College Football Rule Changes and You: 2009 Edition

Last year we examined college football's very extensive list of rule changes. This year is less modest (the NCAA hasn't even published a document listing the rule changes, even though the new rulebook is out), but being the person I am I still find it all very interesting. So let's take a look at you need to know.

Again, page numbers reflect the PDF.

• Rule 1-4-3-a (page 34) changes the rules regarding jersey colors, after last year's much publicized shenanigans with USC and UCLA. The rule regarding white jerseys remains the same (that is, if a team wants to wear white at home they must obtain approval from their opponents prior to the start of the season). However, now if both teams want to wear their colored jersies, they may do so if the teams agree before the game and the home team's conference certifies the jerseys are sufficiently contrasting. If the home team jersey rule is violated in any way, it is a 15-yard unsportsman-like after the kickoff. (Violations of the white jersey and other equipment rules is still a timeout.)
• Rule 2-3-6 (page 48) codifies the concept of the "blocking zone", which is 5 yards on each side of the snapper and 3 yards in front and behind him.
• Rule 2-24-1, which defined spearing, was eliminated. It is still against the rules to target an opponent with the crown of the helmet, of course.
  
• Rule 2-33 (page 65) defines the "three-in-one principle" of penalty enforcement. It just goes into detail about from which spots a penalty is enforced relative to the "official spot". Basically, you probably already know this.
• Rule 2-34 defines the "tackle box", which as you know is 5-yards to each side of the snapper and behind.
• Rule 3-2-3 (page 70) clarifies that a period is not extended for penalties that result in a loss of down.
• Rules 3-2-4 (page 71) and 3-3-5 (page 76) say that the play clock should be set to 40 seconds after injury timeouts for the defense.
• Rule 9-1-2-q (page 122) adds grabbing the chinstrap as a facemask foul.
  
• Rule 9-1-4 (page 123) added a provision that once a kicker carries the ball outside the tackle box that he loses his protection under running into/roughing the kicker rules.
  
• Rule 9-6 (page 135) was added to clarify that conferences should review video of all flagrant violations that occur during a game, and gives them the power to levy penalties against players who may have committed flagrant fouls that did not get called. Rule 1-9-1 defines "a flagrant personal foul" as "a rule infraction so extreme or deliberate that is places an opponent in danger of a catastrophic injury."

So not much excitement this year, outside of the jersey color thing. Also worth noting is that this begins the NCAA's two-year cycle for rules, so rule changes will not be considered again until after the 2010 season.

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate, Part 6: SEC

And finally, we wrap up our look at the college football's non-conference scheduling with the Southeastern Conference.

1. Georgia (2.5 legit, 1 DI-AA): @Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Tennessee Tech, @Georgia Tech. It pains me once again to say something good about UGA, but they have recently started to make an effort to schedule some decent teams. Many SEC schools would be content to go with their OOC rival (see: Florida, Kentucky, usually USC) and call it a day, but UGA has not one but two legit OOC opponents outside of GT. Good for them. While it gets a little easier next year I'm surprised they allowed this year to happen at all.
   
2. South Carolina (1.5, 1): @NC State, Florida Atlantic, The Citadel, Clemson. And it immediately starts to go downhill. While the SEC wasn't the lowest rated conference this year, UGA's score does have a strong effect on the average. At any rate, this follows the formulate for the SEC: rivalry game (if applicable), OOC game with school from neighboring or same state, and two patsies, one of which should be DI-AA.
   
3. Alabama (1, 1): N-Virginia Tech, Florida International, North Texas, Tennessee-Chattanooga. I may write an article later on the return of the "kickoff classic" type of game that we all thought died 9-10 years ago, but for now suffice to say I like these types of games, even if this particular series does take place in Tech's backyard. Bama-VPI in particular is a huge deal for both teams. VPI can get on the map and start their darkhorse run for the title with a win, while Alabama can show they haven't lost a step since last year by starting with another whipping over an ACC team. The rest of the schedule, of course, sucks very thoroughly (I may also write an article on Bama paying San Jose State a million bucks to get shallacked next year, we'll see).
4. Mississippi State (1, 1): Jacksonville State, Georgia Tech, Houston, @Middle Tennessee. Miss State makes the return trip to Atlanta, outside of that there's not much to get excited about here unless Houston is decent again.
5. Vanderbilt (1, 1): Western Carolina, @Rice, @Army, Georgia Tech. This is the 5th-ranked schedule in the SEC, and there's only one legit team on here. It only gets a one (along with Miss State) because of our bias towards Tech, otherwise these would probably be ranked much lower. That said, they do get a trip to Rice's historic stadium, which has to be the most diproportionally sized stadium in the country. (The stadium seats 70,000 while the university has a total enrollment of 6,392 which also makes it (along with Vandy and Wake Forest) one of the smallest schools in DI-A, period.)
6. Tennessee (0.75, 0): Western Kentucky, UCLA, Ohio, Memphis. Tennessee avoids a DI-AA team thanks to Western Kentucky's newfound status this year as a full DI-A member, and also gets a return trip from our favorite football trust busters. Outside of that, well, they play Memphis which I guess is sort of interesting.
   
7. Auburn (0.75, 1): Louisiana Tech, West Virginia, Ball State, Furman. Well, good thing WVU is on this schedule. I think the main trend for both teams "What the hell is going on with our program" as I'm pretty sure there are segments of the Auburn fanbase that still think the Gene Chizik hire was some sort of practical joke.
   
8. Florida (0.75, 1): Charleston Southern, Troy, Florida International, Florida State. Two Sun Belt teams, a DI-AA team and a mandatory rivalry game. Your defending national champions, folks! I wonder if in reference to the FIU game Florida people say, "Well, we played a team from Miami this year!"
   
9. Arkansas (0.5, 1): Missouri State, N-Texas A&M, Eastern Michigan, Troy. Arkansas and TAMU are looking at making the their neutral-site get-together in the Cowboy's new intergalactic space palace (which I saw from the air a couple weekends ago, and I'd say it's a pretty accurate description) a regular thing, which I'm totally a fan of. The rest of this schedule, not so much.
   
10. Kentucky (0.5, 1): N-Miami (OH), Louisville, UL-Monroe, Eastern Kentucky. Yes, that is an "N" next to the Miami game, as the game is being played in Cincinatti. My guess it was probably supposed to be the Redhawk's home game in the contract and it was moved there so they could get 50,000+ folks in blue and white there to watch the ceremonial beatdown.
    
11. Louisiana State (0.25, 0): @Washington, UL-Lafayette, Tulane, Louisiana Tech. In fairness, LSU didn't know that Washington would be so terrible when this game was probably scheduled. That said, was UL-Monroe not available? Seriously, this schedule is patently ridiculous for a team with national title aspirations.
    
12. Mississippi (0, 2): @Memphis, Southeast Louisiana, Alabama-Birmingham, Northern Arizona. This schedule is also patently ridiculous, mainly because it happens to have both SE Louisiani and NAU on it. Ole Miss was also supposed to play a home-and-home with GT starting next year, but backed out and replaced us with either UL-Lafayette or Jacksonville State. (GT replaced them with Kansas.) Just pathetic, but I imagine it will help accomplish Ole Miss's goal of getting some mentions this year (as the pre-season hype train seems to love them).

Well, that's a wrap! Well, not quite, as we've got a summary coming up pretty soon, so stay tuned!

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate, Part 5: Pac-10

Oh yeah, I was doing this schedule preview thing. Let's get this over with, starting with the Pacific 10, land of the 10-team round-robin schedule.

1. Southern California (2 legit, 0 DI-AA): San Jose State, @Ohio State, @Notre Dame. This schedule doesn't pull any punches, with two major road trips to the Midwest. USC-OSU will be essential to each team's fate, with the loser probably lacking a good enough conference slate behind them to prop them up later in the year. (It would also serve USC well to stop getting upset in-conference, but that's outside the scope of this article.)
   
2. Oregon (2, 0): @Boise State, Purdue, Utah. Oregon ventures onto the blue turf in a crucial early matchup for both. (In fact, it's one of the earliest games of the season, and frankly probably more appealing than the other big first Thursday matchup, South Carolina-NC State.) Oregon's scheduling march doesn't end there, with games against Purdue and Utah. These three matchups, combined, almost rivaled USC-OSU, but I still had to give the nod to USC. Maybe I've just been watching too much ESPN. (Oh snap!)
   
3. Washington (2, 0): Louisiana State, Idaho, @Notre Dame. LSU-UDub would ordinarily be an interesting intersectional matchup, but let's face it, Washington could well go 0-3 against this slate if they play like they did last year. (As Dr. Saturday pointed out, Washington had one of the toughest schedules in the country last year, mainly because they could not play themselves.) This is also the 2nd of 4 Pac-10 matchups with Notre Dame.
   
4. Stanford (1.75, 0): @Wake Forest, San Jose State, Notre Dame. The Caltrain series returns this year, but will the Gridiron Gauruntee? Not that it seemed to help, based on their attendance numbers.
   
5. California-Los Angeles (1.5, 0): San Diego State, @Tennessee, Kansas State. UCLA's probably in for a bit of culture shock when they head to Knoxville, but their attempt to end the monopoly on LA Football isn't really bolstered by a home slate of inept SD State and K-State.
   
6. Washginton State (1, 0): Hawaii, Southern Methodist, N-Notre Dame. It's Washington State! It's Notre Dame! It's in.... San Antonio? Apparently this is just the first in a series of Notre Dame's take on a barnstorming tour, with upcoming games in the Meadowlands and Dublin, apparently. Anyway, as for Wazzou, well, unlike their cross-state partners in crime, it's possible for them to go somewhere other than up, since they had a win and all.
   
7. California (1, 1): Maryland, Eastern Washington, @Minnesota. This schedule is good in name only. I'm having a hard time getting excited about UMD and UMN, but at least they're trying!
   
8. Arizona State (1, 1): Idaho State, Louisiana-Monroe, @Georgia. Arizona makes the return trip to Athens, which in UGA's conference would probably give them a high ranking schedule. Not so in the Pac-10! That said, in a perfect world this would be a pretty weak schedule, with Arizona's other slots being taken up by a Sun Belt team and Idaho State (because apparently just regular Idaho wasn't bad enough). Anyway, the drop-off after this is really noticable.
   
9. Oregon State (0.75, 1): Portland State, @Nevada-Las Vegas, Cincinnati. Outside of the random roadtrip to Vegas, not much here. Well, at least Cincy is better than Iowa. Which leads us to...
   
10. Arizona (0.25, 1): Central Michigan, Northern Arizona, @Iowa. Probably not as bad as last year's debacle, but still, this schedule is weak by any standard, and especially so in the Pac-10.
    

Well, that concludes everyone's favorite major conference west of the Rockies. Next, we wrap up with the SEC and perhaps a conclusion article. ETA: Sometime before the beginning of the season. Until then!

A Travesty in the Making?

I know the All-Star voting is mostly a popularity contest, but this is ridiculous:

McCann, who has made the All-Star game in his first three seasons, is fourth among catchers with 416,149 votes. He trails the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina (629,007), the Brewers’ Jason Kendall (471,557) and the Astros’ Ivan Rodriguez (423,369).

The one knock right now against McCann may be that he doesn't qualify due to time on the DL with eye issues, but nonetheless among catchers with at least 100 ABs he blows away the rest of the league in averages and is tied for 4th in home runs. I've copied some statistics below:

Player	AB	AVG	OBP	OPS
Y. Molina	154	.286	.353	742
J. Kendall	140	.207	.299	563
I. Rodriguez	144	.264	.305	750
B. McCann	107	.318	.422	936

Kendall is pretty much washed up, so his presence on the list is a complete mystery. At any rate, with statistics like that McCann should make the team as a reserve. Baseball people seem to realize that McCann is probably the best catcher in the National League, even if the fans don't.

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate, Part 4: Big XII

With the Braves' record at games I've attended this year at 0-3 (1 in ATL, 2 in SF), I figure now's a great time to look at the out-of-conference schedules of the land of pirates, corn, and steers and the men who rustle them: the Big XII.

1. Oklahoma (1.25 legit, 1 DI-AA): N-BYU, Idaho State, Tulsa, @Miami (FL). This is a great schedule for a team that's trying to win a national title. Kudos to OU. 2 legitimate mid-major teams and a big inter-sectional road game is generally a good recipe for success, provided they survive the gauntlet. Going 4-0 here also gives them breathing room if they lose in-conference. For an example of how not to schedule for a national title, see the 11th and 12th ranked teams below.
2. Baylor (1.25, 1): @Wake Forest, Connecticut, Northwestern State, Kent. Not really much to get excited about here, but imagine if Baylor surpises some folks and comes out 4-0? I think they've got a fighting chance this year to make a bowl.
3. Nebraska (1, 0): Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, @Virginia Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette. I think 3 Sun Belt teams should count as a DI-AA point or something. I mean, seriously. The return trip to Blacksburg may carry some intrigue.
4. Oklahoma State (1, 1): Georgia, Houston, Rice, Grambling State. That's right kids, your eyes aren't fooling you. That's the Univerisity of Georgia once again traveling for a regular season out-of-conference game. More on that later. Not much else to this schedule, though. Some C-USA West teams and a DI-AA round things out.
5. Colorado (0.75, 0): Colorado State, @Toledo, Wyoming, @West Virginia. That's right kids, @Toledo! Anyway, words are failing me here, not because it's beautiful but because I can't think of anything especially interesting to say.
   
6. Texas A&M (0.75, 0): New Mexico, Utah State, UAB, N-Arkansas. Apparently TAMU and Arkansas have an on-going series scheduled to be played at the Cowboys' new intergalactic space palace from this year on. I applaud this move, though I'd be most Arkansas fans miss the Texas series more. Nonetheless, the Southwest Conference is dead, long-live the SWC!
   
7. Missouri (0.75, 1): N-Illinois, Bowling Green, Furman, @Nevada. I don't know how long this Mizzou-Illinois series is scheduled, but I like it and hope it continues. (I realize I could find this out quickly, but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.) I don't know about this @Nevada business, but hey whatever gets you 2 gauraunteed home games these days I suppose.
8. Kansas State (0.75, 2): Massachuessets, @Lousiana-Lafayette, @UCLA, Tennessee Tech. Well, at least they're not going on the road for their actual DI-AA opponents. After this year, I wonder if Bill Synder will try to schedule 3 DI-AA teams? At any rate, enjoy your last interesting non-conference opponent for awhile, KSU fans.
9. Iowa State (0.5, 1): North Dakota State, Iowa, @Kent, Army. What's with Big 12 teams going on the road to mid-majors this year? Of course, I suspect ISU's concerns are mostly concerned with winning a conference game or two this year.
   
10. Kansas (0.25, 1): Northern Colorado, @Texas-El Paso, Duke, Southern Mississippi. Sadly, UTEP and USM may actually be bigger challenges for KU over the team they get credit for (Duke) but them's the breaks in this system. Warning: the schedules from here on out get outrageously bad.
    
11. Texas (0, 0): Louisiana-Monroe, @Wyoming, Texas-El Paso, Central Florida. Again, what's with Big 12 teams going on the road to mid-majors? Outside of that, for a team of Texas's caliber this is a really bad schedule. Unlike Oklahoma, there is no margin of error for Texas - they must win all their games to have a shot at the title, in all likelihood. Just pathetic. But wait, there's one more!
12. Texas Tech (0, 1): North Dakota, Rice, @Houston, New Mexico. What, does the Big 12 feel sorry for C-USA and the Mountain West or something? If I'm counting it right there are 8 mid-major road games. Anyway, this schedule makes me sad. While there's no gauruntee TTU will be anywhere near as good this year as they were last year, they should at least help to continue the Big 12 South's dominance over the North. They certainly won't be flexing any Big 12 muscle outside the conference, that's for sure.

Well, that wraps things up for our most favorite BCS conference located between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Next up, the Pacific 10! Stay tuned!

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate, Part 3: Big Ten

On to everyone's conference where Joe Paterno is the voice of reason and progress, the Big Ten!

1. Purdue (2 legit, 0 DI-AA): Toledo, @Oregon, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame. I'll admit there's not a lot of meat on these bones, but there are worse MAC teams they could've picked. And there's no DI-AA teams, which earns them the top spot over Illinois.
   
2. Illinois (2, 1): N-Missouri, Illinois State, Fresno State, @Cincinatti: Mostly interesting due to the continuing neutral-ground series with Mizzou. Away game at Cincy may also bear some fruit for the Illinoize.
3. Ohio State (1, 0): Navy, Southern California, N-Toledo, New Mexico State. Kudos to OSU for avoiding the DI-AA cupcake, though not so much for the "neutral" site game with Toledo. (If I had to bet, I'd guess it'll probably go in the book as a "home" game for the Rockets, but anyway.) The game with Southern Cal is, like last year, one of the most interesting intersectional games of the year and for each team will define their national title hopes.
4. Minnesota (1, 1): @Syracuse, Air Force, California, South Dakota State. This is actually a decent schedule. Air Force won't make it easy, and Cal is in the upper tier of the Pac-10. If course, it remains to see the 'Cuse won't be a joke this year, and if UMN can repeat their respectiable performace from last year as well.
5. Michigan State (1, 1): Montana State, Central Michigan, @Notre Dame, Western Michigan. MSU has enrolled in the Directional Michigan Derby this year, it seems. I don't really have anything else to say about this, except they're above Michigan because they go on the road to ND.
6. Michigan (1, 1): Western Michigan, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, Delaware State. Is the AD of Western Michigan asleep at the wheel? While I doubt it's the first time one of the directional Michigans has played both the big boys in the same year that's basically 2 losses right there. Oh, also, vigilant Dr. Saturday readers know all about Michigan paying off Delaware State to come over to the Big House and get waxed for homecoming - while causing Delaware State to forfeit a conference game. Fun fact: until they played Appalachian State two years ago, Michigan had never played a DI-AA team. Let's hope history repeats itself.
7. Iowa (0.75, 1): Northern Iowa, @Iowa State, Arizona, Arkansas State. Kudos for playing the Iowa derby, I guess? There's not much to this.
8. Indiana (0.5, 1): Eastern Kentucky, Western Michigan, @Akron, @Virginia. Okay, so Western Michigan is playing 3 Big Ten teams this year. I know DI-AA programs could use the money, but geez. Anyway, Indiana@Virgini has to be one of the least interesting inter-BCS-conference games I can think of.
9. Wisconsin (0.25, 1): Northern Illinois, Fresno State, Wofford, @Hawaii. The home game on the islands means Wisconsin can actually add an additional game, but I haven't been able to find any indication that have done so as of yet. Apparently ESPN tried to organize a game with Texas for this year, but Wisconsin declined. Oh well. Oh, and if you think this is bad...
10. Northwestern (0.25, 1): Towson, Eastern Michigan, @Syracuse, Miami (Ohio). Well, at least this is Northwestern and not, say, Penn State.
11. Pennsylvania State (0.25, 1): Akron, Syracause, Temple, Eastern Illinois. Whille JoePa may be in favor of Big Ten expansion and a playoff, he's apparently not a fan of out-of-conference schedule. For one of the two Big Ten teams that probably can make a title game run this year, this schedule will do Penn State no favors at all, which will make their conference games extremely important this year.

And if you thought that was bad, well, wait until next time, when we cover the Big 12!

Rating the 2009 Non-Conference Slate, Part 2: Big East

And now we venture deep into the land of 5 out-of-conference games. Yes, that's right kids, it's The Big East.

1. Syracuse (1.75 legit, 1 DI-AA): Minnesota, @Pennslyvania State, Northwestern, Maine, Akron. Even with everyone's favorite inconsistent Duke guard possibly starting for them at QB this fall, the 'Cuse could still possibly have a losing record against this schedule. At least they'll help a couple of Big Ten squads keep bowl eligibility, I guess. For what's worth though, Otto the Orange is one of my favorite college mascots. I'm not sure why, though it probably had to do with how hilarious it was having a team of anthropomorphic oranges in mascot mode in NCAA Football 2003.
2. Cincinnati (1.75, 1): Southeast Missouri State, @Oregon State, Fresno State, Illinois. Dear Missouri State University System: Drop the directional names already! Or at least change them to cardinal directions or something. Anyway, this actually a decent schedule, with Oregon State and the Illinoise. It'll be a little more respectful if Fresno is decent again this year.
   
3. Connecticut (1.75, 1): @Ohio, North Carolina, @Baylor, Rhode Island, @Notre Dame. UConn brings up a kind-of respectible third place. The matchup with UNC is a potentially interesting matchup for both teams - UConn as much as an established Big East power as anyone these days and UNC projected to be an up-and-comer in the ACC this year.
4. Louisville (1.5, 1): Indiana State, @Kentucky, @Utah, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas State. No offense to Sun Belt and Arkansas State fans, but I honestly keept forgetting Arkansas State isn't a DI-AA team. That said, there's some meat on these bones, with the traditional early season rivalry bout with Kentucky and a trip out to Utah.
   
5. Pittsburgh (1.5, 1): Youngstown State, @Buffalo, Navy, @North Carolina State, Notre Dame. This is really a tie with West Virginia. That's really all I can say about this, except wait, a road trip to Buffalo? I know they made a bowl and all last year but still.
6. West Virginia (1.5, 1): Liberty, East Carolina, @Auburn, Colorado, Marshall. The more I look at this the more I like it better than Pitt's, but oh well. I, of course, love the trip to Auburn. Of course, VPI could tell the Mountaineers a thing or two about watching out for ECU early in the year.
7. South Florida (1.5, 2): Wofford, @Western Kentucky, Charleston Southern, @Florida State, Miami. Yes, that Miami. It's the Florida series no one really wants to see but I guess we're stuck with it anyway. That said, even with two DI-AA opponents this schedule is even weaker than it appears, with USF playing the role of WKU's only non-Sun Belt DI-A home opponent this year (their first as a full DI-A member, yes that's right folks, we're up to an even 120).
8. Rutgers (0.5, 2): Howard, Florida International, @Maryland, @Army, Texas Southern. This may be the worst schedule in major college football. Pathetic. I suppose I should be happy they're playing a BCS team at all, but still, 2 DI-AA schools and one of the FIU/FAU pick 'em? The game at West Point just seems gratuitous with all that. Cupcakes, indeed.

Anyway, that's all for the Big East. And if you thought that was bad, wait until you see some of the doozies coming up in the other "Big" conferences. Until then, goodnight!