Zone Read: BCS hires media consultants to make it a boatload of money
The Zone Read is your morning college football primer to make you seem like the smartest person at the water cooler even if you're not.
Apparently, Bill Hancock's BCS-positive emails and Facebook posts aren't doing enough for the BCS' image, so the group decided to hire a couple media consultants to help navigate the upcoming changes to college football's postseason.
According to the Sports Business Journal, the BCS is looking at Dean Jordan from Wasserman Media Group and Chuck Gerber, who used to work for ESPN. The two will work with the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame to determine the most financially beneficial postseason plan. Yeah, not the plan that will fairly decide college football's national champion, the one that will make the BCS the most money. Hmmmm, might want to work on that PR strategy.
[ Related: Wetzel: Jim Delany gives stamp of approval to playoff ]
Gerber has ties to the SEC and Jordan has worked with the Big Ten, Notre Dame, ACC and Conference USA.
CBSSports.com reported that the new plus-one playoff format could be worth upwards of $500 million after the various television networks make bids on whatever playoff system is chosen.
Get the man some Grey Goose: North Texas coach Dan McCarney made jokes about using vodka as a cure-all for the stroke he suffered on Feb. 12, but jokes aside, McCarney's experience was one that shook him to the core as the entire left side of his body went numb while he was enjoying a post-workout sandwich.
"I tried to stand up and couldn't," he said. McCarney told CBSSports.com and recalled that he never lost consciousness and remembered most of what happened.
"I knew exactly what was going on," McCarney said. "The first thing I'm thinking is my son [Shane] and wife are right here: Is this it? I'm so emotional for them, not me. I can handle pain. I'm scared for them."
"I've got two daughters," he said of Jillian and Melanie, "and what kept flashing in my head was my family. 'Is this it?' I don't have any practice at [strokes], so I'm not thinking, 'OK, this is one of those strokes. I'll be fine, get some juice, some medication, get on a helicopter and I'll be all right.'
"I had never had a stroke. It was that part that was scary. I was awake and alert. I knew what they were doing and they weren't screwing around."
McCarney, 58, said the ordeal has made him reassess how he goes about coaching the Mean Green this season and delegating duties. But he also knows the kind of football coach he is and that turning down that coaching fire won't be easy, especially as he tries to turn around a North Texas program that hasn't been to a bowl game since 2004.
Now, South Carolina's getting cocky: Steve Spurrier talked a little recruiting with the Atlanta Journal Constitution and said the secret to snagging some of the best talent out of the state of Georgia has been his team's record against some of the major schools in that recruiting area.
"The reason we were able to sign some of the top players in Georgia is because of what we've done the last two years," Spurrier told the AJC. "We've won 20 games. We've beaten Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Clemson. We're 8-0 against those guys the last two years."
Hey, it's true. South Carolina has risen up to be one of the more formidable teams in the SEC and the recruiting is reflecting that with gets like defensive back Chaz Elder, Offensive lineman Joe Harris and running back Mike Davis from the Atlanta area.
[ Related: Big East spring football preview: A league of mystery ]
OMG, Sun Beast could be a reality: As conference membership continues to change, one conference has remained constant in terms of football membership — the Sun Belt. In fact, the only change the conference has undergone is adding Karl Benson as its new commissioner. But even Benson has said the Sun Belt needs to start changing with the times and get into the expansion race before it gets left behind. However, as Adam Sparks points out, the perception of the Sun Belt is negative because it hasn't had much national success in football. So why not change the name? Sun Beast has been a popular suggestion as a merger of the Big East and Sun Belt is one for which we all keep wishing, but what would you name the conference? And be nice.
Sticky notes: Larry Scott is jumping on Jim Delany's coattails and told the New York Times that he also wants a four-team playoff… No more camp cupcake for Washington State players, who are in the midst of the most grueling offseason ever, complete with pirate slang (arggggg!)… Every year we praise a school from putting together an amazing recruiting class, but sometimes those classes just don't work out. Rivals.com's Steve Megargee breaks down the 13 worst recruiting classes in recent memory... N.C. State linebacker D.J. Green has been ruled ineligible for the 2012 season after he tested positive for a banned nutritional supplement.
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