Lane Kiffin on short leash at USC

One year from today Lane Kiffin will not be the head coach at Southern California USC. Just call it a hunch. But with Pat Haden as the new sheriff at Heritage Hall, and with his old receiver J.K. McKay (among others) keeping an “eye” on the football program, you have to wonder how long the Boy Wonder is going to put up with the New World Order. Haden has already sent Reggie Bush’s Heisman back and will eventually have to send back the 2004 BCS championship trophy and the Football Writer’s Grantland Rice national championship trophy. Haden has made it clear there will be zero tolerance for shenanigans. Not sure Lane can do zero tolerance. – CBS Sports

Gruden, Muschamp to replace Les Miles At LSU?

LSU will start 5-0 and there will still be people calling for the head of Les Miles. Now you would think that a coach who has won 51 games and a national championship in five seasons would be in pretty decent shape with his alumni. But down on the Bayou there is still this nagging sense that the program has begun to slip since Nick Saban’s players all finished in 2007, the national championship season. (LSU is 8-8 in SEC play the past two seasons.) If LSU can beat North Carolina in Atlanta on Saturday, the Tigers should be 5-0 when they go to Florida on Oct. 9. They won’t win in the Swamp and then the complaints will start. You will hear the name of Jon Gruden. You will also hear the name of Will Muschamp. – CBS Sports

BYU Goes Independent

BYU is going independent in football after all. BYU says it is leaving the Mountain West Conference and will go independent in football while joining the West Coast Conference in all other sports in the 2011-2012 school year. BYU and its new conference announced the moves in simultaneous releases late Tuesday afternoon, saying further details would be given at a news conference Wednesday at BYU’s LaVell Edwards Stadium. BYU said its resignation from the Mountain West takes effect June 30, 2011, allowing the Cougars to start West Coast Conference play next fall. The announcement ended nearly two weeks of speculation since BYU’s original plan to go independent surfaced, then unraveled within hours when the Mountain West Conference made a protective move and invited Nevada and Fresno State to leave the WAC for the MWC. BYU had an agreement worked out with the WAC to join in all sports except football, which would play as a Bowl Subdivision independent. The Mountain West’s catch of Nevada and Fresno State foiled the plan and left BYU with little time to come up with something else before Sept. 1, the deadline to notify the Mountain West of any plans to leave before the 2011 school year. – SI.com

WAC’s hopes of reeling in BYU get darker

As the window further closes, it increasingly appears the Western Athletic Conference is not in Brigham Young University’s plans as school officials sort out their options for going independent in football and placing BYU’s other sports in another league. Sources in Logan familiar with the situation told The Tribune on Monday it appeared the Cougars were now looking elsewhere for a nonfootball affiliation. That could mean the West Coast Conference — an eight-school league composed of private, faith-based institutions — is now BYU’s destination for its other sports. Utah State, which as of two weeks ago was closely tied to BYU’s plans, expects details about BYU’s intentions of becoming an independent in football to be announced today. BYU must give the Mountain West Conference notice of its intention to leave by Wednesday. – Salt Lake Tribune

Fight over Nevada’s departure from the WAC could end in court

As Nevada begins its transition into the Mountain West Conference, there are two certainties. One, the Wolf Pack will eventually get there, perhaps as early as next summer. Two, little is likely to be decided before Nevada’s lawyers and the WAC’s lawyers earn their paychecks. Nevada’s intentions to leave the WAC and to do so in less than a year have violated two contracts, and the WAC is prepared to take legal action to recoup its losses, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said Monday. Nevada and Fresno State announced on Aug. 18 their intention of joining the MWC, which Benson said violates a resolution agreed to by all the WAC schools except Boise State and Louisiana Tech. The resolution, reached Aug. 13 and also agreed to by BYU, states that those WAC schools would remain in the WAC through June 30, 2016 or face a $5 million penalty. Fresno State signed the resolution; Nevada President Milton Glick verbally agreed to it on Aug. 14. The resolution was drawn up in reaction to BYU’s desire to become a football independent and join the WAC in all other sports. BYU, in discussions with the WAC, wanted assurance that the WAC would maintain its current structure. – Reno Gazette-Journal

Appearance fees for non-BCS programs growing

Louisiana-Lafayette is getting $875,000 from Georgia to visit, in a deal signed three years ago. And in today’s world that’s a bargain. Georgia just signed a deal to give Buffalo $975,000 to open the 2012 season in Athens. Similar deals were given to North Texas ($975,000 to come in 2013) and New Mexico State ($925,000 for 2011.) On the flip side, Louisiana-Lafayette hasn’t signed a deal for under $900,000 since it scheduled Georgia. It’s getting $950,000 from Florida for a 2012 game. That matchup with the Gators was negotiated with Greg McGarity, then at Florida, now the Georgia athletics director. “The key thing is getting teams in here for one game,” McGarity said. “And you’re gonna have to pay a million dollars. It’s not gonna go down.” How did it get to this point? It traces back to the NCAA allowing all teams to play a 12th regular season game, starting with the 2006 season. – Ledger-Enquirer

Tressel remains obedient on moving ‘The Game’

It has been assured that Ohio State and Michigan will continue to play annually, but a debate rages over whether to slot Ohio State and Michigan in opposite divisions and run the risk of the Buckeyes and Wolverines playing on back-to-back weekends. In that instance, ”The Game” might be moved to earlier in the season, a change that has been panned by former players even as OSU director of athletics Gene Smith, president E. Gordon Gee and Michigan AD Dave Brandon have said recently they’re open-minded to moving. The Ohio State-Michigan game has been the two teams’ finale since 1935. On Monday, speaking at his first weekly luncheon in preparation for the season opener Thursday night against Marshall, Tressel tried to bob and weave. ”I guess my stance on all of this stuff is what I am going to be in favor of is what the group needs and what the group decides,” Tressel said. ”I’m going to focus on [OSU's] 25 seniors and the 2010 football team and not allow myself to get distracted [by] all of the discussion.’ – Beacon Journal

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Rodriguez Feeling Heat at Michigan

Some Wolverines fans can put up with the losing, if they think it will lead to greater things. But couple that with a pending NCAA investigation and the seemingly regular defection of players, and the U-M faithful appear to be counting the days until the Rodriguez era ends. The record has been bad for Rodriguez since he arrived from West Virginia — 3-9 in 2008 and 5-7 in 2009 — and some wonder whether it can be turned around. He certainly hasn’t been given the strongest vote of confidence from new athletic director Dave Brandon, who hasn’t committed to Rodriguez beyond this season. In defense of Rodriguez, he has tried to revamp the Wolverines’ offense from a traditional style to a spread, requiring different types of players. The question remains, however, will Rodriguez be given the time to get his system to work? Barring at least seven wins and a decent bowl bid, I’d bet on a new coach in Ann Arbor for 2011. – Detroit News

BYU still talking to WAC

Don’t count the Western Athletic Conference out of Brigham Young University’s future athletic plans just yet. WAC commissioner Karl Benson told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday evening that his conference is still negotiating with BYU about the possibility of the Cougars going independent in football and placing its non-football sports in the WAC. “Both sides are still working on a deal that will be beneficial to the WAC and to BYU,” Benson said. Earlier Friday, a source at Utah State also confirmed that negotiations were taking place between the two sides. – Salt Lake Tribune

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