The Mt. Rushmore Of Current College Football Coaches

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

I looked at Awful Announcing the other day and its Mt. Rushmore banner art had me asking myself who would comprise a Mt. Rushmore of current college football coaches.

Obviously Joe Paterno is the first name to come to mind, though his remaining years at Penn State are certainly numbered. At least they should be. Homeboy needs to step aside.

Before this season's debacle at Texas, Mack Brown had guided the Longhorns to nine consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins. Twice Texas won 13 games, including in its national championship season of 2005. The Longhorns won 101 games in those nine seasons, and overall he's 133-34 in 13 seasons at Texas. Brown gets one of the best recruiting classes in the country every year. I think he's a no-brainer.

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No. 9: Oklahoma Sooners

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Tuesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 9 is Oklahoma.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Not only did Oklahoma suffer tremendous injuries last year, but many of them happened early in the season, forcing untested players into key, season-long roles for which they might not have been ready. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

One of those players was quarterback Landry Jones. He and several others took some lumps during a five-loss campaign last year, but now that 2009 is long behind them and eyes are turned toward a new season, there's renewed optimism with all that experienced gained.

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Stoops Takes High Road About Weak Texas Schedule

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

NORMAN, Okla. -- A reporter tempted Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, but the coach didn't take the bait. He was asked to compare OU's difficult non-league schedule with that of, "say, Texas," just for kicks, of course.

The rival Longhorns count Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP and Central Florida among their out-of-conference opponents. Not a whole lot of BCS points up for grabs there.

Stoops answered politely, then was asked in a follow-up question just what the payoff is for playing tough games outside of league play.