Miami Looks To Avoid An Upset While Wisconsin Hopes To Badger Michigan By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Like a running back who has just broken through the line of scrimmage for an 80-yard touchdown run, college football is headed to the bench to take a breather. After heart-pumping and breakaway games all season, we now have … [Read more...]
College Football
College Football Week 11 Top Games Picks & Predictions: The Pigskin Prognosticator
Going Between The Helmets Of Notre Dame-Miami, Georgia-Auburn & Ohio State Football By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger As the fall leaves blow around the stadiums and people are bundled up in the stands, some teams are beginning to reveal their true colors. Ohio State's scarlet perfectly personifies the red-cheeked … [Read more...]
Los Angeles To Host 2023 College Football Playoffs National Championship
New Rams Stadium In Inglewood Site Of Title Game By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger On the day the Dodgers were playing in Game 7 in an attempt to win their first World Series in nearly 30 years, Los Angeles scored a big hit in another sport. The city will be hosting the 2023 college football National Championship game, the final game of … [Read more...]
College Football Week 10 Games Picks & Predictions: The Pigskin Prognosticator
Alabama-LSU In Prime Time & There's Bedlam In Oklahoma By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger If you think there's Bedlam in Oklahoma, you should go to Florida. Or Tennessee. Or Arkansas. Or onto campus at Texas A&M. There's a whole lotta shakin' goin on in the Southeastern Conference and 'ol Jim Mac finally led the … [Read more...]
College Football Week 9 Top Games Picks & Predictions From Pigskin Prognosticator
Hot Seats For Butch Jones & Clay Helton Could Catch On Fire If Vols, Trojans Lose By The Pigskin Prognosticator, College Football Blogger Halloween weekend is here and that's good, because several souls are walking the sidelines dressed up as legitimate big-time college football coaches. Soon, however, they could be asked to return their costumes to the … [Read more...]
World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Embodies True Spirit Of College Football
By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party may not be the preeminent game in college football, nor is it usually the biggest game the week it's played. But it is what college football is all about: two neighboring schools whose fans don't like each other and make the tailgate party – and, indeed, the … [Read more...]
Add USC’s Clay Helton To List Of Coaches On The Hot Seat
Trojans' Embarrassing Loss To Notre Dame Could Bring Pressure To Troy By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Oh, when things were good. USC ended the 2016 season as one of college football's hottest teams. Boosted by this perceived return to greatness and a poster boy quarterback that surely would win the Heisman Trophy – heck, why even play … [Read more...]
Will Nick Saban Use A Two-Quarterback System In The College Football Playoffs?
Alabama Gives Opposing Coaches Another Headache To Consider By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Something interesting happened in the third quarter of Alabama's 45-7 win over Tennessee. The Tide had just taken the second-half kickoff to build a 28-0 lead – putting the game well out of reach for the offense-challenged Vols – when Nick Saban … [Read more...]
The Pigskin Prognosticator’s College Football Picks Week 8 Top Games
Third Saturday In October, USC-Notre Dame & Michigan-Penn State Highlight This Week's Action By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger It is the the Third Saturday of October and that means it's time to sniff the air to test for the the smell of cigars coming out of a certain locker room in the South, the temperatures have turned from … [Read more...]
The Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Week 7 Top Games Picks
Red River Rivalry Leads The Way And More Butch Jones Odd Quotes By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Remember the term "Croomed?" It was when an SEC team got beat by Mississippi State Coach Sylvester Croom. Well, now there may be another term for when there's a miserable failure to an overmatch coach in the league. Can we say … [Read more...]
Maybe Florida Gator Fans Will Set Up A GoFundMe Account For Jim McElwain Firing
What Happens When Your Team Loses To Coach O? By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger It was set up as a joke but served as a realistic sign of how far a program had fallen and how desperate its fans were to have a winner. With the university unable to fork over a $12-million buyout while also paying its recently discarded coach, a disgruntled … [Read more...]
College Football Week 6 Top Games Picks From The Pigskin Prognosticator
Bold Prediction: Wake Forest To Upset Clemson By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger In the rocky world of college football, there's one school that stands on top of an unstable mountain – and it's not Rocky Top. It's down on the bayou, where there's no buy out for a coach that's clearly proven he's swamped in his ability to be a … [Read more...]
5 Coaches Tennessee Football Should Not Consider Hiring After Butch Jones Is Fired
Why Bobby Petrino, Chip Kelly, Mike Leach And Even Peyton Manning Would Be Bad Hires By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Like fall leaves changing in the Great Smoky Mountains and tourists clogging Pigeon Forge for holiday shopping, it is merely a matter of time before Butch Jones gets fired as head football coach at Tennessee. Knowing this … [Read more...]
Is Nick Saban’s Success Causing Other SEC Coaches To Become Unglued?
Already On The Hot Seat, Butch Jones & Bret Bielema By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger With all the effects Nick Saban's success at Alabama has had on other SEC schools, this potential one might be the most bizarre. Is the standard Saban has set at Alabama so high that others coaches in the league are beginning to crack? Based on … [Read more...]
College Football Week 5 Top Games Picks & Predictions The Pigskin Prognosticator
Butch Jones, Bret Bielema & Jim Harbaugh Keep Fans Entertained Even In A Weak Week Of Top Games By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Just as the Prognosticator envisioned, Iowa gave us a Big 10 treat last week in its almost-upset and certainly thrilling game against Penn State. And while Purdue did not exactly take Michigan … [Read more...]
College Football Week 4 Top Games Picks & Predictions The Pigskin Prognosticator
ESPN's College Game Day Goes To New York City By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger You know it's an off week in college football when not only are there no blockbuster games, big rivalries or major conference battles, but when ESPN's College Game Day goes to New York City. New York City!? That's like celebrating Mardi Gras in … [Read more...]
College Football Week 3 Biggest Winners & Losers; Oh No Coach O At LSU
Buyer's Remorse On The Baton Rouge Bayou? By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com's College Football Blogger A stark performance in Starkville, nothing gained in Gainesville and a "Heartbreak Hotel" in Memphis. These were all situations and scenes left on the turf from week four in college football. Here's a look at the week's biggest winners and … [Read more...]
College Football Picks Week 3 Top Games From The Pigskin Prognosticator
Clemson-Louisville, Tennessee-Florida, USC-Texas Who Will Win & Why By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Two weeks are in the rear-view mirror and here’s what the Prognosticator has learned about college football 2017. • Ohio State’s offense is as bad as it showed itself to be in the Clemson game last year. But the OSU will still win … [Read more...]
College Football Biggest Winners & Losers From Week 2
Oklahoma Lowers The Boomer On Ohio State & Auburn Reaches Offensive Low By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com's College Football Blogger After Week 2 it's easy to see the biggest winners and losers emerge in the 2017 college football season. Here's how PubClub's Pigskin Prognosticator ranks them. Week 2's Biggest Winners • Oklahoma & Lincoln Riley. Boom! … [Read more...]
College Football 2017 Week 2 Top Games Picks From The Pigskin Prognosticator
Oklahoma-Ohio State, Georgia-Notre Dame, USC-Stanford & Nebraska-Oregon Highlight Weekend Action By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger The 'ol pigskin bounced in several interesting directions during an entertaining opening weekend in college football. It bounced into the hands of a 5-star freshman at Alabama when a 5-star running … [Read more...]
College Football Week 1 Biggest Winners & Biggest Losers
Alabama Rolls And Big Blue Goes Big While Florida And Texas Fans Face Long Seasons By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Not all the questions about the 2017 college football season have been answered in Week 1, but we sure did get an indication of what is likely to happen the rest of the season with several notable teams. Here's a rundown of the … [Read more...]
Which Team(s) Will Have The Ugliest Uniforms In College Football 2017?
Michigan In All Maze To Be Worse Than Maryland's Hideous Medieval Times Look? By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger The revelation that Michigan – traditional Michigan – will be wearing all maze-colored uniforms, head-to-toe, for its season opener against Florida is not just a sign that the design and color schemes of college football uniforms have … [Read more...]
College Football 2017 Week 1 Top Games Predictions From The Pigskin Prognosticator
Breaking Down Alabama-Florida State, Florida-Michigan, LSU-BYU & More Key Matchups By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Where did our summer go to so fast? Heck, the springtime, too? Fall is approaching and that means it is college football time again, which brings the Pigskin Prognosticator out of hibernation (and off the beach; … [Read more...]
College Football 2017 Preview: Top Teams, Biggest Disappointments & Potential Surprises
The Pigskin Prognosticator Examines Alabama, USC, Ohio State And Other Top (And Not) Teams By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com's College Football Blogger College football is nearly upon us – kickoff is actually this week with Oregon State at Colorado on Saturday (11:30 a.m., PT, CBSSN) and Stanford at Rice (7 p.m., ESPN). Most schools, however, begin next … [Read more...]
College Football In July Starts With SEC Media Days 2017
Nation's Top PR Conference Turns Press Event Into A 4-Day Pep Rally For Fans By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger The college football season does not start in August when teams open training camps. The game is too big for that now. It starts with publicity. And that begins with the leader in college football publicity and hype with something … [Read more...]
Alabama Football Tailgate Party 2017 Run By Auburn Company (And It’s Not Cheap)
The Quad Is A Pricy Place For Tailgating With The Crimson Tide By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger There is a price to pay – quite literally – for having a winning football team in college football. This goes beyond coaching salaries and facilities; it means fans pay more and more for everything associated with the team. It starts with tickets, … [Read more...]
What To Make Of The Bob Stoops Surprise Retirement
Oklahoma Football Coach Departure Leaves Questions But Gets A #ThanksBob Hashtag By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Sports Blogger It's one of those things when you first see it – in my case the sports ticker crawl on ESPN – that makes you rub your eyes and say "did I just read that correctly?" After 18 years, Bob Stoops announced his retirement. This was as sudden as … [Read more...]
Alabama Hires New Athletic Director, The Easiest Job In College Sports
Greg Byrne Just Has To Keep Nick Saban Happy By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger The University of Alabama – my alma mater – has hired a new athletic director. It's Greg Byrne, who came from the University of Arizona. Arizona!? The school that has never played in the Rose Bowl (once a reward for winning the league title), that has produced … [Read more...]
The Pigskin Prognosticator On Alabama-Clemson Winner (And Why)
Crimson Tide Goes For 17 National Championship & Lane Kiffin Doesn't Matter By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger After all the predictions, polls and playoff positioning, the college football season comes down to the two best teams, Alabama and Clemson. This has been a good, tho not dramatically great, season, like 2015. There was no … [Read more...]
Nick Saban’s OC Change Gets Lane Kiffin Off To Rocky Start
Sudden Move Shakes Up Alabama Before Playing Clemson In National Championship Game Just when it seemed as if Lane Kiffin had polished his tainted reputation, he gets sent home early from camp by the teacher. The Monday before the National Championship game, Nick Saban told Kiffin to go ahead and leave for Florida Atlantic. Steve Sarkisian will replace Kiffin as … [Read more...]
Alabama-Washington & Clemson-Ohio State Pigskin Prognosticator Picks
Inside The Helmets College Football Playoffs Semifinals Winners By the Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com's College Football Blogger We interrupt your New Year's Eve plans by bringing you two critical college football games. Yes, the four-team playoff is happening on the biggest party day of the year so instead of putting on those cheap paper hats that say "Happy New … [Read more...]
Is This The End Of The College Football Bowls As We Know It?
Leonard Fournette & Christian McCaffrey Open Floodgates To The Demise Of Lesser Bowls By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger It was pretty much inevitable, but wow, that happened quick! When the College Football Playoff kicked off three seasons ago, it rendered all other bowl pretty much, well meaningless. Of course that matters little for … [Read more...]
How To Pick College Football Bowl Games Winners
Top Tips & Predictions For Getting Through Bowl Season By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.con's College Football Blogger The college bowl season used to be a time of excitement; it were a reward for a good to outstanding season, something to cap off a successful year. Now it’s a time of trying to figure out if schools you’ve never heard of can cover a point … [Read more...]
Don’t Feel Sorry For Fired College Football Coaches
Charlie Strong And Mark Helfrich Get $22 Million In Buyouts From Texas, Oregon There's been a lot of media talk and fan reaction on social media about how Charlie Strong was treated before being fired at Texas and the "bizarre" press release that Oregon issued when it fired Mark Helfrch. Both have merits, of course. Strong was strung along for more than a year – having … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Conference Championship Games
Picking Alabama-Florida, Wisconsin-Penn State, Clemson-Va Tech & Bedlam In Oklahoma There was more action off the field this past weekend than on it in college football. On Thursday, just as LSU was ready to kick off against Texas A&M, the agent for Tom Herman leaked negotiations to Texas beat writers in the hopes it would light a fire under the Longhorns and … [Read more...]
Can Oregon Football Ever Recapture The Ducks Dynasty?
Quirky Uniforms, Great Facilities & Hurry-Up Offense No Longer Unique Attractions By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger There was a time when 4-7 was the norm, and 6-5 was a good season. Then along came Rich Brooks, then Mike Bellotti, then Chip Kelly and then, well, Mark Helfrich. The Ducks finished the 2016 season 4-8, which included … [Read more...]
The 10 Least Likeable Coaches In College Football
Bobby Petrino Leads List Of Despised Coaches There are programs and teams college football fans love to hate, but there are coaches, too. That's why PubClub.com has compiled this list of Top 10 Least Likeable Coaches. Do you agree? Maybe you're got some of your own – we would love your feedback. And what, no Nick Saban? Heck no because he's the gold standard for … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator: Rivalry Week Picks
Winners Of Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, Washington-Washington State, USC-Notre Dame And Other Top Games So long Louisville, your flirtation with the College Football Playoffs featuring your eye-catching quarterback was merely a tease. Are we saying hello to Clemson, finally awake after a season-long slumber? Alabama should wake up from last weekend’s sleepwalk … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator: Week 12 Picks
Can Michigan & Washington Recover, Plus It's Rivalry Week For USC-UCLA By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com's College Football Blogger Welcome to the Pigskin Prognosticator! Last week was “tell the truth” Saturday and sometimes the truth hurts. Michigan flat-out felt the pressure – learning that playing on the road in prime time is not always easy – Clemson finally got … [Read more...]
Kevin Sumlin & Gus Malzahn Back On The Coaches Hot Seat
Texas A&M And Auburn Fall Back Into Mediocrity By The Pigskin Prognosticator, PubClub.com's College Football Blogger For a while – a little more than a month – Kevin Sumlin and Gus Malzahn could sit down without worrying that their shorts would catch on fire. But the mirage that was their mid-season rise has quickly turned into the reality that their teams are … [Read more...]
Chaotic Upsets Won’t Change College Football Playoffs (For Now)
Clemson & Michigan Still In It While U-Dub Pretty Much Eliminated The College Football Playoff committee got what it did not want, a Saturday full of chaos when not just one team in its Final Four lost, but three of them. Yes, 3/4 of the teams that would be playing for the National Championship "if the playoffs were held today" went down on a single … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Week 11 Game Picks
Misery Teams As Much Fun To Follow As Playoff Contenders By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Welcome to the Pigskin Prognosticator! As the college football season falls into November, it’s almost as much fun to focus on the misery teams as it is the successful ones. Okay, it’s more fun! The number of teams – and fans – having miserable, forgettable … [Read more...]
The Real Issue With Michigan State Football In 2016
Sparty Has Been Living On Borrowed Time With Past Successful Seasons The wheels have officially come off Michigan State football in 2016 and the lug nuts are rolling all over East Lansing. One year after being in the College Football Playoffs, the Spartans went winless the last half of September and all of October and began November by losing to Illinois. … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Daylight Savings Time Picks
Going Inside The Helmets Of Alabama-LSU, Nebraska-Ohio State and U-Dub & The Pac-12 And The Playoffs By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger We;come to the Pigskin Prognosticator! Daylight Savings Time weekend edition! The Pac-12 should be concerned because if it can’t get an undefeated team into the College Playoff Committee’s Top 4 over a one-loss … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Halloween Weekend Games
Going Inside The Helmets Of Washington-Utah Auburn-Ole Miss, Clemson-FSU & The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Welcome to The Pigskin Prognosticator! The Prognosticator is beaming because of two spot-on predictions last week, BYU and Boise State ending exactly (to nearly the very yard line) as stated … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Week 7 Games
An Inside The Helmets Look At Alabama-Texas A&M, U-Dub & Ohio State-Penn State By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Welcome to The Pigskin Prognosticator for Week 7,key college football games of Oct. 20-22. It’s late October, the time of the year when the early excitement of the season is starting to be replaced by reality, and some of the … [Read more...]
Why The Big 12 Made The Right Choice In Voting Down Expansion
Conference Stays With Existing Members & Relies On Regular Season To Determine Champion By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger In a time when conferences are expanding way beyond their geographic area, certain conference teams only play other conference teams every few years and traditional rivalries are disappearing, it's good to see the Big 12 … [Read more...]
Pac-12 College Football Sliding Into Mediocrity – Or Worse
Can Washington Save A Conference Suffering From Down Years By Oregon & Stanford? By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger The past few years, a few people (incorrectly, but it made for a compelling argument) were making the case that the Pac-12 was the best conference in college football. But not even anti-SEC man Danny Kannell can defend the … [Read more...]
A Solution To Declining Attendance At College Football Games
Embrace Tailgate Parties & Tailgating Tradition College football athletic directors are scratching their heads on how to get their fans to come to games rather than stay at home and watch on TV. They are trying all kinds of things but the prime solution is right in front of them: the tailgate parties. In order for people to get out of their house and spend the time … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Week 7 Games
Alabama-Tennessee, Ohio State-Wisconsin, Stanford-Notre Dame & Other Big Matchups By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger We’re coming off a week in which one game should have been played and wasn’t and when a game that was played should not have been and now the SEC is looking like fools. Two schools are feuding (in good ‘ol Southern tradition … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Week 6 Games Oct. 8
Texas-OU, Tennessee-Texas A&M, LSU-Florida, Alabama-Arkansas & Those Oregon Uniforms By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Welcome to the Pigskin Prognosticator, a weekly look at the top college football games and not only which teams will win but why they will win. PubClub.com's college football blogger goes "inside the helmets" in a style … [Read more...]
Top College Football Coaching Candidates Not Named Tom Herman
UNC's Larry Fedora Tops This Wish List Of 7 Potential Program Saviors By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger While athletic directors, fans and, in the case of at least Texas, boosters, are falling all over themselves to be first in line to get Tom Herman as their next coach, there are other candidates out there who may be just as good a hire as the … [Read more...]
Why Lane Kiffin Back To USC Is Not Such A Crazy Idea
Trojans Could Call Back Former Coach After Firing Clay Helton By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger When the USC Trojans go coach-searching again – and Athletic Director Lynn Swann may already be doing this behind the scenes to replace the overmatched Clay Helton – he may be doing like a quarterback does when he drops back to pass. That is, making … [Read more...]
College Football Week 3 Pigskin Prognosticator: Michigan Upset Alert
Bama To Take Down Colonel Rebel, Florida State To Outscore Louisville & Ohio Sate To Eliminate OU By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger If there’s one thing you can count on in the 2016 college football season, it’s that the Pac-12 will be involved in exciting games, even if it’s against Grambling and especially if it involves going against Texas … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Week 2 Games Picks
Tennessee-Virginia Tech At Bristol Speedway The Highlight In A Non-Spectacular Weekend By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Welcome to Week 2 of the Pigskin Prognosticator! After an opening weekend of great matchups this week we’re left with the likes of Florida State-Charleston Southern, Clemson-Troy and Texas A&M-Prairie View (I’ve heard of … [Read more...]
SEC College Football Teams Power Rankings After Week 1
Alabama's Rout Of USC The Good While LSU Is The Bad & Mississippi State The Ugly By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger If the first weekend of college football is any indicator – and things can certainly change but it sure starts to put things in perspective – then the SEC won't quite be the challenging juggernaut it's been the past several … [Read more...]
The College Football Pigskin Prognosticator: Week 1 Picks
Key Labor Day Weekend Game Predictions: Alabama-USC, OU-Houston, Ole Miss-Florida State, UCLA Texas A&M, LSU-Wisconsin By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Here it is folks, the debut of the Pigskin Prognosticator for 2016, one of the most popular features of the PubClub.com Sports section! As many of you know, this is a true, real look at the … [Read more...]
College Football 2016 Pigskin Prognosticator: Tennessee
Butch Jones, Not The Team, The Key To Vols' Season By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Fotoball Blogger All the talk around Rock Top is how this is the year that Tennessee gets back to the top of the SEC East and how it could well win the conference, perhaps compete for a National Championship and maybe even beat Alabama. It has a proven quarterback, two quality … [Read more...]
Nick Saban Coaching Tree Bearing Fruit For Alabama’s Future
Jimbo Fisher, Jim McElwain & Kirby Smart All Lined Up As Potential Successor By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Alabama football is in good – no, make that great –hands right now, and things look pretty bright for the future because of Nick Saban's coaching tree. Like Paul "Bear" Bryant before him, Saban has developed a line of assistants … [Read more...]
It’s College Football Season In July – In The SEC Anyway
SEC Media Days Another Reason This Is The America's Top Conference By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger It's mid-July and most of America is thinking of beaches, vacations, summer festivals and getting out of the heat. In the Southeastern Conference, they are thinking college football. The SEC Media Days are underway, July 11-14, from a hotel … [Read more...]
Bands A Huge Part Of College Football Traditions
Fight Songs, Pre-game And Halftime Shows Add To The Atmosphere By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger & Million Dollar Band Alumni The dotting of the "i", the Salute to the Hill, the playing of "Conquest," the marches through campus into the stadiums as part of various pre-game "stomps." College bands are as much a part of college football … [Read more...]
College Bands Getting Tuned Out By Greedy Athletic Directors
LSU & Big 12 Playing Sour Notes To The Spirit Of College Football By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Blogger And Million Dollar Band Alumni I was appalled to learn that LSU – one of my fellow SEC schools – announced that will it no longer allow visiting bands to perform during halftime at Tiger Stadium. Furthermore, I was infuriated at the flimsy excuse: "it's a … [Read more...]
An Alabama Signing Day Story With Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant
Young Reporter Recalls The Day The Bear Called By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger It was National Signing Day and I was due to interview Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant about that year's class. I was a young reporter for the Alabama student newspaper, the Crimson White. Bryant was late in his coaching career, on the verge of retirement, … [Read more...]
The Secret To Alabama’s Success Is Not Just Recruiting
Nick Saban Develops The Talent He Recruits To Play For The Crimson Tide The numbers of Nick Saban's recruiting success are mind boggling. In his time at Alabama, Saban and staff have signed a whopping 33 five-star recruits and a wipe-your-eyes-am-I-reading-this-correctly 134 four-star recruits. Every single player in the 2016 class is either a three-star, four-star … [Read more...]
National Signing Day From A Reporter’s Perspective
College Football Recruiting Can Be A Nightmare Day For Sportswriters By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Sports Blogger National Signing Day – when high school recruits sign National Letters of Intent with schools to play college football – is a relief for coaches, the players and fans. For reporters, however, it's a madhouse. I know this because I was a sportswriter … [Read more...]
Alabama’s 16th National Championship Erases Kick Six Mysery
2016 Title, Along With Auburn's Fall, Is Redemption For Bama Fans By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger & Alabama Alumni It took a little more than two years, but Alabama fans can finally erase the misery of the "Kick Six." The 45-40 win over Clemson to win the school its 16th National Championship is a sweet feeling for Crimson Tide … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator: Why Alabama Rolls Clemson
Between The Helmets Of The National Championship Game What a year! In 2015 we had the Miracle at Michigan (or the Botched Punt at the Big House if you prefer), the Miracle at Ole Miss, the Miami Miracle at Duke, the Phantom Offsides On The Onsides Kick, OB To TD for Nebraska, the Flop On The Plains, the Hail Mary Prayers By BYU, the Rise of the Rosen One at UCLA, the … [Read more...]
Nick Saban Not Yet Bear Bryant As Alabama’s Greatest Coach
Six National Titles And 25 Years Keeps The Houndstooth Hat Hanging High After Alabama beat Clemson for the National Championship, some have argued that Head Coach Nick Saban is the best coach in the history of Alabama. It was Saban's fourth title with the Tide since he took over in 2097 and fourth in seven yeas since his first in 2009. That is impressive to say the … [Read more...]
The Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Playoff Picks
Inside The Helmets For Clemson-Oklahoma and Alabama-Michigan State This college football playoff thing has already cost Alabama one National Championship and now the school is in it again. Standing in its way this time is another team from “that” conference while two other teams are shoved off to a side stage. If this were a big music festival Alabama-Michigan State would … [Read more...]
Dabo Swinney Is College Football’s New Pete Carroll
Clemson Is USC East With Its Entertaining Head Coach From his "Dabo dance" in the locker room to hosting Santa Claus on his roof, Swinney is the new version of Pete Carroll and that is to say the coolest college football coach in America. Like Carroll, Swinney is free-wheeling fun. His players love it, the media loves it and the team is playing like Carroll's USC … [Read more...]
College Football Playoffs On New Year’s Eve A Dumb Idea
NYE Is For Celebration & Partying, Not Watching Games By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger Playing the College Football Playoffs on New Year's Eve is a dumb idea. Period. For fans of the teams involved, this means NYE will be spent in an anxious, tense mental state. And after the games, while fans of the winning teams will be partying it … [Read more...]
Why The Hurry-Up Spread Offenses Are Dead in The SEC
Auburn & Texas A&M Finish DFL In West Division The brief run of the hurry-up, spread and deception offenses are over in the SEC. This is evidenced by the fact that the two biggest examples of it – Auburn and Texas A&M – were DFL (that's last place in case you are wondering) in the West Division in 2015. Auburn finished at the bottom and Texas A&M in … [Read more...]
College Football Playoffs Set New Year’s Eve Plans For Fans
Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State & Oklahoma Four Teams To Play NYE Fans of Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State and Oklahoma have their New Year's Eve plans set for 2015. They will either be in Dallas or Miami, or glued to a television set at home, at a friend's house or perhaps an alumni bar in their hometown city. The College Football Playoff committee has selected … [Read more...]
Pac-12 Hurts Stanford Playoffs & McCaffrey’s Heisman Chances
Lack Of Exposure, Not Regional Bias, Costs The Cardinal Stanford will not be part of the College Football Playoff and sensational running back/all-around player Christian McCaffrey likely won't win the Heisman Trophy. A large part of the blame for this belongs to the Pac-12 Conference. While coaches, fans, and even West Coast media point their fingers at a "regional … [Read more...]
Nick Saban Chases Away Another SEC Coach
Mark Richt The Latest To Feel The Effect Of Not Living Up To Alabama Coach's Standard First it was Phil Fulmer. Then Urban Meyer. Then nearly Les Miles. And now Mark Richt. The latter is the latest SEC coach to be chased away by Nick Saban and his exacting standards. Saban has not just set the bar in the SEC, he's set it so high that other programs are … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Conference Title Games
Inside The Helmets Of Alabama-Florida, Iowa-Michigan State, Clemson-North Carolina & USC-Stanford Here’s a fun thing to do if your team is not in a conference championship game or has no hope of making the College Football Playoff: Follow the coaching carnival that’s as lively this year as, well, the party called Carnival. Les Miles was headed out of LSU only to have the … [Read more...]
USC Avoids Coaching Carousel By Hiring Clay Helton
Non-Flashy Hire At Least Keeps Trojans Out Of College Football's Amusement Park It wasn't a flashy hire. It may not even been a great hire. But USC did one thing by naming Clay Helton its head coach. It avoided the coaching carousel that's affecting many other college football programs. Georgia Added To List Of Schools Seeking Coaches This is a busy year for … [Read more...]
USC Hires Clay Helton After Beating UCLA
Trojans Beat The Bruins And Hire A Coach Beating the cross-town rival was good not just for the players and fans, but for the coach, too. After replacing Steve Sarkisian in messy situation, Clay Helton has been hired full time as coach of the Trojans. It was a quick move, just two days after USC defeated UCLA 40-21, Athletic Director Pat Haden removed the interim tag … [Read more...]
Arkansas-Ole Miss Lateral Play Saves SEC Championship Game
Wild Ending Enables To Alabama Continue Path To The College Football Playoff The SEC has pretty much what it wanted – a National Championship contender playing a 10-win team – in its league championship game. And had Florida beaten Florida State it might even be a play-in game for the College Football Playoff. Still, with the college football world watching, Alabama … [Read more...]
Georgia, Not LSU, Fires Coach In Letting Go Mark Richt
College Football Coaching Carousel Hits The SEC On a weekend when it appeared one SEC school would lose its successful head coach, it happened. Except it was not LSU and Les Miles. It was Georgia. In what might be called a stunning move, the school fired Mark Richt on Sunday. Georgia is 9.3 but has beat only one FBS team with a winning record, and that was Georgia … [Read more...]
The Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Thanksgiving Games
Going Inside The Helmets For Key Rivalry Games: Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, Norte Dame-Stanford & OU-Oklahoma State Thanksgiving weekend used to be the traditional big-rivalry time in college football. And while we still have Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan and USC-UCLA, the sport is still missing Oklahoma-Nebraska and Texas-Texas A&M. That’s what … [Read more...]
Firing Les Miles Would Be Big Mistake For LSU
Head Coach, School Have Reportedly Reached Buyout Agreement LSU is on the verge of firing head football coach Les Miles, according to several media reports. He and the school have reportedly discussed a buyout that would end his 11-year tenure in Baton Rouge. The Bengal Tigers have lost three straight games, a spiral that began when it was dominated by Alabama 30-16. … [Read more...]
Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Games Nov. 21
Inside The Helmets Of Ohio State-Michigan State, Oklahoma-TCU & Baylor-Oklahoma State The SEC, which pretty much dominates the college football conversation for 3/4 of the year, steps to the side this weekend and hoists two other conferences up on the big stage. The Big 12, which has pretty much been in hibernation the whole season, comes alive with not one but two key … [Read more...]
Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Games Nov. 14
Inside The Helmets Of Alabama- Mississippi State, OU-Bayor And Can Clemson Keep Winning Well Sparty, it was fun while it lasted. But surely even the most die-hard fans can’t be too green over the loss; after all you beat Oregon only when their receiver dropped a clear touchdown that would have won that game, Michigan was a pure fluke and you barely beat Purdue and Rutgers, … [Read more...]
Alabama-LSU, Clemson-FSU Face Bad Weather Conditions
Fans & Tailgate Parties To Suffer More Than The Teams Rain and even thunderstorms are predicted for college football's two major games on Nov. 7. Alabama and LSU square off in the day's marquee matchup in Tuscaloosa, while Florida State travels to Clemson in another game that will have an impact on the College Football Playoff. In fact, three of the top four … [Read more...]
Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Picks & Predictions
Alabama-LSU, Florida State-Clemson & A Stanford Upset There was another crazy ending on a kick this past weekend; that’s three on three consecutive Saturdays. And what about the ending to the Michigan game in which Minnesota’s game-winning touchdown was ruled down at the 1 and there was only time for one final play!? It’s been quite a season and things are about to get … [Read more...]
College Football Pigskin Prognosticator Oct. 31 Games
Inside The Helmets Of Florida-Georgia, USC-Cal, Ole Miss-Auburn And Other Key Contests This is college football’s catch-your-breath weekend. The sport is taking a power nap, the kind everyone needs on occasion. But then again, it could wake up and provide us with another dramatic finish the way it’s done all year – a Hail Mary, a miracle game-winning touchdown on a field … [Read more...]
Alabama-LSU Again A Prime-Time SEC Game
CBS To Televise Key Matchup That Could Impact College Football Playoff One of the biggest college football games of the year will be a prime-time affair, as CBS-TV has announced the kickoff on Nov. 7 for Alabama-LSU for 8 p.m., ET. This is a rare double-header day for the network, which normally televises one SEC game at 3:30. It will feature lead announcers Verne … [Read more...]
World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party Is The Georgia-Florida Game In Jacksonville
In the rest of the USA, it's the weekend past Halloween. But in Jacksonville, Florida, it a different kind of party. On Saturday, Oct. 28, Georgia and Florida play a college football game that has earned the nickname of World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. And Jacksonville officials are ready for the onslaught of Dogs and Gators fans, many of whom are just there to … [Read more...]
Alabama Football Top 10 Game Day Crimson Tide Essentials
Everything You Need To Have To Roll With The Tide With another run at a National Championship contending team, Alabama fans are rolling again in 2015. Because of this there is more – much more – to attending a football game at the University of Alabama than just showing up with a ticket. And even before the pre-game tailgate on the Quad and the march to Bryant-Denny … [Read more...]
College Football Tailgating Key To Getting Fans To Games
ADs Need To Embrace The Game-DayExperience College football athletic directors are scratching their heads on how to get their fans to come to games rather than stay at home and watch on TV. They are trying all kinds of things but the prime solution is right in front of them: the tailgate parties. In order for people to get out of their house and spend the time and money to … [Read more...]
Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Games Analysis Oct. 24
Inside The Helmet For Alabama-Tennessee, Clemson-Miami, USC-Utah Obviously knowing that Jimmy Buffett is playing Irvine Meadows, the college football schedule makers made it a light weekend of games this week. The most significant involves the Third Saturday of October, a long-time traditional Southern rivalry. They may have also sensed we need a week to catch our breath … [Read more...]
Michigan State Miracle Has College Football Buzzing
Sparty's Incredible Win Over Michigan A Play For The Ages Turn on the TV and you'll see the it everywhere. Go on Twitter and look at the comments. The Michigan State Miracle is the talk of college football the day after the incredible ending resulted in a 27-23 win over arch-rival Michigan. The ending was so stunning it instantly had people comparing it to the … [Read more...]
College Football Best Of: Band, Tailgate Party, Cheerleaders
Top Rankings Of The Game's Fans, Atmosphere & Stadiums The AP and College Football Playoff Committee have theie rankings. And PubClub.com has ours. And it's not just our Top Party Schools. It's this other all-important element of the college game, the atmosphere around the game. That's the live in-person experience and even watching on TV. So here's our picks for … [Read more...]
College Football’s Ignored Big Story: The Demise Of Oregon
Is This The End Of The Duck Dynasty? While the attention of those who follow and cover college football have been focused on one of the busiest off-field news weeks perhaps in the history of the sport, another element has largely gone ignored. Oregon lost to Washington State last week. At home. On the heels of its 62-20 thumping by Utah (again, at home) it lost to … [Read more...]
Pigskin Prognosticator College Football Games Oct. 17
Inside The Helmets For USC-Notre Dame, Alabama-Texas A&M, Florida-LSU This is the Pigskin Prognosticator, a weekly look "inside the helmets" of key college football games for the week of Oct. 17. Have we ever had a wilder week off the field, during the week, in the history of college football? The Prognosticator does not want to take comedic jabs at Steve Sarkisian … [Read more...]
Steve Spurrier Retires From South Carolina To Coach USC?
Head Ball Coach Could Be Coaching Trojans This Season The sudden – and immediate – retirement and the timing of it coming just a few hours after a premier program fired its coach led PubClub.com to speculate that Steve Spurrier left one USC for another USC. That's a thought that has gained some traction on Twitter, too (hashtag #USC). Spurrier To Be On Sidelines … [Read more...]
Is Steve Spurrier Trading One USC For Another?
South Carolina Coach Suddenly Retires After Trojans Fire Steve Sarkisian; Hmm Pure speculation here but why not, right? Steve Spurrier suddenly retires – effective immediately – the same day that Southern California fires Steve Sarkisian. Could he be going from one USC to the other USC? It's not necessarily as crazy as it sounds. Spurrier needs a new jolt and USC … [Read more...]
USC Fires Steve Sarkisian; Now Both Can Start Recovery
Trojans Again Looking For New Coach To Lead Troy The healing has begun, both for the USC football team and for Steve Sarkisian. USC Athletic Director Pat Haden finally took the right move and fired Sarkisian. This is one day after Sarkisian reportedly was intoxicated in a team meeting and was told not to go to practice, and two months after being inebriated at a major … [Read more...]
Pat Haden Should Have Fired Steve Sarkisian In August
USC Football Coach Needed To Be Let Go After Salute To Troy Embarrassment It's easy to picture Pat Haden, on a calm Sunday morning at a USC basketball event, suddenly thrust into another issue with his football coach. He receives a call, the coach is missing, was apparently intoxicated at a team meeting and is not at practice. So Haden has to suddenly go into crisis … [Read more...]