SEC Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information on the coaching boards, click here.

1 Urban Meyer
Florida W
It wasn't a great win on Saturday; things appeared shaky in the first half, but UF had little trouble with a team named Hawaii with no where near the talent Hawaii had last year. I expect Meyer to lead his team to a 21-point victory over Miami this weekend.

2Nick Saban
Alabama W
So much for those critics speaking of the 6-6 season in Bama. Few at LSU remember that UAB loss in his early career in the Bayou, and it appears that he might finally have the mind set in Tuscaloosa to dominate like he expects. Not to mention getting the phone call from Bowden this week on just how his team kicked the Tigers' ass. Bama is expected to be undefeated headed to Athens in late September, so no chance of Saban to move higher. But a 5-0 record with a victory over UGA, would move Saban to the top of the conference.

3 Les Miles
LSU W
Miles avoids pulling a Lloyd Carr, keeps his team (and fans) up with a game moved due to a hurricane, dominates a confident team with a Harvard QB, and yet falls to No. 3? This isn't as much to do with Les as to do with how great Bama looked under Saban against Clemson.

4 Mark Richt
Georgia W
Richt's team came out and dominated a lesser opponent at home. Good to see that UGA had some swagger and handed a big loss to an opponent that was foaming at the mouth to beat up on big Brother. With the Bama win (which appears to be dominating this post),, Richt will look even more impressive if he can get through the first half of the season unscathed - Central Michigan, at South Carolina, at Arizona State, Alabama. Whew.

5 Tommy Tuberville
Auburn W
Tommy's decision to go to the spread has already been ridiculed, as the Tigers garnered less than 100 yards passing* in its first outing. While Auburn's offense hasn't been exactly explosive since the 2005 season, the change to the spread was suppose to open up the Tigers. After one game, some Tigers are hunkering for the days of Gorgeous Borges. With Burns' play limited, Tommy needs to find a QB before the showdown with LSU on Sept. 20.

6 Steve Spurrier
South Carolina W
Written prior to Thursday night game: Spurrier tried to make a switch at QB. Was finally getting away from the Smelley O, but his QBs haven't exactly been dependable. Garcia was too much of a thug, even having Spurrier leave it to the S.C. administration (who somehow let him back into school and back on the team), and then Beecher, who according to Gamecock fans, has told many that he was given this position by the grace of God, found out that God must really like NC ST defensive backs. Now Smelley is back to the starter, and Spurrier's O is back to an amusement. Still he rises over the horrible coaching done by Fulmer in L.A and NC St playing it's gymnastics team at offense.

7 Phil Fulmer
Tennessee L
Fulmer drops a spot, and is barely holding this over Houston Nutt. Tennessee was suppose to have a breakout year, and apparently thought they had the game in the bag at halftime. UCLA's 3rd string QB had 4 interceptions, one returned for a TD to end the first half, and other than a blocked punt, UT was in control. Then the Vols gave up two TDs in the 2nd half only to lose the game in OT. This game should've been out-of-reach by halftime, but instead, UT drops the ball and loses respect for the SEC. Nice Job Phil.

8 Houston Nutt
Ole Miss W
I know that the days of DeAngelo Williams are long gone in the land of the Liberty Bowl, but Ole Miss has struggled with this Memphis opener for the past decade, but Nutt's team cruised to an easy victory, and scored more points than in the entire Oregeron era. While that might be a (small) exaggeration, I think that Ole Miss is poised to have a good year, and Nutt will lead the way.

9 Rich Brooks
Kentucky W
While Louisville doesn't have the raw talent of the 6-6 2007 team, their current QB is supposedly a potential NFL starter that put up zero points against Kentucky. The Wildcats hadn't won in Louisville for almost a decade, and now under Brooks, they have a two game winning streak. UK was suppose to struggle on offense, and while UL isn't near the competition of an SEC team, I was impressed by UK dominating it's opponent. Brooks won't move any higher than this unless he can get UK into another bowl and a big win (or two) over SEC teams.

10 Bobby Petrino
Arkansas W
Arkansas came out and won a game in the first day of a new era, which is better than can be said than in AnnArbor or College Station. Petrino won't rise in these rankings until I see him compete competitively each week.

11 Sly Croom
Mississippi State L
This wasn't just a hiccup against an inferior CUSA team; this was a major warning that MSU might have played far beyond themselves last year and are headed back to the poor times. Croom is a good coach and a great man, but his preseason ranking was for the SEC Coach of the Year season, and now with this 5-turnover loss in Ruston, Croom is going to find it difficult not to drop back to bottom of the SEC. A loss to Southeastern Lousiana on Saturday would send Croom to the back of the SEC bus.

12Bobby Johnson
Vanderbilt W
Written prior to Thursday night game: Vandy defeats Miami of Ohio. Bobby stays at No. 12. Win 4 games, you'll move up to 11; win 5 games you'll move up to 10. Win 6 games and get to a bowl game? I'll put him at 6. (well, probably not).

*Originally, I had 100 yards of offense; I meant to say 100 passing yards. Auburn had more than 400 yards of total offense against LaMonroe.

Big XII Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information on the coaching boards, click here.

1 Bob Stoops
Oklahoma W
Stoops did what Oklahoma does with over-matched opponents, win and win big.

2 Mack Brown
Texas W
Fla Atl's Howard Schnellberger and his team were talking trash about UT. The line on this game was lowered and some people were expecting a Texas struggle. Mack Brown did not allow for a letdown against an inferior opponent, nor let the Longhorn's anger/emotion get away from them. A very impressive win that will go down, improperly, as just another cupcake game.

3 Gary Pinkel
Missouri W
I still am a little hesitant about having him this high. He's built a foundation at Missouri and appears to be reaping the rewards, plus the administration stuck with him even when he was well below expectations during the Brad Smith years, but I think that when the other Big XII powers finally right the ship, Pinkel's team will flounder back to the pack, and thus so will he.

4 Mike Leach
Texas Tech W
I didn't see Tech's game last week. Didn't read about it, so I can' t say too much about Leach's team's performance. I think Tech has become a player in the Big XII South, which is probably why I give him a little more credit than Pinkel, but right now, Pinkel has made it to a Championship Game, while Leach has not. I really think this could change this season.

5 Dan Hawkins
Colorado W
Hawk's team dominated their in-state rival, which has been back-and-forth over recent years. While I don't think Colorado is ready to compete for the North just yet, I do think that Hawkins might finally making the Buffs relevant again.

6 Mark Mangino
Kansas W
I'm not going to comment again on Kansas or Mangino until they play an actual opponent.

7 Bo Pelini
Nebraska W
Pelini kept the Cornhusker machine going, at least when it comes to season openers - Nebraska has started off 1-0 for the past 23 seasons. The Blackshirt D wasn't exactly impressive, giving up 350 yards (340 through the air) and 24 points, but the offense put the game out of reach by the half. Pelini's got his work cut-out for him with 07's worst defense, and giving up that many passing yards isn't great with the abundant QB talent that the Big XII has. With San Jose and New Mexico States over the next few weeks (and VT at home to follow), we may not know too much about Pelini until the October showdown with Missouri.

8 Mike Gundy
Oklahoma State W
State won a big opener in Seattle last week, as Washington State's new offense was no match for the Cowboys' D. Ok St held Wash St to less than 200 total yards of offense, and Gundy got a big win. With this schedule, Gundy should likely have an undefeated record going into Texas A&M in Oct, and probably even a week later against Missouri. But with this schedule, he won't move up in these rankings unless he can get to Texas game unbeaten.

9 Ron Prince
Kansas State W
Ron Prince likes cupcakes.

10 Mike Sherman
Texas A&M L
I struggled with whether to drop Sherman following the loss to Arkansas State, but he holds this position for now. It was an opening game, and he's getting the -benefit-of-the-doubt, but any more struggles against (what's assumed to be) inferior opponents and Sherman will drop. This still seems like a Al Groh/Dave Wannesdat hire as opposed to a Pete Carroll/Nick Saban one.

11 Art Briles
Baylor L
Baylor lost. For now, I still like Briles. He did good things at Houston (probably should have stayed). But he's closer to moving above Sherman than falling below Chizik.

12 Gene Chizik
Iowa St
Hooray, Iowa State beat down on South Dakota State, which is made its debut as a D-IAA, and played it's biggest name opponent since 1984. That's right, Iowa State is the Jackrabbits biggest name opponent since the Raiders won a Super Bowl. Chizik won't move higher unless he can beat Iowa on Sept. 13.

ACC Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information on the coaching boards, click here.


1 Bobby Bowden
Florida State W
Bowden moves to the top of the conference, yet didn't know who he was starting at QB until Jimbo held a news conference. This is a complete sham; any wins this season should go to Fischer and Bowden should be counted as a figurehead - kinda like when Pat Dye walked the sidelines during the early Terry Bowden years. I may combine Bobby and Fischer in future rankings.

2 Frank Beamer
Virginia Tech L
Beamer drops following the horrible loss to ECU. Seriously, he got beat by Skip Holtz, who's time at South Carolina was spent running the T-offense. Hey Frank, ready to pull Tyrod Taylor's redshirt? Glennon threw for less than 150 yards, 2 INTs and 0 TDs. What an inexcusable loss.

3 Jim Grobe
Wake Forest W
Wake went into Baylor and dispatched with the Bears easily. With Clemson now being lead by a committee of coaches, and VT looking to be quite average, Wake Forest might actually be able to nab two conference championships in three years. Even without that, Grobe is beginning to look like he could move ahead of Beamer and the Bowden/Fischer combo.

4 Paul Johnson
Georgia Tech W
I was surprised at how easy Tech took out Jax St last Thursday. I watched a little of the replay, and while their uniforms were hideous, I think that GaTech under Paul Johnson might actually be somewhat successful. With the way that the ACC is right now, the Jackets could honestly compete for a championship as Johnson's scheme doesn't require the greatest of athletes, but does need a stellar D, which the Jackets seem to possess.

5 Butch Davis
Univ. of North Carolina W
Butch Davis moves up not because of his coaching, but because of bad coaching by the rest of the league. The Tar Heels played horribly in their game against McNeese State on Saturday and gets a Rutgers team that's fuming over the loss to Fresno. I think Davis is the better of the two coaches, but I'm beginning to think that he's going to have the same struggles as Spurrier has had in his return. Rutgers makes up for the loss to Fresno, and the ACC gets another black eye.

6 Tom O’Brien
N.C. State W
O'Brien's team looked horrible. I can't believe that Phil Rivers was actually that much of a difference, but the Wolfpack have been horrible since he left. I know they're playing young guys on offense, but O'Brien has to be wishing he'd stay at B.C.; better to be overshadowed by the Pats, Celtics and Sox then be sending off red flags in Raleigh.

7 Jeff Jagodzinski
BC W
I should be giving Jag a little more respect than I am, but I have a sinking feeling that Paul Johnson is going to put a number on the Eagles this weekend. A win over the Jackets, and the Jag will deservedly move up in the rankings.

8 Ralph Friedgen
Maryland W
Ok, the ACC all seems the same to me. Maybe it's the jersey's; maybe it's the crappy play, but for some reason I just lump Maryland, NC St and BC together. They are routinely merely average. I guess I'd even toss Virginia in there too. They're just so blah. The Fridge got off to a heck of a start - 14-7 win over Delaware, which should probably push him lower than this. But oh, well, it's the ACC. What's the difference between 7-10? Or hell, 2-12 for that matter...

9 Al Groh
Virginia L
Al Groh's team does what Al Groh teams do with big games - get the crap beat out of them. Yet he still manages to stay out of the ACC cellar. Thanks Tommy.

10 David Cutcliffe
Duke W
Duke got the win over James Madison, but the funniest thing must have been Cutcliffe's reaction when a skydiver carrying a UNC football landed in Duke's Stadium prior to the game. Those silly TarHeel's; what a stupid prank; of course, not as bad as sabotaging your rivals attempt to throw the cheerleading competition by putting a jar full of ants down the imposter's mascot uniform.

11 Randy Shannon
Miami W
Randy Shannon is a dark skinned man. He needs to beat Florida on Saturday. He is an African-American. A win in Gainesville puts him at No. 3, at the least. He is black.

12 Tommy Bowden
Clemson L
Sure this is a knee-jerk reaction, but Bowden's gotta be the biggest choke artist in the country. I don't understand how he has a job, and I cannot believe he actually called up Nick Saban to ask for his license number. Not only did his team get run over by the Bama team on Saturday night, and then blasted by the Bama/National press on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but he actually told people at his own press conference that he called Saban to ask for help. He stroked Saban's ego while making himself look hapless. Will anything less than an ACC Championship save his job?

Big 10 Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information about the coaching boards, click here.



1 Jim Tressell
Ohio State W
Tressell's the best in the conference. We'll get to see the two best in the PAC-10 and Big 1 go at it next week. Until then, nada.

2 Bret Bielema
Wisconsin W
Bret Bulimia stays at the number two position. They won against a name non-BCS opponent. In the Big 10, apparently that's all you have to do to stay at the top.

3Joe Paterno
Penn State W
JoePa looks like he's going to make one more run at the Big 10 championship. I'd like to see him do it; and I'd like to see him go for it again next year.

4 Rich Rodriguez
Michigan L
The Rodriguez era got off to a rousing start. Still, it's not like WVU took off immediately with RichRod's hire in 2001, so there's no reason to think that Michigan would be great right out of the gates. While he's getting a pass through most of the season, anything less than 7 wins will have him sink in these rankings. It's Michigan - they should be competitive regardless. And they need to beat Miami of Ohio on Saturday.

5 Pat Tiller
Purdue DNP
Purdue decided that after taking eight months off from their bowl game victory that they needed to rest up, take a bye for the opening week, and come on strong in week 2. They'll face Northern Colorado on Saturday, and who doesn't need 36-and-a-half weeks off to prepare for the Bears of Greeley?


6 Kirk Ferentz
Iowa W
I'll check back in on Iowa when they play a real team. Should be in late October.

7 Ron Zook
Illinois L
The Zooker got 42 points against Missouri and yet still took another season-opening loss to the Tigers. And yet it could still translate to a Rose Bowl blowout loss against this season. Thanks Big Ten; Thanks Ohio State.

8 Mark Dantonio
Michigan State L
MSU lost a big game against the Bears, but Dantonio's squad didn't look horrible; well, at least they didn't blow a lead... They never actually had one. I still think Dantonio will change the mentality at MSU. This game was a chance to prove that, and he couldn't get it done. There will be others, and I expect a difference.

9Pat Fitzgerald
N'western W
Fitz lead his team to a big BCS win over Syracuse, showing just how far Greg Robinson has depleted the men of Orange.

10 Bill Lynch
Indiana W
So is Western Kentucky a BCS team yet? Or are they still provisional? And does that even matter anymore when it comes to bowl games? The Hoosiers get on a roll with the States, with each getting progressively better - Murray, Ball and Michigan States all come to town over the next four weeks. If Lynch can leave the month of September unbeaten, he'll probably deserve a little more recognition. Of course, I think it'll be more like 2-2.

11Tim Brewster
Minnesota W
Apparently I was wrong about people in Minnesota liking Brewster. Turns out they were frozen to death.

Pac 10 Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information about the coaching boards, click here.


1 Pete Carroll
Southern Cal W
Virginia may suck, but they're better than Youngstown State and Georgia Southern, and USC rolled through the Cavaliers like it was a D-II team. While Carroll still always seems to allow for the let-down game, he's got to be one of, if not the best, big game coach in the nation. Since '03, has he lost a really big, national game? Perhaps '06 UCLA is the closest that fits. Either way, he is easily the best coach in the conference.

2 Mike Bellotti
Oregon W
The Ducks blasted Washington on Saturday, but I can't give too much credit to Bellotti, other than he did it while losing QB after QB. Since Dixon's injury, it seems Oregon can't get a quarterback healthy. Bellotti has Utah St this weekend, followed by big non-conference game at Purdue and Boise State. I expect him to have an undefeated squad going into the October showdown in the Coliseum. Even a win against the Trojans prob won't get him to No. 1.

3 Rick Neuheisel
UCLA W
Very impressed with the victory over Tennessee, and half-way thought of moving Slick Rick ahead of Bellotti. Neuheisel kept his third-string QB composed even after the kid threw 4 first half interceptions, the final one returned for a TD and a 14-7 Tenn halftime lead. Can't give Neuheisel too much credit for sticking with the QB through that, since he didn't have anyone else to go to, but the kid didn't lead the Bruins back, and Neuheisel got the OT win to start his era off right. Of course, don't forget that Phil Fulmer was on the other sideline, which might have something to do with the fact that 4 turnovers lead to only 14 points.

4 Dennis Erickson
Arizona State W
Erickson's team got an easy 30-13 win in the season opener, but now has to host a motivated Stanford squad. The games in Tempe, so I don't see the chance for an upset, and I think that Erickson will have QB Carpenter ready to play. A win over the Cardinal means an unbeaten record with UGA coming to town on Sept. 20.

5 Jeff Tedford
California W
Cal won a big high-profile game against Michigan State on Saturday night and now travels to Washington State and Maryland. Tedford's team should be undefeated coming into the showdown with Arizona State, which will probably have a direct influence over the 4-5 spots.

6 Jim Harbaugh
Stanford W
Maybe I was too harsh on Harbaugh, but I think this is his ceiling. Even leading Stanford to a winning season and a bowl game probably doesn't get him ahead of the five coaches in front of him.

7 Mike Riley
Oregon State L
Riley opens an upset loss and switches with Harbaugh. I like Mike, but surely the Beavers remember that they actually won routinely in the not-so-distant past. Right? He stays here unless he loses to the three teams below him.

8 Mike Stoops
Arizona W
Arizona beat Idaho 70-0. Which means Idaho is god-awful and Arizona still thinks it hired the good Stoops brother.

9 Paul Wulff
Washington State L
Fun fact: Paul Wulff was the first Washington State coach to lose his debut since... Jackie Sherrill in 1976.

10 Ty Willingham
Washington L
Ok, who owns the rights now to www.firety.com? Can someone at ND please release it to a Huskie fan?

Big East Coaching Board - Week 1

For more information about the weekly coaching board, click here.


1 Brian Kelly
Cincinnati W
I am expecting a big game from Cincinnati this week. Brian Kelly appears to be a really good coach, and I think the Bearcats might be a team to reckon with. A win in Norman on Saturday will cement him at the top of this list.

2 Jim Leavitt
South Florida W
Jim Leavitt remains a cheater.

3 Bill Stewart
West Virginia W
Sure it was only Villanova, but it appears that Stewart won't be afraid to air-it-out in Morgantown. If Pat White is this effective during the season, there doesn't seem to be any team to match them. Again though, its tough for me to see Stewart as anyone other than Larry Coker. But I guess that's fine as long as WVU stays in the Big East.
4 Greg Schiano
Rutgers L
Dropping Schiano from No. 1 to No. 4 is probably too harsh, but Stewart deserved to move up and no one else in the Top 4 deserved to move down. I don't see Schiano staying here too long, but the loss to Fresno at home stings, especially with the chance of the Knights to come back, only to be pummelled play-after-play in the fourth quarter.

5 Randy Edsall
UConn ???
Did UConn play last week? I don't know. I'm guessing they played a nobody and won. Edsall has probably topped out here; he's a level lower than the top tier, but appears to be a heck of a lot better than the mess below him.

6 Dave Wannstedt
Pittsburgh L
I'm not saying that the Walt Harris era was anything fabulous, but it did include a BCS bowl game. But even just assuming that the Panthers were average at that time, Wannstedt has made a career of taking the helm of competitive (if not overly talented) teams, and stopping them dead in their tracks. With it's recruiting base, Pitt should be able to dominate the Big East (along with WVU), but Dave can't get out of the way.

7 Steve Kragthorpe
Louisville L
Coach Krag is now 6-7 at Louisville, and while he didn't squander as much talent as Tommy Bowden has, he looks to be heading that way. While no one was expecting much this season, when you have NFL scouts raving about your QB, you should probably be able to score some points offensively. Things don't look like they'll be getting better anytime soon in derby land.

8 Greg Robinson
Syracuse L
Surely Syracuse can become relevant again. It won't be done under Robinson, but surely there's a big enough support base to bring them back. Orange football has become as big of a joke as it's name-change.

BCS Coaching Boards

On Fridays of each week, the coaches of BCS conference teams will be evaluated for their previous week's game (along with the season-to-date) and ranked against the other coaches of his conference. The preseason rankings will be based off the coaches past performance, but weighted more heavily to their recent seasons, though some get more respect for their success in the distant past.

Quick link to each conference:

Atlantic Coast Conference
Big East Conference
Big Ten Conference
Big XII Conference
Pacific 10 Conference
Southeastern Conference

Note: These were completed prior to the opening week games, and do not reflect any of the first week results. Results of the opening weekend will be posted Friday, Sept. 5.

SEC Coaching Board

The coaching rankings for the SEC. Each week, the rankings will be updated to reflect each coaches game and season-to-date performances.

Urban Meyer
Florida
Beginning with his time at Bowling Green, Meyer has been a winner everywhere, with an undefeated season in 2004 at Utah, and the 2006 National Championship at Florida. The only knock on him was that he had not stayed at a school long enough to see the effects of his recruiting; now in his fourth season at Florida and with top notch recruiting classes thus far, this appears to have been a needless concern. Now, the only concern is that Richt is going to change the course of the rivalry and emerge as the top contender of the SEC.

Les Miles
LSU
Les is more... More confusion, more bonehead plays and more wins in three seasons at LSU then Nick Saban. The most bizarre thing that happened last season wasn't that App St won in the Big House, or Stanford in the LA Coliseum, it was that Miles' bonehead calls actually lead him to the national title game, and that the month off gave his very talented team (that he has to thank Nick Saban for?) to get well enough to trounce Ohio St. Sure he couldn't have beaten UGA in the SEC Championship game, but he has gone 34-6 over three years. While that is sure to change, Miles has earned the number two position in a very stacked deck of amazing coaches. I look to him to fall to the middle of the pack by year's end.

Nick Saban
Alabama
Once anointed the new king of the SEC prior to his LSU departure, Saban resides this high only due to his time in the Bayou and his ability to get top-notch recruits. The 6-6 campaign means that Saban holds the No. 3 spot by a thread and is likely to be the quickest to fall, especially with Richt on his heels.

Mark Richt
Georgia
Richt's tenure at UGA has been nothing short of astounding. While there were initial growing pains during his early years, Richt has won 3 conference championships and has fallen short of a national title twice. Since 2002, UGA's averaged final ranking has been No. 9, and is the only team to be ranked in the final poll every year for those past six years, and finished No. 3 in 2002 and No. 2 in 2007.

Tommy Tuberville
Auburn
Tuberville's time has been amazing at Auburn, leading the Tigers out of the SEC West cellar and into a perennial SEC West power, not to mention getting them out of the shady Pat Dye/Terry Bowden recruiting scandals. While winning 50 games in the past 5 years with numerous victories over Top 10 teams, Tuberville's biggest knock is losing the game his team is suppose to win, outside the loaded 2004 team.

Phil Fulmer
Tennessee
It has been 10 years since Tennessee won a conference championship, and over that 10 years, UT had an amazing opportunity to take control of the SEC East, if not the SEC itself, only to flounder away the opportunities. His archnemis left Fulmer alone as the big gun in the East, only to see Richt raise UGA from a perennial No. 3 to the top dog of the conference. Fulmer's team has played in the championship game 3 times since 2001, but have found little success without Peyton or David Cutcliff.

Steve Spurrier
South Carolina
The King of the SEC in the '90's; the new Bear; the Ole Ball Coach returned to the SEC in 2005 and has only had marginal success with the Gamecocks. Receiving far less credit for success at his previous position than Saban has, Spurrier was close to a breakout season in 2007, taking USC to No. 6 before losing the final 5 games of the season. And while he has been able to defeat each of the big 3, it's the S.Carolina losing mentality that Spurrier has yet been able to change.

Houston Nutt
Ole Miss
For what he did at Arkansas, Nutt would be a top 2 coach in almost any other conference. In the SEC it puts him at numero ocho. He's coached two Razorback teams to SEC championship games, and after getting little love in 10 seasons in Fayetteville, finally decided to march off, to possibly a better position. The question is whether he can get away from his ultraconservative ground game and create a more balanced team in Oxford. My guess is that he's going to make the Rebels a very formidable team, and possibly begin to cherry-pick the talent in Texas and Louisiana. I wouldn't be surprised if Ole Miss became the No. 3 team in the West (ahead of LSU or Auburn), similar to a position it almost claimed in the mid-to-late 90's.

Sly Croom
Mississippi State
After a rocky start in his first few years, Croom took MSU to its first bowl game since 2000. Named the 2007 SEC Coach of the Year, Croom defeated Ole Miss, Auburn and No. 14 Kentucky, and holds a two game winning streak over Alabama. Like Tuberville, Croom has considerably cleaned up the image in Starkville (which is partly why he receives the nod over Petrino), but with the current coaching SEC line-up, Croom will have to continue to fight just to hold this spot.

Bobby Petrino
Arkansas
Yes, yes Petrino is god's gift to offense; everyone's been told how amazing he is, and how wonderful Louisville was when he was there... But was it really? He coached in the Big East with little other competition, and had the talent and schedule to make an annual run at the national title, but almost came up short. The win in 2005 over Miami might have been a signature win, but looking back, was it really that impressive. Not to mention that the guy is about as sleazy as you can get, and has the worst stench of any coach in football.

Rich Brooks
Kentucky
People say that Rich Brooks has had success wherever he's gone. I guess that's true, as long as success means mediocrity, and I guess it does in Oregon and Kentucky. Brooks' team has been ranked in the final AP Top 25 once in his 30+ year career. Once. In a conference like the SEC, being an average coach means that you're outside the Top 10.

Bobby Johnson
Vanderbilt
Bobby Johnson has kept Vanderbilt very competitive over the past few years, but that's always been Vandy - keep it close and perhaps find a way to win one out of 10. Johnson gets a lot of credit, especially with recent victories over UGA, Tenn and No. 6 S.Carolina, but with this success, he has yet to get Vandy that elusive sixth win. Also, it appears that it will be under Johnson's watch when Vandy finally slips under .500 all-time.

Pac-10 Coaching Board

To begin the season, here is my ranking of the coaches in the Pac-10. Each week, I'll evaluate their previous game, and adjust the poll accordingly.

Pete Carroll
Southern Cal
Arguably the best coach in the country, Carroll has been amazing since 2002. On the downside, he's mostly coached in a depleted PAC-10, and has had several opportunities to play for a national championship, only to lose to lesser quality teams - '03 Cal, '06 UCLA and Oregon St, '07 Stanford. Still, six consecutive PAC-10 Championships makes Carroll head-and-shoulders above the rest of the conference.

Mike Bellotti
Oregon
Bellotti has had a great run at Oregon, making Autzen Stadium a daunting place to play in the Pac 10, and prior to Carroll's arrival in LA, he was much closer to the top coach in the conference. He still holds the No. 2 position, fairly firmly, but has not been to a BCS bowl game since 2001, and has yet to make a Rose Bowl appearnce. Still, Bellotti doesn't seem to be losing ground in the Pac 10; prior to the unfortunate injury to QB Dennis Dixon last season, the Ducks were on a path for the BCS National Championship game, and probably a Heisman Trophy for Dixon. I don't see Bellotti falling too low in these rankings.

Dennis Erickson
Arizona State
Erickson has had success at pretty much all of his collegiate stops, and the general opinion is that he will continue to have success at ASU. The Sun Devils won 10 games in Erickson's first season, and are ranked No. 15 in the preseason poll. Not mentioning his great success at the U, take notice that Erickson took Oregon State to a BCS Bowl in 2000. Oregon State.

Jeff Tedford
Cal
Tedford, similar to Ferentz at Iowa, was the soon-to-be, up-and-coming, next-sure-fire NFL star, who has begun to flounder at Cal. His teams have become a major factor in determining the conference pecking order, but whenever Cal is about to take control of the conference, they typically lose their nerve, and this reflects on Tedford. Some of this might be that Tedford is losing his drive and focus due to the administration's inability to upgrade facilities, and realize Cal students care more about living in trees than going to games.

Rick Neuheisel
UCLA
Slick Rick is back in the Pac-10 after being dumped by Washington in 2003 for participating in a NCAA Basketball pool, which is something he would have never gotten in trouble for at Colorado, but unless you kill someone, evidently no one really cares what goes on in Boulder. In 2000, Neuheisel took Washington to the Rose Bowl and had a claim to the national championship game, but was edged out by Florida State. Kind of hard to believe that Washington was relevant as recently as 2000, and I'm betting most people at UW wish that Slick Rick were still in charge. Given that Neuheisel is not afraid of slipping a Benjamin or two to let a recruit have a good time, I see him getting good talent in LA. Prob good enough to compete with Carroll.

Mike Riley
Oregon State
Mike Riley has made a career at Oregon State, coaching the Beavers in 1997 and 1998, before going to a horrible stint at the San Diego Chargers, and then back to Corravllis. Unfortunately for Riley, the best times for the Beavers occurred when he was with the Chargers, with Dennis Erickson taking them to a BCS Bowl. Riley, who almost had the Alabama job in 2002, went back to Oregon in 2003, where his only real claim was defeating USC in 2006 on the way to a 10 win season. While not a horrible coach, each year is a struggle for OSU, and Riley will find it hard to move up with the bigger names ahead of him.

Jim Harbaugh
Stanford
Perhaps coaching the victor in the biggest college football upset since ND lost to a community college back in the '20's, Harbaugh appears to be an on-the-rise coach, but that adulation needs to wait. While the USC win was spectacular, Stanford and Harbaugh have a long way to go to be competitive in the Pac10. Stanford has had little success since Ty Willingham left the Cardinal. It will be interesting to see if Harbaugh can build in his 2nd season.

Mike Stoops
Arizona
Surely Arizona has realized by now that they hired Mike Stoops and not Bob Stoops from Oklahoma.

Paul Wulff
Washington State
Paul Wulff is in his first year at Wash St; that's honestly all I know about him. Still, it puts him at number 9.

Ty Willingham
Washington
Ty Willingham should've been fired by Stanford. Then his coaching career would be as irrelevant as his Husky teams have been.

Big Ten Coaching Board

The coaching rankings for the Big Ten. Each week, the rankings will be updated to reflect each coaches game and season-to-date performances.

Jim Tressell
Ohio State
Yeah, he's lost two back-to-back national championship games. Yeah, he coaches in a league that appears to be on a downturn, and it's become Ohio State and their 10 little bros, but the teams that Tressell has put together have really been top 5 worthy, and the talent around Columbus right now is unreal. This team is said to be better than any team Tressell has had, and with a victory in L.A. will mean another BCS Championship Game, which would mean Tressell would be strung up in SEC country. Win or lose that Championship Game, Tressell has come to dominate the Big Ten, and that doesn't look to change.

Bret Bielema
Wisconsin
Bret Bulimia has not missed a beat since taking over for Barry Alzarez, and many forget that Wisconsin was not too far away from taking on Ohio State in the 2006 National Title Game due to the Big Ten scheduling. Bieliema's teams have been competitive, which has moved him slightly ahead of Paterno, who is on his last leg through the conference.

Joe Paterno
Penn State
Tough to put the all-time coaching leader (I don't count Bowden's wins at Stanford against Berry High and Alabama Women's Institutional College for the Blind) at third in the Big 10. But Paterno has gone 32-32 in Big Ten play, and other than the 2005 Orange Bowl season, the feisty old coach has not had extreme success in the twilight (evening?, dusk?) of his career. I hope he dies on the field.

Rich Rodriguez
Michigan
RichRod is getting credit for his success at WVU, Clemson and Tulane, but I wonder if he really knows what it's going to be like coaching in a conference like the Big Ten. Sure, it may not be the SEC, but the Big Ten will offer much more competition annually, than the Big East did. Also, it will be interesting to see how Michigan recruits for the spread. Obviously the loss of Tyler Pryor to Ohio State was a huge blow. Michigan's coach should never be lower than third on this list.

Joe Tiller
Purdue
Tiller is in the twilight of his career and has done an admirable job at Purdue, becoming the face of the Boilermakers, which I think puts him on a liquor bottle somewhere in Indiana. Prior to his arrival in '97, Purdue had been to five bowl games - ever. Since he arrived, the Boilermakers have attended 11 bowl games, including a 2000 Rose Bowl appearance. This is Tiller's final season at Purdue, with a succession plan in place, so not only will he not really care about where he's ranked (like all the other coaches do), but I don't really care either.

Kirk Ferentz
Iowa
Ferentz continually declined NFL job after NFL job, with most thinking it was only a matter of time. Now Ferentz is looking to hang on to his job in Iowa City. Long gone are the days of Brad Banks; Iowa has sunk to mediocrity, and it's only because of the little depth of quality Big Ten coaches that Ferentz hangs on to No. 6. It won't be surprising though for Zook, Dantonio, and even Brewester to jump Ferentz; possibly even this season.

Ron Zook
Illinois
The Zooker lead Illinois to a BCS game in 2007. He's always been known as a good recruiter, and laid the foundation for the 2006 National Championship Gators, but he also was unable to win in a powerful conference like the SEC and, other than the Ohio State game, he didn't really win big games with the Illini. Plus, if the Rose Bowl weren't such big dillholes, UGA would've played USC in that game last year, and Illinois would've played in the Alamo or Citrus or Sun Bowl, so I can't give him too much credit for an antiquated ruling by a group that doesn't care to see a competitive game. Not to mention that USC kicked his ass.

Mark Dantonio
Michigan State
Dantonio left for MSU from Cincinnati before last season, and I have a feeling that he's a Schiano type that has the ability to do good things in East Lansing. The only problem is that, even with Michigan flailing, the Spartans have that SouthCarolina-esque mentality of losing any game that it's suppose to win and squandering any lead that it might have. It's not so much of coincidences, as that MSU now seems to believe that they will eventually lose. I don't think Dantonio can change that, but if he can, he'll earn a top 3 position in these rankings, because i think he can get talent there.

Pat Fitzgerald
Northwestern
Pat Fitzgerald is in a similar boat to Bill Lynch, as Fitz became the NU coach following the sudden death of Randy Walker. While he has not had great success at Northwestern - tallying a 10-14 mark in two seasons - Fitzgerald has received praise from the administration, and has been able to lead the Wildcats to victories over mediocre Big Ten teams. Sure that doesn't sound like much, but a string of those will get Northwestern into a bowl game, and that's all they can really ask for in Evanston.

Bill Lynch
Indiana
I know very little about Bill Lynch, but under the circumstances, there really hasn't been much time to get a handle on him. He lead the team to a bowl game in his first year, completing the goal of the late Hoosier coach Terry Hoeppner of 'Playing 13.' He lead Indiana to a 7-6 season and their first bowl since '93. This was enough for the administration to sign him on to a 4 year contract, but I have my doubts that he will be able to do anything with Indiana in the Big 10. For the record, Hoeppner would've been around No. 6 in this poll.

Tim Brewster
Minnesota
Brewster is down this low after a horrible first year with the Gophers, but he will probably shoot to the middle of the pack this season. People around Minnesota are content with Brewster, despite the 1-11, and as my grandpappy used to say, if people are content in Minnesota, you'd better make sure they're not frozen to death.

Big XII Coaching Board

The initial rankings of the Big XII Coaches. Each week these will be updated based on their previous game and the season-to-date.

Bob Stoops
Oklahoma
Stoops and Mack Brown are the twin stars of the Big 12, and right now Bob is burning brighter. He has won five conference championships, a Big XII South title, and has pretty much owned the series, going 6-2 since the 2000 National Championship season. Oklahoma has lost two BCS Championship games since then and if Stoops expects to stay at the top of the conference he will need to remain on the national scene.

Mack Brown
Texas
Call Mack 1B. A more recent national title than OU, but other than that '05 season, Texas has vastly underachieved during Brown's era. Similar to '90s UGA, the past 10 years have been marked by numerous high recruiting classes, but UT only has 1 Big XII Championship to show for it. This season, not only are the Sooners thought to be vying for the national championship, but Texas Tech is getting more pub than Texas.

Gary Pinkel
Missouri
The fact that Pinkel was close to being run out of town makes him a curious pick and shows just how much the Big XII is the Big 2 and Little 10. Pinkel has a loss to Troy State on his record, but is this high based on a great year from Chase Daniel and a high prediction this year. To an extent, Pinkel has been able to take advantage of the downturn at Colorado and Nebraska, but with those teams appearing to be back on the rise, Pinkel's stay at No. 3 is shaky at best.

Mike Leach
Texas Tech
The pioneer of the spread offense in the Big XII, Leach has done amazing things on offense at Texas Tech, and in recent years the Red Raiders have become more of a Big XII player than ever, but they have yet to get over the hump, mainly due to their defense. This season, for the first time, Texas Tech has a defense, while not equal to the star-studded offense, that may keep people from hanging 30-plus each week.

Mark Mangino
Kansas
Yeah, Mangino, along with Weiss and Friedgen, make up the Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Bruhathkayosaurus of college football, but he has created an above average team that stole attention away from basketball, at least until March. Mangino gets the No. 5 slot only because of the Orange Bowl victory (a loss there would've put him around No. 8, which is prob were he deserves), but with Texas Tech, Texas, and OU on the schedule, I doubt he'll stay here for long.

Dan Hawkins
Colorado
The former Boise State guru has had limited success in Boulder, and you have to wonder how much it irked Hawkins when his former team made headlining news with the victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, building on the foundation he layed, but unable to reap the rewards. Plus, Hawkins still hasn't beaten Oklahoma and it's no reason to think that his teams will be competitive anytime soon. He does recieve a break due to the horrible quagmire that had become Colorado football.

Bo Pelini
Nebraska
It's funny how Pelini gets credit for the amazing defenses at LSU, but Miles gets no credit for the W's because those are Saban's players... Isn't that one in the same? Anyway, I think this will be a good fit. NU has lost a lot of it's identity with the Callahan regime, but the Pelini-hire should bring back the Blackshirt Defense. Plus, he'll have a much larger grace period as he's not completely overhauling 60 years of Cornhusker tradition. I expect that he'll be atop the North within two years, esp with a unified Nebraska base.

Mike Gundy
Oklahoma State
Alright, we know, he's a man; he's 40+. He's still not brought OSU anything more than a win over Texas in '06, and, I guess, a somewhat noteworthy victory over Alabama in the Independence Bowl. The Cowboys are going to have to fight annually to rise above No. 4 in the South, and with A&M surely to become more competitive ($$$) in the future, it's going to be tough for OSU to being anything above number five.

Ron Prince
Kansas State
Ron Prince is in a similar (though less sleazy) situation as Sly Croom - come in to a team that had no success until the '90s, after the head coach jumped on the JUCO bandwagon, and began to compete annually within a division dominated by one or two national title contenders. Prince is trying to do things the right way; building up a team from the bottom up, but the Wildcats have had little success under his tenure. His teams will do well in the years he misses Texas and Oklahoma, but getting in the top 3 of the division will be an annual struggle.

Mike Sherman
Texas A&M
I honestly don't remember much of Sherman, other than him in ugly green fleeces. Apparently A&M is really excited about this hire, which isn't much of a surprise. They always get excited during the honeymoon then upset when they can't beat Texas annually; Sherman's No. 10 here, and no matter if he's the re-incarnation of R.C.Slokum, I'm guessing he'll either be run out of College Station in 5 years, or retire in the same amount of time.

Art Briles
Baylor
Art Briles should probably get more respect than I'm giving him, but then again, his work did come at Houston in C-USA, and my knowledge of CUSA is lacking. It's difficult to find a worse BCS coaching position than Baylor, as Guy Morriss, who had garnered moderate success at Kentucky, went for the million dollar paycheck and the boot from Baylor within 4 years (of course, a little drunken alcohol scene didn't carry well in the Baptist stronghold). All of that was to say I know nothing of Briles, but there's little reason to think that any good coaching ability that he possesses won't be slowly squeezed out of him by the Bears .

Gene Chizik
Iowa State
A star as a defensive coordinator, Chizik may have leapt too quickly for a head coaching job. Somewhat wonder if Chizik just signed up to be a HC and didn't realize he'd be shipped off to Ames. His time at ISU has been poor at best, but there's no reason to think that Iowa State will ever reach the top 3 of the North, especially with Mangino forming a competitive team annually in Kansas.

ACC Coaching Board

The preseason positioning of the coaches in the ACC. Each week, I'll evaluate their previous game and post an updated poll.

Frank Beamer
Virginia Tech
Beamer slides ahead of Bowden mainly due to Bobby's inability to do anything with Florida State since 2000. Beamer was given tons of leeway when he took over in 1987, and steadily built a foundation of a great program at Va Tech, which culminated in the 1999 National Championship Game appearance. With the growth of the ACC, VaTech jumped up and took both the 2004 and 2007 Conference Titles and the 2005 Coastal championship. The Hokies appear to be the most competitive of the ACC teams, and with a conference on the decline, it seems that Beamer has a tight hold on the rein of the ACC.

Bobby Bowden
Florida State
Bobby is here because of what he did over his long career, but is dropped to number 2 for the horribly uncompetitive teams he's put together for almost a decade. Sure they've won the ACC Championship twice since 2002, but it's not like they're having problems because of the entrance of Miami, B.C. or VaTech. Bowden has moved to a caricture of his former self, which began during his 2000 Sugar Bowl interview during the game. Since Jimbo Fishcer has already been named the coach-in-waiting, the only real question will be if this is his last season or is next? And, of course, how far will he slip this year with his purely average team.

Tom O’Brien
N.Carolina St
Tom O'Brien gets the high ranking on this list mainly due to his time at Boston College, because N.C. State is going to drop him like a stone. There's not much that he can do about the lack of talent this season in Raleigh, but he is going to be penalized for bailing on B.C. when they were becoming relevant. A Tom O'Brien coached 2007 B.C. team might have been able to compete for the national title; instead, he was going 5-7 with the Wolfpack. O'Brien took B.C. to eight straight bowl victories, and is known for his very disciplined teams.

Jim Grobe
Wake Forest
Grobe took Wake to the 2006 ACC Championship. Was it because he was an exceptional coach or because the ACC had become a bargain basement CUSA-style conference. Either way, it was impressive, and Grobe should get some respect. While he won't be able to annually compete for the title, he has put a good team together in Winston-Salem. The Deamon Deacons will stay relevant, and as long as they do, I can't see Grobe falling much on this. If he were to win another title, he would enter the top 2 on this list (possibly number one).

Paul Johnson
Georgia Tech
Paul Johnson made a service academy competitive in the modern era of college football and lead Navy to their first victory over Notre Dame since the Moors kicked the Catholics out of Spain. That's right, a Moors reference. It'll be interesting to see whether he can bring the triple option to the ACC and have his quarterback hit 20-30 times each week by a MLB would will eventually play in the NFL. I see GA Tech being a little more consistent, but still average, and still not capable of beating UGA without the Dawgs providing some help. Fun how even mediocrity gets Johnson in the top half of ACC coaches.

Tommy Bowden
Clemson
Tommy has been notorious for his big-game blunders, and probably should have been ousted from Clemson years ago. While his team has not always had superior talent, there have been countless situations where the Tigers only need to win a game or two to take control of the ACC, and even with a depleted FSU and Miami, Clemson and Bowden fail to take advantage. This isn't just a Michigan State-type mentality for failure; this is Clemson's inability to show up for any big games, and their ability to choke whenever the pressure is on. Eventually this reflects right on the head coach. This must be an ACC Championship season for Bowden, because his team appears to be talented enough, that only he stands in the way. If the Tigers aren't in the chase for the national title (let alone the ACC), then heads need to roll.

Butch Davis
North Carolina
Bucth Davis probably needs to be higher with his success at Miami, and the fact that he can lay claim to the 2001 National Title (and prob should have had an opportunity for the 2000 one as well), but he did go 4-8 in his first season in Chapel Hill, and, while I do believe he'll turn around the Tar Heels, I can't honestly think it's anytime soon. He's brought in some good recruits, but UNC, similar to Virginia, is never that good. Sure every once in a while they'll jump up and have a 10 win season, but that'll be followed up by 6-wins, and a possible bowl game. Similar to Spurrier at S.Carolina, Davis is trying to change a culture of losing, which is much more difficult than X's and O's or getting a 5 star athlete to attend your school.

Jeff Jagodzinski
Boston College
There's not too much to go off of for Jagodzinski. He's never been a head coach prior to the 11-3 2007 season at BC, but he had a very talented team with a NFL-starting QB. Now the question is whether he can win without Matt Ryan. Interesting that after winning in Blacksburg during the regular season, Coach Jag wasn't able to get the victory again to win the ACC Championship. It'll take more time to get a handle on where exactly Jag rates.

Al Groh
Virginia
The former NFL coach has done little to make Virginia competitive annually in the ACC, with his overall record being 55-37. The Cavaliers, for some reason, have never been much of a dominant football power, even within their own conference, and Groh was expected to bring a Pete Carroll swagger to the program. Instead it seems that UVA hired the wrong former-Jets coach. Groh has done little to make UVA relevant, and it's only a matter of time before Virginia looks to upgrade, espeically with competing in the underwhelming ACC.

Ralph Friedgen
Maryland
Friedgen took Maryland to the Orange Bowl and an ACC Championship in 2000, and everything has been downhill since. Other than protecting his underarmour, the Fridge has done little to get Maryland back to the top of the ACC, finishing no closer than 2nd in the division since 2002, along with two bowl invites. The main shocker is how drab the Maryland offense has become after Friedgen was heralded as an innovative offensive mastermind in 2000.

David Cutcliffe
Duke
While Cut receives a lot of credit for the success at UT and a few average years at Ole Miss, his coaching career was made only by having a Manning under center. I don't think he'll be at Duke long enough to have a Peyton or Eli's spawn suit up for the Devils.

Randy Shannon
Miami
Should Shannon be No. 12? No,probably not, but he hasn't done anything especially amazing other than accruing a nice recruiting class in '08. Of course, some of you are asking why he is No. 12 and Saban (who's done only the same thing at Bama) is No. 3, well i think that reason is obvious. Have You Seen Randy Shannon??? Seriously, do I have to say it... Fine I will... He's a first year head coach and his claim is a good D during the Larry Coker era of squandered all Butch Davis' talent. Seriously though, i believe Shannon will shoot up these rankings.

Big East Coaching Board

To begin the season, here is my ranking of the coaches in the Big East. Each week, I'll evaluate their previous game, and adjust the poll accordingly.

Greg Schiano
Rutgers
With the loss of Petrino (No. 10 in the SEC) and RichRod (No. 4 in the Big Ten), Schiano rises to number 1 in the Big East. That's really all I have to say Schiano and the state of Big East coaches.

Jim Leavitt
South Florida
Sure Leavitt is a cheater, but in the Big East, who cares? He takes No. 2 in the Big East because there honestly isn't anyone else.

Brian Kelly
Cincinnati
I know little about Brian Kelly, other that he kept letting Ben Mauk whine to the NCAA about being reinstated. He's had a great run, but I'm not sure whether last year's 10 win season was due to good coaching or good recruiting left behind by MSU coach Mark Dantonio. I've given Brian Kelly the benefit of the doubt, as he at least has done something with talented teams, unlike Wannstedt.

Dave Wannstedt
Pitt
Everyone's jumped on the Panther bandwagon, claiming that Wannstedt is finally coming along with a good team at Pitt. While he has been able to attract quality recruits (which I can't see to be that difficult, since he is in Pennsylvania and should have good relations in the area, since he grew up there), this is still the man who set the Dolphins back ten years, not to mention handing the New Orleans Saints two first round picks for Ricky "Don't Forget to Brink a Towel" Williams. While he appears to be a heavyweight in a depleted big-name conference, The 'Stash has received too much credit for the win over WVU, especially when his DC Paul Rhodes bolted for Auburn.

Bill Stewart
WVU
Talk about your knee-jerk reactions. WVU administrators were so upset at RichRod for dropping them for AnnArbor that they weren't even thinking about the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma. With a sudden dominating victory, WVU hands the reins full-time to the interim Stewart. Honestly, I know very little about him, other than he's old and was given a very talented team in a mediocre conference... so right now, let's call him Larry Coker II. I suspect his team will be in the top 2 in the conference, but unless he leads the Mountaineers to an undefeated season, I don't see him rising to high on this list; not until I can see him without RichRod's players.

Steve Kragthorpe
Louisville
Did Bobby Petrino leave the cupboard bare? Following the 12-1 2006 season, Petrino bolted for the Falcons, but many suspected that the Cardinals would keep turning out good season after season. Instead, the team went 6-6, 3-4 in league play, and missed out on a bowl game for the first time since '97. After many said that he had lost control of the team, Coach Krag almost bolted for the SMU job. He has been a somewhat success as a head coach, winning a CUSA title in 2005.

Randy Edsall
UConn
Randy Edsall is UConn football... Let that one sink in. The former Orangeman (or I guess just its Orange-ian now) led Uconn from I-AA to FBS. He's taken some lumps in getting the Huskies to their first bowl game in their history (a 39-10 victory over Toledo last season), but he is still 50-54. Apparently the biggest news in the offseason was getting a home-and-home series with Notre Dame... with UConn's home games to be played in Mass. or New Jersey.

Greg Robinson
Syracuse
The worst coaching job of all BCS schools has been done by this former Texas coordinator. Absolutely disgusting.