It's been a long time, but we're back on the air waves. I've been looking for a way to continue to bring the podcast while handling the duties at the mothership and finally arrived at this solution: short daily takes for the people. I'm still going to pick up the guests going forward but right now I've had a need to podcast and this is a way to take a lot of what I've been writing about and spin it into something you all can consume on the reg.

First up, we've got the new rule at Miami. Here's the take from Your Best 11 and on the show I get into why I don't like the rule or the rule's provisions to thwart talking to agents. I also give some quick thoughts about the "Should We Ban College Football" debate that took place last night. If you have not watched the debate, you can find that two hour video here. It is an, um, interesting watch and one that I hope my readers and listeners are better prepared for than the average Joe; a lot of it is stuff we've already covered here at ITB.

Oh, and we're on Stitcher Radio now people!


To listen to the show click here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.

If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner , but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.

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Things are still rocking and rolling at the mothership but we've got a Tuesday treat for you all via the radio waves and the miracles of podcasting. I joined The Insiders, Mark Thomas and Mike Maniscalco, to talk about the ACC, the SEC and the NFL draft. The ACC is not devoid of all talent but even as the league's NFL draft pick numbers remain among the nation's best, the teams cannot get wins on the field. Obviously I have a brilliant plan on how to fix this, it involves a time machine and will never happen.

Then, of course, we talk about the most recent development on the college football landscape. A PLAYOFF IS COMING AND OMG IT IS GOING TO BE SO FREAKING TOTALLY AWESOME AND BETTER THAN EVERYTHING EVER!! Have a listen as I thrust and parry my way to not embracing this change for anything but more ways to complain about college football for everyone. Mark my words people, you will not be happy!

But in all seriousness, there are some issues that still exist and playoff or not they need to be addressed before we can call this next step a solution. As always, a great time on ESPN Triangle with the guys from 620 The Buzz.

Thanks to my man Josh Goodson for getting me the audio so quickly.

To listen to the show click here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.

If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner , but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.

Blackberry users like your fearless leader can paste this link into the "Add Podcast Channel" option when you download the Blackberry Podcast App.

Got a question? Email it in to InTheBleachers @ GMAIL (dot) COM

Yes, we're on the Google+ so find "+Michael Felder" on there and we'll get you in the ITB Circle!

Hit us up on Twitter @InTheBleachers!

Finally got a little time to get around to this UNC post, if you didn't know folks the kid has been working like crazy. For starters, yes, I went to the game. Sat in 107-ish for a good little sideline view. Some nice ladies sat next to us and they asked me football questions and I was answering them. Got to sit with Jonathan Jones from Carolina Blue and Erin Summers from WRAL too. Here is an overview and the stats if you're interested in those type things.

The first take away from the game as they came out and got started was the size, or lack thereof. The team is noticeably smaller, especially on the lines. That's a product of two things; the strength and conditioning program design and the actual practices themselves. Fedora has changed from the NFL styled practices that UNC has had, well since forever, and gone with a similar practice scheme to what Meyer has implemented at Ohio State, what Chip Kelly uses at Oregon and the like. Less standing around for the back ups, more reps for everyone and a lot more conditioning done during the drills themselves.

Some folks like this, some don't. In principle, for me, I'm not a fan of it. I like the pro styled approach of heavy reps for the ones, less for the twos and so on; but to be fair both are great ways to practice when you can get the desired goal. 

It is Friday and I must admit I'm looking forward to writing this post, been a hectic week over at the mothership people. If you're not already checking Your Best 11 out over at my new fulltime gig then you're missing a lot of my writing. Like all of it. I've got Petrino hammered down over there. I've got your Top 150 players in the nation over there. In short folks, I got that work.

Going a less fun direction with the music today, but that's mostly because of what we're about to get into in the meat of Fetch Friday.


So, if you haven't seen or heard the Gregg Williams audio out of New Orleans then you probably want to do that now, because I'm about to wax all philosophical like on it.

What's really good people?! Today is Friday and while I'll be slogging it out at the new basecamp there's something I really wanted to hit this week before I dive into work. We'll get to that after the jump, for now I've got a handful of fun things to hit on. No particular order of importance but I'm putting this first because I definitely need folks to get over to the site and vote. The Sandwich Bracket is raging folks and while your March Madness Bracket got busted and you had 0 control over it, the Sandwich Bracket is one that people like you get a say in. Go vote for the regionals, go help turn the fortunes of the Kentucky Hot Brown, the Country Ham Biscuit and all the other regionals.

So now some Flo Rida because I'm in that sort of a mood.


People, I'm doing a Spartan Race tomorrow so there is only one thing to say; #Pray4Felder. My best friend, a college teammate of mine, and I are going to partake in this thing and combined I think we have like six days of actual training for it. None of it in the last three weeks. Neither of us are good at running any sort of distance. Neither of us particularly enjoys physical challenge. Both of us will finish and we'll have some folks there taking photographic proof of this. Also proof that I'm doing it is right here, I'm bib number 1388. THAT'S MY LUCKY NUMBER! NOT!!

Now we'll get into the fetch because I've got something pretty serious to go with a Fetch Friday veteran.

Every person employs a slightly different strategy when making March Madness predictions. Some people choose based on their biases, the school mascots, or on historical reputations. Others research statistics and favor teams that, say, have a higher free-throw shooting percentage than their opponents. And there are certainly many people who take schedule and conference strength into consideration when determining whether a seed is properly ranked.

And, of course, there are numerous people that pick top seeds almost exclusively – along with just a couple upset predictions to shake things up.

So what’s the best bracket prediction approach? This question is obviously an impossible one to answer, as the stunning success in recent years of George Mason and VCU only begin to illustrate. Ultimately, when the tournament comes to a close, the higher ranked teams will usually be the ones who advance further and come out on top. But, meanwhile, a good number of upsets will take place in the interim. That’s all we really know for sure.

I know it's been quite some time since we've ran a podcast up the flagpole for you fine folks but with good reason; been getting my bidness handled behind the scenes and as you all noticed last week I've got a new job. Well with that new job comes a few more radio spots and with a few more radio spots comes a few more ITB Podcasts in addition to the shows we're knocking out in the near future.

This is a spot from Fayetteville. Nope, not my homeland in NC, the other Fayetteville in Arkansas, home of the Hogs, Woo Pig Sooie and all that jazz. Great chance to hop on with the guys from ESPN radio down there and talk a little national college football, SEC and of course Hogs. We knock out the LSU vs Alabama debate plus discuss how legit the SEC East's chance of winning a conference title is and then settle in on the Hogs and what we expect of the Razorbacks in 2012.


To listen to the show click here or subscribe to one of the methods listed below.

If you want the podcast you must subscribe to the Feedburner , but if you want to subscribe to the blog please use the RSS Feed. This is for iTunes to be able to archive the shows. You can also search for "In The Bleachers"on iTunes and subscribe to the podcast that way.

Blackberry users like your fearless leader can paste this link into the "Add Podcast Channel" option when you download the Blackberry Podcast App.

Got a question? Email it in to InTheBleachers @ GMAIL (dot) COM

Yes, we're on the Google+ so find "+Michael Felder" on there and we'll get you in the ITB Circle!

Hit us up on Twitter @InTheBleachers!

What's really good folks?! Been a slow week here at ITB but we'll explain all that as we get into the Fetch. Right now I must remind you people that St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow. That means beer and by beer we mean the official beer of St. Patrick's Day; Guinness. Unless you've been living under a rock you oughta know that we've got a little contest running with Guinness to help them while we also help ourselves for SPD2k12. Oh and SPD2k12 means St. Patrick's Day 2012 for all you non-hip folks.

Head over to Guinness.com and then enter your age, first name, THE PROMO CODE "BLEA" (so they know I sent you) and you'll be all set to help Guinness set a record and give myself and yourself a shot at a trip to Ireland later on this year. Go, do that and you will make SPD2k12 just that much better come Saturday.

In other news let's go ahead and get into the fetch:


A littlle Bob on a Friday that is set to be another gorgeous Carolina day, yes that is even including the thunderstorms that are coming. Alright folks we've got a housekeeping issue coming up after the jump then some thoughts on NCAA drug testing policies.

March Madness is here folks and you know what that means...SPRING BALL ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. I know right, get excited as your football team gets out there and starts hitting each other, fine tuning, installing packages and preparing for the 2012 season. We've also got daylight savings time, spring forward, on our plate and that means yours truly just watched the sunrise in North Carolina and there isn't much better than that folks.

St. Patrick's Day is on the horizon for us this Saturday so be sure to hit Guinness up and register WHILE LEAVING THE CODE "BLEA" IN THE BOX for the big party. So this weekend obviously has a built in party coming right up.

Oh and yeah, that basketball thing that people seem to love so much. The NCAA tournament field was revealed yesterday and there were some big decisions made (I guess), some surprising seeds (I think) and plenty of controversy over who got the easy draw (sounds right). To be fair, I was watching House Hunters where this couple was picking a house somewhere out west and the lady was complaining about dark cabinets and the idiot husband was whining about ceiling fans like ceilings fans aren't even easier to change than painting a wall.

But I digress, the ITB Pick'Em Pool is up at Fun Office Pools and obviously we'd love for all of you folks to register and play. It is free. It is easy. I'll find something to send to you at some point probably. Also you will be competing against me and I expect all of you to just really crush me in this thing. So really this pick'em pool is a bone that I'm throwing to all of the people who harassed me about watching basketball this season; prove your worth!
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That's right folks, click here to hugify my entire bracket for you to look at, let it weigh on your mind. After the jump I will explain the picks and basically blow your mind with how brilliant I am without even watching one minute of the sport.

It's Friday, it's Friday, gotta get fetch on Friday! If you haven't already taken my advice and registered for the Guinness promo why don't you do the world a favor and go knock that out right now. Need somewhere to enjoy your Guinness after registering for the St. Patrick's Day Party? Check out the pub finder. Let's blow this thing out folks.

Now some boogie tunes for your fetchness:


And now it's time to get a little heavy. After yesterday's fun discussion of why guys doing their job isn't necessarily good or bad, it just is, with respect to NCAA investigation I took some time to read the athletics portion of the most recent results from the Inside Higher Ed survey series. We've got some graphs, some red paint circles and some commentary coming after the jump.