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Did Todd Graham make a wise choice?

After just one season at Pitt, Todd Graham left the program of Dan Marino and accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State.

SportsNation

OMG, did he really send a text?

This is not how Graham said goodbye to his players at Pitt. Instead, having already resigned, he sent them a text message.

SportsNation

Can we get a ruling from Lane Kiffin?

Graham isn't the first coach to jump ship after one season (although he's now done it twice after leaving Rice in similar fashion). Is the model also employed by Kiffin OK?

SportsNation

What about June Jones?

Some will say Graham is the second coach Arizona State hired for this opening. It's tough to know exactly what happened to scuttle June Jones' plans, but was he a better choice?

SportsNation

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Not a great deal changed on the field in college football this past weekend, where Oklahoma solidified its hold on No. 1 with a win over Florida State. Off the field? Yeah, about that. It appears Florida State will soon have more company in the ACC after the conference approved Pittsburgh and Syracuse as new members. Is this the biggest domino to fall thus far in conference realignment? More: Rank the Top 25 in college football.


Which school is a bigger prize?

When it comes to January road trips, we're not sure either Pittsburgh or Syracuse is much of a prize, but which school is a bigger addition?

SportsNation

Where does the ACC go from here?

Rumors already are swirling about the ACC adding Connecticut and Rutgers to reach the apparently magical total of 16 teams.

SportsNation

Biggest move to date?

Colorado, Nebraska and Utah are the only schools actually competing in new conferences at the moment, but Pitt and Syracuse joined Texas A&M in securing the blessing of new partners.

SportsNation

What about the bigger picture?

The height of greed and hypocrisy? A fresh look and new rivalries? Much ado about nothing that matters? What's your take on the state of conference realignment?

SportsNation

Which leftovers go bad first?

In addition to rumors about UConn and Rutgers, reports have talks again heating up between the Pac-12 and Texas and Oklahoma.

SportsNation

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We're only a week away from life once again having purpose and meaning. That's right, college football season is a mere seven days away -- or 168 hours or 10,080 minutes, assuming you read this at precisely 6:30 p.m. ET, the time Wake Forest and Presbyterian are scheduled to kick off on Sept. 2 (live on ESPN3.com).

It may not take long for both the Heisman and national title races to kick into gear either. Boise State and Virginia Tech are getting a lot of love for their Labor Day clash, but next Thursday brings Pitt and star running back Dion Lewis playing on the road at Utah.

But is Lewis even the best back in a conference Big East blogger Brian Bennett says may offer unparalleled depth at the position? Check out the tale of the tape.

hh (Destin)

Is Running Back the deepest position in the Big East this year?

Big East blogger Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett

Far and away. Not sure there's a better RB league in the country in '10. Full transcript

Submarine Mike (Jackosnville Fl)

Is Noel Devine a sleeper in the Heisman race and is he a possible late 1st rounder

Mel Kiper
Mel Kiper

I think he is a Heisman candidate. I don't think he's a sleeper. He commands leadership in the lockerroom. He has that explosive first step. Pound for pound, he's the best football player in the country. This is a team that has a chance to win the Big East. Geno Smith is the key. He is the next QB in line. If you look at the defense, all three DL are seniors. The defense would be really good. They have two studs on this defense in Chris Neild and Robert Sands, who is clearly their best NFL prospect. Full transcript

Lynn (Monticello, FL)

Hi Ivan, I like Pitt to win the Big East this season and looking at their schedule I feel they could run the table at having a shot at the National Championship. Your thoughts.

Ivan Maisel
Ivan Maisel

I agree on both counts. The Panthers are ranked high enough at the outset that a climb to the top is plausible. That would be a great story. I pull for the great stories. Full transcript

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Rushing for 1,000 yards as a college player is noteworthy. Doing it twice puts you in a category all your own. In the Big East, 14 workhorses have achieved such a feat and one-third of them come from West Virginia. Put on your college football thinking caps and see if you can name them all by taking the quiz below.


More games from ESPN Arcade »

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It won't be an easy weekend for BCS Cinderellas, even though they're all playing at home. Cincinnati faces No. 25 West Virginia, TCU gets the pressure of GameDay and No. 16 Utah, and Boise State deals with a surprising 7-3 Idaho (and a visiting AD who doesn't like to fly on planes with Broncos markings).

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USC fans still have BCS hope, but know their team can't lose again. Boise State, Cincinnati and Iowa fans wonder what more their teams can do, besides pray for a loss by one of the top 3.

Now that Ohio State has two losses SportsNation thinks Ohio State is using Terrelle Pryor incorrectly. Fans, however, still think Sam Bradford is a first-round pick.

Florida State kicked off Week 8 with a needed win, and Alabama, Florida and Texas face opponents they shouldn't overlook.

Beano Cook

Mark Ingram is a good reason for [Alabama's] passing to be less of a factor. Wait until next year for any shot of a Vols upset.

-- Beano Cook
Florida

I pick Florida to win this game, but to be seen as legitimately No. 1, the Gators should win convincingly, even more so than against Arkansas.

-- IdahoanTyke
Iowa

My ranking: 1. Iowa; 2. Florida; 3. Alabama; 4. Texas; 5. Virginia Tech; 6. TCU; 7. Boise State; 8. USC; 9. Oregon; 10. LSU.

-- CheezusCrust

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ESPN.com's college football writers and bloggers will be going conference by conference in the coming weeks to preview the season ahead, and we're looking for your rankings along the way. Things roll on with the Big East, where blogger Brian Bennett's rankings suggest good things for fans in New Jersey and hope for the reloading West Virginia Mountaineers.

1. Rutgers
2. Pittsburgh
3. West Virginia
T-4. Cincinnati
T-4. South Florida
Check out Bennett's complete Big East rankings.

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Columbia, South Carolina, meet Newcastle, England. You probably have some common ancestors. You both have frequently indecipherable, yet highly amusing, accents. And you both love football, if of slightly different varieties. You've also both been relegated. Sorry about that.

Fortunately for fans of the Gamecocks, their relegation is only hypothetical (longtime Premier League mainstay Newcastle's is more alarmingly real for its fans, who will kick off their season Saturday cheering on their lads against West Bromwich Albion in the Championship, English soccer's equivalent of the old I-AA gridiron designation on this side of the Atlantic).

South Carolina ended up on the wrong side of the cut line when SportsNation voted for the 40 teams that should make up Pat Forde's new and improved top flight of college football. Then again, maybe SportsNation mistakenly let its director of operations cast its vote instead. These things have been known to happen.

Things won't become official until Forde, Ivan Maisel and Mark Schlabach conduct a draft for their 40 teams Tuesday, but here's how things look in SportsNation's relegation zone.

Last Five In: Colorado, Pittsburgh, Utah, Illinois, Oregon State
First Five Out: South Carolina, BYU, Louisville, Kansas, North Carolina

orangebloodmike8

Awesome idea, but how about the winner of the lower division gets thrown in the mix of the national championship. America loves an underdog...

-- orangebloodmike8
JRWambach1983

You just hit everything right on the HEAD! You got it right. Absolutely right. Promotion/relegation in college football would be amazingly popular!! The conferences are dated. Most teams in power conferences don't deserve to be there. Conference championships are TERRIBLE!! I have been boycotting bowl games since I realized that true champions are not crowned in this terrible system. My team is the Indiana Hoosiers, and the NCAA should take a lot of stock in the fact that even I am for this set up 100 percent.

-- JRWambach1983

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