The road's my middle name

Greetings from the road. I'm making my way back to Columbia after spending the weekend covering the BCS title buildup in Fort Lauderdale. For those of you in the Gainesville area, I'll have preview updates for the game running all week on my old station, the Star 99.5.

I'm sure there's some point to Oklahoma players bashing Tim Tebow, but I can't figure out what it is. I got some comments from Nic Harris of the Sooners that amazed me, claiming Tebow would be the seventh best quarterback in the Big 12. Quarterbacks from that conference have underperformed their season stats in the bowl game by around 25 percent, with Texas and Colt McCoy going tonight against Ohio State. The high powered attack of Missouri needed overtime to score 30 on Northwestern. Texas Tech lost 47-34 to Ole Miss. It seems to be a really odd time to go out of the way to insult your opponent's QB on behalf of "conference pride". One Sooner says it's easier to defend Tebow since he's primarily a runner. They do have game film they watch, don't they?

Chad Pennington suddenly played like he was Chad Pennington, and the Dolphins seasons is done. The Ravens actualy stayed at the same hotel the BCS media stuff is being held in, and their fans were everywhere this weekend. I actually like three of the matchups this sets up for next weekend, and the Panthers have to be overjoyed about missing Minnesota and getting an Arizona team that's 0-5 in the eastern time zone this year.

Not coaching in 2009: Bill Cowher for sure, Mike Shanahan possibly. I think Cowher's plan was to take over the Carolina Panthers, but once they had the unexpectedly terrific year and saved John Fox's job he decided to be patient and wait for another good fit. As for Shanahan, could Jerry Jones really be stupid enough to have him looming over next year's team all season as head coach in 2010?

Boston College has been to back to back ACC Championship games, the first two they've ever qualified for. So, naturally, they're going to fire the coach who got them there. Jeff Jagodzinski was an NFL assistant before coming to BC and wants to interview for the open Jets job. He's not likely to get it, but the school has threatened that he's going to be fired if he even interviews. I'm all for schools actually holding coaches to their contracts but it needs to be an NCAA wide effort, not one school with a quick temper. This is a short-sighted move by BC, one that will likely make it more difficult for them to fill the vacancy they'd be creating. And if they talk to anyone under contract somewhere else, they'd also be colossal hypocrites.

Lane Kiffin appears to be creating the most expensive staff ever at Tennessee, as he actually landed Ed Orgeron after all. If the New Orleans Times-Picayune is right, and Orgeron is making 900 thousand dollars to be a recruiter and DL coach, they've lost their minds. Now the word is Rodney Garner, recruiting mercenary, is likely heading back to Tennessee after stints at Auburn, UT and most recently Georgia. How this guy never has worked for Saban is one of the great mysteries of our time. Anyway, Tennessee clearly will be able to recruit players. The two coordinators are apparently going to have to do all the coaching, including individual skill groups, but they'll have some talent to work with.