Tennessee vs. Navy at 10:45 a.m. on ESPN (HD)
Anchors away!

Music City Bowl :
Georgia Tech vs. Ole Miss at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN (HD)
Go Yellow Jackets in Nashville!

Alamo Bowl :
Oregon vs. Texas at 5:45 p.m. on ESPN (HD)
Final swan song for the Longhorns coach Mack Brown in San Antonio!

Holiday Bowl:
Arizona State vs. Texas Tech at 9:15 p.m. on ESPN (HD)
Pac 12 vs. Big 12 night cap in San Diego!

Friday Night College Football: Navy @ Central Michigan

The Chippewas get an opportunity to host the Midshipmen, after two previous meeting @ Navy.

Friday, October 12th


Navy at Central Michigan 7:00 p.m. ESPN2 (HD) / espn3

Saturday, the 13th, should be a great day in College Football, with some possible upsets on the horizon, as well.  

Game Day: Saturday, September 1... Game On as 2012 kicks off in style

Saturday, September 1st  

Navy vs. NOTRE DAME 8:00 a.m. CBS (HD) / cbssports.com - the Emerald Isle Classic from Avivia Stadium in Dublin, Ireland

Appalachian State at EAST CAROLINA 11:00 a.m. FSN (HD) / FCSC (cable)

Marshall at #10 WEST VIRGINIA 11:00 a.m. FX (HD)

Miami Ohio at OHIO STATE 11:00 a.m.BTN (HD) / btn2go.com

NORTHWESTERN at Syracuse 11:00 a.m. ESPN2 (HD) / espn3 

OHIO U at Penn State 11:00 a.m. ESPN (HD) (3D) / espn3 

TROY at Alabama Birmingham 11:00 a.m. DirecTV: 626 / FCSP (cable)

WESTERN MICHIGAN at Illinois 11:00 a.m. ESPNU (HD) / espn3 

Buffalo at #14 GEORGIA 11:21 a.m. SEC Network / ESPN-GP / espn3

Elon at NORTH CAROLINA 11:30 a.m. (ESPN-GP / espn3) / ACC Network (HD)

Richmond at VIRGINA 2:00 p.m. FSN (HD) / (ESPN-GP / espn3)

Bowling Green at #22 FLORIDA 2:30 p.m. ESPN (HD)

Eastern Kentucky at PURDUE 2:30 p.m. BTN (HD) / btn2go.com

IOWA 27 vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (Chicago) 2:30 p.m. ESPNU (HD)

Miami-FL at BOSTON  COLLEGE 2:30 p.m. ABC  / ESPN2 (HD)

Northern Iowa at #11 WISCONSIN 2:30 p.m. BTN (HD) / btn2go.com

Southern Miss at  #24  NEBRASKA 2:30 p.m. ABC / ESPN2 (HD) / espn3

TULSA at Iowa State 2:30 p.m. FSN / FCSA (cable)

COLORADO vs. Colorado State (Denver) 3:00 p.m. FX (HD)

Auburn vs. #21 CLEMSON (Atlanta) 6:00 p.m. ESPN (HD)

Central Arkansas at OLE MISS 6:00 p.m. (ESPN-GP / espn3) / PPV (MS, AR)

Jackson State at MISSISSIPPI STATE 6:00 p.m. Fox Sports South / (ESPN-GP / espn3) 

Jacksonville State at #5 ARKANSAS 6:00 p.m. (ESPN-GP / espn3) *2 / PPV (AR, AL)

Lamar at LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE 6:00 p.m. ESPN-GP / Cox4 (cable) / espn3

North Texas at #2  LSU 6:00 p.m. ESPNU (HD)

Northwestern State at TEXAS TECH 6:00 p.m. (FSSW+ / FSH) HD (more info from NSU)

Savannah State at #6 OKLAHOMA STATE 6:00 p.m. DirecTV: 626 / FCSC (cable) / CST (OK cable)

Southeastern Louisiana at #23 MISSOURI 6:00 p.m. (ESPN-GP / espn3) *2 / PPV (MO) / cable

Hawaii at # 4 USC 6:30 p.m. FOX (HD)

# 1 ALABAMA vs. #13 Michigan (Arlington) 7:00 p.m. ABC (HD)

Indiana State at INDIANA 7:00 p.m. BTN (HD) / btn2go.com

RUTGERS at Tulane 7:00 p.m. CBSSN (HD)

Texas State at #20 HOUSTON 7:00 p.m. CSNC / CSBA / CSS (cable)

Arkansas State at # 3 OREGON 9:30 p.m. ESPN (HD)

#7 OKLAHOMA at Texas-El Paso  9:30 p.m. FSN (HD) / FCSA (cable)

Toledo at ARIZONA 9:30 p.m. ESPNU

Austin Peay at WESTERN KENTUCKY 6:00 p.m. espn3

Idaho State at Air Force 1:00 p.m. Video (works best in I.E.)

Liberty at WAKE FOREST 5:30 p.m. espn3

Missouri State at KANSAS STATE 6:00 p.m. $ Video

Murray State at #15 FLORIDA STATE 5:00 p.m. espn3

Nevada at CALIFORNIA 2:00 p.m. PAC-12 Network (HD) / pac-12.com

Nicholls State at Oregon State haw been Postponed (Dec. 1st if possible) - due to Hurricane Issac

San Diego State at WASHINGTON (Seattle, WA) 9:30 p.m. PAC-12 Network (HD)

South Dakota State at KANSAS 6:00 p.m.JTN (cable)

Southern at NEW MEXICO 4:00 p.m.

UT Chattanooga at SOUTH FLORIDA 6:00 p.m.espn3

UT Martin at MEMPHIS 6:00 p.m.$ Video

UTSA at South Alabama 1:00 p.m. Rescheduled | espn3

Weber State at FRESNO STATE 9:00 p.m. $ Video

William & Mary at MARYLAND 2:00 p.m. espn3

Wyoming at # 19 TEXAS 7:00 p.m. LHN (reports of LHN now on U-verse 1609)

Youngstown State at PITTSBURGH 5:00 p.m. espn3

A great day of college football to kick off Labor Day weekend and the 2012 season.

Two games continue on Sunday and one game will conclude the First Week on Monday, Labor Day.

Breakfast Game in USA from Dublin, Ireland on Saturday morning; while B1G moves to 2-0

A typical Saturday in the Fall is highlighted by football starting at 11:00 a.m. Central Time.  But, the first Saturday in 2012 offers up a 8 a.m. breakfast start in the USA Central Time, with a TV broadcast from Dublin, Ireland.

Saturday, September 1st  

Navy vs. Notre Dame (Dublin, Ireland) 8:00 a.m.CBS (HD) / cbssports.com

After dominating this series for 43 years, Notre Dame was without a blemish vs. Navy.  But, Navy has beat Notre Dame 3 out of 5 the past five years. Last season, Notre Dame won 56-14.

Can Navy pull off the upset, like South Florida in '11 @ Notre Dame?  The Fighting Irish hasn't lost two straight season openers, since 1985 - 1986.

Saturday's game in Dublin is being tabbed the Emerald Isle Classic.  The game will be played in Vivian Stadium, a nice 50,000 stadium for the American game.

Notre Dame won the last game in Dublin in '96 over Navy 54-27.  Nice to root for Midshipmen, but Fighting Irish should win.  It could be close, with redshift freshman Everett Gilson leading Irish at QB.

On Friday night in East Lansing, #12 Michigan State closed out their season opener in the fourth quarter, with a 17-13 win over # 17 Boise State.  The Big Ten opens season 2-0, over MWC, after Minnesota beat UNLV 30-27 in 3 OT in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

There will be plenty of college football action Saturday, with Notre Dame vs. Navy kicking things off.

Our final CIDSports College Football Top 25, after 14 weeks of the College Football as regular season concludes for all, but Army-Navy game on Dec. 11

It has been an interesting season, with all the non-AQ talk falling short as we hit late November. Boise State (11-1, 7-1 WAC) nearly got it done, but a Week 13 date @ Nevada Wolf Pack (12-1, 7-1 WAC) cost the Broncos dearly for the BCS in 2010.

The Oregon Ducks (12-0, 9-0 Pac 10) have played outstanding all year, as has the top non-BCS program in 2010: the TCU Horned Frogs (12-0, 8-0 MWC). The BCS title game should be outstanding this season. The rest of the BCS bowl line up will likely do better with some adjusting, but that is for another post.

Others jumped from the preseason unrated programs to the Top 25 in 2010: Michigan State (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten), Nevada Wolf Pack (12-1, 7-1 WAC), Missouri Tigers (10-2, 6-2 Big 12 North), Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-2, 6-2 Big 12 South), Texas A&M Aggies (9-3, 6-2 Big 12 South), South Carolina Gamecocks (9-4, 5-3 SEC East), Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-4, 4-4 SEC West), West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3, 5-2 Big East), Hawaii Rainbows (10-3, 7-1 WAC) and

Several teams surprised in 2010, especially Auburn Tigers (13-0, 8-0 SEC West), Stanford Cardinal (11-1, 8-1 Pac 10) and Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2, 6-2 SEC West), who were all outside our preseason Top 25, but will finish 2010 in a BCS bowl. Congratulations to all three programs, especially Auburn for an undefeated season and a date with Oregon in the BCS title game.

Other programs didn't hit form in 2010, especially our preseason #7 Texas Longhorns (5-7, 2-6 Big 12 South), preseason #23 Cincinnati Bearcats (4-8, 2-5 Big East), preseason #25 Houston (5-7, 4-4 C-USA West). All three programs will be home for the Holidays in 2010.

We can't forget other programs, who will still bowl in 2010, but are not in the final regular season Top 25. Our preseason #4 Iowa Hawkeyes (7-5, 4-4 Big Ten). preseason #5 Florida Gators (7-5, 4-4 SEC East), preseason #11 Miami-FL (7-5, 5-3 ACC Coastal), preseason #14 Georgia Bulldogs (6-6, 3-5 SEC East), preseason #16 Brigham Young Cougars (6-6, 5-3 MWC), preseason #17 Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-5, 3-5 Big 12 South), preseason #19 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-6, 4-4 ACC Coastal), preseason #20 Penn State Nittany Lions (7-5, 4-4 Big Ten) and preseason #22 Pittsburgh Panthers (7-5, 5-2 Big East).

The season will likely be remembered most for conference realignment talk.

• Nebraska is leaving the Big 12 for the Big Ten in 2011. Colorado is joining Utah from the MWC and moving to the Pac 10


• The Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences will have 12 programs and new championship games


• The Big 12 will lose two teams, so they will go to a nine game conference schedule, as the Pac 10 has enjoyed for several years and lose their conference championship game


• BYU is becoming an Independent, joining Army, Navy and Notre Dame as the only Independents in FBS


• Boise State is moving to the MWC from the WAC


• But the MWC will be losing programs: BYU, Utah and TCU


• TCU is the latest to join the list and will move to the Big East in 2012


• Fresno State and Nevada will follow Boise State as WAC schools moving to the MWC


• Will Hawaii stay or go? Talk in November is Hawaii wants to move for football only ...


• If the WAC doesn’t add an eighth football school by 2012, the conference won’t lose its FBS status? Texas-San Antonio and Texas State are joining the WAC and moving to FBS


• Congratulations to North Texas for hiring former ISU head coach Dan McCarney and electing to remain in the Sun Belt Conference, rather than move to the WAC

Final Regular Season CIDSports Top 25

1. Oregon Ducks (12-0, 9-0 Pac Ten) - #9 preseason


2. Auburn Tigers (13-0, 8-0 SEC West) - unranked


3. TCU Horned Frogs (12-0, 8-0 MWC) - #8 preseason


4. Stanford Cardinal (11-1, 8-1 Pac 10) - unranked


5. Wisconsin Badgers (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) - #10 preseason


6. Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) - #2 preseason


7. Michigan State Spartans (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) - unranked


8. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2, 6-2 SEC West) - unranked


9. Oklahoma Sooners (11-2, 6-2 Big 12 South) - #18 preseason


10. Boise State Broncos (11-1, 7-1 WAC) - #3 preseason


11. LSU Tigers (10-2, 6-2 SEC West) - #12 preseason


12. Virginia Tech Hokies (11-2, 8-0 ACC Coastal) - #6 preseason


13. Nevada Wolf Pack (12-1, 7-1 WAC) - unranked


14. Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-2, 6-2 Big 12 South) - unranked


15. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3, 6-2 Big 12 North) - #15 preseason


16. Missouri Tigers (10-2, 6-2 Big 12 North) - unranked


17. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-3, 5-3 SEC West) - #1 preseason


18. Texas A&M Aggies (9-3, 6-2 Big 12 South) - unranked


19. Utah Utes (10-2, 7-1 MWC) - #13 preseason


20. South Carolina Gamecocks (9-4, 5-3 SEC West) - unranked


21. Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-4, 4-4 SEC West) - unranked


22. Florida State Seminoles (9-4, 6-2 ACC Atlantic) - #21 preseason


23. West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3, 5-2 Big East) - unranked


24. Hawaii Rainbows (10-3, 7-1 WAC) - unranked


25. Navy Midshipmen (8-3) - #24 preseason

The Final Regular Season FBS Game of the 2010 season:

Army (6-5) vs. #25 Navy (8-3)

December 11, 2010

@ Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA

Kick-off: 2:40pm Central Time on CBS

peace

Hawaii Bowl: Notre Dame (6-6) vs. Hawaii (7-6)

The 2008 Hawaii Bowl provides the backdrop for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-6, Independent) vs. the Hawaii Rainbows (7-6, tied for 2ND in WAC) to close out the season for both teams. The seventh bowl game of the 2008-09 bowl lineup and final pre-Christmas bowl.

Last season, the Rainbows were hammered 10-41 by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame was home for the holidays last year, after finishing 3-9 for the season in '07. Hawaii is going for their fourth straight bowl win, while playing at home in the Hawaii Bowl. Notre Dame has a NCAA-record nine-game losing streak in bowl games on the line.

Hawaii's highest quality win was 32-29 in OT at fellow WAC team, Fresno State (7-6), who lost the 2008 New Mexico Bowl. For the Irish, the highest quality win is likely Navy (8-5), who lost the 2008 inaugural EagleBank Bowl.

Something will give in Hawaii today. Will Notre Dame make it ten straight in bowl losses or will they end the mental funk they have been in? This isn't an outstanding Rainbow team that we have seen in recent years. With a loss, Notre Dame will become the first team this season to finish with a losing record for the season, in a bowl game.

Cidsports' prediction

Notre Dame 20

Hawaii 17

cidsports

peace

EagleBank Bowl: Navy (8-4) vs. Wake Forest (7-5) in 2008 rematch

The Navy Midshipmen (8-4, independent) tackle the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-5, tied for 3RD in ACC Atlantic Division) in the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in Washington D.C. to kickoff the 2008-09 bowl season on ESPN today. The Midshipmen beat the Demon Deacons 24-17 on the road during the regular season.

Rematches are typically difficult in College Football,, which makes this one a little interesting to call. Navy lost 32-35 in the Poinsettia Bowl in '07 to Utah, while Wake Forest defeated UConn 24-10 in last year's Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Wake Forest is playing in three consecutive bowl games, a school record. This is Navy's sixth consecutive bowl, but has lost two straight by a total of four points.

Navy was projected by Phil Steele's 2008 College Football Preview to make this bowl. On the other hand, many projected Wake Forest to have a stronger season in '08. Navy lost to Boston College in '06 in the Meineke Bowl, the last time they faced an ACC opponent in a bowl. Look for Navy to reverse the tide in the '08 EagleBank Bowl.

Cidsports prediction:

Navy 25

Wake Forest 24

http://twitter.com/cidsports

peace

Iowa State to play Service Academies in the future...

Iowa State will host Nebraska this weekend in a Big 12 football game, but in the future, the OOC schedule will include Army, Air Force and Navy.

peace

College Football: Paying the price to keep the team at home

Paying the price for those valuable home non-conference football games. Colleges are paying more and more for home games:

1. LSU $2.9 million in '08
2. Nebraska $2.7 million in '08
3. Ohio State $2.2 million in '08

Source: Des Moines Register

Non-BCS teams or other non conference teams are receiving a record $63 million from the six BCS conference teams, including Iowa and Iowa State. Who said College Football isn't big business.

The money game will have athletic directors re-examining philosophies, as this article out of Texas mentions.

It isn't going to get any easier in the future. Ohio State has agreed to pay Navy $1.4 million for a visit to Columbus in 2009.

The University of Iowa is still looking for their fourth non-conference opponent for 2009. I doubt they will keep it as a bye game, since Kinnick Stadium holds 70,585 in Iowa City. Right now, they will have to settle for To Be Announced!

peace

College Football '07 - The Division I-A Independents

3 remain today as Independents in all of College Football in Division I-A. Notre Dame is the #1 independent, along with Navy and Army.

I thought it would be interesting to see what the skyline was like 25 years ago. Pulling information from my 1982 issue of Street and Smith Official Yearbook for College.

Opening to page 114, coverage of the Atlantic Coast. There were seven ACC teams in 1982. Georgia Tech was not eligible for the championship in 1982 and would make 8 ACC teams.

The Independents in the Atlantic Coast region were 9 teams, not all Division I-A teams today:

1. Virginia Tech
2. South Carolina
3. East Carolina
4. William & Mary
5. Richmond
6. James Madison
7. Wofford
8. Guilford
9. Towson State

In the West (page 26), I will not mention any of the 7 teams, since they are all Division I-AA type teams. By the way, there were 10 teams in the Pac Ten in 1982.

Turning next to the Midwest on page 67. There are three independents in the Midwest:

1. Notre Dame
2. Cincinnati
3. Dayton

By the way, the talk in the Big Ten was the ending of the "Ohio State-Michigan monopoly" in the Big Ten. During the 1981 season, Iowa finished first with Ohio State and won the trip to Pasadena and the 1982 Rose Bowl. Illinois was projected as the next team to watch.

Now, on to the Deep South on page 92. The SEC had 10 teams back in 1982. The Independents in the Deep South in 1982 were:

1. Miami-FL
2. Florida State
3. Tulane
4. Southern Mississippi
5. Louisville
6. Memphis State
7. Tennessee State

Turning to the Big Eight on page 133, there were no mention of any Independents in this region, but the Missouri Valley Conference still existed with 8 teams: Wichita State, Tulsa, Indiana State, Drake, Southern Illinois, West Texas State, New Mexico State and Illinois State. fwiw

Moving to the East Section on page 148. A haven for Independents in 1982:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Penn State
3. West Virginia
4. Syracuse
5. Boston College
6. Navy
7. Rutgers
8. Temple
9. Army
10. Colgate
11. Holy Cross

Finally, the Rockies and again, no Independents. The Western Athletic Conference and Big Sky Conference were highlighted. BYU and Boise State, respectively, were picked as the top teams in each conference. Not much different than last year's MWC and WAC, respectively, for BYU and Boise State.

If you are keeping score:

1982 : 30 schools mentioned

Today: 3 schools, who were also Independents back in 1982

This season's top Independent schools:

1. Notre Dame
2. Navy
3. Army

peace