What can be said about this year's college football season?  From coach firings to at least four different number one teams in the country, this season has been about as predictable as a Bill Belichick offense.  We've seen the dismissal of Tommy Bowden, Tyrone Willingham, and Phil Fulmer from their respective head coaching perches.  With major college programs cleaning house, many in the media have turned on the crosshairs attempting to speculate about who is next.  With that in mind, here's a rundown on who is on the hot seat and just how secure their job is/isn't. 

Tommy Tuberville



There is perhaps, no other coaching seat as red hot as Coach Tuberville's.  Despite having been able to string 6 straight victories over arch-rival Alabama, an SEC Championship, undefeated record in 2004, and solid recruiting classes year in and year out, many speculate that Tuberville's tenure with the Auburn Tigers is coming to a close.  Many fans in Auburn have been calling for Tuberville's head for years now and after posting an abysmal 5-6 record after being in the pre-season top 15, the writing may be on the wall.  If he can't beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl, he'll probably be gone.  The biggest question is who could they get that's better?  Will Muschamp's name had been among the top choices to replace Tubs but that won't be the case now that he's been announced as Mack Brown's eventual replacement at Texas.  In ten seasons at Auburn, Tuberville is 84-38 overall.  He has not had a losing season since his first at Auburn in 1999.

Charlie Weis



Most folks thought that Charlie Weis would usher in a new era for Notre Dame football and return the program to the dominance it once enjoyed on the college football stage.  After his first two promising seasons and loads of talent coming in from recruiting, Weis barely manged to win three games in 2007 and is sitting at 6-4 in 2008.  While managing to put together a bowl eligible season, the Irish have dropped all their games against opponents that mattered including Michigan State, North Carolina, Pitt, and Boston College.  With a matchup against USC coming, it's not going to get any easier for Weis and company either.  They are looking at a 7-5 record when the smoke clears.  Most likely 7-6 after the bowl game.  Overall Weis' record with the Irish is 28-19.  It's pretty safe to say that Weis will be given at least one more year to get Notre Dame back on track.  He's winning on the recruiting trail and now needs to translate that to wins on the field.

Rich Rodriguez



In Coach Rodriguez's first year with the Wolverines, he's managed to make history.  For the first time in 35 years, the Wolverines will not make it to a bowl game.  Having posted losses to Michigan State, Purdue, and Notre Dame this season, perhaps their most embarrassing loss came at the hands of Toledo from the MAC.  While Ball State has been an impressive team in the conference, a loss to 2-8 Toledo was simply unacceptable.  Not only that, but recently the coach managed to alienate fans by telling them to simply "get a life" in regards to thoughts on the upcoming Ohio State matchup.  While only his first year as the Wolverines coach, the fans and people close to the program have already decided that Rodriguez is just not a match for Michigan football.  It is highly likely that his first season in Ann Arbor will be his last.

With all this in mind, in our tough economy, the programs and coaches above find themselves in dire straits.  With the fast success of coaches like Urban Meyer and Nick Saban in recent years, these elite programs are no longer willing to wait the time it takes to build a program.  Certainly in Notre Dame's case, Weis has not gotten it done on the field in what many view as ample time to turn things around.  I can't recall a season in recent history where we've seen so many head coaching changes in the college game.  And they said Alabama fans had unrealistic expectations. 




 

Coach Saban gets fired up about this weekend's game against Mississippi State in the closing comments on his weekly radio show.  Sounds like he is ready for this week's matchup.  I know all the know-it-alls in the world sit back and say, "oh they should beat Mississippi State handily if they're a title contender."  Those are the same folks that don't watch SEC football every weekend.  Nothing comes easy.  Nick Saban knows it.  Watch and see:

All of the talk radio folks down here in good ol' Alabama kept talking about one thing all week.  LSU was going to put 8 in the box and force Alabama's QB, John Parker Wilson, to beat them.  Guess what?  He did it...twice in one game.  All the credit can't go to him of course.  Rashad Johnson had 3 interceptions one of which was returned for a TD.  That being said, the vaunted Alabama defense did show some holes in the armor.  They allowed LSU to run all over them knowing full well that all LSU would be able to do would be to run since they didn't have confidence in their freshman QB. 

So, they wanted to make Wilson beat them.  They got their wish.  With time ticking out in the 4th, Wilson made a dazzling run to the end zone that should have been a touchdown.  That would have been the nail in the coffin.  The play got called back due to a bogus holding call against Andre Smith.  Tiffin's field goal is blocked and just like that, they go to overtime.  In overtime, Johnson got his 3rd interception of the day giving Bama the ball back.  Score and go home. 

John Parker Wilson made a tremendous throw to Julio Jones who caught it bringing up first and goal.  A couple of snaps later, Wilson goes into the end zone again, sealing the deal.  They wanted to see if this kid could beat them and he did. 

Now, maybe all the LSU fans and pundits will shut up about how Bama doesn't deserve to be the number one team.  We beat them on their turf.  Still think we're a weak BCS Championship contender? 

I suppose the true tale of the tape will be when we go to Atlanta and play Tebow and the Gators.  Even though they won, the Tide looked bad at times.  Some early miscues could have cost them the game.  All season, they'd played near flawless football.  They made plenty of mistakes in this game.  While they escaped, don't look for those mistakes to repeat themselves once Saban gets hold of the game tape and breaks down every nuance to the players. 

This was a hard fought victory.  LSU showed up hungry for this one.  Fortunately for Bama, they came up short in the end.  Let's see how this plays out.

The Pistons haven't won a title since the 2003-2004 season.  While they've been contenders in the Eastern Conference every year since, they've been unable to make the jump to the NBA Finals since losing in the 2004-2005 series to the Spurs.  Since then Miami, Cleveland, and Boston have represented the East on the game's biggest stage.  Just a couple of weeks into the season, Joe Dumars decided a change was necessary.  They shipped off Chauncey Billups to Denver in return for Allen Iverson.  The question is, can "the answer" actually be the answer for the Pistons?

Billups was really the key to the Pistons' success over the past six seasons.  He was the floor general and "quarterback" that kept the team moving forward.  So, one has to wonder what Dumars and the Pistons front office was thinking in this trade.  Sure, money was probably part of the issue, but Dumars and co. wanted to get that other component to get them back to the championship.  I personally don't think Iverson is the answer that the Pistons need.

Billups was a leader on the floor.  A pure point guard with a deep understanding of the game and Detroit's system.  Iverson comes in as more of a pure scorer who has been forced to play point guard through a lot of his career.  Iverson is not a leader.  Is he a great player?  Absolutely.  He will go down as one of the game's greatest, but he is not a leader.  So, what happens now?  I would really like to see Iverson win a title before he hangs up his sneakers.  Can he do it in Detroit?  I'm not sure.  I think he stood a good chance of it had he stayed in Denver playing alongside Carmelo Anthony.  One could argue that he has a better chance in Detroit and I think they'd be right in that argument....if he was playing alongside Billups.  As his replacement, I'm not so sure.

Saturday afternoon, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide will go on the field to defend their number 1 ranking for the first time since 1980.  Yes, Alabama finished the 1992 season as the consensus number 1 but never played a game with that ranking during that time. 

I've noticed a lot of people in the media seem to think that Alabama is a weak number 1.  It's sort of a bitter irony.  This happens just about every time Alabama is ever ranked highly in the polls.  Somehow the same media who calls them a weak top team still vote them highly in the rankings as long as they keep winning no matter how close the margin.  These same people in the media seem to think that the Crimson Tide will go down to Baton Rouge this weekend and lose.  I think these media elites may need to be brought back down to earth.

First, there is the fact that LSU has really only played two tough teams in Florida and Georgia.  They lost both of those games by wide margins.  They dropped the game to the Gators 51-21.  Recently they were beaten at home, by Georgia 52-38.  Alabama defeated Georgia on their own turf quite easily earlier this season.  Florida dropped a game, at home I might add, to the Ole Miss Rebels, whom the Tide also handled.

Second, Les Miles is a joke of a coach.  Everyone in the college football world knows it.  He's managed to win at LSU much in the same way as Larry Coker did in the early part of his tenure at Miami.  Last year, the last group of Saban's recruits left LSU.  Now, Miles is forced to play with his guys.  His lackluster play calling in the past has been over shadowed by the talent he's had on his squads.  That is no longer the case.  Les Miles now has to face the music.  While his job isn't on the line, this season, it will surely be a sign of things to come. 

Third, I'd like to point out the fact that Alabama's defense is one of the best units in the nation.  In all 9 of their games this year, they've only trailed once all season.  That was to Ole Miss in the first quarter and lasted just 75 seconds.  They have led their opponents all season.  Sure, some teams have had some good comebacks against them, but all have fallen short so far.

I don't know if Alabama has what it takes to run the table.  They are starting 16 true freshmen from that number 1 recruiting class.  They don't have the depth that these other teams have thanks to the NCAA sanctions and recovering from those years.  They have had some things go their way this season without doubt.  Good defense, good ball carrying, and a little luck have gone a long way in helping the Tide get out to 9-0.  That being the case, they are not a joke.  They are the number 1 team in the nation because they earned it.  Don't be so quick to dismiss them against an inferior coach who hasn't been able to get it done this year against the tough competition. 

Alabama is for real and they will prove that to the nation Saturday afternoon.

Kickoff: 2:30 PM CST, Baton Rouge, LA

All-Time Record: Alabama leads the series 43-23-5, Alabama leads in Baton Rouge 24-8-2.