NCAA Endzone

Paul Johnson, after spending six very successful years at the Naval Academy, had been signed as the new head coach at Georgia Tech, for a deal worth 11 million over the next seven years.

At Navy, Johnson lead the Midshipmen to a 6-0 record versus Army, the longest streak by either side since the rivalry began, broke the longest losing streak to one school in the country by beating Notre Dame (who just had a big commit) this season, and is taking Navy to their 5th straight bowl game after only reaching one in the previous 20 seasons.

At the same time, the Georgia Tech program has struggled, most notably in the Georgia rivalry, where it has dropped 7 straight.

“That [Georgia game] is a game Georgia Tech needs to win,” Johnson said. “I embrace that.”

If not for Calvin Johnson, likely the greatest athlete to ever grace the Tech campus, they would’ve been hard pressed to find winning seasons in the previous few years. This season, they muddled to a 7-5 finish in a weak ACC, the 3rd such season under Chan Gailey. He also posted two 7-6 marks. The one unusual year was Johnson’s senior season, where they were invited to the Gator Bowl with a 10-2 record, falling to WVU.

After fans weren’t even thinking Johnson as a possible hire, he sprung out and is apparently a very good choice. They seem to think he can break the scary trend against Georgia and even Clemson.

Johnson was previously the head coach of Georgia Southern, where he won two Division I-AA national championships and a record five consecutive Southern Conference titles.

Johnson has said he won’t coach either team in their respective bowl games. Instead, he plans to begin his new job and might even start recruiting as early as Monday. He also plans to get his assistant coaches together soon also.

“I hope this is my last job. The hardest thing you have to do in coaching is that meeting with your team when you tell them you’re leaving. I’ve had to do that twice as a head coach, and I hope I don’t ever have to do that again.�?

Hours away from the end of the college football regular season, and yet we still have no guarantees when it comes to the national championship. A pair of games tonight, Missouri versus Oklahoma (8:00) and West Virginia versus Pittsburgh (7:45) will be the ultimate deciders on who will be attending this year’s game in New Orleans. On the outside looking in are Ohio State, who with a loss by either WVU or Mizzou would sneak into the championship, Georgia, who didn’t even make it to the SEC Championship game, but is certainly not eliminate from the title fight, and Kansas, whose hopes were likely dashed due to a tough loss against Missouri just last week.

But who really deserves to be in BCS Championship? Look at Missouri, for example. Even with a win tonight, they still only split the series with Oklahoma. Is that along with a win against a Kansas team, also extremely suspect, enough to support them into the national championship? This year? Yes…

WVU doesn’t have much more in regards to big wins. The only thing they really have going for them is how well they played last week versus the previous conference-unbeaten Uconn; a 66-21 blowout. Wins at Rutgers and Cincinnati look nice, along with a victory over a surprisingly good Mississippi State team.

But the teams below don’t exactly have great résumés either. Ohio State might be the most qualified, but a loss late in the season might have hurt them more than dropping an early one to someone like Purdue. Georgia couldn’t even win their division of the SEC, but is still in the championship discussion. And Kansas, well, they are Kansas.

But being qualified is only half the battle. You have to be playing good football at the right time. Who is doing that? Well, it is hard to argue against West Virginia. Patrick White is making an extremely late Heisman push, and Steve Slaton ain’t no pushover either. At the same time, the defense is stepping up and role players like Noel Devine, Owen Schmitt, and Darius Reynaud are making big plays.

Pat White leads the WVU charge

Of course, WVU needs to prove nothing at this point. They are a good 3-hour showing away from locking themselves in. The same goes for Missouri. We can all talk and argue till the BCS is over, but in reality it will all be decided tonight. Tonight is when we find out who wants it more, just like coach always said…

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