College Football

Last fall, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o became an inspirational sports figure. The death of Teo’s girlfriend, Lennay Kekua days after his grandmother’s death turned Te’o into more than just a football player. Te’o’s story of triumph through adversity took an unexpectedly bizarre twist today. According to Deadspin's investigative story published Wednesday, the late girlfriend of Te’o never even existed.

If true, this would be arguably the most bizarre sports story since Danny Almonte pretended to be 12 to participate in the Little League World Series or Bryce Harper’s seven showers per game day revelation. If Te'o was apart of this hoax, this could make Lance Armstrong’s fall from grace seem like a spill down the stairs.

Te’o will have some tough questions to ask in the coming days as Deadspin reports, he was in on the hoax. The Te’o family is standing their ground and claiming they are the victim of an elaborate hoax but it would be extremely difficult to imagine that Te’o could be the victim of a hoax of this nature, especially if the facts Deadspin is reporting are true.

In a stunning reversal, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly has decided to make the jump to the NFL after all, accepting the head coaching position with the Philadelphia Eagles earlier today.  Kelly, who had announced he was returning to Oregon only a week earlier, had a 46-7 record in four seasons and helped turn the Ducks into one of college football’s most iconic brands. 

Mark Helfrich, who has been Oregon’s offensive coordinator during Kelly’s time in Eugene, is expected to take over as head coach.

While this year’s BCS Championship between Notre Dame and Alabama might have been a dud, it was one of the few years in which there was very little argument over which teams deserved to play in the game in the first place.  Notre Dame ended the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record, while Alabama was the highest-rated conference champion with only a single loss.

This is a far cry from what the BCS has seen in the past, and hardly a note of support for the current system.  In fact, every single team on this list would love to have a crack at the playoff system that is coming in 2014.  The only real question is which team has the biggest BCS gripe…

10.  A whole mess of teams, 2007

To say that the final 2012 Heisman Candidate List left a lot to be desired would certainly be putting it nicely.  The Candidate Selection seemed forced, which in fact is another way to put it nicely.  The Heisman isn’t like the Baseball HOF voting, meaning if there’s a year where no one is standing out in an attempt to earn the coveted trophy or separating themselves from the others, we simply can't have a season in which NO ONE wins it.  There must be a Heisman trophy winner every season no matter how lack luster or boring the candidates are or appear to be.  This really isn’t a knock on this past season’s winner; Johnny Manziel who I think was a perfect candidate and certainly earned the award as he epitomizes what the Award stands for.  It was the candidates outside of Manziel that no one seemed to get excited about for more than one reason.  Sure the “numbers” the other candidates put up were “respectable” numbers but nothing that defines what the Heisman trophy really is. 

The hangover has passed, the coaching carousel has taken a few revolutions already and the crystal trophy has been tucked away in Tuscaloosa, Ala., again. Apparently, another college football season has been put to bed.

Thank the heavens …

As blasphemous as that may read, think about it. The time had come. After months of crash-and-burns by favorites, wasted opportunities and coaches switching programs as much as programs have been switching conferences, it just needed to end.

How fitting the 2012 campaign culminated with a blowout in the BCS title game, with an SEC squad the unquestioned victor. Shocking, huh? The final chapter has read the same for seven straight seasons. All that up-and-down, hedge-your-bets, Notre Dame-rising, Southern Cal-imploding, trash-talking silliness … and, yet, we come to the same result we pretty much expected all along anyway.

It’s become a bit repetitive. The SEC dominates during the fall months, a couple of its teams lose in annual festival of non-important bowls and a nation gets the itch that, hey, maybe Alabama, Georgia and the like ain’t so tough after all.