Andrew Bucholtz

When Pitt State head coach Todd Graham chose to leave his post after one season for a similar position elsewhere, many questioned the decision and even blasted him for taking advantage of the program. Andrew Bucholtz takes a deeper look at loyalty in college sports and what it might take to restore the faith.

You know by now that Super Bowl XLVI is a rematch of Super Bowl XLII featuring the Patriots and Giants, but when you break down the teams, both sides have lost several key members of their 2008 squads. Andrew Bucholtz breaks down the old and new faces.

Monday night’s BCS Championship game between LSU and Alabama is a rematch of a Nov. 5 match between the two rivals. But are these truly the best two teams? Oklahoma State doesn’t think so, and Andrew Bucholtz examines why the Crimson Tide were selected over the Cowboys for the big game.

The Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts both lost key members to their offenses this season. However, how each responded to adversity has differed dramatically. Houston found solace in backup QB Matt Leinart while Indianapolis has fallen to last place in the NFL.

The Canadian Football League is Canada’s answer to the NFL, and its championship game – the Grey Cup – plays out this Sunday between the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Sure, there’s many differences between the CFL and NFL style of play, but does that make the Canadian version any worse?

Though we like to think that our favorite NFL franchises fight vehemently for each and every yard on the football field, it’s easy to question such motivation when a prospect like Andrew Luck rolls around. With little-to-no incentive for non-playoff teams to compete late in the season, is it better for mediocre teams to lose on purpose?

The Boise State Broncos have the makings of a fairy tale, but minus the key component of a Disney-fied version; the happy ending. Instead, their story reads more like something that might have been put together by the Brothers Grimm. The Broncos are always searching for an invitation to the ball of the BCS championship, but despite the attractiveness of their undefeated records, a flawed system keeps on passing over them in favor of stepsisters who come from wealthier conferences. TheGP Football tells the tale.

Is the most important game of the college football season about to take place in early November? Under the current BCS format, that’s very likely the case. How could the NCAA approach the season differently? Would a playoff format keep early matchups like this one from upstaging the season finale in January?

Virtually every single aspect of the world has changed since the 1960s, but throughout Vietnam, Watergate, the Iranian revolution, the fall of the Soviet Union, the first and second Gulf Wars, and the death of Osama bin Laden, there has been one immutable constant in sports: Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Robert Griffin III is one of the most dominant players in college football, yet his chances of legitimately contending for one of the NCAA’s top honors – the Heisman Trophy – are next to none. What is it that appears to have thrown Griffin off track? We’ll give you one hint, it’s through no fault of his own.

Whether you love him or hate him, Al Davis stands out among our generation of football fans for his tenure as the owner the Oakland Raiders. Somehow forgotten amid the 45 years he spent with his organization, he also managed to drastically impact the NFL we watch today. TheGP Football breaks down his role with both the American Football League and, specifically, the NFL-AFL merger.

It wasn’t supposed to be easy for Jim Harbaugh stepping in as the head coach of the disappointing San Francisco 49ers, especially not with the lockout-shortened offseason stunting his transitionary period coming over from nearby Stanford. How, then (at 3-1 and atop the NFC West), have they made it look so simple?

The tides of NCAA conferences are changing, to nobody is that a surprise. Most recently Texas A&M has relocated for a better position on the college football landscape. As the Aggies play out their final year in the Big-12, speculation abounds over the impact of the decision on the program, the conference and even the sport. Andrew Bucholtz explains.

The Lions: One of two undefeated teams remaining in the NFL, just years after finishing 0-16.
The Switch: The 2009 decision to bring in rookie head coach Jim Schwartz to champion the turnaround.
The Wardrobe: Redesigned uniforms symbolizing new culture and serve as visual disconnect from anything pre-2009.

The Auburn Tigers’ 17-game winning streak was snapped Saturday by the other band of Tigers from Clemson, and it may be a while before they’re able to get anywhere close to another one. It’s not unusual for title-winning teams to take a step back in the next season, particularly in college football where success often [...]

The Oklahoma Sooners have been college football’s top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll from the preseason on this year, but Saturday marked their first real chance to live up to the hype. Week 1′s 47-14 win over Tulsa was impressive, but it was the Week 2 road clash against No. 5 Florida State that [...]

One of the most unique things about college sports is the schools themselves have the power to remake their environment, and that’s led to the chaotic round of conference realignment we’ve seen lately. The recent decisions by Nebraska and Colorado to leave the Big 12 for the Big 10 and the Pac-12 respectively, while noteworthy [...]

For much of the last decade, the AFC North has been dominated by the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have been the more prominent of the two, claiming division titles in 2007, 2008 and 2010, advancing to the Super Bowl in 2010 and winning the Lombardi Trophy outright in 2008. But while [...]

One of the most intriguing stories of the summer in college football didn’t focus on player movement, conference realignment or institutional scandal, but rather a journalist’s treatment by his employer. Renowned ESPN journalist Bruce Feldman’s apparent suspension for editing the Swing Your Sword book (by former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach), that included troubling comments [...]

One of the clear perils of the No. 3 and No. 4-ranked teams facing off in a season opener is that one of them has to lose. This past week, that was the case with the third-ranked Oregon Ducks, who fell 40-27 to the depleted but still dangerous fourth-ranked LSU Tigers in their first game [...]