Pac-10 Expansion Round 3: C.R.E.A.M.

(For previous installments on Pac-10 Expansion, visit here and here.)

Round three of Pac-10 expansion talk has us looking at some financial information about the current membership of the conference and the contenders.

The information looked at in this exercise is taken from reports that the colleges and universities across this land submitted to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education. The site "Equity in Athletics Data Analysis" has all of the nasty bits about how much schools spend on athletics.

Time to make some more sausage.

The factors we are examining today for the schools are:
1) Number of players on the football team
2) Operating expenses per player
3)  Expenses by the football program
4) Revenue brought in by the football program
5) Profit/loss by the football program
6) Athletic department revenue
7) Athletic department expenses
8) Profit/loss by the athletic department

The numbers are from the last fiscal year for higher education (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009). Before we go any further, let me post the cautionary note from the OPE:

"Please note that valid comparisons of athletics data are possible only with study and analysis of the conditions affecting each institution"

Everyone got that? Okay?

Great. Here we go:

Pac-10 Financial Analysis 

Once again, it appears that the best fit for the Pac-10 if it were to expand would include some combination of Colorado, BYU and Utah. While their spending habits (especially for BYU and Utah) are more in line fiscally with Washington State than with, say, USC, they are definitely ahead of Fresno State or Boise State with regards to the funds available and funds expended.

Big Ten Expansion Round 2: Television Market Share

In the first round of Pac-10 expansion talks, I posted the reputational academic bonafides of the current Big Ten Schools and their potential new brethern.

In this round, we will look at the television markets that are currently being utilized and what a newcomer would have to offer.

Now, when talking markets, we are going to refer to the specific regional markets for these teams. The market sizes are done based off of data from Nielsen Media Research.

As with the Pac-10 television markets exercise,  note that some markets may contain more than one city. With the Big Ten, the largest market may not necessarily be the city where the school is actually located (see Penn State):

Illinois (Champaign-Urbana/Springfield/Decatur): 84
Indiana (Indianapolis): 25
Iowa (Cedar Rapids): 88
Michigan (Detroit): 11
Michigan State (Lansing/Jackson): 115
Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul): 15
Northwestern (Chicago): 3
Ohio State (Columbus): 34
Penn State (Altoona/Johnstown): 101
Purdue (Lafayette): 191
Wisconsin (Madison): 85

Not a lot of large markets. At least, not as many as the Pac-10. But that's also because of the nature of where the campuses are located and how the conferences evolved.

So let's look at the schools that the Big Ten has an eye on (allegedly):

Missouri (Columbia/Jefferson City): 137

Notre Dame (South Bend/Elkhart): 91
Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh): 23
Rutgers (New York City): 1
Syracuse (Syracuse): 83
Texas (Austin): 48

Now it looks interesting, doesn't it?

If the Big Ten wants to pull in a new market, why not try and tap into the largest market that is still out there in New York City?

Michigan and Penn State have huge alumni bases in the city already, and New York is the unconquered final frontier as far as college football goes.

And if the NFL locks out its players for the 2011 season (and if Rutgers can find the magic of the 2006 season again....)

Pac-10 Expansion Round 2: Television Market Share

In the first round of Pac-10 expansion talks, I posted the reputational academic bonafides of the current Pac-10 Schools and their potential new brethern.

In this round, we will look at the television markets that are currently being utilized and what a newcomer would have to offer.

Now, when talking markets, we are going to refer to the specific regional markets for these teams. The market sizes are done based off of data from Nielsen Media Research.

So, while Oregon games might be shown in Portland, the designated market for Oregon is Eugene.

It's important to note that the Pac-10 has six schools in the top fifteen markets, including two teams in the number two market of Los Angeles, CA. So, obviously, the Pac-10 would probably want to bring in a market with a pretty significant reach.

Also note that some markets encompass more than one city.

First, the Pac-10 schools. Home market in parentheses:
Arizona (Tucson): 66
Arizona State (Phoenix): 12
California (San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose): 6
Oregon (Eugene): 119
Oregon State (Eugene): 119
Stanford (San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose): 6
UCLA (Los Angeles): 2
USC (Los Angeles): 2
Washington (Seattle/Tacoma): 13
Washington State (Spokane): 75

And the potential contenders that I have identified for ascencion to the Pac-10:
Boise State (Boise): 112
Brigham Young (Salt Lake City): 31
Colorado (Denver): 16
Fresno State (Fresno/Visalia): 55
Utah (Salt Lake City): 31

As in round one, it looks like Colorado, Utah and BYU are the front runners after round two, as the Denver and Salt Lake City markets outpace Fresno and Boise.

Sports Aren't Perfect, but They Do Offer Escape

Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan for providing the link to this Newsweek screed by Christopher Hitchens.
In his rant, Hitchens derides international sports for (apparently) breeding conflict and contempt around the world. Hitchens also rails against how sports dumbs down contemporary society and political discourse:

Our own political discourse, already emaciated enough, has been further degraded by the continuous importation of sports "metaphors": lame and vapid and cheery expressions like "bottom of the ninth," "goal line," and who knows what other tripe. Hard enough on the eyes and ears as this is—and there are some cartoonists who can't seem to draw without it—it also increases the deplorable tendency to look at the party system as a matter of team loyalty, which is the most trivial and parochial form that attachment can take.

Oh, and don't forget about how it affects newspapers (which we all know are a thriving institution):
I can't count the number of times that I have picked up the newspaper at a time of crisis and found whole swaths of the front page given over either to the already known result of some other dull game or to the moral or criminal depredations of some overpaid steroid swallower. Listen: the paper has a whole separate section devoted to people who want to degrade the act of reading by staring enthusiastically at the outcomes of sporting events that occurred the previous day. These avid consumers also have tons of dedicated channels and publications that are lovingly contoured to their special needs. All I ask is that they keep out of the grown-up parts of the paper.

Well. It's good to know that I am considered a boob and an imbecile because I enjoy watching sports.

Heaven forbid I do nothing but wring my hands about the events of the day.

Look, when I turn on the local news and hear about random murders taking place in my fair city, and that I could lose my job because the school I work for could be closed to try and help stave off a $1 billion deficit in the state, and that the mayor of the city is irrationally insulted because the president slighted our fair city by telling people to not blow their life savings here, guess what?

I want to watch a basketball game to take my mind off of things.

But the notion that sports fosters international conflicts? The absolutely ludicrous notion that it's sports metaphors that have fostered the dumbing down of political discourse in this country?

You, sir, have got to be kidding me.

Do some folks around the world care too much about sports? Absolutely. Look at the man who was killed after the 1994 World Cup for scoring an "own goal" (accidentally scoring a goal against his own team).

Look that the treatment of Steve Bartman, a Chicago Cubs fan who was basically sent to exile because of a mistake he made during the 2003 playoffs.

Look at the countless cases of hooliganism that have taken place in the U.K. because of soccer matches.

Look at the students at Mississippi State University and West Virginia University the last couple of weeks, as these college students have thrown things onto the court during the games.

I will not deny that these acts occur.

But look at the tale told by the recent Oscar nominated movie Invictus.

Look at what the run to the 2001 World Series by my baseball team, the New York Yankees, did to help my hometown forget about the terrible tragedy that occurred.

Heck, I would encourage Hitchens to look no further than New Orleans for an example of how sports can heal a community that has suffered a horrible tragedy.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina stuck the Big Easy. The first professional franchise in the city, the New Orleans Saints, had to leave town and became a vagabond franchise. There was talk of the team permanently relocating to San Antonio because there was no way to know if New Orleans was ever going to be rebuilt.
But the NFL was committed to the Saints returning to New Orleans (and the NBA did the same with the Hornets).

The Saints returned to the Superdome on September 25, 2006. Less than 90 seconds into the game, this happened:

The game was essentially over at that point.

Four years later, the Saints won the Super Bowl.

Now, the citizens of New Orleans realize that things are not better just because the Saints are winners. Parts of the city still have not been rebuilt and may never be rebuilt.

But the Saints offer them a chance to spend some time not worrying about how things are. It's an escape, and the win also triggers some civic pride.

That's the power of what sports can do.

The games do sometimes need to be placed in their proper context, Mr. Hitchens, but don't dismiss sports as a simple opiate of the masses.

In order to keep life in balance, we need the not so serious stuff.

Figure Skating is not a sport.

Another Winter Olympics.

Another skating controversy.

This year, it was recently unretired Yevgeny Plushenko complaining that American Evan Lysacek is not the true 2010 Olympic champion because Lysacek did not attempt the difficult "quad" jump during the free skate last night.

Plushenko lost the gold medal to Lysacek by 1.31 points in the labyrinthine figure skating judging formula.

Lysacek, who suffered a broken foot in 2009, didn't have a quad in his program most likely out of fear that his foot would not allow him to perform the maneuver.

Elvis Stojko agrees with Plushenko that Lysacek shouldn't have won last night. (Although calling it "The night they killed figure skating" is a bit much, no?)

However, my larger point is this:

I cannot consider figure skating to be a sport.

Now, I'm not saying that figure skaters aren't athletes. They are. What they do requires tremendous leg strength, endurance, agility, flexibility and balance. In pairs, even more so, because of the lifting that the male half has to perform. They are in excellent physical shape.

But they don't compete in a sport.

Now, before you get your sequins and makeup in an uproar, I feel the same way about any sport where judging plays a role in determining who wins.

I love diving in the Summer Olympics. Not a sport.

Gymnastics? Not a sport.

Snowboard halfpipe is usually a fun watch for a few minutes. Not a sport.

They are athletic competitions.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but to me, a sport is a competition where the winner and loser is decided by the outcome on the actual field/arena of play.

I do make an exception for things like boxing or mixed martial arts, which have judges. But the judging is only used as a last resort. If the match is not taken care of by knockout, submission, withdrawal or disqualification, then we go to the judges to see what they think.

In other words, they are the last line of decision, not the primary determining factor in who wins and who loses.

Appreciate the artistry and skill and talent of the gymnasts, snowboarders, figure skaters and divers who give up precious years of their lives physically and mentally training to be the best in the world in their given discipline. Be astonished by how physically gifted they are and by how athletic they are.

Just don't tell me they participate in sports.

What I learned from the Tiger Woods Event Today

1) That Tiger is a buddhist.
2) That I am a bad person. As soon as he mentioned being a buddhist, my brain immediately started to try and formulate a Caddyshack-esque joke about Tiger and the Dalai Lama playing golf. "Hey, Lama!"
3) It wasn't Elin's fault that Tiger slept with all those women. Um, I don't think anyone blamed her in the first place.
4) "The media" should not stalk his wife and kids because of his infidelity and transgressions. Well, I think that this was a given. Also, we do need to stop treating the media as if it is some monolithic entity. I doubt that golf writers or any sports folks were stalking Elin and the kids. Now TMZ and the other tabloid whores on the other hand....
5) I understand giving a statement. As a MrFowler1282 on Twitter put it: "Tiger had to have a written statement because he had a lot to address. This is not a situation where you can just go out and wing it."
6) He plans to return to golf, but he doesn't know when. He will go back to rehab soon and he'll come back (maybe) later this year.
7) Now that that's over and done with, hopefully I won't hear about Tiger again until he comes back to play.

Why does Skip Bayless hate LeBron James?

I'm posing a general question to the sports blogosphere and social networking communities:

Can someone please clue me in to why Skip Bayless seems to have an abiding hatred of LeBron James?

From what I have been able to gather, he has relentlessly mocked James's game, called him "Prince" (to belittle LeBron's 'King' moniker) and seems to have no regard for how talented James is.

The latest tweet from his account (at 8:14 PDT on 2/18/10), he wrote: "LeBron and Melo put on a terrific show. But one is still Prince, and the other deserves a puppet.

Yes, LeBron has not won a title and probably has been hyped up more than anyone else coming into the association.

But on some level, most guys who have come into the league have been over hyped somewhat.

But there is no question, in my mind, that James is one of the best things to have happened to the sad-sack Cavaliers franchise. If he leaves at the end of the season to sign a deal elsewhere, it very well could kill the heart of Northeast Ohio.

However, I still want to know what LeBron ever did to Skip to earn his eternal hire?

Or is Skip really a hack who takes extreme positions because they make for good theater on ESPN late morning?

Call me when Tiger wants to talk. For real.

Tomorrow morning, at 8am PST, I'll get into my car to go to work and be subjected to the charade of Tiger Wood's comeback press conference.

Scratch that.

It won't be a press conference.

Because an actual press conference is not given to a small, intimate gathering of friends and colleagues that just so happens to have some friendly, cherry-picked press milling about.

At a real press conference, the media in attendance would be allowed to ask questions.

Instead, apparently, Tiger is going to have some people over to the PGA Tour headquarters, serve some tea and crumpets and maybe some Perkins pie and read a statement.

A press conference?

Hogwash.

Back in the aftermath of the accident, I wrote that Tiger should come clean and clarify the events that led to his accident. Set the record straight, tell the whole truth and we all could move on. I was referring simply to the car accident at that point.

The story kept growing and growing as details about his infidelity came out and the list of waitresses and other random assorted women kept cropping up. Crude jokes about Tiger Woods playing 18 holes off the course popped up on social networking sites.

Tiger became a recluse. He may or may not have had plastic surgery. He may or may not have been in Mississippi recently in sex rehab. Sponsors jumped ship. The PGA Tour season started.

Now, with the Accenture Match Play taking place (a former sponsor of Tiger and the first company to bail on him) Tiger decides it's time to come out of the rabbit hole and speak about what has happened to him over the last three months.

I'm sure that those lucky members of the press corps that will be there have to be ecstatic about being granted access to Tiger for this event.

But it's a hollow gesture at best.

I understand it can take some time to truly acknowledge bad things that happen to you.

By not holding a real press conference and staging this managed event instead, though, I don't think you are going to garner much, if any, sympathy.

I know, I know: If he comes back and wins the Masters in April, we will quickly forget all about his adventures of Thanksgiving weekend.

However, I find the need to hold a monologue tomorrow to be a colossal waste of time.

In the aftermath of the accident, he was perfectly okay with just issuing statements through his website.

So why the dog and pony show now?

What could possibly be gained by doing this event this way?

Just release the statement, indicate when you're coming back, and show up at that tournament.

Unless, of course, the statement he reads winds up coming off like this:

Big Ten Expansion Round 1: Academics

Since I had so much fun doing it for the Pac-10, let's run the same drill with the Big Ten.

Parameters are the same as for the Pac-10. Only thing that's changed are the schools involved. For the Big Ten, while there have been a few names tossed about, let's focus in on the six likeliest candidates: Missouri, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Syracuse and Texas.

That's right; Texas.

On with the show. First, the current residents of the Big Ten (11):

Illinois:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 39 (highest ranking number assigned—128)
Enrollment: 40,687

Indiana:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 37,821

Iowa:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 28,442

Michigan:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 27
Enrollment: 39,533

Michigan State:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 44,836

Minnesota:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 61
Enrollment: 50,954

Northwestern:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 12
Enrollment: 17,747

Ohio State:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 53
Enrollment: 50,995

Penn State:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 47
Enrollment: 41,289

Purdue:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 61
Enrollment: 40,108

Wisconsin:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 39
Enrollment: 40, 455

Average ranking for the Big Ten: 50.1
Average enrollment: 39, 352

And now, on to the contenders for that coveted one spot:

Missouri:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 102
Enrollment: 27,003

Pittsburgh:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 56
Enrollment: 26,731

Notre Dame:
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 20
Enrollment: 11,479

Syracuse:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/High Research Activity (RU/H)
US News National Ranking: 58
Enrollment: 18, 247

Rutgers:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 66
Enrollment: 34,696

Texas:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 47
Enrollment: 50,377

Interesting, no?

It would seem that Texas is a good fit after all academically. Out of the group, Missouri would appear to be the weak link in the chain, as their US News ranking is significantly higher than anyone else on this list.

Academically, while not part of the AAU, Notre Dame has exemplary academics.

But as I've said before, there is more to this than just academics.

Pac-10 Expansion Round 1: Academics

So now that the call has gone out from Pac-10 commish Larry Scott that the Pac-10 will be looking into expansion by two members over the next 12 months or so, I thought it would be fitting to jump on the bandwagon and see who the most likely candidates are.

Immediately, because this is football driven, the most likely candidates that came to mind for most folks were BYU and Utah. Boise State, Colorado and even Fresno State have been mentioned in some circles as potential targets as well.

Since the Big Ten is also mulling expansion (as I wrote about here), I thought it would be a good time to do some in-depth analysis of the situations.

We'll get to the Big Ten soon. Let's start with some Pac-10 comparisons.

Expansion at this point is being driven by the almighty dollar and by football; conference championship games are viewed as cash cows by the leagues, and as a way to stay relevant and potentially get two teams into the BCS.

Now, I have made no secret of my disdain for the BCS. I even advocated for radical realignment at one point, but that's another column.

The question, for me, that arises outside of the on-the-field impact has to be off-the-field as well. Namely, when the Pac-10 and Big Ten expand, I think that they are going to look for schools that are in the same neighborhood academically.

Remember, the conferences are not only who you play on the field; often, they are the people you collaborate with and compete with off the field and in the classroom, too.

The Pac-10 has a reputation as being one of the stronger conferences academically, so that part of the profile is what we will examine first for these schools.

While the metrics I am about to use are by no means perfect, they can provide us with a portrait of what candidates may fit best for the Pac-10.

I am keeping the list of potential members to the five schools mentioned at the top of this piece; while other schools may get floated out there for consideration, I think that the final applicant pool for these two open positions will come down to these five.

The four things we will look at as we compare the candidates to the current Pac-10 are:

1. Is the school a member of the Association of American Universities?
2. How is the school basically classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (aka "Carnegie Classification", or "What kind of school are you?")
3. What is the school's US News and World Report National University Ranking?
4. What is the overall enrollment of the institution? That includes all students, undergraduate and graduate.

I added enrollment because that gives us an idea of just how big (or small) an institution is with regards to its student body. The US News Rankings are reputational. AAU membership is a badge of some prestige, and the Carnegie Classification focuses on how you teach and research.

So, for the Pac-10:

Arizona:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 102 (highest ranking number assigned—128)
Enrollment: 36,932

Arizona State:
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 121
Enrollment: 49,171

California (University of California-Berkeley):
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 21
Enrollment: 32803

Oregon:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/High Research Activity (RU/H)
US News National Ranking: 115
Enrollment: 20,296

Oregon State:
AAU member: NO
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: Tier 3
Enrollment: 19,193

Stanford:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 4
Enrollment: 18,836

UCLA (University of California-Los Angeles):
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 24
Enrollment: 35,966

USC (University of Southern California):
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 26
Enrollment: 32,160

Washington:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 42
Enrollment: 39,199

Washington State:
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 106
Enrollment: 23,241

Average ranking for the Pac-10: 62.3 (for the 9 ranked schools)
Average enrollment: 30,780

And now, the contenders:

Boise State:
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Master's Colleges and Universities: Larger Programs
US News National Ranking: n/a
Enrollment: 18,332

BYU (Brigham Young University):
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Research University/High Research Activity (RU/H)
US News National Ranking: 71
Enrollment: 34,347

Colorado:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 77
Enrollment: 32,362

Fresno State (California State University-Fresno):
AAU member: No
Carnegie Classification: Master's Colleges and Universities: Larger Programs
US News National Ranking: n/a
Enrollment: 19,781

Utah:
AAU member: Yes
Carnegie Classification: Research University/Very High Research Activity (RU/VH)
US News National Ranking: 106
Enrollment: 28,933

So while AAU membership is not a total barrier to being a member of the Pac-10, I do think that it becomes clear, from looking at some of this information, that BYU, Colorado and Utah are the top three contenders for expansion from an academic standpoint.

But fear not, for we will also look at other factors in the coming days that may influences things in other directions.

A Thought on National Signing Day

I can't be seduced by the coolness.

I refuse to get swept away in the hype and the drama.

Look, I love college football as much as the next person. Even though I didn't grow up watching the sport, I fell in love with it when I set foot on campus 14 years ago.

But this whole National Signing Day frenzy?

It makes absolutely no sense to me.

There are lots of writers that I admire that cover college football and I'm following on Twitter. Most of the action on my CFB Twitter feed today is about National Signing Day and the reports of where kids have faxed their letters of intent.

If someone gets off a good line I'll comment.

But I find it hard to get breathless about where someone is going to school.

I think I'm more of games person. I want to see them play before I have any man crushes develop.

Perhaps it is because my high school didn't have football that I find it hard to feel the excitement.

Maybe it's because I find it hard to get inside the heads of 17-19 year olds, some who flip flop more than a fish on a hot dock.

Or maybe I'm just cynical about the whole industrial complex that, again, is treating 17 to 19 year olds like the second coming for some of these colleges and universities, and continues to cocoon and coddle some (not all) of these kids, sheltering them from the realities of what they truly need to be successful in college and in life.

Okay, enough of my grumpy old man rant.

I'll go back to bitching about the BCS soon enough.

Random thoughts on Lane Kiffin to USC

Every time I think that college football season is over, I find myself getting sucked back in by some major breaking news.

At first, it was the news that Pete Carroll was leaving USC (some would say ahead of the NCAA posse) to take the job as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

Okay, fine. It would leave a gaping hole for USC before next season, but that's life, right? Especially when a coach moves on to the NFL; since their season ends after college football, this is what occurs.

And so after the dust had started to clear and I was almost ready to write my reactions about how he would do in the NFL for this go-round. I think it's too easy to quickly dismiss his potential simply because he flamed out the first two times as coach. See Philips, Wade and Turner, Norval for more on retread coaches finally getting it together in the right circumstances.

But then, news broke last night that Lane Kiffin was bolting the Tennessee Volunteers after one year to head back to USC. He is bringing his dad, Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator, Ed Orgeron as recruiting coordinator and is apparently interested in hiring Norm Chow away from rival UCLA and bringing him back into Troy.

Which is funny, because I thought Norm Chow hated Lane.

Tennessee fans, obivously, are livid about Kiffin leaving. Unsavory things were written on the Rock, and there are pictures available detailing the scene last night in Knoxville over at Rocky Top Talk.

I can understand the rage that UT fans are feeling. And the students on campus, I feel for them as well.

Whoever gets the job will be the third full time head coach for the program in three years. That is a level of instability that no program wants to have ever—but especially not one that had two head coaches in 32 years.

And no matter what, we all have dream jobs. It sucks for Tennessee that Kiffin's just happened to open right now.