It’s not often we at Crystal Ball Run would make much of a fuss about a major college football program offering a scholarship to a soon to be high school sophomore. It happens every day, in every conference in college football. Nothing to see here, right? Not so fast my friends. We must remember that […]

Progress in college football can be a slow developing thing and so that process continues as today the BCS Presidential Advisory Committee announced their support of a 4 team playoff to begin in the 2014 season. It’s a giant first step in giving college football fans everywhere what they want: A National Champion determined by […]

Entering the 2012 season, excitement is at an all-time high around the Arkansas State football program. Arkansas native Gus Malzahn has taken over as head coach. The team returns 12 starters off a team that won 10 games and a Sun Belt title last year. And most importantly, three-year starter Ryan Aplin returns at quarterback, […]

It’s ACC Week here at Crystal Ball Run, and with it, time to ask the biggest questions entering the 2012 season. Is this the year Florida State emerges? The year Virginia Tech takes a step back? Can anyone come out of the deep dark basement and surprise some folks? It’s time to take a look […]

Before we get started, we recommend you get your day started with a well-balanced breakfast. This may or may not include a bowl of Cornhusker All Stars… Would love to see those trading cars if anyone has them. HT: Reddit Today is the day that could officially change college football postseason’s future with the adoption […]

As we kick off our conference previews with an entire week dedicated to the ACC we also want to take a look back on the conference’s history. Today is a brief retrospective of the ACC. Last Year in the ACC Conference Champion: Clemson (10-4, 6-2) We went in to last season with many expecting Florida […]

Let’s make it hot. 1. Football junkies know Chris Brown as the pigskin savant behind the brilliant strategy site Smart Football and a columnist for Grantland. He added author to his lengthy resume last month with the release of The Essential Smart Football, a compendium of his greatest hits. (Full disclosure: I consider Chris a […]

Dabo Swinney reportedly was willing to do something Nick Saban wasn’t to land the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Grayson (Ga.) defensive end Robert Nkemdiche. Emphasize reportedly, because polarizing USA Today handicapper Danny Sheridan is behind the report. Sheridan, of course, also claimed that the NCAA knew the name of the bagman that allegedly paid Cam […]

How close is Slick Nick from falling off a cliff in 2012? We’ve wrapped up our preseason top 10 countdown, as well as profiling a few teams that just barely missed the cut. Like many of the pundits and prognosticators, we arrived at a consensus triumvirate of LSU, Alabama and USC as the cream of […]

Here at Crystal Ball Run we’ve provided an early look at our preseason Top 10 for the 2012 season. And the writers here gave you an outstanding look at: 10. West Virginia 9. Ohio State 8. Arkansas 7. Florida State 6. Oklahoma 5. Georgia 4. Oregon 3. LSU 2. Alabama 1. USC But we know […]

The criminal trial in the sexual abuse case that rocked Penn St. and the surrounding State College community drew to a close late Friday night with a guilty verdict in former Nittany Lions assistant Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse case. Sandusky was convicted on 45 of the 48 counts against him. Following the announcement of the […]