Rick Figurin
pigskinpress.com

Were proud to announce our all-pigskinpress.com team for 2009 for the BCS and non BCS conferences. To read the list, click here or go to our awards page up top.

You can't help but feel a little sad that the regular season is wrapping up. Sure, we still have bowl season, but championship weekend is just a reminder that were about 30 days removed from the long, lonely winter. Allow me to wipe away a tear and share some musings from the final week of the regular season. Oh, and don't forget to check out our new podcast.

Kudos to Central Michigan on their 3rd MAC Championship in 4 years! If you haven't had the chance to see Chippewa's QB Dan LeFevour play, your missing out. While LeFevour's game is less than perfect, he's got as much upside as any QB in the draft. But if your a CMU fan, you've got to be excited that the cupboard is not completely empty for 2010. WRs Kito Poblah, Antonio Brown, and the whole RB stable will return. That will help QB's Derek Rifenbury or Ryan Radcliffe as they try to fill LeFevour's shoes.

Ohio played valiantly, but you have to question why constant cramping hampered a large number of their players. Rule one for playing in humidity is hydration. It seemed that Ohio's training staff didn't get the memo. That being said, the MAC east teams finally brought some balance to the division with some solid records from Ohio, Temple, BGSU and Kent. Nice season for the conference.

The Big East psuedo-championship did not disappoint. Kudos to Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti for playing his offenses strengths. RB Dion Lewis carried the ball 47 times allowing the Pitt offense to hang with the Bearcats. There aren't a lot of coordinators who would have the guts to be so vanilla, but if it works, do it! Can't wait to see what Lewis does for an encore.

It may have been meaningless for the Illini, but it was a great win for the WAC and Fresno State to come away with a 53-51 victory over the fighting Illini. After heartbreaking losses in weeks 2 and 4 against Wisconsin and Cincinnati, it was a bit of poetic justice that the Bulldogs got lucky on the winning 2-point conversion. Ryan Matthews had 173 rushing yards, and you have to think he would have topped 2,000 (1,874) for the season had he not missed the La. Tech game. If you're in the Bulldog Marketing department, start your Heisman campaign for Matthews senior season now!

It's an absolute joy to watch Nebraska's defense. As a matter of fact, they may have the best in the country. But if you're a Huskers fan, you can't place all the blame on QB Zac Lee. He's not a great QB, but the surrounding cast of characters is not all that great either. Saturday's Big 12 championship was the best on record(in many respects), and shows just how vulnerable Texas is. Kudos to the Huskers who never gave up and put on one of the most impressive densive performances of the last ten years!

I don't have a vote for the Heisman, but as far as I'm concerned, Stanford RB Toby Gearhart should get the nod. This has not been the year of the QB and after Colt McCoy's and Tim Tebow's less-than-stellar performances in their respective championship games, it's time to disregard the team record and pay tribute to the best individual performer-and that is Toby Gearhart.

Our Matt Toepfer would disagree, he's a CJ Spiller guy, and in all honesty, Clemson would have very few wins without him. He's the true definition of a one-man offense!

On last week's podcast, both Matt Toepfer and I called for Alabama to win because of balance, and a lack of energy from Florida of late. It seems that Tebow has mellowed a bit since the concussion against Kentucky, and his lack of passing skill finally caught up with him in Saturday's SEC championship game. Alabama QB Greg McElroy was terrific, and Bama dominated on both sides of the ball. having said that, I'll stick with my prediction from early November...(see below)

"I'm gonna go ahead and say that Alabama is your national champion. They know how to finish, Mark Ingram is terrific, and the Florida mystique seems to be lacking. Tebow is terrific, as is Colt McCoy, but I think the most balanced team will win and that will be 'Bama!"

P.S. Check out our weekly podcast this week, as we reveal our pigskinpress.com all-american team for both the BCS and non-aq schools.

You know who some of the names on the pigskinpress.com all-american team are, but some may surprise you! Check out this week's podcast as we pay homage to those who were the top performers at each position for both the BCS and non-aq schools for 2009. click here to listen.

Rick Figurin
pigskinpress.com

Picture this.

It’s after midnight. Ties are loosened, cigar smoke fills the room, and the clank of square ice cubes with round holes through the middle, sets a tense tone as men of power ponder a decision that could get them all fired while the strong taste of Maker’s Mark whiskey leaves a slight burn in their throats.

No, this is not some back room political wheeling and dealing session to decide the next presidential contender. This is much more fun, and in my eyes, more important.

These are the makings of a double-secret, college football collusion.

If you’re unfamiliar with collusion, it’s where the big guys all agree to do the same thing to keep the little guy down. Or, in some cases, it’s where the little guys get together to stick it to the man! All on the DL of course.

In either regard, collusion is for the most part, illegal. But, much like it was designed to do for the major league baseball owners in 1985, 1986 and 1987, the heart of a good collusion is to even the playing field, or at least stop the bleeding...READ MORE

Rick Figurin
pigskinpress.com

...You can blame it all on me...Okay, okay, perhaps the name of the article is a bit of a stretch, but those Swiffer comercials got us thinkin'. Which player in each conference is due for a big comeback campaign in 2009? There are plenty of players who will make a splash after a rough (injured or otherwise) 2008, but we think that these guys will have the biggest impact on their team's success. Oh, and if we missed your team, drop us a quick scenario of what comeback player you think will mean the most to your favorite university in 2009 and we just might post it! Enjoy!
CLICK HERE E-Mail Us!!

Rick Figurin
pigskinpress.com

It will make you jump for joy, or, jump off a cliff! I'm talking about the Appalachian State over Michigan, NIU over Maryland, Boise State over Oklahoma, God-lovin' upset! Last season, we here at pigskinpress.com pinpointed 28 games that we thought would be some of the year's biggest upsets. Some we nailed (Colorado over West Virginia, Bowling Green over Pitt, Utah over Michigan) and some we got nailed on (Oregon State over Penn State, Kansas State over Texas Tech). Regardless, prognosticating is the American way and were back with some upsets we think could turn some heads when the final gun sounds. So, without further ado, here are 31 games to keep an eye on in the 2009 upset watch.

Rick Figurin
pigskinpress.com

Get up out of the fetal position, turn off the car engine, and put down the razor blades! It's really not as long as you think. Before you know it, it will be September 3rd and South Carolina will be playing NC State in the first televised college game of the season. That being said, we understand what withdrawal feels like: Searching the web for any morsel of team information, watching replays from that 1996 game that just got away, and drooling over 2010 prospects who won't sign on the dotted line for another 10 months. In the meantime, here's a little something to wet the appetite, as we here at pigskinpress.com give you 26 reasons to keep an eye on your favorite conference in 2009. ACC BIG TEN BIG-12 BIG EAST C-USA MAC MWC PAC-10 SEC SUN BELT WAC

Staff
pigskinpress.com

Help! It's year four of pigskinpress.com, and we're getting too big for our britches! We here at pigskinpress.com are looking for volunteer writers to write game previews, recaps, editorials, feature pieces, and vote in our weekly top 25 poll. We are currently searching for talented writers to cover their favorite FBS conference or team. Experience is not required, but prefered. Will give first-time writers a chance with a decent writing sample.This is a great opportunity to increase exposure for your conference or school to thousands of readers every month, and add a little pep to your resume! If interested, contact us at footballinfo@pigskinpress.com