1.Lawyers at Texas and Maryland, the two schools with head-coaches-in-waiting, are working together to convince the NCAA to rescind the rule that HCIWs must abide by the stricter recruiting rules for head coaches (example: no travel in May, when schools evaluate seniors-to-be). Last month, the NCAA postponed the effective date to 2011. The Terps are in a trick box. If Maryland wants HCIW James Franklin, its best recruiter, on the road, it would have to take the title away. According to his contract, that would cost the university $1 million.
2.Sports viewers consider themselves Republican, and especially college football viewers, according to Hotline On Call. Saturday’s America is 36 percent more likely to align itself with the GOP than the average citizen, and 25 percent more likely to vote. It’s no coincidence that the SEC, home of the sport’s most passionate fans, plays in red states. Most of the Big 12, too.
3. Tennessee put a stiff buyout clause into new coach Derek Dooley’s contract. He will owe the university $4 million if he leaves by Feb. 15, 2012, $3 million for a year after that, and then $1 million for the following year. It’s the classic case of buying fire insurance after your house burnt down. Dooley isn’t going to go anywhere. Lane Kiffin is the one who left early. That’s when Tennessee needed the buyout clause.