With Tuesday’s release of the latest round of the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) rankings, college football fans engaged in their yearly right of getting all hot and bothered for a day about how players are educated. As you would expect, the APR is a ham-handed way of measuring athletes’ academic performance. The story […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/11/2013
We've all been living in Johnny Football's world as of late. The guy is seemingly everywhere and doing it all in awesome fashion – from music videos to Super Bowl parties with celebs – however, his reign at the top of the college football world has come crashing down to earth today. After all, he's […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
College football in Dubai? Yes, you read our headline correctly. It's one option that is being explored by the so-called "group of five" smaller conferences looking to add bowl games for their bowl eligible teams in the new College Football Playoff era. Options like Dubai; Nassau, Bahamas; Ireland; Miami, Orlando, Little Rock, AR; Boca Raton, […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
Can Thomas regain form and lead Hokies past Miami and into ACC Title game? (Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports/Peter Casey) While everyone's attention this offseason has been on the changes happening now and in 2014 for the ACC it's finally time to take a look at what will go down in the new look league […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
It was all smiles and FSU hats for Thomas on signing day… Not so much anymore (Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports/Steve Mitchell) First it was Eddie Vanderdoes making the rare late switch just before school starts, going from Notre Dame to UCLA. Now, late on Monday night news broke that FSU commit and consensus top […]
0 comments by Kevin McGuire on 6/10/2013
Florida State was on top of the ACC in 2012. Can they repeat in 2013? Photo USA Today Sports Crystal Ball Run will be previewing each conference for the 2013 season with week-by-week coverage. Today we continue our 2013 conference previews with a look at the ACC. We have taken a look at the MAC, […]
0 comments by Kevin McGuire on 6/9/2013
Western Kentucky and Bobby Petrino needed each other at the right time. Photo: USA Today Sports. America loves a good come back story. We latch on to those stories all the time in sports, whether it be an icon's return from retirement like Michael Jordan or one in which a player looks to get a […]
0 comments by Kevin McGuire on 6/8/2013
What's this? A second podcast this week from Crystal Ball Run? As a result of some quick thinking and spur of the moment collaboration, and because our weekly Google+ hangout failed to launch (thanks a lot, Google), Crystal Ball Run contributors Kevin McGuire and Andy Coppens were joined by CBR alum Brandon Cavenaugh of Eight […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens on 6/7/2013
First pitch this…. Manziel's Amazing Offseason Adventures continue! (Photo courtesy USA Today Sports) Oh, to be Johnny Football. Seriously, this is stuff every high school quarterback only dreams of. It's safe to say this has been perhaps the best and most public victory lap since the king of living it up, Paul Horning, won the […]
0 comments by Aaron Torres
(Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports) After spending the entire week reviewing the Sun Belt, it's time for the Crystal Ball Run staff to make their conference championship picks! Allen Kenney's Take: Same story, different conference. Conference expansion continues to dilute leagues like the Sun Belt, which makes these projections a real bear. I think the […]
0 comments by Andrew Coppens
Let the chorus of SEC haters come out with their "I told you so's" today as the NCAA announced penalties to SEC member Mississippi State for a host of infractions related to a now ex-assistant coach, a booster, and a recruit.They are on probation and have had two scholarships taken away for the next two […]
0 comments by Aaron Torres
(Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports) After spending the last few days looking over the teams that will comprise the Sun Belt in 2013, it’s safe to say that the league won’t be stealing the NBA’s “Where Amazing Happens” slogan any time soon. The conference as a whole has a bit of “Island of Misfit Football […]
