Trivia Tuesday – FBS Head Coaches

There are 128 FBS schools that will be playing football this fall, but there are 129 FBS schools with head football coaches due to the rather odd, one year hiatus being taken by UAB – fodder for another blog.

Today’s Trivia Tuesday focuses on the 129 Head Football Coaches currently leading the programs at those 129 FBS schools. Just let me remind you that the information provided here is solely based on SOD’s limited research capabilities as powered through the Internet. The information is based on what SOD was able to ascertain through Internet searches and is only as accurate as that data allows. If you find any information to be inaccurate, we would love to know what the truth really is. Thanks.

TRIVIA QUESTION #1.  How many FBS Head Coaches are coaching at their Alma Mater? How many can you name?

TRIVIA QUESTION #2.  What college has produced the most FBS Head Coaches?

TRIVIA QUESTION #3.  What is the most popular position played by Head Coaches in their collegiate careers?

TRIVIA QUESTION #4.  Who is the FBS Head Coach that played baseball in college, but not football?

TRIVIA QUESTION #5.  Who are the 5 current FBS Head Coaches who have been coaching the same school they are now with for 15 years or more? (Not counting 2015.)

BUFFER ZONE
You can join the SOD CFB College Football Poll by submitting your Top 25 to sodcfb@yahoo.com. Our Pre-Season Top 25 are:

ANSWER #1.  15. There are 15 FBS Head Coaches, including 3 who are new to their team this year, coaching at the same college where they attended college. They are: Terry Calhoun (Air Force); Scott Satterfield (Appalachian State); Bryan Harsin (Boise State); John Bonamego (Central Michigan); Ruffin McNeill (East Carolina); Paul Haynes (Kent State); Jim Harbaugh (Michigan); Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern); Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State); David Shaw (Stanford); Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech); Matt Wells (Utah State); Sean Kugler (UTEP); Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech); Paul Chryst (Wisconsin).

ANSWER #2.  Iowa. There are 5 FBS Head Coaches that list Iowa as their Alma Mater. They are: Bret Bielema (Arkansas); Bob Diaco (Connecticut); Dan McCarney (North Texas); Bob Stoops (Oklahoma); Mark Stoops (Kentucky). Four Head Coaches list Alabama as their Alma Mater. Three Head Coaches come from BYU, Kent State and West Virginia.

ANSWER #3.  QB. 39 of the 129 FBS Head Coaches list QB as the position they played in college. A couple of them list QB as one of two positions they played. DB is the next most popular position played by FBS Head Coaches, followed by WR then LB.

ANSWER #4.  California’s Head Coach, Sonny Dykes, played baseball at Texas Tech.

ANSWER #5.  Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech, 28 years); Bill Snyder (Kansas State, 23 not-consecutive); Bob Stoops (Oklahoma, 16); Kirk Ferentz (Iowa, 16); Gary Patterson (TCU, 15). Both Gary Pinkel, at Missouri, and Mark Richt, at Georgia, are entering their 15th year as the Head Coach at their respective schools.

Trivia Tuesday – Power 5 Conferences

In recent years, there has been a lot of shuffling of College Football Conferences. And, if you believe Some Other Dude, there is more yet to come as we advance upon the age of the Mega-Conferences. But, SOD wonders, how well do you know the history of the current Power 5 Conferences?

THE TRIVIA CHALLENGE

Name the original teams in each of the current Power 5 Conferences.

THE BUFFER ZONE

THE ANSWERS

The Atlantic Coast Conference.  Even though we appear to be headed to 16 team Mega-Conferences, back in history there was an even mega-er conference; the Southern Conference.  The Southern Conference, at one time, consisted of 23 teams and eventually splintered into other, smaller conferences.  One of those splinter conferences was the ACC which officially formed as a conference in 1953.  The 7 charter members of the ACC were: Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest.  Only South Carolina no longer calls the ACC home as they eventually joined the other splinter conference with former Southern Conference brethren.  Link to information source.

The Big 12.  The history of the Big 12 is a little more convoluted than that of the other conferences.  The Big 12 itself wasn’t formed until 1994 when teams from the Big 8 merged with teams from the Southwest Conference.  The Big 8 Conference was originally chartered in 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association and eventually became known as the Big 6 and then grew up to become the Big 8.  The original members of this conference were: Iowa (two-timing with the Big Ten), Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Washington University in St. Louis.  Only Kansas remains as a current member of The Big 12.  Link to information source.  The Southwest Conference was first formed in 1912, consisting of: Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Rice, Texas and Texas A&M.  Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas remain as current members of the Big 12.  Link to information source.

The Big Ten.  The name “The Big Ten” was actually not officially incorporated until 1987, but the conference referred to as the Big Ten has been around since 1905.  The original conference was made up of 7 teams in what was known as the “Intercollegiate Conference Athletic Association”.  In 1917, when the conference had expanded to 10 teams, it was labeled the “Big Ten” by members of the media.  The original members of this so-called Big Ten Conference were: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, University of Chicago and Wisconsin.  Only the University of Chicago is not a member of that conference today.  Link to information source.

The Pac 12.  The Pac 12 Conference started off as a little seedling conference that eventually grew up into the Pac 12.  Forming in 1916 as the Pacific Coast Conference, its original members stood at only 4 schools: California, Oregon, Oregon Agricultural College (later known as Oregon State) and Washington.  All four schools still remain in the conference today.  Interestingly, Idaho and Montana were one time members of this conference and the conference was disbanded and re-assembled in 1959 due to a pay-for-play scandal.  The re-formed conference was called the Athletic Association of Western Universities, commonly known as the Big 5. After growing once again, the conference started being referred to as the Pacific 8 in 1964 and officially became the Pacific 8 in 1968, the Pac 10 in 1978 and the Pac 12 in 2011.  Link to information source.

The SEC.  The SEC preceded the ACC in splintering away from the huge Southern Conference when 13 schools left in 1932 to form their own conference.  The 13 schools that made up the first version of the Southeastern Conference were: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Sewanee (University of the South), Tennessee, Tulane and Vanderbilt.  Georgia Tech now resides in the ACC; Tulane, although still an FBS school is no longer a member of a Power 5 Conference; and, Sewanee, after having decided to de-emphasize sports in 1940, currently competes in Division III athletics.  Link to information source.

Conference Changes 2015 – The Eye of the Storm

Over the past few years the landscape of college football, with regards to conference membership, has been in flux. You practically needed a Playbill in recent years as a reminder of changes in the cast.

SOD is still trying to get used to Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and, as of this past year, Louisville playing in the ACC (somehow, Miami seems a natural fit). Missouri still seems odd showing up so many times on SEC football fields – and who suspected the Tigers to be winning the SEC East every year? And, although they had way better than expected seasons in their first year in the B1G Ten, Maryland and Rutgers seems out of place amongst the Ohio States, Michigans and Wisconsins of the football world. Heck, SOD is still trying to get used to Big Red in the B1G Ten.

What with the Big 12 being left out of the playoff party in 2014, with some pointing to their lack of a conference championship, at least somewhat, contributing to that decision and the visions SOD has of a future world of Mega Conferences (see yesterday’s blog article), it would not be surprising to see more flux down the road. As such, the 2015 football season appears to be the eye of the storm. Just a few minor adjustments to two mid-major conferences are in store for this coming year, nothing too confusing and nothing to get too excited about.

As of 2015, the Midshipmen from Navy leave the ranks of Independent football teams and will be participating in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). This looked like a more promising move a few years back when it was still the Big East, but, SOD believes, a good move for Navy nonetheless. Navy should be competitive in this league and, being a conference member should ease scheduling concerns that mid-major Independents have to deal with. With 8 conference games on the schedule each year, and the other two military academies, Navy only needs to secure 2 other games each season – much easier than finding 10 schools to compete against each year (the 2 academies are a given).

The only other conference changes occur in Conference USA which loses one team and gains another. SOD is sorry to see the University of Alabama–Birmingham fold the football tents. Although the past few years have not been kind to the Blazers, UAB does have a history of successful football campaigns to look back upon. Besides that, losing UAB loses one of the best football logos for FBS. Although the move of adding UNC-Charlotte to the league was not intended to be a replacement for anybody, that is, in effect, what happens. As the league bids good-bye to the Blazers, the 49ers move up from the FCS to start a new chapter in their football lore in C-USA. This could be a rather difficult challenge for the 49ers to start off. Charlotte had a tough enough time with a very manageable FCS schedule in 2014, finishing 5 – 6. Things will only get tougher in the C-USA. But, brick by brick, as they say. We will see if the 49ers can start to compete in years to come.

So, that’s it. Minor adjustments. Which is fine for now, as far as SOD is concerned. Another year to get used to Rutgers and Maryland in the B1G Ten. Another year for the Big 12 to plan their next move – they just have to grow large enough to host a Conference Championship Game, don’t you think? And, another year for SOD’s crystal ball vision to start to clear up. BYU and Notre Dame need to find a conference to call home and Boise State needs a big boy conference to play in.

Just the eye of the storm, my friends; the winds of change are just on the other side.