NCAA Endzone

Kentucky and coach Rich Brooks finalized a new four-year agreement Tuesday that raises his yearly salary to $1 million and keeps him under contract with the school through the 2010 season.

Brooks, who led the Wildcats to an 8-5 record last season and their first bowl appearance since 1999, had a year remaining on his original five-year contract.

The new deal has a university option for 2011, and incentives for winning five or more Southeastern Conference games, the SEC Eastern Division or overall league championship, participation in bowl games, increases in football ticket revenues and academic performance by the team.

Brooks, the former Oregon and St. Louis Rams coach, took over at Kentucky in 2003 with the program under NCAA sanctions from the previous regime.

Kentucky went 9-25 in its first three seasons under Brooks before its breakout season of 2006.

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Heralded high school quarterback Matt Simms, the son of former Giants quarterback Phil and brother of current Buccaneers quarterback Chris, has recommitted to the University of Louisville, with the approach of National Signing Day on Feb. 7, ESPN has learned.

Matt Simms, who made an oral commitment to Louisville in August, de-committed from Louisville after head coach Bobby Petrino left for the Falcons.

“I’m not going to Louisville,” Simms told the New Jersey Herald News earlier this month. “As far as my recruiting goes, I’m pretty much back to square one.”

Athletes are not bound to schools or to their scholarship until they sign a letter of intent in their respective sport.

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After only two weeks on the job, Alabama assistant coach Steve Marshall has left to take a job with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for Steve,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Sunday.”It’s a shame that it didn’t work out for him here, but I wish him well.”

Marshall was out of coaching this past year after two seasons as an offensive line assistant with the Houston Texans.

Kentucky, Louisville, Rich Brooks

Bobby Ross retired Monday as Army’s football coach, and without a victory over Navy in his three seasons with the Black Knights.

The former NFL coach, who had a 9-25 record at Army, will be succeeded by offensive line coach Stan Brock.

“I think there’s a point in time when you feel like it’s your time to retire, and I think I’ve reached that time,” the 70-year-old Ross said in a statement. “I think there is an issue of having a certain degree of energy, which I feel is very important for anyone leading a college football program. I feel that I was lacking in that area.”

Ross came out of retirement to coach a team that had been on a 15-game losing streak and was the first in NCAA history to finish a season 0-13 (2003).

Speculation that Ross might leave began shortly after Army’s 26-14 loss to the Midshipmen in December. The Black Knights finished the season on a six-game losing streak. Ross’ son, Kevin, the offensive coordinator, took much of the blame for the Black Knights’ sputtering offense.

Before his arrival at West Point, Ross was 77-68 in the NFL with the Chargers and Detroit Lions and spent 15 years as a college coach, including stints with The Citadel (1973-77), Maryland (1982-86) and Georgia Tech (1987-91). His 1990 Georgia Tech team went 11-0-1, sharing the national title with Colorado. His college record was 94-76-2 before he accepted the Army job.

Ross, a Virginia Military Institute graduate, hoped to duplicate what he had done at Georgia Tech in the late 1980s. And after two seasons of improvement — Ross had nearly the same record at Army (6-16) as he did at Georgia Tech (5-17) — he seemed to be right on track.

But Georgia Tech went 7-4 in Ross’s third year and was co-national champion with an 11-0-1 mark the next season (1990). Ross’s third year at West Point started at 3-3, but the Black Knights lost their last six games by an average of 20 points.

Still, there have been signs of progress. Army won seven of its last 17 games under Ross, and nine of the last 16 losses have been by 14 points or less. In the three seasons (2001-03) that preceded Ross’s arrival, Army was 4-32, suffering those 32 losses by an average of 21.6 points.

Army, Bobby Ross, college football

While the majority of fans and media focus on the upcoming Senior Bowl festivities and the underclassmen who declared for the NFL Draft, I thought it would be appropriate to spotlight those who turned down a big payday to play another year of college ball.

Here are the Endzone’s top 5 players who spurned the NFL to come back for one more season.

1. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville - Brohm may have been the number one overall pick if he would have come out and most certainly would have been a top ten selection. He has all the tools: accuracy, leadership skills and a decent arm. If he has another strong season, Brohm will be the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

2. Jake Long, T, Michigan - A very athletic tackle, the kind the NFL likes to scoop up quickly. Didn’t get the ink that fellow Big Ten tackles Joe Thomas and Levi Brown got, but Long should get the brunt of the attention this season as Michigan will once again be national title contenders.

3. Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU - Would have been a top 15 or 20 pick this season by coming out. The rumor mill has it that at least 10 NFL teams considered picking him. It should be more than that after he finishes the 2007 season.

4. Keith Rivers, LB, USC - Another player who would have been a top 20 pick. Rivers is a quick, aggressive linebacker who will be the leader of a very strong Trojan defense in 2007.

5. Dan Connor, LB, Penn State - The best outside linebacker in college football. Connor could have been the second or third linebacker taken in the draft and would have been a late first rounder. Another solid season as leader of the Nittany Lion defense should make him a top 20 pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

NFL Draft, Brian Brohm, college football

It seems Reggie Bush can’t shake his past and the allegiations that he took money and gifts while playing for USC.

The existence of taped conversations between Bush or members of his family and an investor in a failed sports marketing agency could confirm the New Orleans Saints’ running back received cash and gifts while playing for Southern California, Yahoo.com reported Wednesday.

A federal investigation into extortion claims by Bush and his family revealed the existence of the taped conversations, according to the Yahoo.com report.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in San Diego has issued grand jury subpoenas to multiple witnesses in the probe, Yahoo.com reported. According to a copy of a subpoena obtained by Yahoo, at least one of the witnesses was asked to hand over “any recordings in your possession of conversations between Lloyd Lake and Reggie Bush, Denise Griffin, or LaMar Griffin.”

Lloyd Lake, who founded a sports marketing agency in hopes of landing Bush as its first client, is the subject of a grand jury probe into the extortion claims. Denise Griffin is Bush’s mother, and LaMar Griffin is Bush’s stepfather.

Yahoo.com, citing unidentified sources, reported LaMar Griffin spoke with federal investigators in the spring of 2006 and acknowledged the existence of the tapes.

When asked in the past about the allegations of receiving inappropriate extra benefits, Bush has insisted that he and his family did nothing wrong.

Multiple sources told Yahoo.com that Lake made the tapes in late 2005 to protect his financial investment if Bush backed out of a deal to sign with New Era Sports & Entertainment, founded by Lake and San Diego businessman Michael Michaels. In January 2006, Bush signed with agent Joel Segal and marketing agent Mike Ornstein.

On Jan. 12, 2007, Lake’s mother, Barbara Gunner, testified before a grand jury, according to the Yahoo.com report, that she had heard portions of tapes made by her son, in which LaMar Griffin states Bush intended to repay New Era Sports “their money,” as well as for a car purchased for him.

Lake told Yahoo in August 2006 that he contributed a portion of the cash and gifts allegedly given to Bush and his family as part of an agreement to represent the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner when he signed an NFL contract. In September, Yahoo.com reported Ornstein also supplied Bush and his family with gifts while he was still at USC.

According to Yahoo.com, nearly $280,000 in cash, rent and gifts was allegedly given to Bush and his family.

The Pac-10 Conference and the NCAA are investigating whether Bush or his family broke NCAA rules and compromised his eligibility during the 2004 and ‘05 seasons by taking extra benefits.

If Bush is found to have violated NCAA rules, USC, which won a national title in ‘04 and played for the ‘05 championship, could be sanctioned.

Also, the Heisman Trophy Trust requires players be in good standing with the NCAA to be eligible for the award given to college football’s top player. If Bush is ruled ineligible by the NCAA, he could be in danger of having his Heisman taken away.

USC, Reggie Bush, NCAA

It happens every season in college football.

There are usually three to five teams who fly in under the national spotlight and come through with monster seasons that surprise everyone.

Last year Rutgers, Wake Forest and Boise State made the big splash. Who will be the surprise teams that rack up 10-plus wins and fight for a BCS berth?

Here at the NCAA Endzone, we give you an early look at three squads who should emerge from pack and make a strong run at a BCS berth and the national championship.

1. UCLA: The Bruins lose only two starters from a 7-6 team that won three of their last four games. Ben Olsen and Patrick Cowan are now experienced signal callers and Chris Markey was a 1,000-yard rusher in 2006. Defensive coordinator Dwayne Walker transformed an awful UCLA defense into one of the most aggressive and improved units last season - especially during the 13-9 upset of USC. UCLA could start 10 seniors on defense next season and the offense lost only center Robert Chai. Add to that, the strongest recruiting class Karl Dorrell has had at UCLA and you can see why the Bruin faithful may be all smiles in 2007.

2. TCU: The Horned Frogs have flirted with a BCS berth before, but this season, TCU could actually break through. The Horned Frogs finished the 2006 season with a flourish, winning their last seven games and thumping Northern Illinois 37-7 in the Poinsettia Bowl. TCU outscored its last four opponents 172-35. All but two starters, including end Tommy Blake, an All-America candidate, return to a defense that should be among the best in the country. If the Horned Frogs can find a replacement for QB Jeff Ballard, they could be this years Boise State.

3. Wisconsin: Yes I know the Badgers went 12-1 last year and play in the media heavy Big 10, but Wisconsin still doesn’t get much ink and I can’t figure out why. The Badgers have a legit shot at winning the Big Ten title, provided of course they can find adequate replacements for QB John Stocco and LT Joe Thomas. The rest of the squad is A-ok. Wisconsin should return 19 starters from a team that finished 12-1 in coach Bret Bielema’s first season. Rising sophomore P.J. Hill ran for more than 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns, and speedy wide receiver Marcus Randle El returns from a knee injury to join the top five pass catchers from 2006. All-Big Ten cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu and outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas return to lead an improving defense.

Wisconsin, UCLA, TCU

Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn will sit out the Senior Bowl with a minor knee injury.

Quinn will still travel to Mobile for the game, an audition for senior NFL prospects, Senior Bowl spokesman Vic Knight told the Press-Register of Mobile.

Knight said Friday he didn’t know which knee was injured or how the injury occurred.

Quinn was examined at Dr. James Andrews’ office in Birmingham, Ala., Knight said, and was advised not to play in the Jan. 27 game.

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Kentucky recruit John Keye of Georgia was killed in a weekend car crash, the second such loss in about a year for the Wildcats.

The Georgia State Patrol says Keye was a passenger in a car that was involved in a one-vehicle wreck Saturday afternoon near his hometown of Jackson.

Kentucky head coach Rich Brooks said Keye was one of the school’s earliest commitments and was excited about going to Kentucky.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound wide receiver was an honorable mention to the Georgia Sports Writers Association’s Class Triple-A all-state football team last month. He planned to sign a letter of intent on Feb. 7.

Chris Mosby, who attended high school in Tennessee and had committed to play at Kentucky, was killed in a car wreck on Dec. 31, 2005.

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Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm is expected to be available for spring practice following surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.

Brohm threw for 3,049 yards and 16 touchdowns last season despite injuring his left shoulder before the season began and aggravating it in Louisville’s 24-13 win over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2.

Team spokesman Rocco Gasparro said the surgery was “minor” and that Brohm will participate when the Cardinals begin spring practice.

Louisville, Notre Dame, Brady Quinn

Jeff Samardzija decided to give up football and stay with baseball.

The former Notre Dame receiver, projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft, agreed over the weekend to a $10 million, five-year contract to pitch for the Chicago Cubs.

“Baseball is my first love. I played it my whole life,” Samardzija said.

A 21-year-old right-hander, Samardzija was the Cubs’ fifth-round pick in last year’s amateur draft and had a 2.70 ERA in seven starts for their Class A teams at Boise and Peoria.

He returned to Notre Dame and helped the Irish make the Sugar Bowl, catching 78 passes for 1,017 yards as a senior. The Irish lost the game to LSU 41-14, but Samardzija did catch a TD pass.

His deal includes a $2.5 million signing bonus and the Cubs hold options for a sixth and seventh seasons in 2012 and 2013. If the options are exercised, the deal would be worth $16.5 million over seven years.

Samardzija said there would be no returning to football, even though he’s headed for a stint in the minor leagues, probably starting at Class A Daytona after spring training. The deal also includes a no-trade clause.

Samardzija’s fastball was clocked at 97 mph last summer and Cubs GM Jim Hendry said the organization projects him one day to a be “high end starter.”

Samardzija, 21-6 in 50 college baseball games, said he spent 10 to 12 hours a day weighing the decision on which sport to pursue. His familiarity with the Cubs after his experience last summer was a major factor.

Samardzija said longevity and the chance of injury were not major factors in his decision to go with baseball over football. And he said there is no sadness about giving up football after a great career with Notre Dame. In 2005 he set the school’s single-season records for yards receiving with 1,249 and TD catches with 15.

Chicago Cubs, Notre Dame, NFL

Jim Svoboda, criticized this past season for his conservative play-calling, was fired Thursday as UCLA’s offensive coordinator.

“This was a hard decision to make,” Bruins coach Karl Dorrell said in a statement. “Jim has done a good job working with our quarterbacks over the last three years. However, I felt that a change was in the best interests of the overall offense.”

The Bruins went 7-6 in 2006, losing to Florida State 44-27 in the Emerald Bowl. The team averaged 23 points per game. A year earlier, UCLA averaged more than 39 points and went 10-2.

The 46-year-old Svoboda was UCLA’s quarterbacks coach in 2004-05 and added the offensive coordinator duties this past season.

Dorrell became more involved in calling plays late in the season.

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West Virginia running back Steve Slaton had surgery on his right wrist and will miss spring practice.

Slaton injured the wrist during the 2005 season. A pin was inserted in the wrist during surgery this week, coach Rich Rodriguez said. Slaton also hurt his left elbow and wrist in a Nov. 2 loss at Louisville and played sparingly in the Gator Bowl after suffering a deep thigh bruise in practice.

Despite the injuries, Slaton set a school record with 1,744 yards as a sophomore and was named a first team All-American.

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South Florida running back Keeley Dorsey collapsed and died Wednesday after a team conditioning workout at the school’s athletic facility.

The 19-year-old freshman died at University Community Hospital, South Florida said in statement.

Dorsey was a graduate of Tallahassee Lincoln High School.

Dorsey was given first aid before he was transferred to the hospital, the school said. A hospital spokesman did not immediately know Dorsey’s condition when he arrived.

In 2001, Florida State linebacker Devaughn Darling collapsed and died during an offseason workout. An autopsy concluded he had suffered a cardiac arrhythmia.

UCLA, Florida State, West Virginia

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan withdrew from the NFL draft Wednesday and will return to school for his senior season.

Brennan on Monday filed the paperwork to make himself eligible for April’s draft but said he needed more time to make up his mind. He had 72 hours to decide and ended up choosing another year running the Warriors’ high-powered offense.

Brennan set an NCAA record with 58 touchdown passes this season, and led the nation in passing yards (5,549), passing efficiency (186) and completion percentage (72.6). He was just the third player in NCAA history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season.

Brennan finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting and gave up a chance to be one of the top quarterbacks taken, along with Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn and LSU’s JaMarcus Russell.

Brennan broke the NCAA single-season touchdown and passing efficiency records last month and led Hawaii to an 11-3 season — matching the school mark for wins.

His had five TD passes Hawaii’s 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24. Brennan finished the game with a school-record 559 yards passing.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior also sought the advice of Arizona quarterback Matt Leinart, whom he backed up at Mater Dei High School in California. After winning the Heisman, Leinart gave up the chance to be the No. 1 pick in the draft to stay with the Trojans.

But with a new offensive line and running back, Brennan will be challenged to put up the same record numbers he did this season.

Hawaii, NFL, Colt Brennan

Mitch Mustain began his career at Arkansas with eight straight wins as a starter.

And that, apparently, is exactly how he’ll end it.

Mustain has received permission to transfer, coach Houston Nutt said Tuesday. The announcement came a year to the day after Mustain made public his final decision to sign with the Razorbacks.

Gus Malzahn, who coached Mustain at Springdale High School in Arkansas, was the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator this season. But Malzahn left Arkansas this week to become assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator at Tulsa.

Mustain went 8-0 as a starter in 2006, helping Arkansas to a 10-4 season and a No. 15 national ranking.

But Mustain was benched in a November win over South Carolina, and he hardly played again until splitting time with starter Casey Dick in Arkansas’ Capital One Bowl loss to Wisconsin.

Mustain completed 52.3 percent of his passes this season for 894 yards with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Last month, parents of Mustain and two other freshmen met with athletic director Frank Broyles amid concerns Malzahn didn’t have enough control over the offense. One of the freshmen, receiver Damian Williams, has transferred to Southern California.

The third freshman was tight end Ben Cleveland. Nutt said Cleveland was in Kansas for a friend’s funeral, so his status was unclear.

Mustain was the Parade magazine prep player of the year in 2005. He said in August of that year he would attend Arkansas, but he opened his recruitment again after his high school season ended.

Arkansas hired Malzahn after the 2005 season, and Mustain eventually signed with the Razorbacks. Williams and Cleveland also signed after they appeared headed elsewhere.

All three played as freshmen, but Arkansas relied on its running game — tailback Darren McFadden was the Heisman Trophy runner-up. The spread, no-huddle offense Malzahn used at Springdale was never a factor.

The Razorbacks won 10 straight games at one point — but the warm feelings from that stretch have been overshadowed lately. Arkansas lost three straight to end the season, and as the Razorbacks prepared for their bowl, Nutt was still being asked about the controversy surrounding his team.

Nutt said he only wants players who want to be at Arkansas.

Arkansas, Mitch Mustain, Houston Nutt, Tulsa

Three of the top juniors in college football will forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft in April.

Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson and Ohio State RB Antonio Pittman and WR Ted Ginn Jr. declared yesterday for the draft. WR Anthony Gonzalez, another star of the Buckeyes, had already made himself available for the draft.

Peterson ran for 4,045 yards in three seasons, ranking behind only 1978 Heisman winner Billy Sims (4,118) and Hall of Famer Joe Washington (4,071) on Oklahoma’s career rushing list. His 1,925 yards in 2004 were a school rushing record and the most by a freshman in NCAA history.

He started that season with an unprecedented nine straight 100-yard games. Peterson also finished second to Matt Leinart in voting for the 2004 Heisman Trophy, the highest showing for a freshman.

Peterson had shoulder surgery in the offseason after his spectacular freshman season, then sprained his ankle and missed parts of four games as a sophomore as well as missing seven games this past season. Despite the missed time, Peterson still ran for 1,012 yards and 12 touchdowns. The only question mark on his resume is his ability to stay healthy. Even so, he should be a top ten pick.

Ginn’s dazzling speed is expected to make him a first-round pick, even though he’s likely to miss the Feb. 21-27 scouting combine because his left foot will be in a boot for three to five weeks after injuring it in the BCS Title game against Florida.

Ginn finished his career with 135 receptions for 1,943 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’ll have extra value in the pros because of his skills as a return man.

Pittman was a two-year starter and has career marks of 2,945 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns. The 5-11, 195-pounder is a north-south runner who can put on an extra burst when needed.

Ohio State, Oklahoma, Adrian Peterson, NFL Draft

You can go home after all.

Tulsa hired Rice’s Todd Graham as its new head coach, replacing Steve Kragthorpe with his former defensive coordinator.

Graham ran Kragthorpe’s defense for three years at Tulsa before taking the Rice job last year. He turned around the Owls program, taking a team that had been 1-10 in 2005 and leading it to a 7-6 season and its first bowl game in 45 years.

He will take the reins of a resurgent team that went to three bowl games in four years under Kragthorpe. He will also coach players he helped recruit during his time at Tulsa.

Kragthorpe left Tulsa on Tuesday to replace Bobby Petrino at Louisville. The same day, Graham signed a contract to stay at Rice until 2012. However, Tulsa was still able to lure him away. Of the finalists for the job, he was the only candidate interviewed by the school.

Graham, 42, takes over a program that he helped Kragthorpe resurrect. Tulsa had won only one game in each of the two seasons before Kragthorpe took over in 2003. His staff led Division I’s best turnaround, as the Golden Hurricane went to a bowl game for the first time since 1991.

Such reversals have been common in Graham’s career. He spent two seasons on Rich Rodriguez’s staff at West Virginia, helping begin the Mountaineers’ current run of five straight winning seasons, before similar turnarounds at Tulsa and Rice. He previously coached at East Central (Okla.) University and at high schools in Oklahoma and Texas.

At Tulsa, Graham inherits a program that has made back-to-back postseason trips for the first time since 1964-65. His predecessor, Kragthorpe, went 29-22 in four seasons, including three bowl games. The Golden Hurricane were 8-5 this season and lost four of their final five games, including a 25-13 defeat to Utah in the Armed Forces Bowl.

In 2005, Graham’s Tulsa defense forced 31 turnovers — tied for the ninth-best total in Division I — to help the Golden Hurricane win the Conference USA title. The Golden Hurricane ranked first in the conference in pass efficiency defense, second in total defense and third in scoring defense that season.

Last season, Tulsa led the league in total defense, while Rice ranked last.

The Golden Hurricane return quarterback Paul Smith, who threw for 2,727 yards and 15 touchdowns, and top tailback Courtney Tennial, who ran for 845 yards and 13 TDs. However, Graham must replace his top two receivers and most of a senior-laden offensive line that entered this season with more collective starts than any other Division I team.

Tulsa also loses four of its top five tacklers on defense, including linebacker Nick Bunting, the Conference USA defensive player of the year.

Tulsa, Rice, football

He didn’t get the national championship, but at least he did win something of significance.

Boise State’s Chris Petersen won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award on Thursday night as the national coach of the year.

Petersen led Boise State to a 13-0 record and the No. 5 spot in the final AP poll in his first season as the team’s head coach. The Broncos finished the season with a 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

Against Oklahoma, the Broncos used a hook-and-ladder to score the tying touchdown and won with a Statue of Liberty play on the 2-point conversion.

Petersen edged fellow finalists Bret Bielema of Wisconsin, Lloyd Carr of Michigan, Greg Schiano of Rutgers and Bob Stoops of Oklahoma in voting by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Texas’ Mack Brown won the award last year.

Boise State, Bear Bryant, coach

It didn’t take long for Louisville to get over the loss of head coach Bobby Petrino to the Atlanta Falcons before finding his replacement.

It took only 48 hours for Louisville Athletic Director Tom Julich to lure Steve Kragthorpe away from Tulsa and name him the new head coach of the Cardinals.

The process was less of a search and more of a mission for Jurich, whose relationship with Kragthorpe dates to 1990, when Jurich was the athletic director at Northern Arizona and Kragthorpe was hired as quarterbacks coach.

After four successful years under the relentless but ultimately restless Petrino, Jurich wanted some stability. And with national signing day less than a month away, Jurich knew he didn’t have time to form a search committee and go through a formal interview process.

Kragthorpe, 41, signed a five-year, $1.1-million deal that runs through the 2012 season, the first of what he hopes will be several contracts he signs with the Cardinals.

Kragthorpe takes over a Louisville program that flourished under Petrino. The Cardinals went 12-1 this season, won the Big East and the Orange Bowl and finished sixth in the final Associated Press poll. The Cardinals were 41-9 under Petrino.

It’s a long way from Kragthorpe’s first days at Tulsa four years ago, when he took over a program that had won just two games in the two years before he arrived.

But after posting a 29-22 record in four seasons — including three bowl appearances and the Conference USA championship in 2005 — Kragthorpe knew he was at a crossroads. Though he’d turned down numerous job offers in the past, he didn’t hesitate when Jurich called.

The first thing on Kragthorpe’s agenda will be to convince junior quarterback Brian Brohm to stay for his senior season. Louisville has already lost RB Michael Bush, who announced he will enter the NFL Draft despite missing all of the 2006 season.

Brohm hasn’t spoken to the media since winning the Orange Bowl MVP last week and has until Jan. 15 to decide whether to return for his senior season. Kragthorpe intends to do his best to assure Brohm that the high-flying offense that made the Cardinals so successful under Petrino didn’t end when Petrino headed to Atlanta.

Louisville, Tulsa, coaching

Listen up people. Florida is not the national champion. Neither is Boise State, despite being the only undefeated team in the country, ditto for Wisconsin, Louisville or any other team for that matter.

There can’t be a true number one until the NCAA, college presidents, athletic directors and some coaches wake up and realize that a playoff is the only way to determine a true national champion.

The BCS doesn’t work, just like every other poll or system tried before failed. The only way to have a real number one is to decide it on the field. Not by sportswriters, coaches, broadcasters or computers - mano e mano - on the gridiron.

Yes Florida was impressive against Ohio State on Monday, but how can anyone decide that the one loss of the Gators is better than the one loss of Louisville or Wisconsin? And let’s not forget the Broncos either.

Of 119 Division I-A college football teams only one, just one, beat every team on its schedule and achieved perfection. That team was Boise State. And I don’t want to hear comments like “they’re small school” or “Boise State doesn’t play a hard enough schedule.” That’s a load of bull.

You can’t argue facts and the facts state that the Broncos beat back every challenge thrown at them and were the only team to do so - not Ohio State, not Florida, not USC, no one.

I’m reminded of Susan Powter, the diet guru of the eighties who got famous for the catch phrase - stop the insanity.

If the playoff is done right, the NCAA, the bowls and the BCS could have a factor in the equation. It’s real simple.

Keep the BCS, AP and all those other fun rankings in place during the regular season to determine the bowl bids. Do away with the extra game and keep the BCS bowls - Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta. These bowls would count as the quarterfinals.

After the bowl games are played, extend the season and extra two weeks and have the four major bowl winners compete in a Final Four with the true national championship game following a week later.

Do that and everyone is happy - the BCS, the polls, the bowls and the fans.

Another way would be to create a 16-team playoff like they do in Division I-AA. Have your eight conference winners get automatic berths with the other eight slots at-large bids.

Unfortunately, everything will stay the same because the good old boys in charge fear change and a loss of power. We’ll continue to have a flawed system that doesn’t work and never has. And this time next year a true national champion will once again be just a dream.

Stop the insanity!

NCAA, BCS, playoffs