It’s only July, but major universities and college football programs are already launching Heisman campaigns to generate the much-needed media exposure for select candidates.  Anyone who follows college football knows about Washington’s Jake Locker, Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor and last year’s Heisman-winner, Alabama running back Mark Ingram.

WVU running back Noel Devine has his sights set on a Big East Title and a trip to New York in 2010 (google images)

In the second part of a 5-part series, College FootBlog takes a look at some of the individuals that may not be on everybody’s radar screen just yet, but all signs indicate they have as good a chance as anyone of making the trip to New York’s Downtown Athletic Club at season’s end.  In case you missed it, we spotlighted Florida State’s Christian Ponder in part one.  In this edition, we take a look at West Virginia running back Noel Devine.

If you just take a look at his numbers, it’s amazing that the explosive running back is not on everyone’s watch list, but surprisingly, many of the so-called experts do not have Devine listed as a threat to take home the coveted trophy.

Devine burst on the scene as a true freshman, when he took carries away from All-American running back Steve Slaton.  After Slaton was injured in the Fiesta Bowl, which meant Devine would have to carry the load for the Mountaineers, and he delivered, rushing for 105 on just 12 carries with two touchdowns.

His numbers increased his sophomore season, as he rushed for 1,289, and despite being hampered by minor injuries for much of last season, the talented back still managed to rush for 1,465 yards and 13 TDs.  If this trend continues, and more importantly, if Devine can avoid injury this season, there is every reason to believe that he could break 1,800 yards this season.  That sounds like a high number, but it is more attainable than you may think.

Since his arrival in Morgantown, the electric running back from Fort Myers, FL has averaged 6.5 yards per carry.  If he can stay healthy, there is every reason in the world to believe that he will get more carries than last season.  If he gets just 44 more carries than last season, that would put him at 285, putting him over 1,800 yards, given his career yards/carry average.

College FootBlog takes a look at the two things must happen for Devine to get serious consideration from the media and ultimately, the voters.

West Virginia must win the Big East: Six out of the last seven Heisman Trophy winners played on conference champion teams.  This could be a tall order for Devine and the Mountaineers, and given the emergence of the Big East as a formidable BCS conference in the last couple of years, it is.  But despite the success of WVU, Cincinnati, Pitt and others from the conference, the Big East is still unfairly viewed as a little brother to the other conferences by most writers.

In order for the national media to take notice of a Heisman candidate from this conference, they will have to win, and they’ll have to hope that others in the conference like Pitt and Cincy win as well.  This would set the stage for a national TV audience for the “Backyard Brawl” rivalry game on Nov. 26, when WVU travels to Pitt to take on the Panthers.

Will it happen? They should be in the hunt, but the Pitt game will likely determine who wins the Big East.  West Virginia hosts Cincinnati, South Florida and Syracuse before the Pitt game, and they travel to UConn and Louisville.  Unless something unforeseen happens, the Mountaineers will be favored in all of these games.  If they take down Pitt, the conference title will be theirs, and they will lock up a BCS game, and the media will notice.

Devine must avoid injury: At 5’8″ and just 176 lbs., Devine is far from a bruising back.  The only thing preventing him from eclipsing 1,500 yards last season was the fact that he played much of the season banged up.  He still managed to put up some very impressive numbers last fall, but his relatively small frame showed signs of fatigue last year, particularly in the middle of the season.

Devine needs at least 300 touches (rushing, receiving and returning) if he is going to put up the kind of numbers that will trump the other candidates.  If he gets that many touches, that means he made it through the year without a significant injury, and with his explosiveness and elusiveness, that means bigtime production.

Will it happen? It should.  Despite traveling to Death Valley to take on LSU in September, the non-conference schedule is not that tough for the Mountaineers.  And despite his small frame, Devine has proven to be an extremely durable back.  In addition, new quarterback Geno Smith is more of a passer than a runner, which means that unlike in past years, Devine will not be splitting carries with his QB.  His strength and durability will be tested, but he has carried 447 times in his two years as the featured running back at WVU.  Look for that durability to continue in 2010 because it will be his last season, and Devine will have his chance to ease the concerns of NFL scouts that his body can handle the punishment of a 280-plus carry season.

The fate of the Big 12 Conference was in the hands of the Texas Longhorns, and earlier this week, the conference was finally able to exhale.  After more guaranteed revenue, the University of Texas agreed to keep the conference intact, and they were soon followed by Oklahoma. And despite the departures of Nebraska next fall and Colorado in 2012, the threat of the mega-conferences is on the back burner.  Now the question is how long the current situation will last.

Mack Brown and his Texas Longhorns are staying with the Big 12....at least for now (google images)

It appears that this is a band-aid on an issue that could require plastic surgery.  Had Texas and Oklahoma left for the Pac 10 and Texas A&M bolted for the SEC, it would have had a domino effect in the rest of the college football world.  All conferences must learn from what could have happened and they need to prepare themselves for the same situation 3-5 years down the road.   College FootBlog takes a look at what might have been had the Longhorns set the mega-conferences into motion and weighs two potential impacts it would have had.

1.  The ACC and Big East would have been dead in the water.  The ACC thought they were going to challenge the SEC when they on-boarded Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College a few years ago.  Instead, Miami and Florida State have struggled to live up to their prestige from the 80′s and 90′s, and with huge losses in out of conference and bowl games, they have been little more than an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl because the BCS has to have a representative from their conference.

The Big East has come a long way since losing their coveted teams to the ACC.  But it hasn’t been easy.  Despite having three teams finish in the Top 25 last season, the Big East is still trying to prove they belong with the big boys.  The emergence of Pitt, Cincinnati and Rutgers has helped give them some respectability, but they are still largely considered a second-tier league.  With the depth they had last season, that is somewhat unfair, but that is still the general consensus.

The Big Ten flirted with Pitt when they originally wanted to have 14-16 teams in their league, and much like when the ACC raided them a few years ago, the conference seemed ready to take their lumps and move on.  There is talk that if and when the SEC comes calling, they will go after Virginia Tech, but even if the mega-conferences leave the ACC and Big East alone, each conference could easily become a footnote in the BCS title hunt if the big conferences get bigger and deeper.  That would result in far less revenue and could effectively make each conference a new-aged mid-major.

If they don’t want that to happen, representatives from each conference need to take advantage of the new three-year window and fight for stability and/or growth.  Otherwise, FSU, Miami and Virginia Tech could easily look to jump ship before it goes down.

2.  The Mid-Majors would have droppped further into obscurity. Even with Boise State making the move to the Mountain West, they simply will not be able to compete in terms of revenue and overall respectability vs a 16-team Pac 10.  Add to it that Utah is likely jumping ship from the MWC to become the Pac 10′s 12th team, and they will continue to fight for some well-deserved attention in college football.  Should the Pac 10 increase to a 16-team league in the future, all hope of having a representative in the BCS National Championship will be gone.

The conference already had an uphill battle due to the lack of television coverage and the perception that they, along with the other mid-majors are the little brother of the bigger, more traditional BCS conferences, but one or two mega-conferences would effectively shut the door on their chances for a title.

That would be a shame, considering what Boise State and Utah have more than represented themselves and their conferences on the big stage of a BCS bowl game.  A one-loss or even a two-loss team from a mega-conference could easily get the nod from voters to play in a title game over an undefeated mid-major team.  Considering the strength of schedule from a 16-team SEC and/or Pac 10, it would be very difficult to keep a conference champion from a dominant conference out of the National Championship.

The other major issue facing the non-BCS Conferences would be their ability to schedule decent out of conference games.  Boise State and TCU are already teams that present a no-win situation for a major program.  If the larger program wins, they were supposed to win.  If they lose, the upset becomes an instant classic.  A 16-team conference would provide more than enough competition and national recognition without scheduling a couple tough out of conference games, leaving the cupboard bare for the mid-majors to challenge the big boys.

College FootBlog wants your input.  Let us know your thoughts on the Mega-Conferences and the pros and cons if they become a reality.

Sometime soon, the Big Ten could get a facelift -- and transform college football in the process.

By: Brian Mosgaller

Sometime in the relatively near future, the Big Ten Conference will undergo a makeover so dramatic it would make Heidi Montag proud.

But the big question is, how will the procedure affect Spencer and LC and Audrina?

Welcome to college football’s version of The Hills (and apologies for the analogy).

Despite recent noncommittal (and non-denial) statements regarding conference expansion from league commish Jim Delaney, it is practically a foregone conclusion that the Big Ten will be adding teams within anywhere from two to five years. What is not decided, however, is what form this restructuring will take, who the players will end up being, and what kind of ripple effect will be initiated by it.

However it ends up manifesting, though, the Big Ten’s giant steps toward a superconference are going to shake the grounds of college football and give new direction to college sports in general, meaning that it this is a tremendously important and weighty development that deserves further examination.

So let’s breakdown what we know, and attempt to extrapolate what we don’t.

The Motivation

Shocker alert: this transformational rearrangement is being driven by money. Gasp!

But seriously, it is no secret that the Big Ten has found a cash-generating godsend in its Big Ten Network. Once thought to be a misguided and transparent attempt to make schools money, the BTN is now available in up to 75 million homes in the U.S.

The important numbers here are that last year the conference’s deal with ABC/ESPN provided about $9 million to each member school, and the BTN added approximately $7 million to $8 million to that booty. With bowl games and March Madness (among other things) topping off the pot, the estimated figure each Big Ten university ends up with is a staggering $22 million.

And the crazy part is that amount could double (at least) with expansion – expansion that could help the network cast its reach both East and West, as well as create a championship game worth between $15 million and $20 million.

For comparison, the SEC – winner of six BCS championships, as many as the other Big Five conferences (the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, ACC and Pac-10) combined – pays out around $11 million to its member schools. The other conferences vary in their disbursements but are generally in a similar range (the Big East is the lowest, handing out an estimated $4.5 million).

In short then, the Big Ten Network has proved to be a cash cow for the league, and, naturally, they want to fatten the cow.

The Candidates

So what’s the best way to plump up that dead-president-spewing bovine? By growing the market for the network, of course.

Yet it is not quite that simple – there are prerequisites and mitigating considerations which factor into the expansion equation.

To wit, it is no mystery that the Big Ten, a proud and storied academic conference, wants to add schools that would not diminish the league’s scholastic prestige.

As a qualifying criterion then, it is commonly rumored that whatever schools are to be vetted for potential membership should be part of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of 61 respected research institutions, as are all the 11 current members.

Moreover, the conference isn’t going to add just to add – it has to make sense (both financially and academically, as was mentioned) but also competitively. Sure, adding Buffalo would tap the New York market and add an AAU member, but it wouldn’t make sense on the field, where this discussion starts and ends.

With all that said, everyone knows the number one target: the elusive Golden Domers. That’s right, good ol’ Notre Dame. For years, the Big Ten has courted the Irish and for good reason. Although Notre Dame is not an AAU card carrier and doesn’t geographically enlarge the conference’s domain, it brings with it arguably the largest and most devoted fan base in the country. While the league wouldn’t be directly cracking the East Coast television market, it would in reality be gaining viewers and Notre Dame graduates from sea to shining sea.

Unfortunately, it is also common knowledge that Notre Dame is quite fine where they are, thank you. Sure, it comes off as a little arrogant considering the school’s recent on-field struggles, but the fact is, Notre Dame still holds an exclusive deal with NBC, and their pocketbook is presumably doing alright.

So, if the leprechauns want to play hard to get, the league must seek elsewhere – namely, the Big East and Big 12. And here is where any number of names can get floated. But the ones that make sense for all parties seem to be, in order of fit, Missouri, Rutgers, Nebraska and Pitt, with Virginia and Texas still in the conversation.

Now mathematically, the Big Ten is going to want an even number after two decades of confounding numerologists who take the conference title literally. Therefore, the expansion must occur by one, three or even five. Basically then, depending on what Mr. Delaney and his university president cohorts decide to do, the enlargement can either add just Missouri (or Rutgers); Missouri, Rutgers and Nebraska; or Mizzou, Rutgers, Nebraska, Pitt and either Notre Dame (if they finally acquiesce), Texas or Virginia.

Missouri seems to be the most logical pick. Even if it isn’t located on the Atlantic coast, it does offer St. Louis, and it is a natural rival of Illinois, an acceptable scholarly fit and willing participant in expansion. Granted, joining the conference of the Midwest may hurt the Tigers recruiting in Texas, but it won’t totally destroy that pipeline, and the pros simply outweigh that con.

Rutgers, too, makes a bunch of sense. Obviously, the Scarlet Knights would attract an audience in the near vicinity of the Big Apple, plus they are a respected school and (newly) competitive football program.

Nebraska is a bit more of a stretch. At first glance, it seems to be a geographic outlier, a bad market, and an imperfect academic match. However, Nebraska’s brand is still a strong one nationally that resonates from Pac-10 country to the ACC. There’s still cachet with the Black Shirts. Plus, NU is likely itching to get out of the Big 12 (like Missouri), a conference increasingly dominated by, and devoted to promoting, the southern powers in Texas and Oklahoma. So, sign the Huskers up.

Pitt isn’t ideal, but they are more than suitable. The Big Ten may already be in Pennsylvania (thanks to the Nittany Lions), but adding the football crazy Pittsburgh market wouldn’t be detrimental for the conference, and the Panthers football tradition jives nicely with the Big Ten.

As for Texas and Virginia, the reality is it will probably never happen. Texas is the Big 12, and they want to remain the big power of America’s Southwest. It’s understandable. Yet, if five or so years from now, the Big Ten has already plucked Nebraska and Missouri from the Big 12, and the Pac-10 has pilfered Colorado in its own expansion, the Big 12 may be in shambles. All of sudden, Texas jumping on the cash boat that is the Big Ten seems a bit more enticing.

And Virginia, who has not been frequently mentioned in this discussion, makes for a nice back-up plan.

The Ripple Effect

If, in the end, Delaney and Co. opt for the minimalist one team expansion (come on Jimmy, think big!), the ramifications on the national football scene will be marginal. Say, for example, the Big Ten tacks on Missouri, creating two six-team divisions, the Big 12 can likely persuade TCU to fill the void, and all would be well. Even if Colorado were to migrate west, the Big 12 could add a Utah or BYU or New Mexico to maintain the status quo.

But if the Big Ten goes for a bigger splash – adding three teams, making two seven-team groupings – the game of musical chairs gets a little more interesting. If those teams are Missouri, Nebraska and Rutgers, and the Pac-10 goes ahead and appends Colorado and Utah, the Big 12 is put in a more precarious situation and the stakes are raised for other conferences (read: the ACC or SEC) to follow suit and grow their own leagues.

The most intriguing possibility, though, is if the Big Ten settles on the cannonball, picking up Missouri, Nebraska, Rutgers, Pitt and Notre Dame. In this scenario, shit will get crazy. For one, the Big Ten would no longer necessarily be producing two divisions, the winners of which would meet in a December championship game, but could instead arrange the schools in four four-team pods and actually have a four-school, in-conference playoff.

Meanwhile, both the Big 12 and the Big East would be scrambling and the ACC and the SEC would definitely be pressured to grow. In order to do so, the ACC could raid the Big East for the likes of West Virginia, Louisville, Connecticut and Cincinnati, leaving the formerly formidable Big East to take from the Conference USA, not exactly renowned for its gridiron greatness.

At the same time, the SEC would set its gaze west to the Big 12 (already on life-support) and come away with Texas, Texas A & M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. With three conferences at the “super” level of 16 members, the Pac-10 would logically want to keep pace, and would tack on UNLV, Boise State, Fresno State and New Mexico to reach 16 as well. Finally, the scraps of the Big 12 could then join forces with what’s appealing from the Mountain West and WAC, making one large, mid-level conference.

I told you shit would get crazy.

The Takeaway

Alas, the bottom line is that all of those things may or may not happen at some point, but it almost certainly won’t be for awhile. Gradualism (and trial-and-error) seems to be the strategy of choice. For now, the Big Ten will add either one or three, leaving the greater football world relatively undisturbed, and the Pac-10 will find two willing additions and launch the West Coast version of BTN.

Notre Dame will keep doing its independent thing (despite existing rivalries with Big Ten schools Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue, and alluring ones with Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio State), and the Big Six will stay the Big Six.

But although grand, large-scale change isn’t on the visible horizon, it is not unthinkable within as short a time span as a decade. The world is changing at a faster and faster pace, and college football inevitably will, too.

Which is why debating the merits of Big Ten expansion is an exercise in futility. Expansion will happen, and the waves will eventually ripple throughout the college world. All we can do now is wait and see if the dramatic cosmetic overhaul will yield a beauty queen or a cautionary tale of the procedure’s downside…like Heidi Montag.

The Orange of Syracuse had the only remaining undefeated road record, an impressive 11-0, heading into their final regular season game of the 2009-2010 basketball season. More importantly, this was the final game in Freedom Hall which is the home court of the struggling Louisville Cardinals.

The Syracuse Orange and thousands of Louisville fans left Freedom Hall for the last time in the arena’s standing. The only difference, Louisville gave the arena its final win and Syracuse left with its first road loss of the year.

Rick Pitino and his squad were on the verge of missing the NCAA tournament in which they were among the last four remaining only a season ago. With a win over Syracuse on Saturday, the Cardinals won’t have to worry about their tournament hopes any longer. Improving to 20-11 on the season and improving to a much needed 11-7 in the Big East Conference, the Cardinals can finally breathe again heading into their conference finale. Syracuse on the other hand, being ranked number one for the first time since 1990, went home upset.

In the final game in Freedom Hall, an unlikely superstar rose to the occasion to make sure this game will be remembered for an eternity. Kyle Kuric, a sophomore shooting guard who averages 3.6 points per game, was living proof of why Freedom Hall is a memorable place. Scoring zero points in the first half, Kuric played in replace of an injured Jerry Smith.

Let’s just say he picked it up a tad in the second half.

All 22 points came during the final 20 minutes of the Freedom Hall finale which included an outstanding 67% from beyond the arc. He even showed some versatility by energizing the crowd with several ally-oops to preserve a 10-point lead coming down the stretch.  Mix in three rebounds and two assists and I’d say this kid had himself a game.

So what does someone with a larger-than-life game say during a post game interview? Well, I’m sure he would love to say a lot of things, but this humbled player kept his personal accolades to himself as he discussed the importance of such a big game for his team this late in the season.

I think the words we are all looking for are ‘true’, ‘team’ and ‘player’.

Edgar Sosa, Samardo Samuels and Rick Pitino all would agree with that last statement now that their team has momentum heading into the nation’s best conference’s tournament next week. The Cardinals already locked up a sixth seed giving them a direct flight to the second round awaiting the winner of Rutgers and Cincinnati.

Although Monday won’t bring the best news for the former number one Orangemen, the Big East still feels they are the best granting Jim Boeheim’s team a number one seed in the conference. Good for them because this is a sure-fire way for this team to get back on the bus and ride it all the way to Indianopolis.

When everything is said and done, Freedom Hall was closed out with a bang. Kyle Kuric could argue that it was the greatest basketball game ever played in the arena, but he’ll have some competition on that one. If nothing else was learned from this match-up Saturday afternoon, I’ll let you know what I learned:

Come March, no team is safe.

And that’s it. It’s all over. A season that began with promise and PROMISES, ended with a 29 point thrashing by the hands of the Pittsburgh Panthers. 

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights ended their tumultuous 2009-2010 regular season with a record of 15 wins and 16 losses, finishing 5-11 in Big East play. THIS IS NOT A JOKE, but 15-16 is actually the best record the men’s basketball team has attained since my 2007 freshman year arrival, and even beyond that.  ‘05-‘06 to be exact when the team went 19-14.  

Of course the season isn’t completely over, with the Big East tournament beginning this Tuesday. However, the likelihood of us winning a game or more is as about as strong as the New Jersey Nets chances of signing Lebron this summer.

This season encompassed a few downs and ups. Yes you read correctly, downs before ups. First, the Knights lost starting power forward Gregory Echenique in a surprising transfer to Creighton. This move stripped the Knights off nearly all it’s inside presence and forced head coach Fred Hill to move undersized forward Jonathan Mitchell to power forward. One can blame Echenique’s absence for Rutgers’ terrible 0-8 start in Big East play.

Of course the high point of the season, and signature win was Rutgers stunning upset over then ranked no. 7 Georgetown on Valentine’s Day. I as a fan can admit that I was not there as the “holiday” was spent elsewhere, but you can not blame me. Who would have expected that win? It was the Scarlet Knights first victory over a top ten ranked opponent since Bill Clinton was dodging questions about what was going on in his oval office.  Personally, Rutgers fans became a little too excited after that win. The Big East is a tremendously deep basketball conference from top to bottom, its just that Rutgers is quite near the bottom of the barrel.

Rutgers begins its Big East tournament gauntlet Tuesday night at 9pm versus the Cincinnati Beacats. Hopefully, the Knights can get their hands on some talent before then, similar to that of which the Monstars stole in Space Jam to assist them in their run to a Big East tournament title.

P.S. FIRE FRED HILL.

Piscataway, NJ–The arena was electric. The die hard, the alumnus and the casual fan all entered the Rutgers Athletic Center to see the ESPN covered “Battle for Jersey,” as the Seton Hall Pirates took on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

It was the final home game for us Knights, so you know that meant senior night. Big East leading shot blocker, team co-captain and Rutgers heart & soul Hamady N’Diaye celebrated his final appearance before the Piscataway unfaithful with a more than enthusiastic performance.

As a Rutgers student, getting incredibly hype for a game, be it basketball or football, usually comes with a major letdown. Yup… tonight was no different.  I mean come on, free t-shirts, headbands and PTI-esque heads on sticks were given out! The head on a stick was obviously that of N’Diaye, the senior stud.

One thing I’ve realized since being here, when Rutgers is down: they are DONE. The Pirates maintained a three to five point lead throughout the most of the second half, just enough to keep the non-explosive Knights at bay. Rutgers gave up 52 second half points, after only allowing 33 in the first.

In the end, the Pirates’ best player, Jeremy Hazell, finally woke up and finished us off with a few late runners over N’diaye. Once again, sending us back to the streets of Piscataway and New Brunswick to tell our friends we lost. But hey, the people who did not attend already had a good sense of what the outcome was going to be.

N’Diaye did not disappoint, as he finished with five blocks, leaving him four short of tying the school record for blocks. Oh, and it would be remiss to not include the basketball honor code breaking, uncontested slam dunks Pirate players Hazell and Jeff Robinson threw down at game’s end. Someone tell Rutgers coach Fred Hill that he ought to throw a jersey this way. I am good for one overly intentional foul to anyone looking to embarrass our team.

As the arena emptied out, once filled with red and 6,517 people, the Pirate fans that traveled down to Piscataway chanted “WE OWN JERSEY!” and “WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” The biggest comeback in our Scarlet arsenal is that we have an underachieving football team, in the nation’s weakest BCS conference.