Tuesday Morning Linkage
June schmune. We've got plenty of college football action to catch up on. Here are some of the highlights from the past week. What we have been working on:
The Top 50 Best Non-BCS Player Countdown rolls on. Be sure to check out the latest player to be named to our list. In case you missed the announcement, Baltimore Sun recruiting guru Matt Bracken will join us this week on the podcast, and ESPN.com senior writer Bruce Feldman will join us next week.
Adam posts a sneak peak of his interview with Army head coach Rich Ellerson, while Brian says that there are still good teams playing tough OOC schedules. Adam talks about his humbling experience of watching game film with Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
What we have been reading:
Could we be headed for a Notre Dame-Texas series in the future? Maybe, according to Pat over at Blue-Gray Sky.
It isn't like Navy was beating Georgia Tech for recruits to begin with, but they didn't really cross paths on the recruiting trail as often, either. Now that the Yellow Jackets are running a similar kind of offense, it stands to reason that they'll be looking for a similar style of player.Not only that, but Mike channels Moneyball author Michael Lewis in detailing what this dynamic really says about finding gridiron success at a service academy:
The lesson here is that it isn't the option that's the key to service academy success; simply being different is the most important thing. For baseball fans, it's sort of the same concept as Moneyball. While big-market clubs would target the guys who hit for average and had high RBI totals, Oakland would seek value for their dollars by targeting players who excelled in other statistical categories (OBP and SLG, for example). The result was that they'd get good players, but just not necessarily the ones in high demand. The same could be said for Navy football recruits now. My guess is that 15-20 years from now, spread offenses will be the norm in college football, and the most successful service academies will be running something completely different. As football evolves, so must Navy.
Frank from the UMass Football Fan Zone alerts us to a potential "Dream Matchup" between FCS bastions Montana and Appalachian State scheduled to begin in 2012. 
The always insightful Heisman Pundit lists his Top Quarterbacks going into 2009, with Texas' Colt McCoy taking the top spot. (Adam complains about the lack of non-BCS quarterbacks in the comment section)
For Ohio State fans, Buckeye Commentary asks a question akin to asking which one of your kids you like best: if Ohio State could only beat USC or Michigan this season, which one would you choose?
The Quad Blog continues to roll out a preview a day, most recently focusing in on last year's MAC Champion Buffalo Bulls. Our good friends from DraftDaddy.com give us seven lesser known FBS receivers to watch out for in 2009.
Boiled Sports says Purdue needs to play "with a chip on their shoulder" to be successful in 2009, and says that is just what Danny Hope brings to the table. The implied comparison between the Wolverines of Red Dawn and the Boilermakers is top notch, for our money.
JazzyUte from BlockU.com says that the Pac-10 hurts its own image by not including Utah in possible expansion plans:
If the Pac-Ten is realistic about reshaping its image, and who knows, maybe they're not, then they're going to have to address the possibility of expansion. An expansion that includes Utah will instantly bring a program that already could outperform Washington, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State and dare I say both Oregon schools. That most certainly would bolster their standing nationally and provide true competition for the Trojans, who are sinking in the pool of perception under their current structure.
And finally, Eagle in Atlanta fills us in on Boston College's latest quarterback experiment.
Remember to check back daily for the latest college football updates at Inthebleachers.net, and be sure to check out GoMids.com and ArmySports.com for Adam's latest observations from the world of Service Academy football.
