Louisville celebrates Big East championship (raw video)

If there is one thing I absolutely love about covering college football, it is getting a chance to head down to the field for the final moments of a game and witnessing the raw emotion that comes from the thrill of victory. Thursday night I got a chance to do that as Louisville topped Rutgers to win the Big East’s automatic BCS berth, in all likelihood.

Here is how I saw the final moments of the 20-17 Cardinals victory unfold from field level. Some of the video may look a little rough but I managed to do what I could with my trusty little Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera.

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Notre Dame will play for a BCS championship, and somehow we will all survive

The nightmare scenario for many college football fans around the nation has come true. Notre Dame will play for a BCS national championship in January.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o put together a Heisman Trophy worthy season on defense. Getty Images.

It may have taken a while but Notre Dame finally feels as though their approach to college football has been justified. Running an independent football program years after other big name programs decided the time was right to align with a conference has seen more than a fair share of criticism saying the life of an independent is not the way to go and by doing so actually leaves Notre Dame in the dust in terms of national relevance. In the grand scheme of things, perhaps this will be proven to be true, but this season Notre Dame made it work.

Returning to college football’s pedestal was a long and rough road at times for the Irish. Since last capturing national glory in South Bend in the 1988 season Notre Dame has made four coaching changes and even suffered through a 12-year drought without a single bowl victory, a stretch perhaps unimaginable since the Ara Parseghian era.

Through it all Notre Dame watched from South Bend as conference alignment seized control of the game, driven by massive television contracts and exposure for conferences in new, larger markets. Even Notre Dame felt compelled to make some sort of move to protect their entire brand, but independence in football was still a priority. Fortunately for Notre Dame they found a conference willing to work with that philosophy in the ACC.

I hold a certain level of respect for the way Notre Dame chooses to operate their football program. I may find flaws in the logic at times in a world where more money is good and even more money is better, but the traditionalist in me appreciates Notre Dame’s desire to work as an independent in football despite what some may say about their schedule.

At the beginning of this season, before the first kickoff of the year, many of us went down Notre Dame’s schedule and suggested the Irish would be lucky to reach eight or nine wins. I admit I was one of them at the start. Games against Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma and USC were seen by many to be likely losses in August. As it turned out, some of them were still tough match-ups, but Notre Dame showed something they have improving on under head coach Brian Kelly that put this year’s Notre Dame team over the edge.

Defense. … Continue Reading

Wisconsin building a new scoreboard

Via Wisconsin Football Twitter

One of the benefits of Big Ten expansion and on-field success for Wisconsin is having additional funds available to work on some stadium renovations. The two-time Big Ten Leaders Division champions are looking to make it three straight trips to Pasadena to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl (maybe the third time is the charm?), but today we got a glimpse in to a nice little stadium upgrade already underway at Camp Randall Stadium. … Continue Reading

Big Ten Championship Game scenarios for Nebraska, Michigan

With one final weekend in the regular season to play, the battles for the Big Ten’s Legends Division championship will determine who goes to Indianapolis to play in the Big Ten Championship Game. In an odd twist this season, the Big Ten’s Leaders Division champion will not get to play for the Big Ten’s automatic BCS spot, as the Ohio State Buckeyes are serving a postseason ban this season and are ineligible for the championship game and a bowl game.

Even though Ohio State has clinched the outright Leaders Division title this season and can complete an undefeated season this weekend, it will be the Wisconsin Badgers heading to their second straight Big Ten Championship Game. Wisconsin locked up a spot in the championship game a couple of weeks ago, thanks in part to Ohio State and Penn State being ineligible. Wisconsin lost a tough one to Ohio State last weekend and heads to Penn State this weekend looking to build some momentum as they prepare to return to Indianapolis next week.

Figuring out who Wisconsin will face is pretty straight forward. It will be Nebraska or Michigan. … Continue Reading

Pac 12 Championship Game scenarios

UCLA has already clinched a spot in the Pac 12 championship game for a second straight season, and this year they did so without the need for an asterisk. A season after representing the Pac 12 South in the conference championship game because USC was ineligible for postseason play, the Bruins surprised many by winning the outright Pac 12 South Division this season following a home win against rival USC this past weekend.

With UCLA heading to their second Pac 12 championship game, it remains unknown who they will face form the Pac 12 North. As it turns out, UCLA will play a role in determining who they face, and where they face them this weekend when they host Stanford. UCLA could face Stanford or Oregon in the Pac 12 championship game. Here is the rundown on all of the Pac 12 scenarios to sort through this weekend.

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