Stop us if you have heard this before, but Nate Montana has transferred to a new football program, his seventh different program dating back to his high school playing days.

We know that being the son of a legend in the same sport is certainly no easy task. They can't all be Ken Griffey Jr. or Barry Bonds, right? Montana, the son of one of the top quarterbacks in NFL history, Joe Montana, has struggled to find his place on the football field. After walking on as a backup quarterback for Notre Dame under Charlie Weis, a lack of potential playing time behind Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees led to a decision to transfer to FCS power Montana, naturally.

Earlier this week the Montana program granted a waiver for fifth-year senior transfer, so Nate could pursue an opportunity to play elsewhere. The next stop on the Montana Transfer Conga Line will take him to West Virginia.... Wesleyan.

“He asked for a waiver as a fifth-year senior transfer, and he’s going to do that,” Montana head coach Mick Delaney said. “I just wish him good luck with everything. He wants to be on the field and he’ll get that opportunity there."

To recap, Nate Montana started his college ball at Notre Dame in 2008, moved to Pasadena City College in 2009, back to Notre Dame in 2010, then to Montana in 2011 and will go to West Virginia Wesleyan in 2012. This should be the final stop on his tour of duty.

I know most of you have no clue what happens at the Division 2 level, except for a few of you out there, so allow me to tap back in to my roots a little bit and let you know how this works.

I don’t think we’re breaking any news here at Crystal Ball Run by saying that the sport of college football appears to be on a collision course with a four-team playoff in 2014. Sure, there are plenty of details to figure out between now and then; how we pick the four teams; where the games will be played; what to do with the Big Ten’s precious Rose Bowl; you know, stuff like that. But for all intents and purposes a playoff is coming, and everyone seems to be on board.

Well everyone that is, except for one of college football’s most powerful coaches.

That’s because in a meeting with the media yesterday, new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was hesitant to get excited about a proposed four-team playoff. As a matter of fact, he actually doesn’t like it at all.

Incredibly, we are down to just 107 days until the kickoff of the college football season, when Tennessee will play NC State on Friday, August 31 in the 2012 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic. But if you think it’s too early to look ahead through this August, straight past 2013 into 2014, well my friends, you’re sadly mistaken.

That’s because on Wednesday, the czar of college football himself, Nick Saban, may have tipped us off as to how the 2014 college football season will be opening. It’ll again happen in Atlanta, again in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic, and again, it’ll be a big one. Alabama and West Virginia are coming to a TV screen near you… in three years. Can you feel the excitement!!!

no comments

With finals done nationwide, and a few weeks between the end of the spring and the start of summer school, it’s a relatively quiet time for college football news. But on the recruiting trail, things continue to remain white hot, as the top rising seniors are making their college decisions in a fast and furious manner. And just one day after the top running back in high school football committed to the USC Trojans, another big name came off the board came off the board Tuesday afternoon.

That name? Cooper Bateman, and he could be coming to an SEC stadium- and for all we know, a National Championship Game- near you. The four-star signal-caller committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide, where incredibly, he could compete for almost immediately for playing time.

Before we get to that, let’s first get to the news with Bateman, who at 6’3 190 lbs. appears to be the perfect build to be the next great pro-style quarterback in Tuscaloosa. He finished his junior season at Salt Lake City’s Cottonwood Senior High School throwing for over 2,700 yards and 27 touchdowns, and when the call came from Saban, the lure to Tuscaloosa proved to be too great. He selected the Crimson Tide over from just about every school in the country, releasing a statement on Tuesday which said in part:

“I have chosen to attend the University of Alabama,” Bateman said. “I am honored that I will get to learn from Coach [Nick] Saban and Coach [Nussmeier] and will get to represent Alabama, the state and the university.”

And maybe the craziest part about this commitment is that at a school known for the insane depth on its two-deep, Bateman plays the one position where the Crimson Tide could need near immediate help from him.

no comments

Florida St. is pondering a possible move from the ACC to the Big 12. FSU beat reporter Coley Harvey chats with CBR's Allen Kenney in a podcast about where things stand with the Seminoles.

Allen and Coley cover:

• Who's in charge in Tallahassee?
• How serious are the talks between FSU and the Big 12?
• What's Jimbo Fisher's role in this realignment drama?
• And more.

(Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.)

[follow]

Memo to college football fans across the country: You might not like Lane Kiffin, but you better get used to him. Yes, the coach everyone loves to hate has the prohibitive BCS National Championship favorite heading into 2012, but we already knew that. The scary thing though? The Trojans aren’t slowing down anytime soon.

That point was hammered home again today, when the Trojans picked up a big-time verbal commitment from the class of 2013, in the form of Joilet (HS) IL running back Ty Isaac. Listed by some services as the No. 1 back in the country, Isaac made his intentions known announcing on Twitter:

"Committed to The University of Southern California."

And really, who doesn’t like a guy who’s blunt with his tweets?

In all seriousness though, this is another huge get for Kiffin in his staff, as they continue on a recruiting roll unlike anyone in college football right now. Despite having only 15 scholarships to work with last winter, USC still managed to land a class that was widely regarded as one of the Top 10 nationally, and also a class that was indisputably the best player for player in the country. And things have continued to roll this spring, as the commitments continue to fly, despite more limited scholarship numbers. Along with Isaac, the Trojans have landed Max Browne, No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country, as well as Maryland’s Kenny Bigelow, the top defensive end in high school football right now. They’ve also landed a couple of high-level four-star recruits, including local prospects Kyle Fitts (defensive end) and Chris Hawkins (defensive back).

no comments

Move over Jeremy Foley. Take a seat Mal Moore. DeLoss Dodds, get the hell out of the way. There’s a new king of college football athletic administrators. His name is Pat Haden, he works at USC and- on his way to taking over the world- he once again hit pay dirt yesterday for the Trojans athletic department.

That move? USC is officially taking over the day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles Coliseum.

When it was announced late last night that Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter had taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team, it wasn’t immediately obvious why there’d be any type of college football twist to the story. Only there is, and it’s under the most unfortunate circumstances.

That’s because according to a Texas TV station, Hunter took the leave to return home to Texas, where one of his sons was arrested on charges related to sexual assault. In addition, that son, Darius McLinton-Hunter is a big-time college football recruit, whose future is now in jeopardy.

One of my favorite pastimes is setting imaginary odds on random, hypothetical situations.  It’s not healthy, but I do this for almost everything, especially weddings and Notre Dame football.  Why those two in particular?  Both are painfully predictable and otherwise intolerable.  I mean, have you ever truly dedicated a Saturday to watching a Notre Dame game?  At least people clap after weddings.

Perhaps, then, my weird obsession is why I was so perplexed to learn that Notre Dame’s preseason odds of winning this season’s BCS Championship (25-1) are better today than they were a year ago (30-1).  Better... because of an absolutely brutal schedule that starts in Ireland and ends in Southern California?  Better... because Michael Floyd left a gaping 1,100 yard hole in the offense when he got drafted by the NFL?  Better... because its starting quarterback got chased down from behind by a cop and spent a Thursday in a jail cell?  What, in the name of Jarious Jackson, is going on here?

I know, I know... oddsmaking is hardly an exact science.  Vegas makes its projections with impossibly little information, and almost every scenario is highly fluid, influenced by injuries, suspensions, and coaches crashing motorcycles.  Plus, all it takes is some Crown Royale and a few rich alums to push the odds in one direction or another.  This is common knowledge.

But in the case of this year’s Irish squad, it’d take a degenerate gambler of the highest order to even CONSIDER a bet.  Why sentence yourself to a losing proposition narrated by Tom Hammond?  You’ve got better odds of Tim Tebow making a sex tape.

Ironically, we’ve reached a point where both Notre Dame and Vegas are trying to protect themselves from the wackos who not only take this bet, but believe strongly in its chances of winning.  This is the never-ending problem with Notre Dame football.  People love traditional powers and underdog stories.  The media loves popular programs that drive ratings.  Unrealistic expectations are the predictable offspring.

You didn't think we'd actually make it through another offseason without more talk of conference realignment, did you? Here are 10 expansion-heavy thoughts and observations to start your week off right.

1. After all the scoffing at the mere suggestion that Florida St. would even entertain the idea of leaving the ACC for the Big 12, college football pundits appeared shocked over the weekend when the head honcho of the school's board of trustees suggested the Seminoles would re-evaluate their conference affiliation.

If you're looking at the conference paradigm through the lens of the shifts we've witnessed in the last two years, FSU's wandering eyes do seem odd. As a native of Big 12 country and an alum of a Big East school, I have no problem saying that the schools that have switched leagues in the first two rounds of expansion mania have all taken a step up in prestige. The Big 12, a marriage of convenience created fewer than 20 years ago, has lost teams to the tradition-rich Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12. Meanwhile, the stuffed shirts in the ACC nabbed Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the backwater Big East, which then shed West Virginia, a school with ACC ambitions of its own, to the Big 12.

In that sense, I realize that the Seminoles are going against the grain. Even so, an Oklahoma bumpkin like myself can't help but laugh at all of the snobbery in questioning why FSU would want to leave the company of Tobacco Road to rub elbows with a bunch of hicks in flyover country.