By Zac Ellis

New Wisconsin coach Gary Andersen must have put something in the water out in Madison. Badger players took part in a dance-off during spring practice, and the results were just as entertaining as you’d imagine. These guys have some moves, even in pads.

Our co-author and resident Campus Union dance expert is moving this week, but I think she’d be proud of big man Warren Herring, a redshirt junior defensive lineman who steals the show at the end of the video. Enjoy.

Nick Saban will have this many five-star running backs on scholarship by the time ‘Bama plays Wisconsin. (AP)

SABAN TO THE COWBOYS (STADIUM)—
Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) March 20, 2013

Fans of large smashy men banging themselves together on a football field while wearing varying shades of red, rejoice: 2015′s season-opening Cowboys Classic will feature Wisconsin and Alabama on September 5. You will recall that the Tide have a history of recent success in Arlington; ‘Bama returns to Atlanta for the 2013 season opener versus Virginia Tech. The move extends a streak of interesting-looking high-profile nonconference matchups, with LSU and TCU scheduled for 2013 and Florida State and Oklahoma State (States Florida-and-Oklahoma?) booked for 2014.

Let’s wrap Monday up in fine internet fashion: With @teamcatlab.

VIDEO: Bret Bielema talks about cooking, lies about using vegetables twitpic.com/caj3lw—
  (@teamcatlab) March 11, 2013

If you've got some time to kill #Badgers fans, check out our updated Football video playlist on YouTube go.wisc.edu/1xvx8m—
Badger Football (@BadgerFootball) February 20, 2013

The offseason takes its toll on all of us, and we all must find our own fun to get through it in our own ways. In Wisconsin’s case, this apparently means a lively winter round of The Most Dangerous Game.

That, or dodgeball.

DeWayne Walker set the coaching carousel spinning once more with his late departure from New Mexico State. (AP)

Tommy Tuberville’s sitting by the phone* and Jimmy Sexton’s got that particular sparkle in his eye. It can mean only one thing: The coach firin’ season is upon us once more. We’ll be tracking the carousel of progress, right here, for as long as it takes to stop spinning. Raise a glass to times past, won’t you? * Well, not anymore, but never tell us we don’t have the gift of very specific prophecy through throwaway jokes.

New Mexico State [updated 02.01.2013]

• Who’s out: DeWayne Walker, who jumps to the NFL with less than two weeks remaining between now and Signing Day. And not even for a coordinating gig: Walker will coach defensive backs for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Walker released the following statement through the athletic department: “I really appreciate the opportunity that Dr. Boston and New Mexico State gave me to be a Division I head football coach. Unfortunately, I did not get the program as far as I would have liked from a wins and losses standpoint. But, we do have a better locker room, better kids and a better foundation for the program moving forward. There are a lot of people that I want to thank for their support and will be reaching out to those individuals in the coming days. They have helped me in moving the program forward. I am excited about starting a new chapter in my coaching career, as is my family. I wish New Mexico State great success in the future and wish everyone the best. Go Aggies!” • Who’s in: Doug Martin — the one who played at Kentucky, not the one who played at Boise State. Although if Martin The Younger is really so opposed to his excellent nickname, we’re gonna refer to Martin The Elder as coach Muscle Hamster instead. It’s been a whirlwind courtship for Martin and the Aggies: He was announced as offensive coordinator on January 17, temporarily promoted to interim head coach on January 24 and will be officially announced as DeWayne Walker’s successor on Monday, February 4. Martin’s previous head coaching experience consists of a seven-year stint at Kent State, from 2004-2010. Read More…

Is this the real Kliff Kingsbury, or an incredible simulation? (AP)

• Kliff Kingsbury is on Twitter. His hair does not look artfully tousled. He is wearing a suit and tie, and that tie is not a skinny tie. No v-necks are immediately visible. This may in fact be a wax dummy of Kliff Kingsbury pictured here, which would go a long way toward explaining why it hasn’t tweeted yet.

• We are now contractually obligated to call him Bear O’Brien for one calendar year. Penn State’s head coach has been bestowed with the Bear Bryant College Coach of the Year Award, marking him as the most alliterative winner in the award’s history. Congratulations, Bill O’Bryant!

• Coach-hirin’ follies! Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is leaving to rejoin the Seattle Seahawks; Gators assistant D.J. Durkin has been elevated in his place … per our express wishes, Clancy Pendergast will replace Monte Kiffin as USC’s DC … Rutgers will reportedly lose offensive coordinator Dave Brock to Delaware … Rick Smith, who’s coached defensive backs at South Florida since 2010, will join Ruffin McNeil’s staff at East Carolina as defensive coordinator … now-former Boston College OC Doug Martin (not, so far as we know, nicknamed “Muscle Hamster”) is headed back to New Mexico State in the same capacity.

Read More…

The story of one college football postseason game, as told through social media:

A full, sunny panoramic Rose Bowl. twitter.com/slmandel/statu…

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 1, 2013

Sounds like someone who hasn’t eaten carne asada on a golf course before CFB paradise. MT @38godfrey: […] to hell with the Rose Bowl.

— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) January 1, 2013

There are people in the stands crying because of this wedding. Probably because they thought they were gonna see a Kermit balloon.

— Bill Hanstock (@sundownmotel) January 1, 2013

I miss the days when the Tournament of Roses was to the death.

— Chris Marcil (@ChrisMarcil) January 1, 2013

Brent just hit the “you’re looking live at the Rose Bowl.” I feel like we’ve been given clearance to land.

— edsbs (@edsbs) January 1, 2013

Read More…

You can’t see the Utah student section in this photo, but you KNOW they’re lurking somewhere just off camera, waiting to triple-rush the field and swipe this trophy. (AP)

The 2013 Rose Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an X’s and O’s breakdown, click through to Stewart Mandel’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? This is the Rose Bowl. This is like the one game all year that doesn’t need this question. You know what the Rose Bowl is. The fact that you all know what the Rose Bowl is is central to the mythology of the Rose Bowl. This is the Rose Bowl. It is played in the Rose Bowl. Why is it called the Rose Bowl? STOP THAT.

• When is it on television? Coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN, featuring the vocal stylings of Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox and Tom Rinaldi. The game will also air on ESPN Deportes and stream on WatchESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Any champions of the Pac-12 and Big Ten not playing in the BCS title game.

• What about this year? With the national championship game slots going to an SEC team and an independent, Big Ten champ Wisconsin and Pac-12 champ Stanford will travel to Pasadena.

• Does the bowl have a social media presence? It does, albeit a steadfastly dignified one:
Read More…

And we’re back! Items of interest you may have missed whilst holidaying:

• Start ‘em early. The Palm Beach Post‘s Jason Lieser works to instill a proper reverence for prep work in our nation’s youth:

We made some flashcards to teach our 1-year-old about our upcoming trip to the Sugar Bowl. twitter.com/PBPjasonlieser…

— Jason Lieser (@PBPjasonlieser) December 24, 2012

• Roster blotter. And now, a whole bunch of players who are being held out of bowl games for assorted reasons: Stanford’s Terrence Stephens (secondary NCAA violation), Oregon’s Nick Cody and Axel McQuaw (academics), Minnesota’s Andre McDonald (the ever-popular-and-mysterious Violation Of Team Rules), Texas Tech’s Cornelius Douglas, Chris Payne and Leon Mackey (VOTR), UCLA’s Tevin McDonald (VOTR), Syracuse’s Adonis Ameen-Moore and Max Beaulieu (VOTR) and Marquis Spruill and Steven Rene (partial suspensions only) … Illinois’ Akeem Spence has declared for the draft …  Duron Carter has dropped out of FAU … Cody Vaz will start at quarterback in the Alamo Bowl … Oklahoma’s Stacy McGee was arrested Monday.

Read More…

Really, John Junker’s compensation was quite reasonable when you take into account all those yellow blazers he had to wear. (AP)

• As our commenters will surely attest, we are in the wrong line of work. The Outback Bowl CEO made $400,000 in 2002 and more than $750,000 in 2010. If you weren’t sure that you’re doing your career wrong when former Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker’s spending habits were publicized, you’re really sure now. (Again: Can we get a bowl going? The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is listed here as a “second-tier bowl”; the Papajohns.com Bowl was a thing for multiple seasons. Scratching our way into some as-yet unimagined fifth tier of postseason action can’t be that hard. Gather up any Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee State players and coaches you can find and meet us on a municipal field in Florida to be named later.)

• Pine box? More like takeout box! Amirite? [crickets] So here’s this story about Tommy Tuberville literally and actually ditching Texas Tech recruits at a restaurant the night he accepted the Cincinnati job, and one of them got downright poetical about it: ”We still had a good time at night, but it was crazy how he just got up and left out of nowhere and left people in the dark and in the shadow.”

• Speaking of gobs and gobs of money. Brett “Sources” McMurphy on the playoff pie: “During the 12-year contract for college football’s new playoff format, the nation’s five power conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC) will earn an average of nearly $75 million more per year than the smaller leagues known as the ‘group of five.’”

Read More…