Posted by Tom Fornelli

Is J. Darin Darst crazy? Plenty of emailers seem to think so, and that's just one of the topics discussed on the latest episode of The Doddcast. Dennis Dodd joins Darst and Adam Aizer to talk about the latest news in the movement toward a college football playoff, and discuss Temple's move/return to the Big East.

The boys can't escape March Madness, either, as some college basketball talk makes its way into the episode as well.

To listen, click below, pop the podcast player out in a new window, or download the mp3. And remember that all of the CBSSports.com College Football Podcasts can be downloaded for FREE from the iTunes Store. Enjoy:



Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook

Posted by Tom Fornelli

Officially Texas A&M won't be a member of the SEC until July 1st. It appears the Aggies don't want to wait that long, however, especially now that the Big 12 buyouts have been agreed to. For evidence of this you need not look past the Twitter account of Texas A&M's equipment staff, who tweeted out this photo on Wednesday morning.



Not pictured are Texas A&M fans throwing out their cases of Shiner Bock in exchange for jars of moonshine, but change, unlike the effect of moonshine on the brain, is gradual. Give them time.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook 

Posted by Tom Fornelli

Bruce Feldman and Bryan Fischer are back for the latest edition of the Free Bruce Podcast, and this week Bruce discusses the upcoming NFL Draft and his time in Indianapolis at the NFL scouting combine. They also cover which unheralded players may surprise people at the next level, as well as the differences in evaluating players at the NFL level and as high school recruits.

Then Brett "Sources" McMurphy joins the guys to talk about the latest in conference realigment, possible changes to the BCS and whether or not we can say goodbye to the 6-6 bowl teams of yore.

To listen, click below, pop the podcast player out in a new window, or download the mp3. And remember that all of the CBSSports.com College Football Podcasts can be downloaded for FREE from the iTunes Store. Enjoy:



Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook

Posted by Chip Patterson

A Big 12 football season without Texas A&M and Missouri began to take shape earlier this month when both the conference and the SEC released their 2012 regular season schedule. The Tigers to the SEC East and the Aggies to the SEC West happened quickly, but the fine print of the transaction required much more work.

On Tuesday, the Big 12 announced their settlement with both schools as they make their official exit in time for the 2012-2013 academic year. Texas A&M and Missouri will no longer be members of the conference effective June 30, 2012. In order to get approval from the Big 12's eight continuing member institutions, some sacrifices needed to be made. For starters, the league will withhold an estimated $12.41 million from the revenues otherwise distributable to each school. You can check out the official wording for Missouri and Texas A&M below:

The Conference will withhold an estimated $12,410,000 from the revenues otherwise distributable to the University. In addition, Missouri agreed that it would waive any claim to any of the benefits received by the Big 12 Conference from its television contract with Fox Sports, scheduled to commence July 1, 2012. Also, Missouri agreed to pay the Big 12 Conference for its share of the actual cost of officiating expenses for 2011-12 athletic year as it has done in previous years, in the approximate amount of $500,000.

Texas A&M's agreement, nearly identical to Missouri's just without the inclusion of the officiating costs.

The Conference will withhold an estimated $12,410,000 from Texas A&M's projected distribution for fiscal year 2012. However, the parties agreed that A&M will receive a portion of the benefit received by the Big 12 Conference from the signing of its television contract with Fox Sports, scheduled to commence July 1, 2012, and certain other concessions.

Big 12 Conference Commissioner Chuck Neinas called both agreements "fair" in their respective releases, and with the final details settled both schools can focus on their future in the SEC.

For all the latest expansion rumors and headlines, check out our Conference Realignment Home.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook   

Posted by Chip Patterson

With both the ACC and Big East still trying to work out last minute complications in the 2012 regular season schedule, the league's have needed member schools to make some adjustments. Miami and South Florida have announced a change in their scheduled meeting for 2012, from Nov. 24 to Nov. 17.

The in-state battle has been moved "in order to accommodate the conference scheduling needs of both programs," according to the official release. The 2012 meeting at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens is the second to last scheduled meeting in the series. The Hurricanes will travel to Tampa to face the Bulls on Nov. 30, 2013. Miami currently leads the series 3-1, but the pair have split the last two meetings - both decided by a field goal.

The ACC and Big East are both accustomed to releasing their regular season football schedules by this point in the calendar year. The ACC has been working around the challenges presented by by both West Virginia's cancellation with Florida State, and Georgia Tech's rearranging in order to kick off the season with a Labor Day showdown against Virginia Tech.

According to CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy, the Big East is close to adding Temple as their eighth team for 2012. If this rescheduling has been done to accommodate both conferences, that would suggest that the ACC and Big East are nearing a conclusion to this headache of a process.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook   

Posted by Chip Patterson

West Virginia's decision to cancel their Sept. 8 game with Florida State in the 2012 schedule on Feb. 3 left the Seminoles in a bind as they scrambled to fill the slot for their seventh home game. On Wednesday, the school announced that the Mountaineers would be replaced with a visit from Savannah State.

“West Virginia’s announcement at the 11th hour really put us in a very difficult position,” said FSU Director of Athletics Randy Spetman in the official release.  “We contacted every BCS school that had an opening in hopes of replacing WVU with a BCS opponent, but none of those few schools could make it work either because of our dates or theirs.  It is important for our fans to realize that the schools we contacted during the search did not pass on the 2012 game out of concern for the competition, but because of challenges they faced with schedule changes this late in the year. 

  “We worked with Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Cincinnati, Syracuse and Pitt to name a few along with our current non-conference opponents and television partners, but reached a point where our options simply dried up. We might have been able to play on the road at some BCS schools this season, but that would cost our fans and the university one of just seven chances to play a home game and also would have a negative impact on our local economy.”

Florida State's announcement included a guarantee that the entire 2012 schedule will be released by the ACC "shortly." The release of the regular season schedule was pushed back by the league because of "unusual circumstances" (West Virginia's cancellation), so fans can assume the full ACC regular season schedule should be on the way.

The school has already predicted a huge loss in revenue with West Virginia dipping out at the last minute. The first loss in revenue begins with the change in ticket sales. Single-game tickets for the Mountaineers early-season visit - likely to be a Top 25 matchup - was set for $70. On Wednesday, the school announced a $40 single-game ticket price for the Savannah State game.

For more on Florida State, be sure to follow the Seminoles RapidReports.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook   

Posted by Chip Patterson

In a move directly tied to West Virginia's arrival in the Big 12, the Mountaineers were forced to back out of a scheduled Sept. 8 contest with Florida State. The school paid Florida State a $500,000 cancellation fee but the total loss could end up being much more expensive, according to one school official.

"We'll probably lose $2.5 million in ticket sales," assistant athletic director Elliot Finebloom told ESPN.com. The school has been scrambling to replace West Virginia on the home schedule, a task that could end up costing Florida State an additional $1 million. Finebloom also explained the economic importance of keeping that date a home game on the schedule.

“Seven home games is something every business in town counts on, from hotels to restaurants,” Finebloom said. “People think it’s about the athletic department wanting to make more money, but we have a responsibility to area businesses who count on seven home games.”

The ACC regular season schedule had been released at this point in 2011, but Florida State's efforts to replace West Virginia are one of the "unusual circumstances" pushing back the release of the 2012 schedule.

The ACC issued a release late last week to explain the delay:

"As has been documented, there are a number of unusual circumstances beyond the control of the ACC and its member schools that have directly impacted a number of our school's nonconference schedules, which in turn effects the development and completion of the overall schedule."

According to Coley Harvey, of the Orlando Sentinel, the Seminoles have reached out to more than 50 schools to try and fill the date. As many as 31 of those have been FBS programs, reportedly including Boise State, Texas A&M, Syracuse, Rutgers, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Pittsburgh.

For more on Florida State, be sure to follow Seminole RapidReports.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook   

Posted by Jerry Hinnen

It's officially official: not only is West Virginia the newest member of the Big 12, the Mountaineers will play a full Big 12 schedule this coming fall and avoid an awkward lame-duck final season in the Big East. (Sorry, Pitt and Syracuse. The 'Eers will send you a postcard.)

Their freedom from the Big East hasn't come cheap, of course, but it nonetheless remains a major feather in the cap of Mountaineer athletic director Oliver Luck. Luck stopped by the CBS Sports Network's Tim Brando Show to talk about the process of making the jump, the "blue-sky opportunity" of competing in their new conference digs, and even an Archie Manning-starring anecdote on raising a famous quarterback. Watch below: