Sources close to Mark Sanchez and USC tell ESPN's Chris Mortensen that the quarterback plans to announce Thursday that he will forgo his senior season to enter the NFL draft
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez will announce today that he is skipping his senior season and making himself available for the NFL draft, according to sources.
Sanchez, who led USC to a 12-1 record last season, informed Coach Pete Carroll of his decision Wednesday night and a news conference is scheduled for today.
He is currently projected as no worse than the second quarterback in the draft, behind Matthew Stafford of Georgia.
"Mark was very mature about his decision," said a source close to the situation. "He knew he might get hurt next season. He knows right now he could be the second quarterback selected. He knows a lot of NFL teams need a quarterback. A lot of that stuff could change in a year." The junior from Mission Viejo made his decision before Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford announced Wednesday he would return to school next year. But Sanchez also knew next year's draft would include Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and probably Bradford.
I can't blame a guy for taking the dough (assuming he does get picked as high as he thinks/hopes) at all.. supposedly he'll be the 2nd QB taken; Some of the pundits say he will be a top five next year if he has a good year.
Well now warming up in the bullpen > Mustain/Corp/Barkley and Green..
Last edited by TrojanHorse; Jan 15, 09 at 5:38 am.
Sorry, Trojan, but I have to say that USC fans win hands down: IMO, no other fans talk smack like Trojans fans and no other fans whine like Trojans fans!
And, I'm not restricting that statement to just college football or football -- I'm talking about all sports, all levels of play!
Hey, USC isn't known as University of Spoiled Children for nothing!
Many thanks for the overview, studley. I was going to research this myself, so thanks for saving me the time.
You're welcome, Lurker!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starwood Lurker
This would be my best guess at where it will end up after 2015. The Classic will have found its second home and Jerry will make some concessions to hold additional football events there.
BYU and Oklahoma will play the first CFB game there September 5 of this year. He already has his Alma Mater, Arky, playing A&M there on a 10-year series (renewable in 4-year blocks thereafter) starting October 3 of this year. On October 3, 2011, Arizona State and Notre Dame will play in the stadium. Notre Dame will be designated as the Home Team, so NBC will handle the broadcast per that contract.
In addition, he's trying to line up some more games.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starwood Lurker
The City of Dallas already screwed the pooch on that deal, IMHO.
Agreed, hence my nickname for the Cotton Bowl Stadium.
Actually, the Dallas County Commissioners are to blame, since they refused to ask the taxpayers to vote for the public funding. But Miller did most of the grandstanding and speaking out against it in public, and that pretty much steered the final decision. Kind of difficult to get something like this on the ballot without the Mayor's backing. On the other hand....
When it was learned that the Classic wanted to move, and TX and OU made rumblings of leaving as well, the citizens of Dallas on November 7, 2006 overwhelmingly approved (at the Mayor's urging) a $1.35B Capital Bond Program, which included the funding to make the improvements to the stadium. Too late, as the Classic announced the move on February 27, 2007.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starwood Lurker
Their best shot now is to try and attract some other regional rivalry games whose capacities are more in line with the current facilities.
They are, like Jerry, trying to get regional rivalry games in the stadium. This is likely to set off a bidding war which they are clearly unarmed for.
Speaking of armament, it was rumored that they tried to steal the 2009 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (formerly named the Fort Worth Bowl), but the contract with Bell/Textron doesn't end until after the 2009 game. ESPN Regional Television own and operate this bowl, which this year will see the return of the Pac-10 (via their Sixth-Place Team) versus the MWC.
I wonder whether Bell will continue to sponsor the game since the ARH-70 program got the Federal ax. Gotta figure that hurt their wallet as they tried to replace their old helos with their new ones.
In any event, TCU are working to upgrade its aging Amon G. Carter Stadium to attempt to retain the game, which has sold out in consecutive years and become pretty popular.
If that game does not move, the rumors extend to moving one of three bowls (the newest two, the St. Petersburg Bowl and the Congressional Bowl were mentioned among the three) here, or start another one. The intent is to get a Big 12 tie-in and a $1M payout, and play it in the week prior to New Year's Day in the daytime.
The big concern is that the DFW Metroplex may not be able to support three bowl games.
Last edited by studley; Jan 14, 09 at 8:21 pm.
Reason: Additional information.
At LSU, DT Ricky Jean-Francois and WR Brandon LaFell are heading into the NFL Draft. RJF is known for sure and LaFell is rumored to be going, although this is as of yet unconfirmed by Les Miles.
QB Andrew Hatch, "The Harvard Guy" as he is known by most LSU fans, is also leaving the team, possibly to transfer back to Harvard, although one published report states that the Crimson are not accepting transfers for the next two years because there is no space available to house transfer students. Harvard are planning fundraising efforts to "renovate and revitalize its residential spaces" before transfers are accepted again.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by studley
At LSU, DT Ricky Jean-Francois and WR Brandon LaFell are heading into the NFL Draft. RJF is known for sure and LaFell is rumored to be going, although this is as of yet unconfirmed by Les Miles.
QB Andrew Hatch, "The Harvard Guy" as he is known by most LSU fans, is also leaving the team, possibly to transfer back to Harvard, although one published report states that the Crimson are not accepting transfers for the next two years because there is no space available to house transfer students. Harvard are planning fundraising efforts to "renovate and revitalize its residential spaces" before transfers are accepted again.
that is bizarre; why would one.. someone leave Harvard.. thats my first question.. then two why would you go back.. that just seems too bizarre.. finally why can't he live off campus; shoot he would be in the middle of cambridge with a gazillion apts to begin with
Hatch left Harvard after his Freshman Year to go on his two-year Mormon Mission in Chile, where he hurt his knee playing soccer five months into it. Two months later, after an MRI revealed the injury was more serious than initially thought (torn meniscus), he returned to his home state of Nevada for surgery and rehab. That's where Gary Crowton (who originally recruited him to BYU before being fired as Head Coach there) found him again and brought him to LSU.
As for him going back to Harvard, I'm not sure why, if that ends up being his decision. I do know that with two more scholarship QBs already enrolled for the Spring, there would have been five on campus, including him.
There were rumors that Jarrett Lee was also going to transfer, because Jordan Jefferson's performance in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl all but guaranteed he would enter Spring Practice at #1 instead of Lee. Then there's incoming Freshman Russell Shepard, who by my guess will end up as #2 after Spring Ball, as he is already on campus.
Last edited by studley; Jan 15, 09 at 7:06 am.
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Texas Non-Con Schedule '09
Well, there aren't any FBS schools on it, but it's still pretty weak, IMHO. Nothing like beating your most-likely-to-succeed rival in the Big 12 South in October and have them get the nod to the conference championship, but if Texas stumbles at any point in their schedule for '09 - '10, then I look for history to repeat itself.
Louisiana-Monroe in Austin 9/5
@ Wyoming 9/12
Central Florida in Austin 9/19
UTEP in Austin 9/26
I guess the good news is that they at least tried to upgrade it:
Texas unsuccessful in effort to beef up non-conference schedule
By Kirk Bohls
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Texas' nonconference football schedule is booked up through the 2014 season, but the Longhorns recently considered a change in this year's slate with a potential date against Wisconsin and will explore the possibility of playing Notre Dame again, a Texas school official said Wednesday.
At the behest of ESPN, Texas had agreed to shift its game against Central Florida, set for Sept. 19, to a future year and substitute Wisconsin onto this year's schedule, but the schools couldn't arrange a return date to Madison, Wis., until 2013 and the proposal died.
"Every year ESPN throws out potential games to play in its September window," said Butch Worley, Texas' senior associate athletic director who handles the football scheduling. "They threw out several options. Some of them were attractive; some of them were not so. None of them materialized. Wisconsin was one of the names on the list."
The Longhorns' nonconference schedule remains unchanged; they'll play Louisiana-Monroe, Central Florida and Texas-El Paso at home and at Wyoming this season.
A series with Notre Dame is a possibility for a future season, Worley said.
"We'll probably roll something out there in their direction," Worley said. "We'd certainly think about it. We're not (officially) talking, but they have a new athletic director, and it's probably something we'll explore. But it probably will not be for seven, eight or nine years out."
Notre Dame associate athletic director John Heisler said no games with Texas are currently in the works. A date to play Baylor in the Dallas area was prevented by a Big 12 television contract rule.
Previously, Texas had tried to schedule Notre Dame, but the Irish wanted a marquee game in October or November and the Longhorns preferred dates in September.
If Texas-Notre Dame is scheduled, it could be played at the universities' home stadiums or at neutral site, such as the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington, Worley said. "We'd probably look at either option," he said
UT begins a two-year series with UCLA in 2010 and another with Ole Miss in 2012. After facing Arkansas in Austin this season, the Longhorns owe the Razorbacks a return trip, and that has been set for 2014.
Texas' less-than-attractive nonconference slate next fall could hurt it in the Bowl Championship Series standings. Last year, though, Texas' strength of schedule ranked 14th nationally in USA Today's Sagarin ratings, largely on the merits of the strength of the Big 12.
That might have been bolstered if a three-game series with Utah had not fallen through. Texas and Utah had a "letter agreement" in 2000 on a series that would have played two games in Austin in 2007 and 2009 with an away game in Salt Lake City in 2008.
"Before we got to the formal contract phase, Utah decided not to do it," Worley said. "They indicated they'd rather not play."
Utah finished 13-0 as the only unbeaten Division I-A football team in the country and was No. 2 behind BCS champion Florida in the final Associated Press poll. The Utes might have benefited from a game with Texas, because their strength of schedule was 56th, according to Sagarin. Texas and Utah have not talked about any dates since.
I love this part...can't wait for spring football to start again.
Spring dates set
The Longhorns will return to the practice fields on Feb. 27. Their spring scrimmage is set for Sunday, April 5. Teams are allowed 15 spring practices.
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T2 proved this year out of conference didn't matter at least in the computers; they got to numero uno playing two 1AA teams and the Smu and if you can get to #1 playing that embarrassing Globetrotters schedule.. anyone can get to #1.. again SoS means nothing in the computers
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Originally Posted by TrojanHorse
T2 proved this year out of conference didn't matter at least in the computers; they got to numero uno playing two 1AA teams and the Smu and if you can get to #1 playing that embarrassing Globetrotters schedule.. anyone can get to #1.. again SoS means nothing in the computers
So, this year, we play four 4 - 8 teams up front to go along with the three conference teams that had losing records last year. That's 7 out of 12 games against losing teams from last year. Man, if we don't win those other five, Texas is toast as far as the MNC is concerned. What a year not to have 10 - 3 Rice on the schedule. LOL
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bizarre schedule change for Texas/ TT
Well, Longhorn athletics announced yesterday that the Texas Tech game, formerly scheduled for November 7th, will be switched to September 19th. The Central Florida game will be moved to November 7th.
I guess it's not so bizarre considering that television $$ seems to demand these kinds of accommodations, but if I was Texas Tech I would rather play Texas later in the year than earlier in the year, especially after losing both Harrell and Crabtree. I mean, it's not like the Red Raiders will be the sisters of the poor by any stretch of the imagination, but if I was coaching to win against Texas, I'd want a few more games under my belt.
But, then, I'm not a pirate either. Argh, matey!
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Guys...I don't think I'm going to make it another 52 days. If it wasn't for College Football Classic games, I might have swooned before this. LOL.
Ya know, I really don't understand that. Mr b1513 watches that station all the time. You already know what happens and who wins. He says it's the plays that he's watching.Huh? To me it's the score. He reads coaches playbooks too (and he's not a coach). Go figure!
