The men from The Rivalry, Esq. have put together a great, tongue-in-cheek look at the cigar preferences of several of coaching's elite.

John Galsworthy's famous observation, "By the cigars they smoke, and the composers they love, ye shall know the texture of men's souls," is not lost on this fan.

What follows is a tongue-in-cheek review of four modern coaches at top ebb and their predicted smoke of choice.

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NICK SABAN
Gurkha "His Majesty's Reserve" (HMR) (7.5'' x 52)

This royal entry holds the distinction of being the most expensive cigar in the world. At $750.00 a piece (a box of 20 is available for $14,999.95 at Cigar.com) the HMR is accessible to only a handful of elites. Fortunately, Nick Saban's paycheck at ...

The Big East will end its affiliation with the Texas Bowl today, to be effective for the 2008-2009 season.

The annual game was to pair a Big East conference team with a Big XII representative; however, the Texas Bowl has signed an agreement with Conference USA to face off against a Big XII opponent.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a formal announcement will be made today, said the bowl also has reached an agreement to add independent Navy. The Big 12 Conference will remain affiliated with the bowl.

The date of this year's game has been changed to Dec. 30 at Reliant Stadium.

Rutgers was the Big East's only representative during its two-year affiliation with annual game played in Houston.

The Texas Bowl also has an at-large agreement with Navy, but that option seems very ...

From the department of "no-duh" comes this great find by Senator Blutarsky: NCAA penalties do not hurt schools' win-loss records.

The "major penalties" imposed on college football teams who violate NCAA rules — including TV and bowl bans and scholarship reductions — have no impact on the teams' won-lost records, a researcher told the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics on Tuesday.

There was no statistical difference in on-field performance between the five years prior to the NCAA penalties and the five years following them, said Chad McEvoy, coordinator of the sports management program at Illinois State University.

Even as the penalties increase in severity - the loss of 10 scholarships ...

I have often pointed out that, since the lowering of the BCS bar, any non-BCS team could get to a BCS bowl if they went undefeated. Hawaii proved that last year, with a Sunbelt like schedule, and earned a BCS stomping from a weak schedule during a WAC off year.

If a non-BCS team defeats a top 25 BCS team they can get there with one close conference loss, if they are from the MWC, WAC, C-USA or MAC. This, like the catagories here at Fanblogs, excludes the Sunbelt.

Two BCS teams typically in the top half of their conference can be substituted for one in the top 25.

A non-BCS team on the mainland that has recently ended in the top 25 can be substituted for one of the two BCS teams. Sorry, Hawaii doesn't count. This is guaranteed for teams in the MWC, WAC and C-USA due to conference scheduling.

Admitting that 2008 was an atypical year, 10-2 BYU was #17 in the final BCS standings last year. This was between ...