The good folks at Maxim Magazine have complied a pretty damn good list of the worst preseason #1 teams in college football history. Enjoy.

5. University of Pittsburgh, 1982
Finished: 9-3 (AP No. 10)
Pitt enjoyed its greatest success ever under coach Jackie Sherrill, finishing 11-1 in each of the previous three seasons. Still, there evidently wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that, after he fled for Texas A&M to become the highest paid coach ever, Pitt and its senior QB Dan Marino wouldn't miss a five-step drop. Out went Sherrill, in stepped the legendary Serafino "Foge" Fazio... right into the steaming pile of Pitt's first three-loss season in four years. AP voters are worse than values voters.

4. Penn State, 1997
Finished: 9-3 (AP No. 16)
For a team boasting football's second all-time winningest coach, the Nits sure have had trouble commanding respect under Joe Paterno. They have two national titles, but also finished undefeated four other times without as much as a cake fart of title consideration. So being tabbed No. 1 heading into 1997 - a first in the school’s history - was special... for the three teams that beat them by a combined 76-28. Penn State is the only preseason No. 1 in the last quarter century to lose more than two games. The previous one? Right this way...

3. Auburn, 1984
Finished: 9-4 (AP No. 14)
Under coach Doug Barfield, the Tigers shambled to a 29-25-1 mark, their worst span in 30 years. Enter: the legendary Pat Dye, who, in just his third season, led AU to an 11-1 mark and an SEC championship. So, with Bo Jackson a Heisman candidate and Auburn the national favorite the following preseason, what did the fickle fingers of fate do? It poked Dye right in the eye, with back-to-back losses to open the season, the most L's by a preseason No. 1 since 1964, and a finish in the Liberty Bowl, the Khloe Kardashian of the college postseason.

2. University of Mississippi, 1964
Finished: 5-5-1 (unranked)
When you think of the words "football power" (or the words "employable workforce," for that matter), Ole Miss isn't the first school that comes to mind. But the Rebels do have to their credit six SEC Championships, the last of which convinced pollsters that this was their year. And if Mississippi had only fought its schedule as hard as it fought segregation, it would have been. The Rebs won back-to-back games just once, beat just two conference opponents, and lost to arch rival Mississippi State, which finished 4-6.

1. Notre Dame, 1950
Finished: 4-4-1 (unranked)
No preseason No. 1 has ever finished with a losing record, but damned if the Fighting Irish didn't try. ND won the national championship just a year earlier, so its ranking in college football's first-ever preseason poll was hardly unjustifiable. Nope, there would be no blaming pollsters this time - the Irish played just two teams that finished with winning records, and they still couldn't break .500. To be fair, a contract dispute kept Jesus out of the first half of the season.

View the original post or comment on The Worst #1 Ranked Teams in History...

If you subscribe to the notion that the sports writers are too biased and the coaches don't give enough time to their poll, then the college football bloggers blogpoll is right up your alley.

2008 College Football Preseason Blogpoll

1 Georgia (24)
2 Ohio State (17)
3 Southern Cal (15)
4 Oklahoma (6)
5 Florida (14)
6 Missouri
7 LSU (2)
8 Clemson
9 West Virginia
10 Auburn

Check out the full poll results and support info at mgoblog.

View the original post or comment on 2008 Preseason Blogpoll...

So you guys know *so* much about college football, eh? Well, here's your chance to put your money where your mouth is, big boy.

Join the Fanblogs College Pick Em group at Yahoo and get ready for a season-long show down!!!

Group ID#: 15797
Password: fanblogs

We'll post the updates weekly, giving props to the top ten pickers!

Hurry.... this group is limited to the first fifty members and the first games are just eight days away!!!

View the original post or comment on Join Fanblogs College Pick Em!...

From the "hmmm, that's damn curious" department, Florida State has scheduled a 2010 game against Samford.

Samford... not Stanford. Samford... as in Homewood, Alabama. Samford.

Sullivan, speaking at the Samford Business Network Birmingham Meeting and Breakfast at the Harbert Center, told the sold-out audience that agreements have been reached to play at Florida State in 2010 and Auburn in 2011.

OK. So FSU (and Auburn) have scheduled a cupcake in 2010. That's not exactly news, though, right?

But FSU's 2010 game against Samford has several interesting angles:

- FSU coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher played college football for... Samford.

- FSU coach Bobby Bowden began his legendary coaching career as head coach of... Samford.

- Fisher began his coaching career as an at assistant coach at... Samford.

- And the last year before Fisher is contractually bound to take over for Bowden? 2010

This could all be an incredible coincidence, but... cmon. There are plenty of cupcakes on the list for FSU to schedule before you get down to... Samford.

Could this nostalgic game signal the Bobby Bowden's retirement? Only time will tell.

View the original post or comment on FSU's future schedule hints at Bowden retirement?...

Fall is here and the rapidly approaching start of the CFB season also brings the excitement of the second favorite part of the CFB season behind the actual game.

Tailgating. Pre-game. Post-game. And if you don't have a ticket, even during the game.

From lawn chairs with a cooler and a bag of chips to oversized RVs and air conditioned tents with satellite fed big screen plasmas and gourmet noshing; these fall rituals are limited only by imagination and budget. The parties on some campuses can spread for miles in all directions from the stadium. Many serious tailgaters will arrive days before to begin their set up for the Saturday game and not leave until the Sunday after.

With this all rapidly approaching, lets have a little tailgating open talk.

I'll start.

Best tailgates not at your campus?

Personally, I'll call LSU hands down. Nothing compares. Nothing.

Personal traditions?

We're starting a new one this year. Matching the "main course" with a traditional dish related to the opponent for the week. For example, for Week One versus Hawaii we'll be munching on fried Spam sammiches. Just kidding, it's actually Pineapple Baked Ham.

Favorite tailgating games?

Well, while Cornhole and tossing the football are always popular around our tent; my personal favorite is the three rounds of Flip-Cup that starts an hour prior to kickoff.

What say you? Leave your tailgating stories, tips, traditions and ideas below.

View the original post or comment on Soundoff: Best Tailgating Experience?...

With the 2008 Preseason Coaches Football Poll and 2008 Preseason AP Football poll in the books for the upcoming football season, it's time to drill down a little deeper into the polls and determine where the nation's top ranked college football teams stand in the eyes of the poll voters.

To get a better feel for where teams really stand in the eyes of the poll voters, we'll look at the actual poll ranking, and then the highest and lowest ballot positions for each of the top teams.

A couple of *very* interesting notes jump off the page:

- Not everyone is drinking the Florida Gatorade. That said, the poll votes do not vary as widely for UF as they do for some of the top ten teams. For example, WVU is all over the map.

- Despite their lower initial rankings, both USC and Oklahoma do not seem to face the inital doubts that poll voters have with Ohio State, as represented by the Buckeyes broader standard deviation. While the USC/tOSU game should answer a lot of questions, a loss could put the Bucks well into the lower top ten or high teens.

- Without even having an opportunity to get in sync, it appears that "group think " has set in re: Auburn - very even distribution with the votes.

UPDATE

By request, the complete list who votes in the AP poll and the ballots of the AP voters.

View the original post or comment on Beyond Polls: Where do the top teams stand?...

Hey, look at that... it's 900,007 degrees outside and Amazon is having a sale on NCAA sweatshirts.

If you're looking for logo'd hoodies to get ready for fall football, today might be your lucky day.

View the original post or comment on Public Service Announcement: NCAA Sweatshirts...

Ok, this is the place to decide once and for all:

What measure is the best indicator of the strength of a team or conference?

Please feel free to use examples to emphasis the merits of your benchmark. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO APPLY IT TO CURRENT TEAMS AT THIS TIME!! The place for that is here

The benchmarks that can be applied at anytime will be re-examined after the first BCS standings come out. They will all be covered again after the season.

Some ideas:
Massey's College Football Comparison.
Won-loss record
Opponent's won-loss record
Wins vs top 25 teams

Conference:
BCS computer's Z-score average
OOC BCS Record
OOC BCS Average Score
OOC BCS Opponent's Record
OOC record vs teams with winning records
OOC opponent's record
OOC top 25 wins to OOC FCS losses

Frankly I have not been to creative here. I want new ideas, but I want to establish the criterion before a single play has begun.

View the original post or comment on Benchmarks...

It is apparent that there is an elephant in the blog and we need to address the issue before the season starts. Maybe I just like swinging baseball bats at hornets nets.

For this thread the h policy will be temporarily suspended. This immunity shall be revoked for anyone questioning the h policy in any manner what-so-ever.

Once the season starts, for all comments related to this thread and subject to the h policy, the h policy shall be modified to include a link to this page. Indeed, all comments related to this thread with no disclaimer in the tread being commented on will generally be subject to the h policy.

Which conferences should/should not be BCS conferences and why?
Which teams deserve a promotion to a BCS conference and why?

Shortly a thread will be created to determine which benchmarks best measure the performance of a conference. A thread will be created after the BCS polls are first released and after the season to examine the results of this season relative to the established benchmarks. These threads will be the only ones to reopen this discussion. If you have anything to say on this topic now is the time to say it.

All statements should be backed up with metrics and numbers based on the metrics used. Be ready to have your methodology shot down. Everyone remain calm. Very different views from our own will be expressed. At the end of the day we will all agree to disagree.

To start the conversation I will express two measures of conference strength.

BCS Computers:
Using the 4 BCS computers that provide a conference comparison it is possible to generate a composite ranking of the conferences. A poll like ranking loses much of the information available. Here the raw data is converted to a z-sore for each computer ranking using only the conferences listed. For each conference the values below represent the average z-score of the four programs.

SEC: 1.08
PAC 10: 0.98
BIG 12: 0.87
Big East: 0.70
ACC: 0.58
BIG 10: 0.54
MWC: -0.11
C-USA: -0.93
WAC: -1.04
MAC: -1.29
Sun Belt: -1.38

I have been running similar results in the past. Historically the Big 10 is usually closer to 0.90. The ACC is the most variable, ranging from 0.3 to 0.90. The Big East ranges from 0.3 to 0.7. Non BCS conferences occasionally break 0.3. C-USA, WAC and MAC usually end up higher than this. The gap between BCS and non BCS was unusually large last year.

This result strongly supports the statement that the BCS conferences are properly identified.

This afternoon I revisited a methodology I first thought of at the end of last year using only the BCS standings. If two teams differ by 1 spot across the board this equates to a difference in the BCS standings of 0.04. Teams closer than this are close in the BCS standings. Replacing each team with the conference they represent and using a baseball like games behind to measure the difference in schedule allows one to determine.

Hawaii and Florida had a difference of 0.0335 making them close in the standings. 12-0 is three games ahead of 9-3. The SEC is three games ahead of the WAC based on these teams.

For each conference, taking the average games behind of all its close rankings gives a measure of the strength of each conference compared to those it is close to. Like baseball all results are given in terms of games behind the leader.

I fudged this by hand last spring, using the final polls and computer rankings to estimate what a final BCS standing would look like after the Bowls. Here I broke out Excel to actually solve the equations using iteration on the pre bowl standings. The results surprised me.

PAC 10: --
SEC: 0.08
Big 10: 0.62
Big 12: 0.83
Big East: 0.86
ACC: 0.93
C-USA: 0.98
MWC: 1.67
WAC: 2.56
MAC: N/A
Sun Belt: N/A

These are determined pre-bowl and don't reflect Ohio States loss to LSU or the ASU loss to Texas, among other significant Bowl Games. The post bowl approximation moved the PAC 10 to .5 behind the SEC, the Big 10 with the ACC, and C-USA with the MAC and Sun Belt.

Also the Big East, C-USA and the MWC are determined by only two close spots, making them less precise. For C-USA I would argue they are a bit inflated. This data does support the idea that C-USA is closer to making the jump than the MWC.

C-USA playes higher caliber BCS teams OOC than the MWC or WAC and this shows up here, as well as the loss column.

Indeed an expanded MWC, with Boise State and Fresno State, may narrow this gap. When these teams play each other they will accumulate more losses. The likelihood of these going undefeated, or even having a 10 win season, would be traded for a higher result if it happens. The final expected ranking would remain the same unless play on the field is improved. Expansion increases the variability of these teams allowing them to attain a better maximum.

As a final note: I am not fair. I am biased towards the non BCS conferences and teams.

Let the analytical swarms begin!

View the original post or comment on Who's who amongst BCS conferences....

This thread considers he benefit for the MWC should it choose to expand. The expansion considered involves three teams, Boise State, Fresno State and Houston. This would give the MWC TV markets in Houston and a larger fan base in California.

Why these teams:
Boise State has the inside track on any MWC expansion and owns the Idaho market.

While San Diego is significantly larger than Fresno, the Bulldogs carry a greater percent of their market and have a greater name nationally than SDSU. The argument is stronger with regards to San Jose State.

This would give six teams in the western division, Boise State, BYU, Fresno State, SDSU, UNLV and Utah. To be geographically aligned they would need another team for the eastern division. Tulsa and Houston both are good options but Houston brings more TV dollars. The eastern division would be Air Force, CSU, Houston, New Mexico, TCU and Wyoming.

While the scale may be tipped towards the western division at this time these things tend to balance out with time. Also remember the PAC 10 could expand and weaken the western division. Replacing BYU and Utah with Nevada and San Jose State balances these divisions nicely.

Why it makes sense:
12 teams for a championship game while expanding the California and Texas markets definitely show the money is there. A contract with CBS for the championship game would benefit the conference more than holding it on the mtn., like they do with the Holy War. The conference could easily pick up 2 bowl slots that followed the teams to their new conference.

The best reason to expand is that it could break the BCS glass ceiling. The MWC and to a lesser degree the WAC have recently challenged the BCS conferences while the ACC and to a lesser degree the Big East have recently struggled in the BCS. Adding these three teams could tip the scales for the MWC. By expanding preemptively the MWC could increase its chances of becoming a BCS conference before it is forced to respond to an expansion by the PAC 10.

Three benchmarks will be used here to measure the strength of these conferences. The first is the number of ten win teams in these conferences for the last three years. The second is the record of each conference against 10 win teams from other conferences for the last three years. The third is performance in BCS bowls of the teams each conference would have in this scenario. I use three years to avoid charges of homer bias by excluding Utah’s 2004 season.

10 win teams in the last three years:
ACC: 6 (BC, VT; WF, BC, VT; VT)
Big East: 6 (WV, Cincinnati; Louisville, Rutgers, WV; WV)
Expanded MWC: 7 (Boise State, BYU; Boise State, BYU, Houston, TCU; TCU )

Expanding this to 9 wins would give the ACC a slight lead. In this benchmark the expanded MWC is comparable to both the ACC and Big East.

Record against 10 win teams from other conferences:
ACC: 4-18
2006: BC vs Central Michigan, BC vs BYU, Miami (FL) vs Houston
2007: Virginia Tech vs West Virginia

Big East: 4-8
2007: USF vs UCF, WV vs Oklahoma
2006: Louisville vs Wake Forest
2005: WV vs Georgia

Expanded MWC: 3-20
2006: Boise State vs Oregon State, Boise State vs Hawaii, Boise State vs Oklahoma

When looking at games against top teams over the last three years the Big East is clearly the best of these three conferences. The ACC has a slight lead on the expanded MWC. It was an eye opener for me to see how the MWC has not played as well against top teams as I had thought. They need to play top BCS teams, not the middle of the pack to improve this benchmark. Boise State and Fresno State are already doing this.

All time BCS Performance:
Current ACC: 4-10 (2-4)
Current Big East: 3-3
Expanded MWC: 2-0

To catch up with the current ACC the expanded MWC would need to win 2 of its next 12 BCS games. At least one of the ACC’s BCS games featured a game with two of its current members. FSU beat VT in the championship game. Removing this game one could argue the expanded MWC would need to win one out of four National Championship games to be as impressive as the ACC and win one of its next 10 BCS games.

The expanded MWC would need to win one of the next four to equal the Big East’s performance. Any appearance in the championship game would be a level the Big East has not reached since the ACC expanded. Of note is Louisville’s BCS win their first year in the Big East.

Bases on results of teams that actually have made it to the BCS the expanded MWC results are likely to be significantly better than both the ACC and Big East if the Expanded MWC were given an equal number of games.

Conclusion:
The benchmarks used demonstrate that expanding the MWC by adding Boise State, Fresno State and Houston would produce a conference very close in performance to the current level of both the ACC and Big East. Added TV markets, a championship game and increased bowl presence make such an expansion a lucrative proposition to the conference.

A natural conference division, using the Rocky Mountains, exists that maintains the best rivalry games. A back up plan exist for an eventual PAC 10 expansion, replacing the defectors with San Jose State and Nevada.

Indeed, if the expanded MWC became a BCS conference, would a spot as low man on the totem poll in the PAC 10 be as appealing to teams that are already the cream of the crop in a BCS member MWC?

So I ask, should the MWC expand?

View the original post or comment on Should the MWC expand?...

Fresh of the presses from the Associated Press - the 2008 Preseason College Football Top 25.

RANK TEAM RECORD PTS LAST
1 Georgia (22) 11-2 1528 2
2 Ohio St. (21) 11-2 1506 5
3 Southern Cal (12) 11-2 1490 3
4 Oklahoma (4) 11-3 1444 8
5 Florida (6) 9-4 1415 13
6 Missouri 12-2 1266 4
7 LSU 12-2 1135 1
8 West Virginia 11-2 1116 21
9 Clemson 9-4 1105 6
10 Auburn 9-4 968 10
11 Texas 10-3 966 15
12 Texas Tech 9-4 786 22
13 Wisconsin 9-4 771 24
14 Kansas 12-1 707 7
15 Arizona St. 10-3 631 16
16 BYU 11-2 590 14
17 Virginia Tech 11-3 578 9
18 Tennessee 10-4 509 12
19 South Florida 9-4 496 NR
20 Illinois 9-4 483 20
21 Oregon 9-4 366 23
22 Penn St. 9-4 293 NR
23 Wake Forest 9-4 227 NR
24 Alabama 7-6 89 NR
25 Pittsburgh 5-7 85 NR

Others receiving votes:
South Carolina 84, Fresno St. 83, California 59, Utah 53, Cincinnati 44, Florida St. 41, Michigan 36, Boston College 32, Rutgers 32, Michigan St. 21, Boise St. 17, Arkansas 14, North Carolina 14, Connecticut 10, Tulsa 7, UCLA 6, Oregon St. 5, Mississippi St. 4, Virginia 4, Arizona 3, Nebraska 2, Notre Dame 2, Hawaii 1, Washington 1.

First-place votes in parentheses

View the original post or comment on 2008 Preseason AP College Football Top 25 Poll...

Senator Blutarsky says that they have articles in Playboy (who knew?) and that the latest issue outlines the Playboy College Football Top 50 pre-season poll. (Link -- not recommended for workplace)

Playboy 2008 College Football Preseason Poll
Predicted finish in parenthesis

1. Oklahoma (12-0)
2. Ohio State (11-1)
3. Florida (11-1)
4. Missouri (11-1)
5. USC (11-1)
6. Georgia (10-2)
7. West Virginia (10-2)
8. LSU (9-3)
9. Auburn (9-3)
10. Kansas (9-3)
11. Texas Tech (9-3)
12. Arizona State (9-3)
13. Texas (9-3)
14. Wisconsin (9-3)
15. Clemson (9-3)
16. Utah (9-3)
17. Cincinnati (9-4)
18. Virginia Tech (8-4)
19. Arkansas (8-4)
20. Boise State (9-3)
21. Illinois (8-4)
22. Kansas State (8-4)
23. Tennessee (8-4)
24. Oregon State (8-4)
25. Georgia Tech (8-4)
26. BYU (10-2)
27. Arizona (8-4)
28. California (8-4)
29. Rutgers (8-5)
30. Central Florida (8-4)
31. Michigan (7-5)
32. Penn State (7-5)
33. Nebraska (7-5)
34. Oklahoma State (7-5)
35. Colorado (7-5)
36. Purdue (7-5)
37. Connecticut (7-5)
38. Louisville (7-5)
39. Oregon (7-5)
40. Alabama (7-5)
41. Mississippi State (7-5)
42. South Carolina (7-5)
43. Florida State (7-5)
44. UCLA (7-5)
45. Boston College (7-5)
46. Texas A&M (7-5)
47. Miami (7-5)
48. Virginia (7-5)
49. Notre Dame (7-5)
50. New Mexico (7-5)

In honor of Playboys presumptive champion, Oklahoma, we proudly link to Playboy's Oklahoma Sooners model (NSFW) in Playboy's Girls of the Big 12 college pictorial edition (~very~ NSFW).

View the original post or comment on Playboy ranks college football's top 50...

If you're team can't make it to the BCS National Championship game, what bowl do you want for your team?

View the original post or comment on Fanblogs Open Thread...

When was the last time an ACC team won a significant out-of-conference game? That's a really tough question to answer, even for the most dedicated ACC football fans.

The most recent "significant" OOC win turned out not to be all that significant, as Maryland defeated a Rutgers team that -- although ranked in the top ten at the time -- went on to finish the season in fifth place in the Big East.

Suffice to say, it's been a while.

The ACC, which boasts a 1-9 BCS bowl game record in the last ten years, needs to step it up in 2008.

Here are 10 games that will determine if the ACC has returned to the national stage:

1) Florida State vs Florida
For better or for worse, the Seminoles have been the gold standard for the conference. When the Noles are good, the ACC seems to get a fair shake on the national stage. When the Noles are bad, well... the last few years of "ACC in decline" talk should prove my point. This is FSU's best team in four years and -- despite the preseason hype -- the Gators may be ripe for the picking in 2008.

2) USC @ Virginia
No one in the country expects UVa to win, so let's not even go down that road, but it's important for the ACC that the Cavs don't get blown out at home. The ACC matched up pretty well against USC when represented by VaTech, so the Cavs need to do their part and make a game of it.

3) Cal @ Maryland
Cal may very well be a top three team in the Pac10 this season, while the Terps are likely middle of the pack in the ACC, but Maryland gets the Bears at home and needs to show up. The Terps looked bad against Oregon State in their bowl game... so a strong showing this season would help raise the ACC.

4) Va Tech @ Nebraska
A young Hokie team ventures into the sea of red... and ought to be able to pull off a win. Virginia Tech may be favored on the road against an improved Husker team. This would be a solid win for the ACC.

5) Clemson vs Alabama
There's a lot of hype around the 2008 Tigers and the opener on a national stage will be a significant opportunity for the ACC to man up against a middle of the pack SEC opponent. There's no way that the ACC can be taken seriously if the consensus pre-season pick can't knock off Bama.

6) UNC @ Rutgers
North Carolina needs to show it can win on the road, and this OOC matchup should be ripe for Butch Davis and the Tarheels. UNC has been tabbed as a sleeper pick in the ACC and absolutely needs to show up for the Scarlet Knights. This is the type of middle vs middle game that helps define the how the conference stack up at the end of the year.

7) South Carolina @ Clemson
Again, the pre-season pick can't go down to a middle of the pack SEC team, even if it is a rivalry game. Some people think the Tigers could be 11-0 at this point. Regardless, Clemson needs to seal the deal and knock off the Cocks before the ACC can even look for respect.

8) NC State @ South Carolina
Speaking of knocking off the Cocks, NC State will get their shot on the road. Another example of a middle versus middle game. The Pack need to swing this one into the ACC's favor.

9) UConn @ UNC
The defending Big East co-champ gave Wake Forest all it could handle in the bowl game, so UNC will have to be very careful not to look past UConn's lesser reputation. Every game against the Big East is a must win for the ACC to return to credibility and this is no exception.

10) James Madison @ Duke
Let's be honest, I don't expect a whole lot out of Duke this year and neither do you. But the Blue Devils might be able to take new coach David Cutcliffe's system and score a season-opening win. Then again, the Dukes aren't just any FCS team - they're the pick to win the FCS championship. This is going to be a challenging game for the Blue Devils, but its a game that the ACC really needs to win. This is Duke's chance to do its part for the conference.

So there are 10 OOC games that can shape the season and the perception for the ACC. Of course, the conference could rattle off all ten and still manage to blow it in the postseason bowls, but....

What do you think? Where is the ACC going to rank this season? Can the ACC get back into the upper crust or is it another year of being the sixth best football conference?

View the original post or comment on 10 games to decide the fate of the ACC...

I have no idea how this sort of thing makes it in the newspaper, let alone the LA Times....

Each day, it seems, another player shows up at USC football practice with a pained expression and an uncomfortable gait, feet spread wide, stepping gingerly across the turf.

They are victims of an ailment that has swept through the team during training camp, something that coaches refer to as "a skin irritation."

The players call it "jock itch."

While dislocated kneecaps and high ankle sprains draw more attention, Coach Pete Carroll said he has never seen anything like the minor outbreak that caused key players to miss practice Wednesday.

As much as 25% of the team has been affected by the apparent run of tinea cruris, kicker David Buehler estimated. The condition seems to have spread by way of new compression shorts, or tights, worn under their football pants.

The Great Jock Itch Outbreak of 08 has gotten so bad that RB Joe McKnight and WR Travon Patterson actually had to sit out of practice.

"It burns," Patterson said.

I suspect there is no limit to the number of jokes going on in Westwood.

I'm not knocking these guys. There's nothing funny about a bad case of crotch rot, but... doesn't anyone at USC have some Gold Bond and Lotrimin, for crying out loud?!?

View the original post or comment on 25% of USC players have jock itch...