Missouri

Carnahan Coverage: Linebacker Withney Simon still awaiting first scholarship offer

ORLANDO, Fla. – He’s done all that’s been asked of him yet Orlando Jones High School’s Withney Simon, the No. 2-rated linebacker in Central Florida, is unsure of his football future.

I caught up with Simon following the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl earlier this month at the Florida Citrus Bowl and asked him about his college options. He said that although he’s got the grades to qualify for football at the next level, he’s a bit surprised at how little interest he’s garnered from college programs.

( – Click here to read J.C.’s feature on Withney Simon for Orlando Sentinel – )

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 14)

Injuries to quarterbacks at Baylor and Ohio State have finally moved TCU into the No. 4 spot in this week’s Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings. But how the power conferences are eventually decided this weekend will play a role in whether TCU can maintain their position. There’s just one more round of games left before the final four spots are officially wrapped up.

#1 (1) Florida State (12-0) – Won 24-19 vs Florida
#2 (2) Alabama (11-1) – Won 55-44 vs No. 15 Auburn
#3 (3) Oregon (11-1) – Won 47-19 at Oregon State
#4 (6) TCU (10-1) – Won 48-10 at Texas
#5 (4) Baylor (10-1) – Won 48-46 at Texas Tech
#6 (5) Ohio State (11-1) – Won 42-28 vs Michigan
#7 (–) Arizona (10-2) – Won 42-35 vs No. 13 Arizona State
#8 (–) Georgia Tech (10-2) – Won 30-24 at No. 16 Georgia
#9 (10) Wisconsin (10-2) – Won 34-24 vs No. 18 Minnesota
#10 (7) Mississippi State (10-2) – Lost 31-17 at No. 19 Mississippi

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 12)

Just one college football team remains unbeaten from a power conference at this point in the season as the defending national champion Florida State Seminoles strengthened their hold on a postseason bid Saturday night. The other three spots are up for grabs between six teams with only one loss. Aside from FSU, Marshall (10-0) of Conference USA is the lone remaining unbeaten while the only other team with one loss not listed below is Colorado State (9-1) of the Mountain West.

This week’s Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings:

#1 (1) Florida State (10-0) – Won 30-26 at Miami
#2 (4) Alabama (9-1) – Won 25-20 vs No. 1 Mississippi State
#3 (3) Oregon (9-1) – Did not play
#4 (5) Baylor (8-1) – Did not play
#5 (8) Ohio State (9-1) – Won 31-24 at No. 25 Minnesota
#6 (6) TCU (9-1) – Won 34-30 at Kansas
#7 (2) Mississippi State (9-1) – Lost 25-20 at No. 5 Alabama
#8 (–) Mississippi (8-2) – Did not play
#9 (–) Wisconsin (8-2) – Won 59-24 vs No. 16 Nebraska
#10 (10) UCLA (8-2) – Did not play

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 7)

Teams are starting to win the sort of games that will separate them from the rest of the pack when it comes time to deciding which programs will make up the college football playoff. Although the Associated Press has a new No. 1 this week, the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings have gone unchanged at the top spot.

#1 (1) Florida State (6-0) – Won 38-20 at Syracuse
#2 (3) Mississippi State (6-0) – Won 38-23 vs No. 2 Auburn
#3 (4) Mississippi (6-0) – Won 35-20 at No. 14 Texas A&M
#4 (–) Baylor (6-0) – Won 61-58 vs No. 9 TCU
#5 (6) Notre Dame (6-0) – Won 50-43 vs North Carolina
#6 (8) Oregon (5-1) – Won 42-30 at No. 18 UCLA
#7 (2) Auburn (5-1) – Lost 38-23 at No. 3 Mississippi State
#8 (5) TCU (4-1) – Lost 61-58 at No. 5 Baylor
#9 (10) Michigan State (5-1) – Won 45-31 at Purdue
#10 (9) Alabama (5-1) – Won 14-13 at Arkansas

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 6)

Go ahead, try to wrap your head around what took place last Saturday in the wild world of college football. A total of eight teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 suffered losses while three others suffered setbacks in Top 25 matchups. Needless to say, the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings tumbled in spectacular fashion. But we’re back to pick up the pieces and add some new names and faces, of which many will surely fall in the coming weeks. Consider this a Top 10 dedicated to momentum each week based off level of upsets and voting by the AP:

#1 (1) Florida State (5-0) – Won 43-3 vs Wake Forest
#2 (2) Auburn (5-0) – Won 41-7 vs No. 15 LSU
#3 (8) Mississippi State (5-0) – Won 48-31 vs No. 6 Texas A&M
#4 (–) Mississippi (5-0) – Won 23-17 vs No. 3 Alabama
#5 (–) TCU (4-0) – Won 37-33 vs No. 4 Oklahoma
#6 (–) Notre Dame (5-0) – Won 17-14 vs No. 14 Stanford
#7 (–) Arizona (5-0) – Won 31-24 at No. 2 Oregon
#8 (3) Oregon (4-1) – Lost 31-24 vs Arizona
#9 (6) Alabama (4-1) – Lost 23-17 at No. 11 Mississippi
#10 (9) Michigan State (4-1) – Won 27-22 vs No. 19 Nebraska

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 5)

Teams atop the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings caused fans to question their toughness this past week as they kept matchups interesting for far too long. There’s just one new addition this time around to the Top 10 and a little movement based on bye weeks. Consider this a Top 10 dedicated to momentum each week based off level of upsets and voting by the Associated Press:

#1 (1) Florida State (4-0) – Won 56-41 at NC State
#2 (2) Auburn (4-0) – Won 45-17 at Louisiana Tech
#3 (4) Oregon (4-0) – Did not play
#4 (3) Texas A&M (5-0) – Won 35-28 (OT) vs Arkansas
#5 (6) Oklahoma (4-0) – Did not play
#6 (7) Alabama (4-0) – Did not play
#7 (–) UCLA (4-0) – Won 62-27 at No. 15 Arizona State
#8 (7) Mississippi State (4-0) – Did not play
#9 (10) Michigan State (3-1) – Won 56-14 vs Wyoming
#10 (9) East Carolina (3-1) – Did not play

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Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings (Week 4)

Not a lot of movement in the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings as just one team from last week fell short in Week 4. Consider this a Top 10 dedicated to momentum each week based off level of upsets and voting by the Associated Press:

#1 (1) Florida State (3-0) – Won 23-17 (OT) vs No. 22 Clemson
#2 (2) Auburn (3-0) – Won 20-14 at No. 20 Kansas State
#3 (3) Texas A&M (4-0) – Won 58-6 at SMU
#4 (4) Oregon (4-0) – Won 38-31 at Washington State
#5 (6) Oklahoma (4-0) – Won 45-33 at West Virginia
#6 (7) Alabama (4-0) – Won 42-21 vs Florida
#7 (–) Mississippi State (4-0) – Won 34-29 at No. 8 LSU
#8 (8) South Carolina (3-1) – Won 48-34 at Vanderbilt
#9 (9) East Carolina (3-1) – Won 70-41 vs North Carolina
#10 (–) Michigan State (2-1) – Won 73-14 vs Eastern Michigan

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George O’Leary and UCF Still Having Trouble Filling Out Schedules

UCF football’s announcement last week that they’d agreed to a home-and-home series with Stanford of the Pac-12 drew modest interest from college football fans. UCF coach George O’Leary didn’t appear to be too excited about it either at his weekly press conference earlier this week at Bright House Networks Stadium.

O’Leary was asked Monday if the new agreement, which sends UCF to California in 2015 and Stanford to Florida in 2019, might mean the Knights have plans to expand recruiting coverage to the West coast.

“No. I don’t see us recruiting more on the West,” he said with a tone that matched his disinterest in the topic. “It’s obviously a great opponent, [but] I’d much rather see us get opportunities to play teams that have some relative to recruiting for us. There’s a lot of teams from the Midwest, to the East, to the South that would be great opponents.”

But O’Leary’s never been blind to the fact that mid-major’s such as UCF are in no position to avoid these types of match-ups, even if they do make for a grueling road trip for both players and fan base.

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